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Readings for Module 5:

Primary Science

Chapter 7 - Helping Children to Observe

Ready, Set, Science

Chapter 2 - The Four Strands of Science

Chapter 6 - Making Thinking Visible: Modeling and Representation

Prompts:

In terms of supporting young children with making scientific observations and using models and representations to show their thinking:

What are your biggest takeaways for your practice?

What strengths do you have already in these areas? (Your Glows)

What are areas that you would like to work on more intentionally? (Your Grows)?

In relation to the 4 strands of science:

How is each strand represented in your curriculum (overview only - no need to go in-depth)?

Which strand are you most comfortable with? Least comfortable with?

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When it comes to supporting young children with making scientific observations and using models and representations to show their thinking my biggest takeaways from my practice are the importance of:

Developing the process skills of observing supports childrenś ability to find information that will extend their understanding and thinking

The importance of observing similarities with familiar objects

That often when children observe differences between familiar objects, they often confuse their understanding

The benefits of observations for young children stimulate their scientific thinking and inquiry

The strengths that I already have are:

My kindergarten children have the opportunity to observe the different materials that are provided in the classroom

I have children observe objects throughout our science investigations

The areas that I would  like to work on more intentionally are:

To spend more time when it comes to discussions around science

Bringing observations together to connect them to help with conceptual development

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Each strand is represented in my kindergarten curriculum by:

Strand 1- Understanding Scientific Explanation

We teach background knowledge through PowerPoint presentations

Strand 2- Generating Scientific Evidence

We conduct scientific experiments/ investigations that relate to the scientific concept

Strand 3- Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge

We have discussions and explain our thinking

Strand 4- Participating Productively in Science

Every kindergartener participates in the science experiments/ investigations and every kindergartener participates in discussions

The strand that I am most comfortable with is strand one, understanding scientific explanations.  In the past couple of weeks, we have been learning about force and motion.  My kindergartners have been demonstrating push and pull motions with their actions.  The strand that I am least comfortable with is strand three, reflecting on scientific knowledge.  As an educator, I do not feel confident in the questions and prompts to give to my students to have them think more critically about core concepts and explanations to support their thinking.

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In terms of supporting young children with making scientific observations and using models and representations to show their thinking, my biggest takeaways are:

All observable things can be observed differently based on individuals’ background, interests, or a variety of other variables. My students have a wide range of experiences and therefore may be focused on different aspects of whatever they’re observing.

When observing two things, finding the differences is often easier yet the “observation of similarities is really more important” (Harlen, 2001, p.89). When playing an SEL game earlier in the year my students were talked at finding similarities in a group of plastic animals. They had a very hard time naming similarities instead of differences but were able to once challenged to look at the bigger picture rather than one component.

Some benefits of observation include “stimulating scientific investigation, extending knowledge of the world, drawing conclusions from investigations, [and] conceptual development”. (Harlen, 2001, p.91-92).

I think some strengths I have in these areas include providing students opportunities to observe a variety of materials. I regularly switch out our materials, go on walks, and spend time in the forest with my students. During these times we’re constantly talking about what we’re experiencing with our five senses. As far as representations and models go, I think I have a decent array of materials at their disposal so they can represent their thinking.

Some areas I would like to work on more intentionally are modeling thinking using materials and continuing to practice asking appropriate questions to help expand students’ observation (while not necessarily guiding them towards a particular outcome).

In relation to the four strands of science:

In my program the four strands of science are incorporated in the following ways.

1. Understanding Scientific Explanations:

1. We teach concepts such as characteristics of life and how they change overtime using books, real world materials, and discussions.

2. Generating Scientific Evidence

1. We conduct experiments to investigate and observe how things happen/change.

3. Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge

1. We participate in group discussions and reflect on experiences in our journals.

4. Participating Productively in Science

1. All students participate in our formal science experiments/investigations and all students’ thoughts/ideas are welcomed into the discussion.

I think I’m most comfortable with Participating Productively in Science because I’ve worked really hard to cultivate a kind, caring, and supportive environment in my classroom, which allows for this strand of science to occur. I’m probably least comfortable with Generating Scientific Explanations because I’m still relatively new to preschool science instruction. I sometimes find myself deciding what science I want to teach then referring to the VELs and trying to ensure that it relates.

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Take-aways -

Observation is a skill that is used in all stages of inquiry.

A teacher’s role is to provide many opportunities for observation and allow ample time for observation and discussion.

Children enjoy noticing similarities and differences, sequences, and patterns.

Glows -

I always aim to allow time for exploration and play when first using/observing a new material/object/phenomenon.

Grows -

I appreciated the note about how natural it can be for children to make comparisons, noticing similarities and differences, and would like to integrate these types of observations more intentionally in my practice. My students love “I spy” type books!

4 Strands representation -
Understanding scientific representations - I strive to allow time for student reflection of what we’re learning - both in discussion and in writings/drawings. I could grow by creating more opportunities for applying this learning in novel situations.

Generating scientific evidence - We haven’t done a lot with generating scientific evidence, however we do class votes to make decisions as group, for example, which builds towards this concept of collecting data to interpret.
Reflection on scientific knowledge -  I see this when students share their knowledge/ideas during something we’re learning and occasionally when their ideas shift due to a new understanding. This has happened during our 4 Winds (volunteer-led, nature-based) program.

Participating productively in science - This seems to be the ultimate goal - having students act as scientists! We do this to a degree (studying animal tracks on our campus comes to mind), but I definitely have room for growth here in terms of creating opportunities for students to collect and interpret data and participate in all aspects of a scientific study!

Most/least comfortable with -
I am most comfortable with generating scientific evidence. This seems to be one of the earliest steps in this process. I am least comfortable with reflection on scientific knowledge, as I think it’s really difficult for students to reevaluate their preconceived ideas about something.

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My biggest take aways for my practice are:

Observing the similarities between objects; though more difficult, is more beneficial. Building skills through observation allows for deeper understanding.

It is the teachers role to provide many opportunities for observation and reflection.

Glows- I do feel like my students get a good sense of the use of representations in the classroom. We record data for times like calendar in our classroom, recording the weather. We also record days of school. I think this is helpful in them seeing and using representation.

Grows- I feel like I have so many grows when it comes to science. I want my students to have more observation time, more time for discourse and just to be able to dive deeper into science.

The 4 Strands of Science:

I feel like each strand of science is represented in the classroom, to an extent.

1. Understanding Scientific Explanations-This is likely the one I would say is most successful in my classroom as we spend time reading text related to our topic and explore a lot of vocabulary and truly get to an understanding of what we are talking about.

2. Generating Scientific Knowledge- This is a grow for me. We do not have a lot of time to spend in class diving into experiments and exploration to really support our learning and thoughts. So though #1 is a glow, it feels surface level, because we can't often get to this place. Though-I have made it happen in certain areas like force and motion, they loved participating in stations where they got to test their learning. However, we did not record our findings.

3. Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge-again something I wish we had more time for. We do often have the chance to revisit and reflect on our learning, but not as long as I would like. Especially if we did do a more involved and hands on activity that day, we may not have a lot of time for reflection and discourse.

4. Participating Productively in Science-This is a glow, I do believe that students even from relating to texts to being involved in hands on activities in the classroom, they are able to share their learning from either anchor charts we have made together, to reflections in journals, to creations like their seeds in a bag they got to bring home. Again, I do always wish I had more time so they could really be more immersed in it.

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Take aways -

Observations for students are key for them to gather information about everything in the world around them.

Students need to find similarities and differences, detect patterns, and relationships, and sequence events.  Students can be effective learners by investigating the world around them.

Teachers need to give ample opportunities for students to observe, ask questions, And give students time to discuss their discoveries.

Glows- I feel like students in my classroom have time to explore and question materials and items I put out for them to observe. We use graphs to represent data such as which plant is taller, which apples taste better, or if there are more boys or girls in our families. We discuss what the graph represents as a class to build an understanding of what the data shows. Hopefully, this will make it easier for them to understand moving forward with more science-based discussions in the future.

Grows- I need to grow in this area. I feel like this is a new area for me to dive into as a preschool teacher, and I want to develop the use of science journals, and observation, and give students time to explore and discuss many new topics, which I will be gaining knowledge right along with them.

4 strands of science:

1.) Understanding, scientific representational - In my classroom, most of this is done through reading nonfiction books and watching videos, such as National Geographic to help explain concepts.  We have discussions about what we noticed, what we have learned, and what we want to know more about. Once we finish a topic we go back and address the chart we made to review and reflect on all of the information we have learned.

2.) Generating scientific evidence- This is a new territory for me, as well as my students. We will learn and grow as we develop the skills as a class.  The first evidence we collected had to do with germinating seeds, which was not very successful. However, we learned quite a bit just through the process.

3.) Reflecting on scientific knowledge - this is an area that I can grow in as well as my students. We have dabbled in reflecting on the knowledge that we have gained on growing seeds, bears, and the lifecycle of a butterfly. However, I feel like I could go back and let students demonstrate their learning. This could be as simple as asking a focusing question and making a prediction, and then, at the end of the unit seeing how their answer changes or how they adjust what they know.  I look forward to seeing what this will look like in the future.

4.) Participating productively in science - this is an area where I feel like my students and I can grow as well. As we are just starting to get comfortable with science in our classroom, I am excited to see how engaged and excited my students are when we talk about different experiments that we can do, and discussing what they think might happen with the seeds that we have just sprouted.   We made predictions about which plant was the tallest, and why some might not have been as tall. Now I look forward to seeing if we can explore this question further. I am excited to see what students determine needs to happen in the future.  I do feel like journaling, and having discussions with students individually is already showing me what students know and understand. But I have so much to learn.

What I am most/least comfortable with-

What I am most comfortable with is letting the students know that I don’t have all the answers, and I am just as excited to learn right along with them.

What I am least comfortable with is teaching science at a pre-K level is new learning for me. I want to make sure I engage students at a level that they are able to understand and build a strong foundation for them moving forward as learners.

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Takeaways:

Prior experience plays a role in what children notice and observe.

Discussion and problem-posing can go a long way in tying observations to the building of ideas.

Revisiting a second short observation with a focusing question or prompt can support concept-building.

Focusing on differences as well as similarities in science observations can help build concept formation as we build children’s capacity to recognize patterns in those similarities and differences.

Glows:

I use a lot of productive questions that keep children talking about their observations. I also return to experiences over time, which gives children time and practice with their observations. When I share something they observed or thought in the last experience, they are provided an opportunity to connect to that experience and support or revise their thoughts based on what is presented and what they notice.

Grows:

I often ask children what they notice, but I can lean into focusing those observations. I liked the idea of going deeper into the first observation shared rather than continuing to get everyone’s first observation. Instead, children can build off of the first observation.

I can spend more time using symbolic representation with children. Even the oldest children in the group are only 5 so their representational drawings are just beginning, but I can draw with them and guide them in drawing differences - such as a seed that hasn’t germinated and a seed that has a root growing.

Based on Ready, Set, Science, I should put more time into having children fill in simple graphs and diagrams.

4 strands of science:

Understanding scientific explanations - Much of this is represented in content-specific read-alouds.

Generating scientific evidence - This is represented in our playful, hands-on experiences coupled with productive questions and talk moves that encourage children to problem solve in their pursuits.

Reflecting on scientific knowledge - This is represented when we return to activities and compare our new observations to our previous experiences.

Participating productively in science - This is represented in our small and large group explorations that encourage collaboration.

Comfort Levels:

I am very comfortable supporting children in generating scientific evidence and reflecting on it.

I sometimes struggle with how to explicitly tie their observations and experiences back to concept-development as children are at different ages (and developmental stages) and at different interest-levels in engaging in non-fiction reading and explanations. I don’t provide much teacher-directed instruction in understanding scientific explanations, and I wonder sometimes if I am striking the right balance between their explorations (curated as they may be) and direct instruction.

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One of my biggest takeaways with scientific observation in relation to my preschool classroom is keeping in mind the differences each child brings to the discussion. Their experiences shape their world and giving the amount of time to process the information.

My strength is my first reaction is to ask questions like, what do you notice and leaving enough space for everyone to share. Being aware of your students and their reactions to the materials, being aware of what questions to ask to spur their curiosity.

My grow is allowing time to extend these observations. I feel so rushed in a half day model for preschool with 2 classes. I love science, and would like to include more ways to record the information as well as incorporate them into our ECO day. Hoping to allow time for both with nicer weather to bring materials like journals to the forest.

4 strands of Scientific Observation:

Understanding: In preschool the base knowledge of understanding is in everything we do. Getting to know the why and how is a natural curiosity that preschoolers bring.

Generating: This is in my classroom with play and hands on activities. I would like to include more ways to create something to reflect back on, such as a journal.

Reflecting: I want to include more time to reflect and create the time for that conversation. Perhaps by creating something to reflect on, such as a journal, we could then build that time to review them together. It's so hard to have enough time for everything!

Participating: I think getting everyone to participate is something I shine in. Getting everyone excited and interested in what we are doing is something I aim for. Finding a way to get everyone invested and excited is one of my favorite parts.

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In terms of supporting young children with making scientific observations and using models and representations to show their thinking:

What are your biggest takeaways for your practice?

Regarding observations, I think my biggest takeaway is that observations do not take in all of the information available. They are selective and based on “existing ideas and expectations” (Harlan, 2001, p. 86). Therefore there are some things that teachers can do to guide the children in making specific observations including providing opportunities, encouragement, time, asking focus questions, and discussing what was or could be observed (Harlen, 2001, p. 98).

Regarding representations and models, I took away that it is difficult for children to use representations and models for phenomena. However, it can be taught and should be taught progressively over many years. This allows students to be able to use increasingly more symbolic representations in their work (or inquiry data) over time, which leads to more complex questions. Preschoolers' representations will be very similar to the real object of interest with little representation (Michaels et al., 2023, p. 118).

What strengths do you have already in these areas? I am enthusiastic about providing students with opportunities to make observations.

What are areas that you would like to work on more intentionally? I really need to work on facilitating group discussions and using productive questions with individuals. I would like to start to experiment with developing simple bar graphs with preschoolers.

In relations to the 4 strands of science:

How is each strand represented in your curriculum?

Strand one is represented when the preschoolers are interacting with various materials. Recently we have been working with construction materials. Students are exploring using tools and building things with blocks and ramps. Scientific explanations are incorporated with conversations in small groups during play and exploration.

Strand two is represented when we discuss the question-of-the-day and how many students voted yes versus no.

Strand three is represented when we make observations about a natural phenomenon, discuss it in a group, and listen to various viewpoints.

Strand four is also represented in a group during read-alouds and class discussions.

Which strand are you most comfortable with/ Lease comfortable with?

I am most comfortable with strands one and three. It comes naturally to me to introduce science topics discuss them and consider how they may evolve.

I am less comfortable with strands two and four which involve collecting data with very young children and facilitating large group discussions.

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What are your biggest takeaways for your practice?

My biggest takeaway related to observation is the importance of discussion and focusing questions related to observations. Adding in more discussion and focus-question time will help children hone their observational skills and to engage in more inquiry and problem solving.

What strengths do you have already in these areas? (Your Glows)

We provide lots of oppurutinites for observation, child exploration of materials.  We prioritize time for children to have open ended discovery of these materials in both our indoor and outdoor classrooms.  We have a focus observation time daily in our “sit spots” and sometimes have discussion of those observations.

What are areas that you would like to work on more intentionally? (Your Grows)?

We could work more on using focused questions to drive more detailed observations and discovery.  In small groups, we could spend more time asking specific questions to help children look more closely or see things from a different perspective.

In relation to the 4 strands of science:

How is each strand represented in your curriculum (overview only - no need to go in-depth)?

Strand 1: Understanding Scientific Explanations in our preschool classroom is represented by the varied content areas available to students.  In a nature based program were children are outdoors for long periods of time they are interacting with the natural world daily.  We have a strong content area of food science including cooking and growing food.  Our literacy curriculum is aligned with these curriculum areas and can support understanding, presents new ideas, and acknowledges relationships within the natural world.

Strand 2: Generating Scientific Evidence in present in our classroom in the open-ended play and experimentation that happens.  The children have been working on building a “wood Chipper”  out of sticks and have the time, materials, and encouragement to figure out how to balance sticks in a structure that can hold its self up.  They experiment with design and remodeling to get the desired structure.

Strand 3: Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge can be see with focused discussions related to an observation. When a child finds a hole in the ground, the teacher facilities discussion about what might live there, what they know about the animals that they are guessing might occupy that space and then using eachother’s knowledge and the environment to give them more clues all guided by a group discussion.

Strand 4: Participating Productively in Science happens often when children collaborate on a building project.  Together the children navigate their goals for construction and how they will accomplish this, including what to do when the really tall skinny building fails.

Which strand are you most comfortable with? Least comfortable with?

I am the most comfortable with participating productively in Science.  Our classroom has a lot of elements of science and children are encouraged to participate and work together in small groups of 2-3 to investigate ideas.  I am the least comfortable with Strand 3 which seems to be the why question.  Guiding children towards discovery of why things work a certain way can be a challenge as I have the tendency to want to just explain instead of allowing for trial and error to build evidence.

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What are your biggest takeaways for your practice?

Giving children sufficient time to make observations is beneficial to their learning. It gives them time to play with the new materials and focus on details rather than quick observations where these details may be overlooked.

Ask focusing questions during group discussions to give students a chance to talk in more detail about their observations. Requesting students to draw and label their observations helps them to focus on the details.

Provide materials in the classroom for students to touch and observe throughout the day.

Give students opportunities to look for similarities and differences in their observations.

Give students ample opportunities in the sequencing of events (ie life cycle of an apple). Provide pictures or real-life materials for students to touch and sequence.

Be intentional about the types of questions you are asking students. Allow time for the whole group and small group discussion so students have time to share what they observed with one another.

My glow would be I give students time to observe new materials and to come up with ideas about how things work. I bring students back to the whole group and we have meaningful conversations, I ask productive questions to keep the conversation going, and I validate student ideas and comments as they make connections to the materials.

My grow would be to put out materials in the classroom for children to observe and explore during other times of the day. I could be more intentional about this by setting up a small science exploration area in the classroom where students could touch and observe materials in the morning, during their free choice time, or by integrating the materials into other subjects throughout the day.

4 Strands of Science: How is each strand represented in your curriculum? (short overview)

Strand 1: Understanding scientific explanations-

We read non-fiction books about the scientific topics we are covering, watch videos, explore materials, and have whole group conversations about topics.

Strand 2: Generating scientific evidence-

We grow plants during our life science unit and keep track of the growth in science journals. We talk about the changes we notice and discuss what plants need to survive.

Strand 3: Reflecting on scientific knowledge-

We talk about the changes we notice, make predictions about what we think may or may not happen and discuss what plants need to survive. We share our journal entries (drawings and labeling) whole group.

Strand 4: Participating productively in science-

We work in small groups when sequencing events giving students time to work together to talk and plan sequence of events. Groups come back together as a whole group to share their thinking and connections.

Which strand are you most comfortable with? Least comfortable with?

I feel most comfortable with strand 1. I feel I am able to help students learn the facts and concepts about the topic we are studying by providing them the materials and time they need to observe, explore, make predictions, and come to an understanding.

I feel the least comfortable strand 3- I want to become better at challenging my students to go back and try a different approach if their prediction is incorrect and guide them to understand that being wrong doesn't mean giving up. I want to encourage them to test another idea based on what they already know to be true.

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My biggest takeaway in terms of helping children observe in the class room are:

“Our existing concepts and knowledge affect what we see or hear or feel(Harlen, pg 86).” Not everyones observations will be similar or what you expect/ hope for them to be.

Providing Oppertunities for different aspects of observations help to develop these skills. Often times my focus of observations is based on sight. I think I can be more intentional about activity set up to hit more of the senses when practicing these skills

Observations of similarities is more important than observations of differences. This one kind of blew my mind and made it onto my grow list! So often when practicing observations I ask whats different about these which can lead to confusion!

My glow is: I think I am pretty strong in facilitating the group discussions with the class about what we are seeing and observing. This often times leads to really awesome science talk and great communication between peers.

My grow is: providing more opportunities for them to make observations outside of science lessons and providing opportunities with less structure. I was thinking a good time for this would be morning provications setting up some invitations to observe and writing a prompt like what is the same or even what do you notice.

Four Strands of Scientific Learning

1. Understanding Scientific Explinations

Science information is given to students using visuals, books, or often time anchor charts and models

2. Generating Scientific Evidence

This strand includes alot of information. Some of the things like developing measures and collecting data from them are complex for young learners but we definitely implement tools and measures. Magnifying glasses and scales are used in my classrooms. Often times when collecting and recording data or observations we do this as a group on anchor charts

3. Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge.

Mostly this shows up in large or small group circles when we are reflecting or observing something in our experiment. My students excel in generating questions!

4. Participating Productivly in Science.

I think this shows up in our group disscusions but I would love to have students have more discussions with peers instead of facilitated discusions with the whole group. I think this is my biggest area for growth. The challenge is getting all kids interested in science in meaningful ways which has been hard due to my large class size and inconsistent support staff. Some children are really interested while other are just kind of there not getting much out of the lessons.

I am most comfortable with 1 and 3 and think I have room for growth with 2 and 4!

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Observations and models

1. Our role in helping children learn to observe is so very important in early education. Developing the skill of observation allows children to seek consciously for information that will extend their thinking. We can help children develop their skills of observation by: (1) discussing observations, (2) allowing appropriate time for careful observation, (3) providing invitations and opportunities to observe, (4) asking appropriate questions to focus the observation and (5) enabling students to extend their range of observations (Harlen, 2001).

1. Models/representations will look different and will become increasingly complex as you go through the different grade bands Using all forms of symbolic representation (maps, graphs, tables, charts, expressions, diagrams, etc) can be developed in early childhood and lead to more advanced modeling in the future. In fact, according to Ready, Set, SCIENCE!, "Increased competence in using a wider range of representational types both accompanied and helped promote conceptual change". (National Research Council, 2008)

2. I think that some glows I have in this area are asking an appropriate range of questions (attention-focusing, action, problem-posing, etc), allowing time for thoughtful observation and creating engaging opportunities for observation throughout the school day. Another glow I think we have as a program is offering a variety of types of modeling/opportunities to model representations.

3. I would like to work on allowing for extension of their range of observations so that we can elaborate further on the learning. I would also like to do more data collecting with the children (this can be done in morning circle, in the forest, during chill time, etc).

4 Strands of Science

1. Strand one, Understanding scientific representations: natural science focus (hibernation, mammals, butterfly life cycle, tadpole life cycle, tracking, signs of spring, etc). This is done through fiction and nonfiction readings, sensory activities, observation opportunities, interactive storytelling, etc. One example is that we read "Willow the Water Bear" as well as a non fiction book about Tardigrades to the children and discuss what we know about them. Then, we go on a nature walk to find a tardigrades habitat (moss) and use hand lenses to observe the moss.

2. Strand two, Generating Scientific Evidence: in my classroom, this strand can be seen in many places. For one, when we encounter something new in the forest or in our outdoor playspace, I often will use attention-focusing and problem posing questions in order to help facilitate a quality discussion on what we are observing. The goal is to bolster their knowledge of a subject by allowing them to formulate questions, decide what to do and how to do it, measure what they find and reporting that back to solve a problem/answer a question. One example fresh in my mind is when we found a patch of moss in the forest with "sporophytes" growing out of them (these are what release the spores to grow more moss). When we touched them, we saw the spores rise in dust-like clouds. While I presented attention focusing questions, the children began to ask and answer questions as well. They decided to look at the other moss and see if ALL moss had the sporophytes and if not, why. There's much more data collection/info to this process but it would take a long time to write down here.

3. Strand three, Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge: whenever we are debuting a new topic or emergent curriculum theme, we ask the students what they know first and hold a group discussion about it. During this discussion, there are often differing and opposing views. For instance, when asked if a tree is dead if it has no leaves, some thought yes, some thought no and some stated they had no idea. This helps get the children involved in part of the scientific process and gives me an idea of their background knowledge/ scientific exposure. From there, we always follow up with an activity (story, song, book, etc) that tests/ hones in on what we were discussing together as a group.

4. Strand 4, Participating productively in science- we do our best to make our many voyages into science fun, engaging and interest based. We want the children to work with their peers to meet a common goal or to solve a common problem. For this reason, we make sure to provide ample opportunities to do so. Whether this is by playing interactive group games or by sharing a collaborative story, it is important that we foster a positive attitude towards science in children while they are young so that they are motivated to be active and involved in future science spaces.

5. I am most comfortable with 1, 3 and 4 and feel like I could really benefit from focusing on 2 more so seeing as I am least comfortable with that strand.

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What are your biggest takeaways from your practice?

Existing expectations, experiences, and ideas influence what children observe.

Observing similarities is more important than observing differences.

Teachers can encourage effective observation by providing lots of opportunities and invitations, as well as ample time, to observe.

Discussion and focus questions are important for improving children’s observational skills and skills using models and representations.

What strengths do you have in those areas? (your glows)

I feel like my students have lots of time to explore and investigate materials in our classroom. I also feel that I use productive questioning to support children in deepening their learning and making observations about their investigations and the materials.

What areas would you like more work on? (your grows)

I think incorporating more science and its aspects in my classroom is a “grow” overall. I want to be more intentional with the experiences provided and incorporate more of these aspects, observations, models, representations, science discussions, etc. This is done a little bit, but it could be given more time and intentionality in my classroom. I think it is also a challenge for me to authentically incorporate these experiences and opportunities into my preschool classroom with the age and developmental range we have.

How is each strand represented in your curriculum?

1. Understanding Scientific Explanations

This shows up in preschool in much of what we do since this is the age which many simple scientific concepts are being introduced through play, hands-on activities, and inquiry. This also shows up in some of our books.

2. Generating Scientific Evidence

This also shows up in play and hands-on activities that are provided. We do collect data around different activities (who liked which kind of apple better? Comparing weather from previous days, discussing and comparing and contrasting the question of the day answers, etc.)

3. Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge

This is represented when we revisit activities and compare them to past experiences. I also ask productive questions about experiences to encourage children to predict and reflect. This is an area that could be a “grow” for me and my classroom. I would like to spend more time reflecting and revisiting experiences through group discussions.

4. Participating Productively in Science

I feel that our classroom encourages curiosity, investigation, and collaboration. We provide opportunities for children to collaborate on projects and work together to find solutions.

Which strand are you most comfortable with? Least comfortable?

I am most comfortable with the Participating Productively in Science strand and least comfortable with the Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge strand.