Teaching Kindergarten Science Lessons
1 2Create an atmosphere of exploration
Teaching kindergarten science lessons and a learning environment full of energy and enthusiasm naturally go together.
Read to find out what science skills your kindergarten students need to learn and what they need to know about life, physical, and earth and space science.
Find out how to create an atmosphere of exploration, problem solving and creative thought processes when teaching kindergarten science lessons. Remember that your students are at the beginning stages of acquiring science skills and knowledge and that learning these skills will continue throughout the primary grades.
When teaching kindergarten science lessons,
fill the
children’s environment with:
- objects to touch
- opportunities to experiment and explore
- materials to record observations
- an atmosphere of exploration, problem solving and creative thought
To promote curious, young scientists when teaching kindergarten science lessons, make use of the children's natural inquisitiveness. They are always eager to try new science projects and activities.
To find out more about kindergarten science fair projects or to find ideas for projects read Kindergarten Science Fair Projects and kindergarten Science Fair Ideas.
Four, five, and six-year-old scientists are natural explorers and are curious about their world. They learn by taking part in meaningful experiences, through play, by experimenting and inventing and through social interaction.
If your classroom contains child friendly displays of interesting objects from the natural and physical world and opportunities for children to experiment, ask questions and record their observations, you will encourage your students to be confident, creative thinkers and problem solvers.
The students will enjoy the process of learning and will want to try new things. Teaching with themes also offer many opportunities to teach kindergarten science lessons.
What kindergarten science skills should children learn?
Skills lists vary geographically, but in general, when teaching kindergarten science lessons include opportunities for your students to practice the skills of observation, collecting, and communicating. The skills are the framework for teaching the topics of life, physical, and earth and space sciences.
Observation - students are able to:
- gather information using their five senses
- know what body part is used to gather specific sensory information
- describe their observations, I see.. I hear… I can smell...
- identify, with help, the shape, texture, hardness. etc. of an object
- relate what they have learned to other areas of learning
Collecting - students are able to:
- collect information by counting objects, taking part in surveys, measuring, and doing simple experiments
- use the words never, sometimes, and always to describe the chance of things happening
- describe their observations, I see.. I hear… I can smell...
- ask questions about the information they have gathered (data)
- compare data using measurement terms - bigger, smaller
- draw a picture of their data using one-to-one correspondence
Communicating – students are able to:
- talk about their observations using new vocabulary
- work with others by sharing, listening, and encouraging
- with help, show their information in a realistic and organized way
- with help, show their information in different ways -pictures, graphs, with some math and writing
- share ideas about why the thing they observed happened
- ask "I wonder how" or "I wonder why" questions
Science and math go hand in hand. Have the children collect, display, and look over data when you teach kindergarten science lessons. |
Go from science lessons to "what topics do I teach?"
- Life Sciences - characteristics of living things
- Physical science - the study of non-living things
- Earth and Space Sciences
All science pages:
Science lessons -Read to find out what science skills your kindergarten students need to learn and what topics to teach.
Teaching science - When teaching science to young children, provide them with lots of objects to examine from the natural and physical world.
Science center - Create a child centered kindergarten science center that is easy to change and reflects the skills and knowledge that the children need to learn.
Science center materials & equipment - There are many everyday items as well as commercial science center materials and equipment that are available to teach children about science. Suggestions are listed in the three main science skill categories.
Kindergarten science fair projects - that match the kindergarten science learning outcomes are preferable. A project that represents mostly parent thinking, planning and presentation benefits the parent more than the child.
More kindergarten science fair ideas - Play with friction, air, plants, your dog and more.
Show & Tell - a springboard for science and math education - Use show and tell times to increase science and math concepts.
Light and color - teach science vocabulary such as opaque, transparent, translucent, reflection...
Winter science activities - observe the power of ice and learn about the properties of water
Apple Science - learn how tools help us and practice the skills of observation and data collection
