Ideas for teaching science, social studies to young children

This semester I have taught a class in methods of science and social studies for young children. The ages of the children that this is geared towards are 3 to 8 years and encompass the preschool as well as the lower grades of elementary school.

Over the last 10 years, less attention has been paid to these two subjects and statistics have shown in test results that America lags behind the rest of the Western world in science. How could this be? Especially when in 1969 we were the first to put a man on the moon? As well as numerous other achievements in medicine, physics, biology, chemistry and others too numerous to mention! Teaching science and social studies in the early years relates to the need to expose our children to these concepts to assist in bringing American skills back to the top.

How do we approach science and social studies for young children? Children learn through a “hands on” approach. Telling children about science will not allow them to remember and internalize concepts. Early science can be fun for everyone involved. The sand box is an example of experimenting with textures and tools such as sifters, cups, rakes and trowels. Parents can use recycled food containers of different shapes and sizes.

When you help the children add water to the sand, it becomes a different consistency and the rudiments of chemistry begin. Chemistry is also taught by baking muffins together and making homemade play dough. As teachers, we learn to ask children what will happen when we change things. The concepts of floating and sinking can come from children experimenting with different types of objects. Heavy things sink and lighter things float.

The concepts stay with the children so much more when they find out for themselves. Children learn a lot about physics with ramps and balls and marbles. They learn that objects go faster when the angle of a slope is steeper. Children rarely do things once; they will do things over and over again. Notice that at early ages language is also at the root of learning. Experimenting with texture gives us words such as rough, smooth, slimy, sticky and soft have to be used to be understood.

The simple experiments conducted in a classroom promote language and literacy. Children growing plants in kindergarten can estimate and hypothesize as to how quickly the plants will grow and what elements they need to grow. Teachers can put some plants nearer to light and water some more often than others. Results will give the children a better understanding of conditions that plants need to grow.

Using cameras in the classroom can record events and the children can also add measuring and recording. Children are encouraged to write about results. How much more meaningful it is for the child to write “The feather floats” having seen it happen than to have a worksheet where they fill in just the word “float”?

Teaching social studies to small children follows a similar format. Social studies in the younger years is all about living among each other and also a little bit more each year about rules of our classroom, community of our school, our neighborhood and then to town and state! Most preschool classrooms have routines such as lining up in an orderly fashion, helpers who do anything from laying the table at lunch to holding the door. Children also help make the rules. At the earliest level there may be as few as three rules. Things such as we walk indoors and use soft touch are common ideas. Having the children help make the rules also makes them keep them. Manners and courtesy are also learned early. Teaching children to respect one another will lay the groundwork for prevention of bullying and hurting one another. As children move towards third grade, more emphasis on local history can be introduced.

As this week contains Earth Day, we can combine both science and social studies by introducing recycling and how to care for our human home, the Earth!

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Judy Watkinson is a professor of early childhood education at Arizona Western College. She can be reached at judy.watkinson@azwestern.edu.