Science together
How do we start with children (process)
In preschool we observe children as they play together and listen their own thinking of
practical problems. By asking questions
children tells us of their own interests. In fact scientific thinking starts the question of a child. After that we discuss together in the
pre-teaching groups: how we can examine/
study the subject. A child is active she/he experiments, builds, examines and
photographs.
When a child asks “could I?”, and refers to
research, doing by hand, positive chores, we say Yes! We build knowledge
together in a community, and we share the results. Knowledge is constructed by the children. By asking
questions and looking for the answers children need to discover or construct
their own ideas.
Adults begin to observe, listen, monitor and writes down the interesting
opinions and questions and observations of each child in a diary. So to say,
adults start to document the children scientific thinking process.
Fostering scientific learning (Edistäminen)
The children can suggest experts, to whom we can
ask for consultation. Sharing expertise creates new knowledge and understanding
that no child in pre-school can gain by his or herself. We visit school classes
for 15 minutes to present our research through animations, constructions and
photos. Everyone shares the responsibility
over the success of classroom.
Scientific project can help child to child
interaction/ making friends
It’s important how children get involved
together in classroom. We think children
should learn to be nice to every kind of people. I think Preschool classroom could be a little
society with its rules made together with children. However, sometimes it is
really hard for some children to get a friend and find out who is interested in
same things as I am.
In our science projects we learn that children
can work together, they are creative and positive when they managed to learn
trough their strengths. One of them knows something, they discuss and share the
information, someone knows a little more and they realize that together they
are wiser than alone, we complement and strength each other.
One important thing in projects was that
preschool teachers, day care nurses and all people working with them in a
classroom are interested in same things:
Developing of science thinking in children let them make
questions as much as possible and support their own skills to find out answers.
By doing scientific thinking together
in a classroom children learn a lot!
How we work together with parents
We report the research
results and research problems to the parents through Wilma (school- internet
connection system) and the kids also research at home.
We support children to
tell their parents about projects and parents can support scientific thinking
to taking part of project. About this you can read more in case stories.
In our classroom for 10
years already, research about the joy of learning has been based on children’s
activity: water purification, friction (how to make a sleigh slide best), rock
study etc.
Our Case stories:
Stone studies
At year 2010 we were playing outside. A 6- year old boy was holding a stone in his
hand, thinking whether or not to throw the stone? Please do not throw the stone
I said, it can be a treasure. Then he started to look for interesting stones.
During the lunch we discussed about stones in classroom. Next day many children
started to do the same: trying to find really interesting stones.
Some of our adults said that it is not allowed
to dig a hole to the ground, someone may get hurt. But it was too late because
the children had decided to build a mine already. They asked me what we need to
warn adults and especially the young people who might come to the Kindergarten
yard at night. Whom to ask? We discussed together about this and I wrote
everything down. Children were thinking:”We should ask policeman/does someone
work at mine/ Lets ask grandfather”. We asked and soon our “stone scientists”
got answers. They need security fence, road signs, so let’s make them!
The digging the ground was the most popular
thing, but children said they also needed trackman and woman, someone was
looking for ore, someone tried to find stones of certain shape, someone tried
to make stones smooth. Someone was sure that she is going to set up a mining
and she promised that the other children can come to work at her mine. I thought
it was up to me to say: Yes, it is possible! I am sure that it is going to
happen!
Children hurried everyday outside to work at
their mines. Children gave ideas what to do next. And we also had really many
stones inside the classroom, it was sometimes little bit chaotic. We needed boxes
and every child brought a box to their treasure stones.
One boy at the age of 12 noticed that pre-school
children were knocking on the rocks with a hammer. He asked what they were doing.
Indeed that schoolboy was also interested of stones and rocks. Next Friday he
came to visit us to the preschool and he hold about 100 stones with him. He
told the names of the stones, how he had found them and children listened
really focused to stories.
One morning and I started my discussion with
children in a classroom:”Dear stone scientists I have invited you here to find
out what kind of stones you have collected.” We look the stones and everyone started
to act like scientist while they tried to find out answers to their problems: Can they make a mark to the glass? Are stones magnetic?
What shapes and colours they can find?
Locally mine Nord Kalk informed in the newspaper
that they had open doors on weekend. We informed every child’s family about
open doors and asked them to visit the mine. I visited also the mine with my
family, and next Monday there were smiling children at classroom who showed
pictures, told how big the trucks were and guess what I also saw you, Kirsi!
They were exciting!
In addition I manage to get children to see the
stone collection of the school. The stone researchers compared they own stones
to those at school. What is similar, what is different? We got treasures from
abroad and children noticed that stones near the seas were different than
stones near the lakes. Children started to build stone grinding machines and
also they build trucks and cars which can transfer stones. We looked how the
stone is marked on the map and wandered at forest looking for the stone with a
map. We found two big stones. How the stones came here? That lead us to think
what is the ridge and what the Ice Age did to our home area.
Forest studies
In Finland we have forest everywhere. Children
asked: Why we have forests, if trees are felled? How there is still trees
everywhere? How the age of the tree is calculated? These questions leaded us
the forest-project at year 2013 – 2014. In
that time we used to visit couple of hours at the same forest every week. Every
Tuesday tree scientists took a photo of their "own" tree, and they study
how the trees change during the year, can you fix the branch with tape, why all
the leaves were yellow this autumn. We send questions to gardeners and to the
man who was the author of forest-book. Docent
Kimmo Saarinen walked with us in a forest and children asked difficult
questions from him. We found out that even the forest professor did not know
everything.
We visited the forest early in the morning when
it was dark outside and also in daylight. The children made movies of insects
of the forest. We had a popular movie Metsän Tarina (Story of Forest) and we
borrowed it children homes to watch movie with parents. We discussed a lot! We
found acorns and made a research what a tree needs to grow, does it need only
water? Every child had their own acorns and at November they got little oak
seedlings to home. We read a book Seven carbon brothers (Seitsemän hiili
veljestä) and it toured every home. While parents read they had two questions
to think: What part of the book was your favourite? Where would you hide if you
were one of the carbon brothers?
Water studies
Year 2012 we spend the
whole year exploring and studying water.
There is big Lake Saimaa near the preschool. Every week we visited the
lake Saimaa. Children purified dirty
water with they own ideas of purifying, they examined the buoyancy of the wood,
we tried to blow soap bubbles and frozen them. Children found out that in a
very windy and cold day the bubbles went frozen. We found out how the
temperature of the lake changes, what happens at lake during four seasons, we
examined systematically every week. In the winter time we went ice fishing and
measured the thickness of the ice. We made ice buildings and watched what
happens during the spring. And of course we took photos.
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