SCIENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

Introduction Learning about science from birth Criteria to consider when preparing proposals Free choice science areas Science spaces, areas for well-being Science spaces, areas for communication Science spaces, areas for research Science spaces, areas for modelling Science spaces, areas for experimentation Science spaces, areas for inclusion Science spaces, emotional high voltage emotions Proposals I. Material properties 1. Seed rattles 2. Natural pairs 3. Let´s get pumpkin-ing! 4. Treasure chest: your view 5. Does everything smell? 6. Vertical puzzles 7. What goes where? 8. Seed pit 9. How does it close? II. Living beings and environment 10. Fascinated by life 11. What we do like inside 12. «Can I touch it?» 13. Whose is this poop? 14. Eggs! 15. Shells and shelters 16. Looking out from inside 17. Beach pit 18. Hidden insects III. Matter 19. Coloured water 20. Does water paint? 21. Can you make a ball? 22. Shall we make some mud again? IV. Rocks and minerals 23. What are these rocks like? 24. Magnified sand V. Movement 25. Spinning tops 26. Ramps 27. Can you reach the bottles? 28. Can the object remain in the middle? 29. Can you move the objects without touching them? 30. Drawing with sand 31. How can we guide the ball? 32. Following the ball with my eye 33. Turn it and watch 34. Let´s move the gears! 35. Is movement contagious? 36. Sand in sight! VI. Mass, volume and density 37. Weighty weights 38. Do the marbles move the same way? 39. If cubes are the same size, why do they weigh differently? VII. Magnetism 40. Can everything ding? 41. Do they stick everywhere? 42. This works, this doesn't! VIII. Technology 43. Let there be light! 44. Can you predict the marble´s path? 45. Coming down is easy, going up is harder! 46. Can you lift it? 47. Balanced! IX. Others 48. When everything looks huge 49. Science library 50. Now it´s your turn! References Further reading Acknowledgements The UManresa experience

"In recent times, in nursery and primary schools, the introduction of organizing by environments or spaces of free choice has been widely extended, usually distributed in thematic areas of knowledge. This book aims to respond to the need to construct powerful science spaces from the point of view of learning while also maintaining the appeal and fascination that children feel for the phenomena of the natural world