Murrieta Valley Unified School District / Overview



Scientific Inquiry left3746500Young children's experiences in science are a mixture of what they learn and the skills they use to explore scientific ideas. Skills of scientific inquiry give children the tools for investigating and learning about science concepts and their experiences while investigating build habits of questioning, critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, and decision-making. Scientific inquiry skills are an important part of a child’s ongoing play and exploration. Children like to observe and engage with objects, they enjoy trying things out and seeing what happens. Pushing cars, building with blocks, manipulating tubes at the water table or collecting leaves are all examples of children’s investigations of objects and materials. Such experiences encourage children to observe closely and to use their senses and tools to describe their observations, which helps them learn about the properties and characteristics of objects and materials in their environment. Like scientist, children have a natural desire to inquire, but they need guidance to develop the skills of scientific inquiry. To support the development of scientific inquiry skills try some of the following strategies: Introduce children to the process of observing. Talk about the term “observe” and explain that observing means to use the senses to find out about things. Try giving children a simple familiar object and guide them through the process of observing it. Ask them to use their eyes to see what it looks like, their nose to find out what it smells like and their hands to explore what it feels like. Encourage children to describe their observations. Ask open-ended questions that encourage critical thinking such as “What does it feel like?” “How is it different from the last time we observed it?” “What do you see when you look closely?” Invite children to record their investigations by drawing a representation of their observations and then help record their observation by writing down their words on the bottom or back of their drawing. This will also help them track changes over time. Promote the use of scientific tools to extend observations and investigations by providing children with magnifiers and measurement tools. Take time to introduce the tools and talk about how to use them. Invite children to compare and contrast objects. Discuss the similarities and differences between items such as fall leaves, pinecones or items that sink and float. Encourage children to make predictions or simple, reasonable guesses/estimates about what may happen or might have happened based on evidence or prior knowledge. For example, ask them to predict whether an item will sink or float or what will happen when the caterpillar comes out of the cocoon. Encourage children to explain the reason behind their conclusions. Ask questions that will promote. “Excerpt taken from California Department of Education, Preschool Learning Foundations” ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download