TEACHING PRESCHOOL SCIENCE
by Sandra Lombard
© 2004

 

 

Preschoolers by nature love to explore. They are curious, ask
questions and love exploring their world. You might ask "what
kind of science activities can preschoolers do?" What can't they
do?

Science for preschoolers can include things that they see in their
everyday environment at home, in their neighborhood and the
outdoors.  Preschoolers benefit from exposure to science. Encourage
your child to ask questions and try to make science fun to learn. 
Expose your child to early science by collecting rocks, cooking in
the kitchen, reading about weather/seasons, dinosaurs, and space,
etc. 

There are many everyday experiences that can focus on science
concepts. Mixing kool-aid with water and noticing the change of
color in the water is an opportunity to discuss mixing colors. Your
kitchen can be a home science lab for measuring and cooking
concoctions.  Playing with water and bath toys can show what sinks
and what floats.


Here are some tips to consider in having fun with science:

- Provide hands on experiences for learning science concepts.

- Listen to your preschooler make their own observations as
they learn. 

- Focus on everyday experiences that your child can relate to.

- Use fun objects to include in learning about mixing colors,
playing with sand, playing with sound, magnetism, etc.

- Ask your child questions to encourage discussion.


Here are some ideas for simple science experiments that your
preschooler can participate in:

Popcorn Dance:
Fill a small glass 3/4 full of water. Mix in 2
Tablespoons of baking soda and mix well. Add a drop or two of food
coloring and add 10-15 popcorn kernels.  Then add a few drops of
vinegar and watch the kernels start to move in 1 -2 minutes.       

Mini Ocean:
Fill a plastic bottle 3/4 full of water. Add blue food
coloring and then add cooking oil. Leave about one inch at the top
of the bottle. Show your preschooler how the oil and water do not
mix. Show how tilting the bottle back and forth causes a wave effect.

Volcano:
Place an empty baby food jar on a clean Styrofoam tray.
Surround the jar with play dough to look like a volcano/mountain. 
Place a drop of red food coloring and a tablespoon of baking soda in
the jar. Then add vinegar to your volcano to make it erupt.

Remember that the preschool years are the most curious age. You
don't have to be an expert in science to draw your child's
attention to science. Common everyday experiences like blowing
bubbles, mixing colors in water, watching birds, growing plants and
flowers can be the basis in teaching preschool science!

About the author:
Sandra Lombard lives in Texas with her husband and son.
She is a writer, homeschooler, artist as well as a parent to a
special needs child. As a free-lance writer, her content focuses on
gardening, crafts, relationships and family life. She maintains a
position as a Community Leader and a Moderator at Friends and
Families, an online community for women. For more ideas, visit the
Homeschool Board of Friends and Families, where friends become
family. http://www.friendsandfamilies.com/   

Simple Science
By Deborah Shelton


Help children develop a love for science, or nurture their already-growing interest, with these simple experiments.

Cloud Maker
Ever wanted to catch a cloud in a bottle? Now's your chance! Pour just a splash of water into a 2-liter plastic
bottle. Light a match (a grownup's job) and drop it into the bottle. Immediately replace the lid and squeeze the
bottle a few times to watch your cloud form.

Magic Flowers
Create your own unique flowers with this neat trick. Fill a vase with water and 8-10 drops of food coloring. Cut the stem of a white carnation at a diagonal, and place the flower into the vase. After a few hours you will notice a slight change of color in the petals. Let the flower soak overnight and observe the dramatic change in the morning.

Mouth Lightning
Don't worry--this doesn't hurt a bit! In fact, you may want to try this at your next sleepover party. Stand in front of a mirror and turn off all of the lights. Pop a wintergreen-flavored Life Saver into your mouth and chew. Can you believe your eyes? This "lightning" phenomenon is called triboluminescence. To find out more about triboluminescence, visit http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/a/aa060601a.htm .

About the Author:
Deborah Shelton edits The Five Minute Parent email newsletter. For your free subscription, send a blank email to Five_Minute_Parent-subscribe@yahoogroups.com . Visit http://www.FiveMinuteParent.com for more family-friendly ideas.

Fall Leaves

Have students find pictures of fall on the internet and print them. Each child will write a paragraph, going through all stages of the writing process describing their picture. Some items that are required are where the picture is taken, the climate in that part of the world or United States, and why the student was attracted to that particular picture. Students should also include information about the source of their photo. Have students glue their picture and paragraph in a construction paper frame.

Rubric

The only ways students can fail this assignment is if they don't do it or they fail to do neat work. Insist your students turn in work you can read.

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 More than Meets the Eye (an exploration of fall colors) Paper Chromatopgraphy

Chlorophyll is not the only pigment in leaves. Here is a cool way students can see how much of each pigment is contained in a leaf. Have students keep a record of each stage of the experiment

.

Collect leaves--Do a nature walk with your students. Give each child a paper lunch sack and instruct them to collect several broad, green leaves. Students should have a pencil with them so they can mark where they collected their specimen.

 

Allow the leaves to dry for a few days. Use this time to review science lab safety rules. If doing with young students, do the touching for them.

 

Have students engage in the scientific method-What is their hypothesis? What colors are contained in the leaves? Make sure to have students make their hypothesis after viewing their dried up leaves.

Lab steps-

Have students crush their leaves into tiny pieces and place them in a tall drinking glass or 400ml beaker. Add about 6tsp or 30ml of nail polish remover. Cover the beaker with glass or plastic wrap and allow the leaves to soak over night in a cool, dry place.

 

Cut strips of blotter paper about 2 inches taller that the height of the beaker or glass. Have students fold the strip over a pencil so that the bottom of the paper is resting in the acetone solution. Students should secure the strip to their pencil with glue or a stapler. The strip shouldn't be crunched up at the bottom. About 1/2 inch of paper should hang in the acetone and leaf mixture.

 

Leave paper in the mixture for about an hour.

 

Have students look at the results and record what they see.

 

Students should bands of color forming on the paper. Each color will stop at a different point on the strip depending on how strongly it is attracted to the acetone.

 

Once the pigment mixture has stopped moving up the strip, remove it from the mixture, and lay it on wax paper to dry.

 

Students should see several bands of green (indicating different types of chlorophyll) and perhaps some red, purple, brow or olive colored bands which represent a different pigment in the leaf) Students may need to hold their strip up to the light to see all the different colors)

 

Extensions-

 

Do the same thing with red leafed plants

Now have students go back to their hypothesis. Did the experiment prove them right or wrong? Students should write a summation about what they learned from this exercise.

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Natural Perspective-Great Photos of Nature

http://www.perspective.com/nature/index.html

Top Secret Science and Math

http://www.topsecretscience.com/index.html

Snow Science from the Teel Family

http://www.teelfamily.com/activities/snow/science.html