115 Required reading 3 (Alward, Nourot, Scales, & Van Hoorn, 1999)

According to Alward, Nourot, Scales, & Van Hoorn, “We believe the goal of science education for early childhood education is to encourage and support these dispositions”, which mean from the reading is “curiosity” and “a desire to critically assess the validity of anwers” (Alward, Nourot, Scales, & Van Hoorn, 1999).It says that, it is important that teachers’ supporting of children’s scientific play and curiosity in early childhood centers, because this is a teachers’ role when they teach science in the classroom. Also young children’s scientific interests and curiosities show the children’s understanding so they are deserve to get our attention and respect (Alward, Nourot, Scales, & Van Hoorn, 1999). We can give our attention and respect to children through give more learning opportunities with more questions and recommendations.

 

This reading also said “Children learn science content within an organized framework of scientific concepts, and through their involvement in the processes of science” (Alward, Nourot, Scales, & Van Hoorn, 1999). This shows that scientific processes, concepts and content are important for building children’s understanding and foundations for future learning. Therefore, teachers must observe children’s play carefully in each processes and we need to know how much children understand about the concepts and contents. Also according to reading, In a balanced science curriculum that is play-centered, the particular scientific content, concepts, and processes that children explore at any moment are expressions of the children’s own curiosity, interest, and creativity” (Alward, Nourot, Scales, & Van Hoorn, 1999).

Astronomy

Want to see Video? —> http://youtu.be/FBi2j9x_8SY

Today, I had some astronomy activities, which was very interesting. For this activity we used a lamp and two different sizes of polystyrene balls to represent the sun, earth and moon. We painted on two polystyrene balls so we can recognise easily. We draw the earth on big polystyrene ball and we painted cold on small polystyrene ball so it can be seen as the moon. We connected the earth and the moon with stick, and spun it around the lamp, the sun. When the lamp created shadows, we could see moon phases and different eclipses. I thought this could be done with children to show the rotation and tilt of the Earth, of course the orbit of the moon around the Earth and that around the sun.

 

Activity 2

Youtube Video —> http://youtu.be/peFHCG1n2yg

The second activity was about phases of the moon. In the room, there was a board, which was stuck with the different shadow position of the moon. While some friends hold the board up, I could stand in the middle of the board and can see each lunar phase, from a full moon to no part of the moon visible at all. This was very simple way to learn about the rotation of the moon.

Reflection for Astronomy

I thought I already knew about the relationship between the sun, moon and the earth. However, I had learnt so much information in child’s point of view that I always kind of took for granted. This topic, Astronomy in early childhood can look at day and night change, seasons, climate and many other components beyond planet Earth. Children would be amazed about knowing the Earth’s solar system, including the sun, moon and each planet. While I was doing the activity about the Earth rotation, I wondered, could children really believe this even they could not feel it but I realised that I could not feel it either but my head already knew that the earth is turning even now. Children are active learners so if the teacher shows visual examples and encourage them to involve in their learning, children would learn naturally about the earth, the sun and moon. In addition, talking about the seasons change, and day and night could be a good way to teach about the rotation and tilt of the earth. We can talk about how solar eclipses and lunar eclipses occur in different circumstances through the activity that I talked above. I was really happy to learn about this topic because I learnt many things and I am excited for teaching children about astronomy because there are so many things to talk with young children.

Resource for Astronomy

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/astronomy/solarsystemmodel/

This activity is about making a model of solar system with the sun and other eight planets. I chose this activity for astronomy resource because this would be a fun and useful activity to teach children about space and solar system in the centre. By using different size and colour of planets, children can learn difference between each planet; furthermore, they would be able to create their own solar system. Through this activity, children can explore their excitement about the topic and I believe this activity would develop children’s knowledge of solar system.

 

Geology

This week we learnt about Geology and learnt that there are many types of stones and one of the stone is ‘igneous rock’ and friends and I made edible ‘igneous rock’, Hokey Pokey! We needed sugar, golden syrup and baking soda to make it. Firstly, Jasmine brought the sugar and syrup into a pot and Cherry simmered it over a low heat for us. We quickly removed it when it changed to liquid and added baking soda. It was getting gold when we stirred it. Finally, we pour into a greased tin and waited until becoming cold. The process of cooling hokey pokey was similar with solidification of magma from volcano. It was very fun and useful activity to understand the process of volcano and it can be a sweet and useful activity to children too.

The second activity was Toasted Sandwiches. We simply made sandwiches with breads, marmite, cheese, and then toasted! This toasted sandwiches was an example of rock formation as the bread being the Earth’s crust, and the marmite and cheese showing as and lava from a volcano eruption. We can explain to children how layers are formed when pressure or heat is occurred through this activity.

Reflection on Geology

Learning the topic Planet Earth or Geology for children was interesting. It was an opportunity for me to realise about the earth in child’s point of view. The topic focused on the layer of the Earth, rocks and many other components that make up planet Earth such as ‘inner core’, ‘outer core’, ‘mantle’ and ‘crust’. These terms may seem hard to children but teaching about geology would be fun if we have lots of activities with various resources that portray the idea of the earth. A sandwich activity can be the one of the activities of rock formation as it can be done easily in a centre of at home with children. Also making hokey pokey or cookie would give children the opportunity to learn the difference between sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks and how they are made. Personally I was very interested to learn about the rocks even though I knew those already. This is because the activity, Hokey Pokey. When I was young I often made and ate it but I have never thought about that is relevant to Geology, not even once. However, now I knew that this hokey pokey can be an activity of geology and this was very impressive. In addition, I learnt about disasters such as earthquakes and volcano, and also the process these disasters. I think these are important to remember to teach children about geology because children would not able to understand why and how these disasters occur, therefore I as a teacher need to share the information in simple, easily understood ways, and do more interesting activities that can explain about earthquakes and volcano then, children would be able to grasp.

 

Resource for Geology

Video —> http://www.thecraftyclassroom.com/CraftGeologyEarthLayers.html

This activity is about making Earths Crusts, Core and Craft with various colours of play dough. Children can use different colour for each different step of core, mantle and crusts of the Earth. For example, Red is inner Core, Orange is outer Core, Yellow is mantle, brown is curst and blue and green is water and land. Then children would recognise the earth more easily with colours. When children finally made the earth with some land shapes, they can cut a wedge from of the earth in model form! Children would be amazed about their work and that is the real form of the Earth. This is why I chose this activity for young children.

Reading – Chalufour (2010)

According to Chalufour reading, it tells the importance of having Pedagogical Science Knowledge (PKS) including both understanding of science concepts, and of children and how they learn. Chalfour says the knowledge of children and how children learn are also important, as these are also the parts of pedagogical science knowledge. Accoring to Chalfour reading, teachers must have an understanding of how children learn in order to teach science so at the first; teachers should introduce the content at an adult level and then “translate this knowledge to appropriated content” for young children. Also, Chalufour says that “hand-on, inquiry-based investigation” is for both adults’ and children’s learning. It offers the opportunity to encourage teachers’ confidence in both learning and teaching science so in order to teach science effectively, teachers should have pedagogical science knowledge and confident in their own abilities to engage in science.

115 Material World – Chemical Change

Artefact and learning description for Chemical Change

Youtube Video –> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o4b-znF0Sg&feature=youtu.be

Today, I had some chemical and physical change activities. Friends and I had ‘Chemical Popguns’ activity. For this activity, we needed a plastic soft-drink bottle, a cork, vinegar and sodium bicarbonate. Firstly, we pour vinegar into the bottle until it’s one-third full and we gathered two teaspoons of sodium bicarbonate on the paper. Vivien quickly push the cork into the bottle straight after added sodium bicarbonate. What happened? The cork exploded from the bottle and lot of foam flowed out.

The second activity was ‘Baking Pikelets’. We actually cooked during the lesson and it was a fabulous chemical experiment. Firstly, we mixed with egg, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt, and added milk to form a smooth and thick batter. We heated a frying pan before pour batter on it and we waited until bubbles appear on the surface of each pikelet. When we heated the batter, it was no longer liquid.

Half page reflection for Chemical Change

Matters can change in two ways, which are physical change and chemical change. Teaching children about the chemical and physical changes are considered important, as these are such a relevant part of teaching science in early childhood education. Children would meet changes quite often in their world as soon as they grow up. Actually I was shocked by the fact that the cooking can be the science. During the science lesson, I made pikelets and I saw the process of chemical change, the batters changed into solid, pikelets as I heated and I learnt that this was chemical change, as the change cannot be reversed. However, physical change is usually easy to reverse. For example, melting an ice cube or breaking a bottle is the example of physical change. Teaching chemical and physical change would be exciting as there are variety activities for young children and I am sure that these activities are stimulate children’s curiosity and interest. Teaching this topic to young children would be interesting, and I am excited to give children the chance to explore chemical change and help them learn to understand it. Learning about chemical change can also be made fun and curiosity, getting children involved in activities

Resource for Chemical Change and reason chosen

http://notjustcute.com/2010/06/22/reactions-five-fun-science-activities-that-fizz-foam-and-pop/

In this activity, children place a small amount of baking soda in the balloon and attach the balloon to a small-mouthed bottle with vinegar inside. Lift the balloon up to allow the baking soda to drop into the bottle. “BOOM” The reaction would occur. Through this activity, children were then given the opportunity to explore the knowledge of chemical change. I choose this activity to teach chemical change to young children because the reaction from this activity could provide the concept of chemical change to children. They would be amazed when the balloon was inflated and they would ask what happen, why and how. Through these learning process, children would able to develop their understanding of chemical change.

115 Material World – States of Matter

Artefact and learning description for States of Matter

When I entered the science workshop last week, I was surprised that lots of activity tables were prepared for us. Every activity was fabulous but the ‘Oobleck’ activity made me interesting. It was made of cornstarch and water, and it is a type of non-Newtonian fluid called a dilatant according to Wikipedia. When I touched oobleck that was in a basket, it was like the harden clay but when I put on my hand, It changed into the liquid and ooze out of my hand. Also, when I force it, it acted like a solid.

Youtube Video –> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFLfO7XhSqk&feature=youtu.be

The second activity was ‘Hovercraft’. This activity was needed a CD that glued with a push-up water bottle top and a balloon. I inflated the balloon and fix it over the valve in the middle of the CD and then placed the hovercraft on the table. When I pulled the bottle valve to the open position, it moved softly but quickly on the table like a spacecraft! I realised that this was because the air in the balloon.

Half-page reflection on States of Matter

Through these activities, I seem to become close with the States of Matter more. In the first activity, I was amazing at oobleck that can be changed to the solid when it was forced and the liquid when it was on my hand. This process is only applied to non-Newtonian fluid, which is what I learnt through this activity. During this activity I thought that Oobleck would be a perfect science experiment for children, because children are usually visually stimulated, excited and interested so they can easily learn the states of matter through Intriguing activity, ‘Oobleck’. Children would realise textures and features of solid and liquid through this activity. If the first activity only talked about solid and liquid, the second activity will talk about gas. Children do not feel an interest in the gas because the gas is invisible. However, if the air were ‘visible’, children would wonder about the air. Therefore the Hovercraft would be an excellent activity for children. I was very impressive that CD hovercraft moved like a spacecraft, and I learnt that this is because of the air in the balloon. As air flew downward and out of the balloon, it built up air pressure under the CD. That air pressure lifted the whole hovercraft off the table as air began to escape evenly all around the edge of the plate. When children do this activity, I could explain that the air is exist even it is invisible through the balloon. They would be amazed about moving Hovercraft and they would show interests on the gas then, they are in process of learning of states of matter.

Resource for States of Matter, and reason chosen

http://www.frugalteacher.com/2011/09/life-cycle-of-snowman.html

I would like to use this activity to teach states of Matter to young children because three states are clearly shown on the activity and I personally think that the ice is the best resource for children to learn the states of matter. Children would be amazed at the ice in the balloon and would show curiosity about what happened. Also, children will be able to watch melting process through the ice snowman, so far children are learnt melting and solidification. Lastly, when the ice is “cooked”, it changes to gas. Through this activity, children would realise that the temperature change for each process and able to develop their understanding of solid, liquid and gas.

Reading – Worth (2010)

The goal of science is to understand the natural world through a process known as scientific inquiry (Worth, 2010). Scientific inquiry provides the opportunity to develop a range of skills such as exploration, working with others and sharing and discussing ideas. According to George Forman, children do not learn from experience, they learn from their reflection on experience. This quote shows the importance of discussing and representing ideas and truly these encourage children to think deeply about their experience. According to Worth (2010), Children are naturally scientist. “Their curiosity and need to make the world a more predictable place certainly drives them to explore and draw conclusions and theories from their experiences”. (Worth, 2010) But left to themselves, they are not quite natural scientist. Children need guidance or teacher, who is comfortable with science, have wide science background and confidence in her abilities to teach science to children. The teacher role is important as her questions and comments could draw the children’s attention and curiosity to the activity.

115 Swirling milk

“Swirling milk”

When we entered the second science workshop, we saw a box that contains plastic plates, food colourings and dish washing liquid. Then we realised that we had to do an investigation with four different types of milk and the tools given to us. Firstly, we poured each four different types of milk into four plates. We added a couple of drops of four different colour of food colourings including green, red and blue around the centre of each plate and added dish washing liquid. WOW! Guess what happened. The food colourings around them got mixed together.

Through this activity, I realised that swirling milk occurred when we added dishwashing to milk. This is because the molecules of fat move around in many directions as the dishwashing liquid molecules attach to the fat molecules. We used four different types of milk including blue milk, cream, farmhouse and trim. With the blue milk, we could see colours clearly and colours were mixed immediately when we added dishwashing liquid. With the cream, the colours were sank bottom so we could only see spots so swirling was not quite happened and farmhouse showed similar results. Even though colours were visible, we could see limited spots and colours were slowly mixed. However, with the trim, colours were clearly visible like blue milk but when dishwashing liquid was added, it swirled very quickly. Through this, I found that trim contains the lowest fat between four milks as it showed more explosive swirling. I was interested in doing this activity because colour mixing was very impressive. When I play this activity with children, firstly I could talk about how colour swirl in the milk and ask questions like ‘what kind of milk produces the best swirling of colour’. Then I could tell them about fat molecules. When children have done this activity, they would be amazed about mixing colours and show interests then they would naturally understand the nature of science.

I found baking soda volcano on the Internet. I chose this activity because it would be a very interesting activity to children. It needs baking soda, vinegar, dishwashing liquid, plastic soda bottle, food colouring and play dough. Firstly, stand the soda bottle and mold the dough around it into a volcano shape and put some baking soda, red food colouring, which will make it seen like lava and dishwashing liquid. Finally, if vinegar is added in the bottle, eruption starts. Through this activity, children would get curious about why this happens when baking soda and vinegar meet and this curiosity would lead to developing the features of scientific knowledge and children would be able to understand the nature of science more deeply.

115 square in square

“Square in a square”

In the first science workshop, we had puzzle activity called “square in a square” last week. There were two parts in this activity, the first part was making a square with variety shapes including small and big triangles and other pieces, and the second part was making a bigger square with the same pieces that used in the first part adding a little square. In figure 1, we could put the pieces together to make a square in a short amount of time, but when we got the small square in figure 2, we needed explanation of how it works and therefore, found it harder than the previous one.

Through this activity, I learnt the importance of participant in the learning process. We as participants, when we got the pieces of puzzle, we felt curious and excited because we were curious about how these pieces can make a square, but we could make the square very easily in the figure 1. However, in the figure 2, we were stuck as the small square was added. We concentrated more in making a square because we really wanted to create a way of making the big square and finally we solved it. If we did not have interest or curiosity on making the square, we were not able to form the square, and this showed the importance of participant. I think being a participant is the most important thing to children. Even though children are naturally scientists, they need guidance and structure to turn their natural curiosity and interest. Once children participate on the activity, it “drives them to explore and draw conclusions and theories from their experiences”. Therefore, if teacher helps children to get interested and curiosity of this puzzle activity, children would very enjoy this activity. Secondly, I realised that this activity had some similarities with science and this was very impressive. As trial and error is an essential ingredient to science, we had many trials and some errors during the puzzle activity, we also modified the way of making the square, which we experience in the figure 1, when the small square was added during the figure 2 and this is similar to “doing” science which is “New information may require the old theory to be modified or discarded” (Choi, 2004). When teachers explain how this activity is similar to “doing” science, children could understand about science and they would think that science is always next them.
 

I found interesting puzzle on the Internet. It forms similar with the puzzle that I used in the activity. I chose this because it could be used to develop children’s problem solving skills, logical thinking and creativity. Children would learn about variety shapes and also they could explore their own ideas through this puzzle. I would use this puzzle to make various shapes with pieces of puzzle and also I would encourage children to make square so they can put it into puzzle box. I can talk with children about why it works in this way. Through this, children would develop logical thinking and problem solving skills.