HANDS ON SCIENCE IN THE EARLY YEARS

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HANDS ON SCIENCE IN THE EARLY YEARS

• Chris Creamer
• Teacher Adviser/Primary Science
• 01299 873963
• ccreamer_at_worcestershire.gov.uk

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Think of a topic
WINTER
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Think of a story
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Knowledge and understanding of the world

• In this area of learning, children are developing
  the skills, knowledge and understanding that help
  them to make sense of the world
• To give all children the best opportunities
  practitioners should plan for activities based on
  first-hand experience that encourage exploration,
  observation, problem solving, prediction,
  critical thinking and discussion
• Early Learning Goals DfEE

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Early learning goals for exploration and
investigation

• Investigate objects and materials by using all of
  their senses as appropriate
• Find out about, and identify, some features of
  living things, objects and events they observe
• Look closely at similarities, differences,
  patterns and change
• Ask questions about why things happen and how
  things work

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Lets explore!

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Observing activities

• Find out about, and identify, some features of
  living things, objects and events they observe
• Ice hands over a period of time describe
  changes - make annotated drawings record with
  digital camera use to make sequence and tell
  story
• How could we make
• an ice hand melt
• more quickly?

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Think of a collection

• Winter and summer clothing

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Sorting activity

• Look closely at similarities, differences,
  patterns and change
• Summer/winter clothes how can we sort the
  clothes? Accept all sensible suggestions
• Make comparisons what is the same/different
  about e.g. a T-shirt and a jumper a sandal and a
  boot

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Purposeful play

• Investigate objects and materials by using all
  of their senses as appropriate
• Water tray add ice to the water (make by
  freezing water in a variety of moulds bowls,
  jelly moulds, small buckets, plastic cups use
  food colouring)
• How could we stop the ice from melting?

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Problem solving

• Ask questions about why things happen and how
  things work
• Freeze object inside ice e.g. key/small plastic
  toy
• How could we get the key out quickly?

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Personal, social and emotional development

• Show care and concern for others, for living
  things and the environment
• Feed the birds
• Encourage children to bring in crusts etc for the
  birds
• Set up a bird table/bird nuts near a window
• Children observe the birds coming to feed

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Communication, language and literacy

• Interact with others and take turns in
  conversation
• Talk about own experiences, talk about the
  weather at the time, describe and compare objects
• Use picture cards to stimulate conversation
• Would you like to go skiing?
• Can you think of some other things that melt?
• I wonder how they made the snowman?
• Why does it snow in winter? Does it snow in
  summer?
• Would it be nice to play in the snow in your
  swimsuit?
• I wonder what would happen if I put my ice lolly
  into a hot oven?

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Vocabulary

• Extend their vocabulary, exploring the
  meanings and sounds of new words
• Winter/summer
• Warm/warmer
• Hot/hotter
• Cold/colder
• Freeze/freezing
• Melt/melting
• Snow/rain/sun/ice
• Weather

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Other stories and rhymes

• Listen with enjoyment, and respond to stories,
  songsrhymes and poems
• The Snowman Raymond Briggs
• One Snowy Night Nick Butterworth
• Mr Snow Roger Hargreaves
• The North Wind Doth Blow Anonymous
• Snowman Gregory Harrison
• Robin Iain Crichton Smith
• The Snowman Roger McGough

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Role play

• Use language to imagine and recreate roles and
  experiences
• The Arctic re Ginn Foundation

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Mathematical development

• Talk about, recognise and recreate simple
  patterns
• Make ice bowl washing up bowl as mould
• Measure circumference with strip of coloured
  paper
• Set timer measure every hour
• Arrange strips to form bar chart talk about
  what is happening identify pattern - make
  predictions about what will happen

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Mathematical development

• In practical activitiesbegin to use the
  vocabulary involved in adding and subtracting
• 10 woolly mittens
• Hanging on the line
• Along came (Gemma)
• And said Theyre mine!
• 8 woolly mittens

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Mathematical development

• Use language such as greater, smaller,
  heavier or lighter to compare quantities
• Snowmen
• compare size bigger/smaller
• how many?
• order by size
• match scarves

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Physical development

• Move with confidence, imagination and in safety
• Create a tunnel using large cardboard boxes with
  holes in their sides put items in each box
  related to a part of the story e.g. tray of mud,
  clump of turf children recall the journey in
  the story as they crawl through the tunnel
• Sort out problems arising from children wanting
  to go in both directions

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Outdoors

• Move with confidence, imagination and in safety
• Explore outside look for signs of winter
  collect some things take some photos
• Make a den sticks, blanket and frame
• Make a trail footprints re-tell story
• Look closely at items collected (hand
  lens/digital microscope) talk about objects
  make drawings - match photos to objects

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Creative development

• Explore colour, texture, shape, form and space
  in two or three dimensions
• Provide materials for children to make drawings,
  collages, paintings, models of e.g. snowmen
  snowflakes winter trees birds bears ice hands

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Visitor

• Do you know someone who goes skiing/snowboarding?
  
• Could you ask them
• to bring in their
• ski clothing/gear
• and some photos
• and talk to the
• children?

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Cooking

• Make ice lollies/ice cream
• Make hot soup/hot chocolate

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Water tray

• Snow TTS
• Insta-Snow is a polymer that turns ordinary water
  into a white fluffy substance that looks and
  feels like real snow. Add a little water and the
  white powder will expand to 100 times its
  original size!
• 5.69 reference FSNOW
• http//www.tts-group.co.uk

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Recording

• Display blue cloth, collection, sparkly
  snowflakes, doilies, question/picture cards,
  photographs, childrens annotated drawings,
  collages, key word cards
• Big book use annotated photographs/drawings to
  make a class book about Winter

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Assessment

• Observe children
• Listen to the children
• Talk with the children

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Evaluation

• Did the children learn?
• Did the children enjoy learning?
• Is there something I should change?

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And finally

• If were lucky enough to have a snowy day!
• let the children get outside and play in it
  take some photos
• bring some snow indoors and see what happens to
  it
• ENJOY!

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WINTER