Science Standards
Early Childhood

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Young children are naturally interested in everything they see around them – soil, rocks, streams, rain, sand and shells. Science should include experiences that provide for the study of Earth’s materials and the discovery of their patterns and changes over time. Since children cannot directly interact with sky or space, learning experiences with the sky or space are based on observing it.  Preschool children learn about the earth and space when they play shadow tag, talk about things they do during the day and at night, add water to dirt while making mud pies and paint with water on the sidewalk and notice that the pictures soon disappear. Continuous opportunities to clean up

their immediate space, the playground and to collect and recycle materials support young learners’ understanding about their role in respecting, protecting, preserving and caring for the natural world and environment. Children are very interested in the outdoor environment, naturally use it as a laboratory for learning and enjoy drawing or charting what they see and think.

 

The Universe

1. Begin to use terms such as night and day, sun and moon to

describe personal observations.

2. Observe and represent the pattern of day and night through

play, art materials or conversation.

Processes that Shape the Earth

3. Observe, explore, and compare changes that animals and

plants contribute to in their surroundings (e.g., falling

leaves, holes left by worms or squirrels).

4. Explore and compare changes in the environment over

time (e.g., leaves changing colors, outdoor temperature,

plants growing).

5. Explore how their actions may cause changes in the

environment that are sometimes reversible (e.g., hand in

flowing water changes the current) and sometimes

irreversible (e.g., picked flowers wilt and die).

6. Demonstrate understanding of fast and slow relative to

time, motion and phenomena (e.g., ice melting, plant

growth).

7. Observe and use language or drawings to describe changes

in the weather (e.g., sunny to cloudy day).

 

Life science is about living things. Young children should be provided direct experiences with living things, their life cycles and their habitats. Although understanding is emerging, children develop concepts of living and nonliving things, the behavior and needs of living things and respect for living things. Key ideas emerge from exploring the immediate environment. Therefore, a preschooler in Ohio might explore familiar plants and animals native to their area, studying how living things get food, their characteristics and how they change as they grow.

 

Characteristics and

Structure of Life

1. Identify common needs (e.g., food, air, water) of familiar

living things.

2. Begin to differentiate between real and pretend through

stories, illustrations, play and other media (e.g., talking flowers or animals).

Diversity and

Interdependence of Life

3. Observe and begin to recognize the ways that environments support life by meeting the unique needs of each organism (e.g., plant/soil, birds/air, fish/water).

Heredity

4. Match familiar adult family members, plants and animals with their young (e.g., horse/colt, cow/calf).

5. Recognize physical differences among the same class of people, plants or animals (e.g., dogs come in many sizes and colors).

 

Physical science is the study of the physical properties of materials and objects. Through exploration of materials, children learn about weight, shape, size, color and temperature. They explore how things move and change. Beginning concepts develop as young children act on objects to produce a desired effect, put objects together to form new constructions of various kinds and draw conclusions about how the desired effect was produced. When children make a block ramp to race cars, look through a kaleidoscope or pick up objects with magnets, they are learning about the physical properties of objects.

 

Nature of Matter

1. Explore and identify parts and wholes of familiar objects

(e.g., books, toys, furniture).

2. Explore and compare materials that provide many different

sensory experiences (e.g., sand, water, wood).

3. Sort familiar objects by one or more property (e.g., size,

shape, function).

 

Forces and Motion

4. Demonstrate understanding of motion related words (e.g.,

up, down, fast, slow, rolling, jumping, backward, forward).

5. Explore ways of moving objects in different ways (e.g.,

pushing, pulling, kicking, rolling, throwing, dropping).

 

Nature of Energy

 6. Explore musical instruments and objects and manipulate

one’s own voice to recognize the changes in the quality of

sound (e.g., talks about loud, soft, high, low, fast, slow).

7. Explore familiar sources of the range of colors and the

quality of light in the environment (e.g., prism, rainbow,

sun, shadow).

 

For young children, central ideas and skills related to science technology include identifying simple and familiar tools such as a magnifying glass or hammer, the use of appropriate tools to explore objects and phenomena or solve a problem and exploring creative uses for materials or objects. When preschool children appropriately use a hammer and a magnifying glass or use a paper towel roll as a telescope, they are learning about the importance and use of science technology.

 

Understanding

Technology

1. Identify the intended purpose of familiar tools (e.g.,

scissors, hammer, paintbrush, cookie cutter).

2. Explore new uses for familiar materials through play, art

or drama (e.g., paper towel rolls as kazoos, pan for a hat).

Abilities to do

Technological

Design

3. Use familiar objects to accomplish a purpose, complete a

task or solve a problem (e.g., using scissors to create paper

tickets for a puppet show, creating a ramp for a toy truck).

4. Demonstrate the safe use of tools, such as scissors,

hammers, writing utensils, with adult guidance.

 

Preschool children learn science by exploring the world around them. They develop an

understanding of science as they investigate and interact with real objects and phenomena. Children should be provided with a variety of simple equipment/materials and opportunities for playing, questioning, exploring, demonstrating, investigating and experimenting. Through scientific processes of inquiry or seeking answers based on their curiosities, young children predict, observe, collect or chart information over time, represent and formulate conclusions. Sharing books and stories, engaging in conversations and play provide varied opportunities for exploration, discovery and the communication of findings.

 

Doing Scientific

Inquiry

1. Ask questions about objects, organisms and events in their

environment during shared stories, conversations and play

(e.g., ask about how worms eat).

2. Show interest in investigating unfamiliar objects,

organisms and phenomena during shared stories,

conversations and play (e.g., “Where does hail come

from?”).

3. Predict what will happen next based on previous

experiences (e.g., when a glass falls off the table and hits

the tile floor, it most likely will break).

4. Investigate natural laws acting upon objects, events and

organisms (e.g., repeatedly dropping objects to observe the

laws of gravity, observing the life cycle of insects).

5. Use one or more of the senses to observe and learn about

objects, organisms and phenomena for a purpose (e.g., to

record, classify, compare, talk about).

6. Explore objects, organisms and events using simple

equipment (e.g., magnets and magnifiers, standard and

non-standard measuring tools).

7. Begin to make comparisons between objects or organisms

based on their characteristics (e.g., animals with four legs,

smooth and rough rocks).

8. Record or represent and communicate observations and

findings through a variety of methods (e.g., pictures,

words, graphs, dramatizations) with assistance.

 

Scientific Ways of Knowing for Early Childhood

Early impressions about who learns and does science appear to be persistent and lasting. For young children, science should be experienced in ways that actively engage young learners in the construction of ideas and explanations of doing science. Children’s ideas and explanations, whether accurate or not, should be valued and serve as a basis for further investigation and discovery. Science should be modeled as an activity for all learners, where they individually and collectively contribute to a growing understanding of the natural world.

 

Nature of Science

1. Offer ideas and explanations (through drawings, emergent

writing, conversation, movement) of objects, organisms

and phenomena, which may be correct or incorrect.

Ethical Practices

2. Recognize the difference between helpful and harmful

actions toward living thing (e.g., watering or not watering

plants).

Science and Society

3. Participate in simple, spontaneous scientific explorations

with others (e.g., digging to the bottom of the sandbox,

testing materials that sink or float).