CREATIVE AND CRITICAL THINKING

The Scientific Method: A natural phenomenon in Early Childhood
by Karen Mercer, K11 Teacher
The scientific method has been
simplified in a way that certainly rings
true of the basic nature of the young
child. Simply put the scientific method
is: Look around, ask questions, get an
idea, try it out, think again and then
make sense of it all. Visit one of our
student-centered kindergartens and
watch for only a few moments and
most of this process is visible.
While observing my students in the
block area it is obvious that they have
already “looked around” and chosen
the blocks. They begin to build a tall
structure, the idea begins to formulate
and suddenly the block structure
tumbles loudly to the floor. They
build an almost identical structure and
tumble it again and again. Many
teachers at this point might stop this
activity after all it is annoyingly loud
and at first may just seem destructive.
On continued observation and
annotated notes, one realizes that the
“think again” takes root and the
structure evolves. One of the zoo
animals is placed atop and more
ground work is done to reinforce the
tower. Once adjustments are made to
the plans, the experiment persists. I
watched a group of four create and
topple sixteen towers in about fifteen
minutes.
To some this may seem to be only play
but the four students in the block area
were engaged in the hands-on
exploration of the natural phenomena
of gravity and physics. The teacher’s
role then is to give voice to the
questions and help “make sense of it
all”. The simple question of why often
creates a whole new picture for the
adult observer. When asked, “Why do
you keep knocking over the towers
that you build?” One student
responded, “To see how far it goes.”
“What do you mean?” “To see if it can
get to the edge of the carpet. I keep
pushing harder but it would not go, so
we added more blocks and it finally
did, see it is under the writing table
now.” The student, age 5, had
formulated an unspoken question
something like “I wonder how hard I
have to push this tower to make it go
off the carpet?” Then the student, with
the cooperation of a peer group,
constructed a tower, tested the
hypothesis, re-thought and
reconstructed the experiment with
additions, tested again and succeeded
in the goal. Then, to pose the question,
“What did you learn?” “Hmmm,” says
the one girl in the group, “we really did
not need to push it that hard; all we
had to do was make it taller.” The
others chimed in their approval for her
answer and then one added, “I guess it
just went down faster and harder the
taller it got.” That is a pretty good
conclusion to make and we use the
word conclusion when talking about it
with five year olds. We also use the
word hypothesis when we make
guesses about what is going to
happen. Although, I do not believe it is
the vocabulary or formality that is the
great benefit to young children, it is
the opportunity for experimentation.
Activity provides a context and
purpose for dialogue and it is the
dialogue around the manipulation of
materials that supports meaning
making. At the end of the day I ask the
small group to come up and explain
what they did and what they learned
from it. I always begin those
discussions with “What question did
you answer?” We keep a list of
questions that children ask in our
room. Those conversations can almost
guarantee a repeat performance by
another group of experimenters the
following day. The talk is productive
and fosters an interest in science and
experimentation, creating a climate of
risk taking and a scientific approach to
other aspects of our classroom.
Children’s natural curiosity with the
world around them and the questions
they ask are often related to science
concepts.
In Early Childhood our business is
providing the environment and the
climate which allows for interaction
with intelligent materials and spaces
that cry out for scientific inquiry. In our
room this year, we set out to provide
as much opportunity as possible. I
rearranged my room to create a dark
room underneath a loft. Miss Cristi and
I hung a black curtain across the base
of the loft. In this space, students
could investigate photonics, the study
of light. We placed an overhead
projector, flash lights and mirrors in
the space as well as a basket with
assorted materials that included
opaque, transparent and translucent
shapes. We also included overhead
transparencies and markers. We
allowed a lot of time for exploration
and we listened. Time and time again
we watched the scientific process take
shape. When the materials we
provided were not enough, they
“looked around” for other options that
included leaves and flower petals.
They were disappointed to find that
those beautiful colors were not
transferred on the walls like the
transparent objects. One student said,
“Oh! They are just like these shapes (as
he put an opaque triangle on the
overhead next to the leaf); the light
just can’t get through!” Another
student said, like it was the most
obvious thing in the world, “No light,
no color.” Photonics according to
kindergarteners without any direct
instruction from the teacher. I wanted
them to come to this conclusion, I
could have told them explicitly that
indeed color does depend on light but
that sophisticated reasoning came
from the opportunity to interact, look
around, develop questions, get ideas,
try them out, think again and make
sense of it all. All I had to do was keep
asking questions and provide the time.
Experimentation in the classroom can
be loud and messy and often looks
unstructured to parents and
administrators. It does not look like
“curriculum” and so it is often
questioned. Providing opportunity
serves to prepare learners to be
scientists, technological experts,
engineers, and mathematicians. It
prepares a workforce for jobs and
problems of the 21st century. The
scientific method is a natural
phenomenon of the young child
interacting with his or her world. It is
the responsibility of the adults in that
world to enrich the environment, seek
the content knowledge, and ask the
questions that steer children to
content and connection through the
messy, loud, often annoying process of
inquiry.
The formulation
of a problem is
often more
essential than its
solution, which
may be merely a
matter of
mathematical or
experimental skill.
To raise new
questions, new
possibilities, to
regard old
problems from a
new angle,
requires creative
imagination and
marks real
advances in
science.
~ Albert Einstein