Kaitiakitanga -Science

For term 3 we are working on a big idea in science: My big idea is to show that even little children can make a difference caring for the environment,.The route that I want to take is to work from a point of making them aware of life under the ground, and then working toward the value of keeping our grounds clean, and how a worm farm can support us in looking after our environment.

Week 1 we created a demarcation to investigate over a few weeks. We took some rocks and placed them on healthy grass in order to see how it will change. Last week, I gave the children a clipboard with a mini beasts spotting chart, and a table where they could jot down the insects they do spot under the logs and rocks. They had to draw it, name it, identify how many legs, whether they had wings, etc. We also looked at bones and examples of invertebrates and vertebrates.

Initially I did not think they would be able to do the activity, but was surprised that they were able to complete the task, with the exception of 2 or 3 children. The children seems very interested in the activities,  and is eager to learn about the critters.

Although I got this idea from Susan, I try to modify it a little and bring in a variety of activities to enforce the learning. My focus for myself was to explicitly introduce vocaublary, get them interested and excited about science, and observe change.

What I am struggling with is to explain why things are the way they are, due to my own lack of knowledge. When I know I am introducing things, I ensure that I am prepared and know how to explain it, but sometimes the children come up with questions on the spot, and I can't really answer them. E.g. why are the insects under the rocks and scurry away when you lift it up.

So what:
what I thought I could do is to write their questions down, do the research and give them the answers the following week.

Also, I am not yet using the questions as Susan has suggested we do. I want them to start wondering about things. So I should print those questions/prompts, or decide which one I want to focus on and add it to my planning.