Early Childhood - Connecticut State Department of Education

Science Chapter 7
A “hands-on and minds-on” area is:
• attractive;
• organized;
• stocked with items chosen to support current
interests and encourage investigation;
• an area that invites exploration, touching and
manipulation;
• filled with real items from the child’s world;
and
• safe.
Teachers must carefully observe and reflect on
children’s interests and abilities, prepare challenges with
appropriate materials and questions, then stand back and
guide from the side, participating only when needed.
Materials should be chosen with specific intention
for investigations. The teacher should determine, in
advance, what content information may be conveyed,
what thinking skills might be encouraged, and what
questions the children might realize as they explore.
The goal is for children of all abilities to experience the
inquiry process. (See Chapter 3 for a list of potential
materials for an investigation table.)
Observing And Questioning
Teacher Strategies
Use children’s questions to illustrate how their ideas
can become investigations.
Model asking good questions by avoiding those that
only require one answer. Allow the children to see
you as curious and thoughtful. Provide time and
plan for opportunities for children to ask questions.
Provide experiences for children to ask: who, what,
where, why and how.
Set the stage, present a problem or question,
challenge the children to think.
Spend time encouraging children to use their senses
to investigate.
Encourage children to see beyond the obvious: to
look for details and ask questions. As a guide you
can help them see meaning in what they observe.
100
DEVELOPING INQUIRY
Inquiry is a process of studying and developing
knowledge. This process closely parallels the learning
behaviors as defined by Piaget. The inquiry process
typically includes behaviors such as:
• observing and questioning: using the senses
to collect information;
• communicating: sharing information,
representing orally or on paper;
• drawing conclusions: comparing similarities
and differences while examining and
manipulating materials and events;
• organizing: ordering information gathered
so it becomes useful;
• relating: formulating and testing ideas and
hypotheses;
• inferring and predicting: using information
to create hypotheses and solutions; and
• experimenting and applying: using
knowledge and skills to solve problems and
learn more (Bredekamp & Rosegrant, 1995).
The chart that follows presents a sequence of
sample teacher strategies and suggested experiences
that support each of the inquiry behaviors.
Suggested Experiences
“Yesterday I saw my shadow on the playground.
Now I can’t.” Use this opportunity to prompt: “I
wonder why.”
“I wonder where all the water went that was on our
playground yesterday.” “In how many different
ways could we figure out how heavy our guinea pig
is?”
“It looks like you are trying to figure out why the
water is not going through that tube very fast.”
“When you are in blocks today, see if you can figure
out how to make the cars go faster on the track.”
Provide opportunities to touch, look, listen, smell
and taste. Encourage understanding that information
is gained when we investigate with our senses.
“What else did you notice? Look again. What words
describe the water as it travels through the tube
when you hold it like that?”