Why Teach Science to Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 2nd Grade Students?
Let’s think back to a time when you walked into a kindergarten, 1st grade or 2nd grade classroom. What did you see? What did you hear? Were the students sitting on the floor listening to a page-turning story? Were they sitting in seats actively using crayons to draw images? Were they moving around in centers with their peers, full of excitement while trying new things? Certainly these youngsters were enjoying any activity you observed! This is the best part about these early years. These young students love to learn and they have a natural curiosity!
So why not take advantage of this natural curiosity and provide them with more science experiences?
Let’s identify simple machines!
Early learners are excellent observers and are very good at asking questions. In fact, if there is one phrase we associate most with youngsters it would be, “Why?” Even if this is one of the shortest of questions, it still shows their curiosity. We should build upon it!
Hand on activities using
Science4Us
Kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade students also love to play! Early science is all about exposing our students to foundational science skills. Many times this simply means just looking at objects, using magnets, drawing pictures, watching things happen, using manipulatives. To them, these are all forms of play!
Another skill that moves beyond science is learning how to interact with each other. Science lends itself to conversations and the sharing of tools and ideas too. Young learners can start building these essential social skills while having fun with science.
In general, it’s important to recognize that once our early learners move into the higher grades, it seems that the emphasis on science fun changes slightly. With state mandated testing and critical teacher evaluations, there is more pressure on our students. Let’s use these K-2 years to our advantage and provide these young students with a solid science start. Mainly because research shows that this early start in science education will positively influence science achievement in grades 3-5.
Let’s do a virtual experiment
with motion!
So it seems that our K-2 classrooms are wonderful and practical places to start learning science and common core skills. They are naturally curious, great observers, ask questions, love to play and can learn to positively interact together. Let’s let our youngsters not only observe the moments, but learn in the moments!
About Science4Us:
Science4Us is a K-2, digitally delivered science curriculum that allows K-2 students the opportunities to build important foundational science skills. Through the 5E Model, teachers are given the best strategy to provide a solid science lesson to their kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade students. Real-time science experiments, fast feedback and game-based play encourages early learners to excel in science and foster future STEM careers!
