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UNIT 1 - Scientific Skills and Methods

Topics Covered in Unit 1:

  • Using Senses to Make Observations

  • Using Simple Tools to experiment and observe

  • Record Observations

 

Four-year-olds can describe and compare many different sights, smells, sounds, textures and tastes. They can experience several different textures and talk about similarities and differences.

Examples:

  1. touches different pieces of cloth and mentions which is smooth and which is rough

  2. tastes a Granny Smith apple after trying a Red Delicious and says, "This one is sour! I like the sweet one better."

  3. responds appropriately when teacher asks him to play a rhythm instrument loudly at first, then softly

  4. recognizes and names familiar smells (lunch foods, scent containers, pine needles)

As four-year-olds continue to develop, they increase in their ability to use tools to help them explore and understand concepts. They understand the appropriate uses of many tools, that a magnifying glass makes things look bigger or that tweezers can be used to pick up small objects.

Examples:

  1. builds a ramp by placing one end of a board or long, flat block on the floor and resting the other end on one or more stacked blocks

  2. experiments with tubes and funnels at the sand and water tables

  3. uses balance scale to compare weights of various objects

Four-year-olds can create mental representations of what they experience in investigating the everyday world. They share this information with teachers through writing, drawings and learned vocabulary.

Examples:

  1. uses journal to record drawings and write words that describe her findings after the weekly nature walk - teachers may provide word cards such as 'leaves' and 'trees' that can be copied into the journal

  2. makes leaf rubbings and labels his drawing with parts of the leaf such as stem, veins,

  3. observes and describes weather as teacher writes observation on the morning message board

  4. during sink/float experiment sorts items into categories - explains findings using words modeled by teachers such as heavy, light, sink, float