Developmentally Appropriate Approaches From birth until the time they enter school, children all around the world have four main developmental tasks Motor Development Establishing Social Relations Language Development Learning about the World Around Them Children are endlessly eager to learn about the world around them. Much of this learning involves things typically considered science related. It is not necessary to motivate children to learn science - their normal developmental trajectory means that they are already motivated - they are highly curious. With adult guidance they are able to understand and use a cycle of scientific reasoning that includes planning, predicting, observing, and reporting. Science is the process of discovering the world and how it works through active investigation. Scientists form a theory about something they want to know, collect information about it, and evaluate the information critically. Young children are like scientists. They observe, predict, and form conclusions based on experience. These thinking skills are an integral part of their lives. Children have a natural desire to handle, manipulate and explore. This sets the stage for all future learning. Through encouragement and support, teachers can play an important role in determining how much science children experience. Science education is more important than ever because the world is changing at an accelerated pace. Even individuals who do not want to become scientists will need scientific understanding more then past generations did. However, most young children are taught very little science. If they are taught science at all, it is infrequent and is often very disjointed: a lesson on butterflies one week is followed by how to make butter the next. To successfully teach science, teachers need to make significant changes in their classrooms. Unfortunately, many teachers are reluctant to include science as part of the early childhood curriculum because they have had little science education themselves or are concerned about the time involved in teaching it successfully. Science is too often viewed as a complex, difficult subject, an area full of complicated theories and potentially dangerous experiments. It is vital for teachers to understand that they do not have to have a strong background in science to develop a child's natural love of science. It is more important for the teacher to have a positive attitude toward science and be open to learning science by actively taking part in the discoveries. Once a commitment to integrating science into the classroom is made, children's motivation and interest becomes obvious. Something magical happens when children are encouraged to enter the world of scientific discovery by learning and exploring. All that is needed is a strong commitment from the teacher to integrate science into the classroom on a regular basis. Every subject at the early childhood level offers wonderful opportunities for teaching science. Science can be taught as the class takes a walk around the neighborhood and collects leaves to later identify in a field book. It can happen at snack time as the teacher and children discuss how food is grown, or compare the seeds from an apple and an orange. It can happen in the dress-up corner as children role play doctors and scientists. Story time provides further opportunity while the class reads a book about a bear's hibernation. Last updated: November 6, 1997 by Charles S. Yang