|
|
Hi Ms. Steiner,
I am a graduate student in an early childhood education program, and I am currently taking a science course where the class is learning the benefits and strategies of teaching science in early childhood classrooms.
This is an excellent question, which I feel is largely dependent on the topic you are teaching, your students’ age and learning preferences, and the time frame you have to teach it. Some lessons may be better taught where the teacher spends the whole class period introducing the topic with an experiment. For instance, if students are learning about the concept of sink and float, students may spend the first class period testing out different objects in water and recording characteristics of those objects. The following day might entail using the entire class period to discuss the science behind the experiment, such as how some of the objects are denser, which causes it to sink.
When considering the students’ age, it is important to keep in mind that younger children have a shorter attention span and may have a more difficult time sitting still while their teacher provides direct instruction. Therefore, teachers who have younger students should greatly consider keeping their instruction relatively short and allocate more time for students to be physically engaged in an experiment.
Another thing to consider is the amount of time your students will need to complete an experiment. There are some experiments that may take students five to ten minutes to complete where others may take significantly longer. This is largely dependent on the complexity of the experiment as well as the students’ engagement. If they seem invested in the experiment, you do not want to pull them away from what they are doing because it could impede them from asking thoughtful questions as well as making observations and discoveries.
In all, I feel that there is not a definitive answer to your question. Nevertheless, hands-on experiments are beneficial for all students and should be used whenever possible.
|