Using the Scientific Method to Guide Learning: An Integrated Approach to Early Childhood Curriculum

Abstract

Researchers and practitioners have become increasingly interested in how early childhood programs prepare young children for science. Due to a number of factors, including educators’ low self-efficacy for teaching science and lack of educational resources, many early childhood classrooms do not offer high-quality science experiences for young children. However, high-quality science education has the potential to lay an important foundation for children’s knowledge and interest in science as well as reinforcing and integrating critical language, literacy, and math readiness skills. This paper examines the current research on science in preschool classrooms and provides suggestions on how to teach science that supports children’s development across domains. Using the scientific method to explore science with young children provides a systematic model for engaging children in observation, questioning, predicting, experimenting, summarizing, and sharing results. These processes encourage children’s use of language, literacy, and mathematics skills in authentic ways. Suggestions are provided for teachers to use the scientific method as their guide for generating scientific discovery in their classroom.

Full text

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Early Childhood Education Journal
ISSN 1082-3301
Volume 41
Number 5
Early Childhood Educ J (2013)
41:315-323
DOI 10.1007/s10643-013-0579-4
Using the Scientific Method to Guide
Learning: An Integrated Approach to Early
Childhood Curriculum
Hope K.Gerde, Rachel E.Schachter &
Barbara A.Wasik

1 23
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Using the Scientific Method to Guide Learning: An Integrated
Approach to Early Childhood Curriculum
Hope K. Gerde •Rachel E. Schachter •
Barbara A. Wasik
Published online: 13 February 2013
Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract Researchers and practitioners have become
increasingly interested in how early childhood programs
prepare young children for science. Due to a number of
factors, including educators’ low self-efficacy for teaching
science and lack of educational resources, many early
childhood classrooms do not offer high-quality science
experiences for young children. However, high-quality
science education has the potential to lay an important
foundation for children’s knowledge and interest in science
as well as reinforcing and integrating critical language,
literacy, and math readiness skills. This paper examines the
current research on science in preschool classrooms and
provides suggestions on how to teach science that supports
children’s development across domains. Using the scien-
tific method to explore science with young children pro-
vides a systematic model for engaging children in
observation, questioning, predicting, experimenting, sum-
marizing, and sharing results. These processes encourage
children’s use of language, literacy, and mathematics skills
in authentic ways. Suggestions are provided for teachers to
use the scientific method as their guide for generating
scientific discovery in their classroom.
Keywords Science Literacy Mathematics Preschool 
The scientific method
Introduction
Science education, especially for young children, has
received considerable attention in the past several years.
This is perhaps due to the findings that children who
engage in scientific exploration in early childhood have a
better understanding of science concepts later in life
(Eshach and Fried 2005). One of the critical problems
facing early childhood science education is supporting
teachers to effectively implement science in the classroom.
Although the reasons vary, teachers tend not to provide
high-quality science experiences in early childhood class-
rooms (Nayfeld et al. 2011;Tu2006) and instead teach
science through a series of isolated experiments without
connection to the broader curriculum. The purpose of this
paper is to discuss how the scientific method (which will be
described below) can be used in classrooms to effectively
help develop science concepts as well as other readiness
skills such as language, literacy and mathematics that are
critical to young children’s development.
First, we will review the research on science in early
childhood and illustrate how science education fosters chil-
dren’s language, literacy, and mathematics development.
Then, we present each step of the scientific method and explain
how each part of the process can support science learning and
children’s development across domains. In this section, we
provide explicit examples of research-based strategies teachers
can use to scaffold children’s science learning.
H. K. Gerde (&)
Michigan State University, 552 West Circle Drive, East Lansing,
MI 48824, USA
e-mail: hgerde@msu.edu
R. E. Schachter
School of Education, University of Michigan, 610 E. University
Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259, USA
B. A. Wasik
College of Education, Temple University, 1301 Cecil B. Moore
Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
123
Early Childhood Educ J (2013) 41:315–323
DOI 10.1007/s10643-013-0579-4
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Current Science Practice in Early Childhood
Worldwide efforts focused on providing inquiry-based
science education in early childhood educational settings
have identified significant developmental gains for young
children (e.g., Howitt et al. 2011; Peterson and French
2008; Inan et al. 2010). Yet opportunities to engage in
science, compared to other domain areas, are relatively in
early childhood classrooms (Early et al. 2010). Observa-
tional work in preschool classrooms considered to be of
high-quality indicated that opportunities to learn about
science were extremely limited (Tu 2006). For example,
only half of classrooms had science centers. Even when
science centers existed, they offered limited opportunities
for science exploration because they provided space for
only 1–2 children and, as a result, were rarely used (Nay-
feld et al. 2011). Furthermore, during free play, teachers
spend less time in science centers as compared to other
centers (e.g., dramatic play) thus providing less guidance
for children in these areas (Hanley et al. 2009). In general,
early educators tend to teach science less often than other
domains (Early et al. 2010). Research including classroom
observations indicated that preschool teachers mostly
engaged in activities unrelated to science (86.8 %) and
rarely engaged in formal (4.5 %) or informal (8.8 %) sci-
ence instruction (Tu 2006).
Often, when science instruction is included in the
classroom, it is ineffective or presented in a superficial way
that only engages children in part of the scientific process
(Brenneman et al. 2009). That is, children typically observe
and manipulate materials with little guidance from teach-
ers. Specifically, it is not typical practice for early educa-
tors to promote children to engage in science processes
such as generating questions, making predictions, or
hypothesizing (La Paro et al. 2004).
The relatively poor quality of early childhood science
may be due to teachers’ lack of knowledge in the area of
science. Many early educators report limited science con-
tent knowledge (Greenfield et al. 2009; Kallery and Psillos,
2001) and recent research has identified preschool teachers
to have low self-efficacy with regards to science education
(Greenfield et al. 2009). Moreover, early educators in many
countries report feeling uncomfortable teaching science to
young children (e.g., Conezio and French 2002; Kallery
and Psillos 2001). As a result, teachers may provide
insufficient or inaccurate explanations for scientific phe-
nomena, sometimes describing occurrences as ‘‘magic,’’
rather than providing factual information regarding how or
why something happens. Early educators should know they
are not alone; elementary school teachers also report
feeling less prepared and competent to teach science than
other content areas (Hamlin and Wisneski 2012; Wenner
1993). Thus, even well-educated teachers may not have the
content knowledge for explaining scientific phenomena or
may lack skills and confidence for integrating meaningful
science experiences into the classroom.
Preschoolers are capable of developing considerable
content knowledge about science, although this varies
dramatically by child (Greenfield et al. 2009). Thus, young
children can understand science concepts when they are
presented in developmentally appropriate ways and it is
essential to provide accurate science content to young
children to expand on their current knowledge of the world
and correct misunderstandings (see Duschl et al. 2006 for a
review). The field has recognized the importance of sci-
ence for early childhood through statements from the
National Association for the Education of Young Children
(2009) and the development of national standards in sev-
eral countries (e.g., Early Years Learning Framework,
Australian Government Department of Education,
Employment and Workplace 2009; Head Start Child Out-
comes Framework, Office of Head Start 2000). Still,
guidance on how to support these expectations is needed.
While comprehensive curricula are beginning to strengthen
the contributions in science, these materials are lacking in
explanations of scientific phenomena, definitions of sci-
ence terminology, and strategies that integrate science
inquiry across the curriculum (e.g., A Head Start on Sci-
ence, Ritz 2007). Without adequate training and resources,
it is not surprising that science activities often are imple-
mented in isolation with little connection to the classroom
curriculum or avoided completely (Early et al. 2010;
French 2004).
Science Education Integrates Opportunities to Develop
Language, Literacy, and Math
Early educators can conceptualize science education as a
process of knowledge acquisition (Gelman and Brenneman
2004), rather than the dissemination of facts. Science
provides an interesting context in which children develop
skills for language, literacy, and math. Further, learning
about science helps engage children in concept develop-
ment, a key component of teachers’ instructional supports
related to children’s academic and language skills (Mash-
burn et al. 2008). Because conceptually linked experiences
provide a context for children’s learning (Gelman and
Brenneman 2004), it is important to provide opportunities
for rich conceptual growth that come from scientific
exploration, reflection, and question development (Gelman
and Lucariello 2002; Winnett et al. 1996). Perhaps most
importantly, scientific inquiry provides meaningful oppor-
tunities for children to engage in experiences that integrate
language, literacy, math, and science education.
Science learning provides a meaningful context to teach
children about literacy and to support oral language
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development. Integrating science experiences into the
curriculum can support children’s gains in vocabulary
development (French 2004) and explanatory language
(Peterson and French 2008). In fact, recent research has
identified that teachers are more likely to use high-quality
language (e.g., asking open-ended questions) during sci-
ence activities than during any other classroom contexts
(e.g., dramatic play, math center) (Cabell et al. 2012). This
may be because science provides a rich context for
engaging in meaningful conversations. Supporting children
to learn and use proper scientific terminology as they
engage in science exploration helps reinforce new vocab-
ulary, including science equipment/tools (e.g., magnifying
glass), natural materials (e.g., pine needle), science pro-
cesses (e.g., evaporation), and words to describe phenom-
ena (e.g., rough/smooth). As children engage in science
experiences, children are encouraged to describe their
observations, ask questions, and make predictions—all
essential skills which support children’s language devel-
opment longitudinally (e.g., Dickinson and Porche 2011).
Encouraging children to record observations and summa-
rize results using science journals supports children to
write, use print, and think about letter-sound correspon-
dence within an authentic science experience (Brenneman
and Louro 2008).
Scientific inquiry provides opportunities to develop
mathematics concepts and skills in a concrete way. As
young scientists, children compare, sort, and categorize
objects by their properties, which reflects children’s ability
to represent, analyze, and interpret mathematical data
(Epstein 2006). Children can be seen counting and using
one-to-one correspondence as they engage in observation
and experimentation. Further, children can exercise a
variety of measurement concepts such as quantity, length,
and conservation, which are all fundamental components of
children’s mathematics development. As children recog-
nize, manipulate, and create their own patterns, they
simultaneously begin to understand scientific phenomena
and think algebraically (i.e., reasoning about relationships)
(Epstein 2003). The charts, diagrams, and graphs that are
made during science investigations provide a meaningful
and concrete way to discuss concepts of relations, equality,
and inequality (Whitin and Whitin 2003).
Because science education has the power to support
children’s development across domains within a mean-
ingful context, teachers should be empowered to engage in
science. The scientific method provides an approachable
guide to science because every teacher can encourage
children to observe, ask questions, predict, experiment, and
discuss their findings, no matter how comfortable they feel
with science content. The next section explains how to use
the scientific method to teach science and support lan-
guage, literacy, and math development.
Using the Scientific Method to Teach Thinking Across
Domains
The Scientific Method is a process for asking and answering
questions using a specific set of procedures. This process
can be used as a guide to create comprehensive and mean-
ingful science experiences for young children. Engaging
children in scientific inquiry using all steps of the scientific
method supports children to construct conceptually-related
knowledge because at each step children use a variety
of skills to discover new information about the concept
of study (Gelman and Brenneman 2004). The scientific
method includes:
•Observing
•Asking questions
•Generating hypotheses and predictions
•Experimentation or testing of a hypothesis
•Summarizing or analyzing data to draw a conclusion
•Communicating discovery and process to others: ver-
bally and/or in writing
•Identifying a new question
In the following section, we provide a description of
each step of the scientific method and ways that teachers
can scaffold children’s participation in the step. We explain
how scientific inquiry supports children’s development
across domains. The examples illustrate how the scientific
method supports science exploration in the science center
and in several classroom contexts, including the block area
and sand table, at group time, and outdoors. As an illus-
tration, Table 1provides a brief explanation of the study of
worms using the scientific method.
Step 1: Observation
The first step in the scientific method is observation. This is
an opportunity for children to observe the world around
them, to find things that intrigue them, and to explore
phenomena. Continuous experiences using their senses
to explore and describe a variety of materials combined
with adult guidance to scaffold this process and develop
questions about what they see helps children become better
observers (Akman et al. 2003). Defining objects and
describing what is being observed, asking questions to guide
children’s thinking, and supporting children to describe
and label what they see supports children to develop new
concepts and vocabulary (Copple and Bredekamp 2009;
Dickinson and Porche 2011). Including non-fiction texts
about a topic of study as classroom resources provides
children and teachers with factual information about sci-
entific phenomena (Duke 2007). Also, affording children
adequate time to observe and interact with materials is
important (Gelman and Lucariello 2002).
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Table 1 Using the scientific method: a study of worms
Scientific method Description Example: discovering worms! Targeted domains
Observation Opportunity for children to observe the
world around them, to find things that
intrigue them, and to start exploring
phenomena
Heavy rains last night resulted in several
worms clustering on the sidewalk. On the
way into school one morning, children stop
to look at worms on the pavement. The
teacher, Ms. Jenny asks children what they
see and encourages them to identify and
describe the worms
Scientific skills of observation,
describing, and labeling
Teachers help children by defining and
describing what is being observed.
Oral language development
Generating a
question
Based on children’s observations, create
a question that they want to answer
As the students walk into the classroom, one
asks, ‘‘Do the worms live on the
sidewalk?’’ another says, ‘‘Yeah, what
were they doing there?’’ Ms. Jenny says, ‘‘I
hear you asking questions. Maybe this is
something we should investigate. I think
we are asking: why were the worms on the
sidewalk or above ground after it rained?’’
Scientific skills of generating a
question
Teachers scaffold children’s language
and help them take their ideas and
make them into questions
Oral language development
Vocabulary knowledge
Making
predictions and
arriving at a
hypothesis
Children use their observations to make
guesses about the answer to their
question
During circle time, Ms. Jenny explains that
children are interested in studying worms.
Then she calls on different students asking
for their hypotheses about why the worms
were above ground on the sidewalk today.
She records children’s predictions on a
large piece of paper
Scientific skills of predicting
and verbalizing ideas
Teachers help children use what they
observed and background knowledge
to make predictions about the answer
Understanding of print/print
knowledge
Oral language skills
Engaging in
experimentation
and testing
Engage in activities that allow for
experiment and exploration in order to
find answers to the question
Ms. Jenny and the children fill a clear plastic
tub with dirt and worms and place it in the
science center labeled terrarium. She
provides paper and markers for students to
use to record what they see. Non-fiction
books about worms are included in the
area. Throughout the course of the study
Ms. Jenny and the children introduce
different items into the terrarium such as
paper and water to watch how the worms
respond. Ms. Jenny takes the children on
nature walks where they look for worms
and talk about when and where they see
worms and what the weather is like. When
they talk about the weather they make
predictions about whether the worms will
be in the ground or on the sidewalks. They
keep a log of their walks and observations
in their science journals. She has students
look for worms when they are at home and
report to the class what they see
Scientific skills of observation,
charting, recording
information
Teachers arrange experiences that allow
children to engage in learning about
the research question
Literacy through writing and
recording their observations
Language as they learn and use
new vocabulary and report
their observations and results
to their peers
Summarizing and
analyzing results
to form
conclusions
Pull together the different findings from
the experimental phase to come up
with results that answer the question
During center time, Ms. Jenny works with
small groups of children reading all of the
things they have recorded in their science
journals. She helps them look for patterns
when they saw the worms above ground.
They begin to figure out that worms live in
the ground but that they move above
ground when the ground is very wet
(saturated). Next they talk about what they
observed the worms doing when they were
above ground. Then during circle time, she
brings together all of their data and talks
through the patterns they found. Putting
together all of the evidence that worms
come above ground when it is wet, she
writes down the class’ summary and
highlights important concepts and words
that they learned about worms
Scientific skills of summarizing
results and drawing
conclusions
Reflection is a key part of this step
where children return to what they
hypothesized and compare it with
what they have found
Math skills of finding patterns,
charting data, and comparing
Teachers help students analyze their
findings and put the ideas together into
a summary statement
Oral language is developed as
they explain ideas
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For example, during center time, students and teachers
can use observation skills to look at and manipulate blocks
of various shapes and sizes while talking about whether or
not they roll. Supporting children to describe, draw and
write their observations encourages children to notice
details of objects, use varied vocabulary, and write (Gerde
et al. 2012). Children begin to notice patterns as they
identify the physical properties of the blocks (Epstein
2006). Note also, that this observation and exploration is
done in the block center and not a designated science center,
illustrating that the scientific method can be extended
throughout daily activities and areas of the classroom, and
should not be confined to the science center (Tu 2006).
It is beneficial to provide a wide range of experiences in
order to stimulate children’s curiosity (Akman et al. 2003;
French 2004). For example, depending on the focus of the
study and children’s interests, introducing a variety of
scientific materials (e.g., collections of natural materials,
plants, or insects) for children to observe and manipulate
offers multiple experiences for engaging in the scientific
process of observation. Further, it encourages broadened
exploration by providing children opportunities to discover
interesting phenomena (e.g., Worth and Grollman 2003).
Including science tools with these materials (e.g., magni-
fying glasses, balance scales) offers children meaningful
and scientific ways to engage with these materials. Once
introduced, teachers should keep science materials avail-
able throughout the classroom, in the science area and
throughout the classroom centers (e.g., measuring cups in
the dramatic play kitchen, funnels of various sizes in the
sand table) (Gelman and Brenneman 2004).
Step 2: Generating a Question
In order to continue scientific inquiry, a question needs to
be asked. The question should come from the children’s
interests and what they previously observed. Teachers can
help students generate testable questions and refine their
questions so all children understand. Young children need
to develop skills for recognizing and asking questions;
asking and responding to questions supports language
development (Dickinson and Porche 2011; Wasik and
Iannone-Campbell 2012). During the process of generating
a question, children not only learn how to ask scientific
questions, but that it is acceptable to ask questions and be
curious about the world around them.
Teachers can support children to recognize questions by
pointing out when children pose a question (e.g., child: ‘‘I
wonder why they didn’t roll’’ teacher: ‘‘I hear Jalel won-
ders why some blocks did not roll, he is asking a question
about moving or motion’’). At circle time, teachers can ask
children to describe to their peers the observations they
made during free play. Activities that describe observations
support children’s talking about and understanding of sci-
entific concepts (Gelman et al. 2009). As children describe
their observations, teachers can guide question develop-
ment by summarizing what children observed, and by
asking questions to elicit more information from children
(e.g., ‘‘Do you remember the shape of the block that rol-
led?’’). They can also provide concrete objects to help
illustrate children’s observations and explanations (e.g.,
‘‘Why don’t you bring the cylinder over to circle so the
other boys and girls can see which block is the cylinder?’’)
which can help lead to the formulation of questions.
Writing children’s questions on large paper helps to
draw children’s attention to what they are studying and to
the writing process (e.g., ‘‘I am going to write that question
on our paper because Brittany’s question tells me that she
is interested in finding out how much it rains when we are
at school’’). Teachers can ask other children if they have
questions about what they have observed about the
weather. Teachers can support children’s thinking by
Table 1 continued
Scientific method Description Example: discovering worms! Targeted domains
Communicating
discoveries
Children share their findings with others. Ms. Jenny has each student draw a picture of
what they learned about worms. Then she
encourages them to use invented spelling
to write some important words or ideas
about their findings on their illustration.
She helps them by directing them to the
group writing example. She binds the
worm drawings together into a class book.
At group time, each child shares with the
class about their page of the class book
Science skills of communicating
findings
Teachers can provide various methods/
media for children to tell others about
what they learned.
Literacy developing their print
knowledge and emergent
writing skills
Identifying a new
question
Extend children’s learning by
identifying new questions building
from their emerging interests
During the course of the study, the children
noticed that there might be other animals
that live in the ground. They decide to
learn more about these animals
Science skills of developing a
question and understanding
science as a continuous
process
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directing children’s attention to the windows to observe
and describe the current weather or to the posted graph they
created of ‘‘September’s Weather’’ where they charted
sunny, cloudy, rainy, and snowy days. Using environ-
mental print in meaningful ways supports children to
understand that writing has meaning (Clay 2001). Posting
the written research questions in the classroom helps
children develop print knowledge and can inform families
about classroom investigations (Clay 2001).
Step 3: Making predictions and arriving at a hypothesis
During this step of the scientific method, children make
hypotheses or predictions about the answer to their ques-
tion. A body of research literature has shown how making
predictions during storybook reading supports young chil-
dren’s language development (e.g., Dickinson and Porche
2011). Similar to predicting what will happen during sto-
rybook reading, teachers can encourage children to think
about what they know about a topic and then guess what
they think might be the answer to their scientific question.
For example, teachers can ask children to look at the
objects and predict whether or not they will roll.
Recording children’s hypotheses on large paper and
displaying them during the study provides a visual refer-
ence for discussions (Gerde et al. 2012). For example,
teachers can create a t-chart with two columns titled ‘‘roll’’
and ‘‘not roll’’ and blank space along the left side to write
the names of the various objects about which children can
make predictions. Teachers and children can write the
names of the objects as they discuss them. The teacher can
encourage the children to write an ‘‘X’’ in the column
corresponding to their hypothesis.
Creating visual representations of data supports chil-
dren’s writing and mathematics skills. Offering children
opportunities to explain their thinking to others (e.g., ‘‘Why
do you think snow melts when you hold it in your hand?’’)
is a crucial component of science that supports cognitive
development (Gelman and Brenneman 2004). Further,
encouraging children to use the words brainstorm, predict,
and hypothesize supports vocabulary development, which
is critical for language and science learning (Gelman and
Brenneman 2004).
Step 4: Engaging in Experimentation and Testing
Experimentation or testing occurs when children engage in
activities that help them answer their questions. Here teachers
engage children in describing, finding patterns, comparing,
organizing, measuring, and sorting. Teachers can design
activities that guide and scaffold children’s experimentation
and can follow up on ideas by helping children to think more
deeply about those ideas. Experimentation helps to illustrate
phenomena in a concrete way, which supports clarification
of ideas and concept development (Gelman and Brenneman
2004). Embedding science experiences into the curriculum
can support children’s understanding of simple experi-
ments and scientific processes (Brenneman et al. 2007).
Including non-fiction texts in the science area, the book
area, and read alouds will support children in using scien-
tific language and will help children understand how to use
non-fiction texts to gain information and answer their
questions (Duke 2007).
During the experimentation, children should be able to
manipulate objects and observe phenomena that exist. It is
critical for children to participate in experimentation first
hand and not just observe a teacher conduct the test (Gelman
and Brenneman 2004) so that they can develop their own
understandings of complex scientific phenomena (French
2004). For example, during free play a teacher might show
and facilitate the process of experimentation by providing
many different objects for children to move. As the children
manipulate the different objects, the teacher could verbally
explain that as they move a cube block it slides, but as they
move a spherical ball it rolls. It is important to provide the
materials that children made predictions about earlier and
draw children’s attention to the chart of predictions so they
can intentionally test their hypotheses.
Throughout the study, it is important that many centers
include opportunities to experiment with materials related
to the research question (Gelman et al. 2009). For example,
when studying motion, in art children can paint with
objects that roll (e.g., cars, marbles, balls), children can test
how object move in sand or water, and can investigate the
properties of objects that roll in the block center. Even
during outside time teachers and children can engage in
observation and experimentation which make connections
to what they are doing in the classroom (e.g., ‘‘Why do
wagons and tricycles roll?’’). It is important to leave
materials accessible for several days, making sure that
everyone has multiple opportunities to experiment with the
objects being used in the scientific study (Gelman and
Lucariello 2002).
Engaging children in science journaling is a great way to
record their own experimentation (Brenneman and Louro
2008). For example, children can record in their journals
which objects role by drawing objects into pages labeled
‘roll’ and ‘not roll’. During other experiments children can
use their journals to draw and label objects that are living
or not living or chart the height of the plants they grow
each day for 2 weeks. Children can take these journals
outdoors to draw and count the frequency of each spring
flower they find. Teachers can encourage discussion and
reflection of children’s discoveries by asking children to
share their journal work at group time later (Gerde et al.
2012).
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Step 5: Summarizing and Analyzing Results to Form
Conclusions
During the summary, teachers help children pull together
all of their findings from their experimentation. Teachers
scaffold children in representing data visually by listing,
charting, graphing, and sorting all of the findings. It is
important to assist children in summarizing their findings
and/or in making a few general assumptions that answer
their initial question. These activities help children to draw
conclusions about scientific phenomena and develop con-
cepts (Harlan and Rivkin 2004).
For example, continuing the study of motion, a teacher
might bring many objects to circle time and ask children to
identify each object and tell her whether the object rolled or
not. The activity becomes hands-on, a critical component of
early childhood science (Copple and Bredekamp 2009;
French 2004) when teachers encourage children to sort the
objects into two corresponding piles. To develop summaries
teachers ask children to notice similarities or difference
between and among the objects (e.g., ‘‘Let’s look at all these
objects that rolled, what is similar or the same about these
objects?’’). Children should be allowed to provide multiple
responses to these summarizing questions. It often helps to
record these responses on large paper so they can be repeated
as teachers guide children toward a conclusion or an under-
standing of a concept (Gerde et al. 2012). This is an important
time to revise misconceptions children may develop during
the experimentation phase (e.g., the child says ‘‘It has pointy
things;’’ the teacher responds ‘‘Those pointy things are cor-
ners. I see several of the objects that do not roll have corners;
corners stop an object from rolling.’’) (Duschl et al. 2006;
Gelman and Brenneman 2004; Harlan and Rivkin 2004).
After children are finished finding patterns within the two
groups of objects, teachers can guide children to reflect on the
predictions they made by reviewing their chart. For the first
couple of objects, teachers may need to model how to respond
to the questions (Gelman and Brenneman 2004). After mod-
eling a few responses, the children will begin to explain why
some of the objects did or didn’t roll. Finally, teachers should
ask the original guiding question and summarize children’s
statements verbally and on the chart.
During a study of the weather, children can use the
graphs they have created over several months to analyze
weather patterns by summarizing their data. Teachers and
children can count the frequencies of each type of weather
on each graph and engage in discussions of equality
identifying which weather has been observed the most/least
for each month. Teachers can guide children to compare
the weather of September and December by reflecting on
these two graphs. Teachers can draw attention to the words
on the graph to support children’s accurate summary of
patterns in the data.
Step 6: Communicating Discoveries
After making discoveries, it is important for children to
have the opportunity to share their findings with others.
Communicating about their scientific discoveries supports
children’s ability to talk about and understand a range of
scientific concepts (French 2004; Gelman et al. 2009).
Moreover, children are often excited about what they have
learned and want to share that information with others.
Teachers can help children develop this skill by providing
them with different means for sharing their results, such as
verbal discussions with others or writing and drawing
pictures. The content is science but children use their
language and literacy skills to communicate their ideas
about science in a meaningful way.
To communicate children’s findings, teachers can pre-
pare a one-page newsletter for parents about their study.
Integrating writing into this step helps children understand
that writing has a communicative purpose (Clay 2001) and
provides a meaningful use for technology in the classroom.
At circle time, using a laptop (or large paper) a teacher
can ask children to help her complete the class newsletter
by telling parents what they discovered. She can type (or
write) children’s words into the newsletter. To prepare
children for this activity, the teacher could ask each child to
pick one object that they experimented with and to explain
to a friend why the object did or did not roll, then explain
that to the group, and finally to their parents via the
newsletter. Teachers can include images of student work
(e.g., children’s hypothesis chart) in the newsletter as
documentation of children’s skills (Copple and Bredekamp
2009). This process can be repeated for any scientific
study.
Children can also be encouraged to draw their own
representations of the findings or to select the charts and
graphs they have created during the experiment to explain
their conclusions to others. This sharing process supports
children’s ability to think critically about their study and to
use language and literacy skills in a meaningful way, as
well as provides relevant and informative communication
with parents that was co-constructed by teachers and
children.
Step 7: Identifying a New Question
The final step of the scientific method is to extend the
findings from the experiment into a new study. Often in
science, one discovery opens the door to new questions.
Building upon this curiosity is important because it allows
children to follow their interests and use their emerging
knowledge to learn more (Worth and Grollman 2003). It
also provides a natural way to make connections between
themes, something that can often be disjointed in early
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childhood classrooms (Neuman 2006). Teachers facilitate
this process by asking children if they have more questions
about what they just learned or by following up on
observations that children made during the experimental or
summarizing steps. Another method for identifying a new
question is for teachers to help children make connections
between what they have learned and new contexts. This
step begins the cycle of learning again.
For example, at the conclusion of the class study of
which objects roll children may become more observant of
all objects as they roll. The teacher might encourage the
children to notice the speed of different objects on different
surfaces (e.g., Teacher, ‘‘Wow, the ball goes much slower
when it rolls across the mulch. I wonder if it will go faster
or slower if we kick it in the gravel or the grass’’). This
may lead children to observing objects roll over various
surfaces and introduce a new study of speed. Studies of the
weather could lead to studies about the seasons and change,
studies about plant growth might lead to investigations of
animal growth and child development.
Conclusion
The scientific method provides early educators with a set of
guidelines for exploring science with young children.
Through the seven steps of the scientific method, teachers
and children engage in activities that allow them to think
about scientific concepts, ask questions and participate in a
process of discovering answers to questions that children
have about the world that they live in. Using the scientific
method to guide children’s thinking during science activi-
ties integrates children’s language, literacy, math, and
science development. Instead of confining science to the
science area, the scientific method promotes the incorpo-
ration of science exploration across classroom activities
including during group sessions, outdoor time, and in all
centers. Through this process, experiences inform and build
on one another to enhance learning across developmental
domains.
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