Scientific Discovery: The Second Activity of Young Children's Inquiry

Author: David A. Whitney, Robert A. Williams, Elizabeth A. Sherwood, Robert E. Lockwood / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
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2. After you have collected all the materials and the children are ready to listen, create an inquiry discovery chart by pasting a newspaper on the wall. Once ready, ask the children: What do we know about magnets? Write these questions on the paper and list the children's answers underneath. Encourage all children to participate in the discussion. Some inquiry questions are very important for stimulating children to form their own opinions and engage in discussion. For example, you can ask questions like: What shapes do magnets have? What are magnets used for? If children express incorrect information, do not correct them immediately. Instead, include all their responses in the inquiry discovery chart. As the teacher, you will later provide related experiences for the children to help them correct these misconceptions themselves. This chart will help both you and the children see the additional information they have learned through this unit.
What do we know about magnets?
Chad – Can you stick it to things?
Ella – Their shapes are like horseshoes.
David – They are very strong.
Hua – Magnets stick together.
Matt – Magnets are hard.
3. When children's ideas and perspectives go off-topic, you can say: Look at all the things we already know about magnets. Read the content on the chart to the children aloud, carefully repeating each of their points and emphasizing the importance of their participation in the discussion. Through such activities, children will feel that their opinions are valuable and need to be shared with everyone. Gradually, children will understand that they all belong to a large discovery team and that through collaboration, they will learn more about magnets.
4. Introduce the concept and purpose of the scientific discovery journal to the children, explaining that it is a notebook used to record their inquiry results.
5. Begin free exploration. Ensure that all children have the opportunity to conduct research and exploration. During this time, children begin to make inferences about magnets and their functions. Although these inferences may be incorrect, they need to start understanding how the world works based on these initial hypotheses. As the teacher, you should also encourage children to make these inferences to understand their level and stage of development, as well as to guide further learning. Encourage children to record their discoveries in their scientific discovery journals. Encourage them to use pictures, words, or any other method appropriate for their specific stage of communication development. Later, they will use these records to participate in discussions: What have we learned about magnets?
6. Monitor the activities in the scientific discovery area. Observe what the children are doing, listen to what they are saying, and revisit and review the information they have recorded in their scientific discovery journals with them, celebrating their discoveries. P18