ECCDD302A: Science Rich Environments in Early Childhood Education

This discussion post addresses the creation and significance of science-rich environments in early childhood education. It emphasizes the importance of providing children with opportunities to learn through observation, investigation, and everyday experiences. The author references various studies and theories, including those of Knaus (2013), Verdine et al. (2014), and Fleer (2009), to support the use of building blocks, water play, and play-based programs to foster scientific understanding. The post also highlights the need for tailored approaches for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and the importance of addressing misconceptions while allowing children time to develop concepts sequentially. The author concludes by emphasizing the educator's role in designing activity-based, flexible, and open-ended learning environments that encourage both individual and collaborative learning, in line with the Early Years Learning Framework and Australian Curriculum (2010). The post underscores the development of cognitive and logical reasoning skills as a key benefit of such environments, promoting children's academic and overall development.

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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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How would you provide a science rich environment in the early childhood
environment?
With the present expansion of the transitional kindergarten and universal preschool and
other associated childhood programs along with attention to children’s health related issues,
environmental education plays an important role in early childhood development skills
acquisition (Meier & Sisk-Hilton, 2017). According to Kanus (2013), children have a natural
ability to learn from observations and daily living experiences. This in born sense of learning
from experience and inquiry about the unknown lays the framework for science and
mathematics in the early years of life.
Verdine et al. (2014) proposed the use of building blocks as a source generating science
rich environment. The arrangement of building blocks helps in gaining knowledge about size,
colour matching, shapes and art of balancing smaller objects over bigger structure and basic
idea about the surrounding infrastructure like the houses, buildings and bridges. Czalczynska-
Podolska (2014) highlighted that use of water bath or water play as scientific learning. The
use of water will help the student understand the basic characteristics of water for example,
water is liquid in nature, it has no shape and colour and at the same time enlightens the
students about the marine life. Fleer (2009) stated that designing play based program for the
generation of the scientific environment for the early childhood science promotion and
learning helps in the establishment of dialectical relations with the everyday scientific
concepts. The dialectical relationship in turn promotes greater understanding about the basic
science. The concept proper by Fleer (2009) coincides with the theory of Vygosky (1987)
who proposed that children learn science concepts at school when the act is designed based
on the everyday practice (Poehner & Lantolf, 2014). However, Vygosky (1987) argued that
for learning insulation, putting different fabrics around jars filled with hot water, to determine

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which will stay warmer for long, will only be useful if it relates to everyday experiences of
the child (Poehner & Lantolf, 2014).
Separate approach must be undertaken while providing a science-rich environment for
the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islander Children because these groups of children
experience educational and social disadvantage and the majority of them are not engaged
with the concept of schooling and learning (Hackling et al., 2015). One of the effective
approaches for providing science rich environment for the Aboriginal children includes
collaborative, active and inclusive approach. Here it is role of collaborator to convey the
message of inclusivity to the students and taking the student’s suggestion into active
consideration. Direct access to material for hands on activities helps to increase Aboriginal
students participation in the science directed learning such that students in groups will be
provided with small scientific tools or equipments to work with. Direct engagement with the
tools and live experience helps to grow interest among the children (Hackling et al., 2015).
What it is important?
The involvement of the children in the science driven environment during early
childhood helps in the explicit development of the cognitive and logical reasoning skills
among the children. These skills help the children to flourish in the later stages of life, in their
academic career. Grissmer et al. (2010) are of the opinion that proper understanding and
constructing meaning about the world around them is a direct indicator of the early-year
children’s scientific and mathematical learning along with reading and processing.
In the domain of designing science rich environment for the child, it must be kept in
mind that as a child grows; they come in contact with numerous new situations and objects.
This coming across new objects lead to the development of misconception and it is the duty
of an educator to clear up these misconceptions (Broström, 2015). However, Charlesworth

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(2016) have warned against correcting all the misconceptions. Depending on the development
of child, few misconceptions can be corrected and other need to wait until concept formation,
like everything else, occurs sequentially (Broström, 2015). Thus I believe designing a
scientific environment must not aim towards clearing up all the misconceptions and allowing
children time to develop concept sequentially. At the end, I want to say that as an early
childhood educator, it is my duty to take an active role to build understandings of the child
under science rich environments. My understanding is mainly guided by the study of Hatch
(2010) which highlights that learning must be done by designing activity. Live activity will
promote, curiosity, develop wonder promoting proper skills development and knowledge
expansion in the children. According to the Early Years Learning Framework and Australian
Curriculum (2010) the educators must promote learning during the early years in childhood
under the environment that are flexible and open-ended and at the same time encourage
children to indulge in both individual and collaborative learning process. I will bring change
in the overall learning science-rich learning environment, by listening to the ideas of children
and then implementing those ideas in designing the environment. This process is known as
model inquiry process that takes help to the curiosity, imagination power and inquisitiveness
of the child (Robbins, 2005).

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References
Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace. (2010).
Educators Belonging, Being & Becoming. Access date: 7th March 2019. Retrieved
from:
https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/educators_guide_to_the_early_ye
ars_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf
Broström, S. (2015). Science in early childhood education. Journal of Education and Human
Development, 4(2), 1.
Czalczynska-Podolska, M. (2014). The impact of playground spatial features on children's
play and activity forms: An evaluation of contemporary playgrounds' play and social
value. Journal of environmental psychology, 38, 132-142.
Fleer, M. (2009). Understanding the dialectical relations between everyday concepts and
scientific concepts within play-based programs. Research in Science
Education, 39(2), 281-306.
Grissmer, D., Grimm, K. J., Aiyer, S. M., Murrah, W. M., & Steele, J. S. (2010). Fine motor
skills and early comprehension of the world: Two new school readiness indicators.
Developmental Psychology, 46(5), 1008-1017.
Hackling, M., Byrne, M., Gower, G., & Anderson, K. (2015). A pedagogical model for
engaging Aboriginal children with science learning. Teaching Science: The Journal of
the Australian Science Teachers Association, 61(1), 27-39.

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Hatch, J. A. (2010). ‘Rethinking the Relationship between Learning and Development:
Teaching for Learning in Early Childhood Classrooms. The Educational Forum74
(3)258-268.
Knaus, M. (2013). Maths is all around You. Developing Mathematical Concepts in the Early
Years. Albert Park, Australia: Teaching Solutions. Retrieved from:
https://www.teachingsolutions.com.au/sample_pages/Maths_all_around.pdf
Meier, D., & Sisk-Hilton, S. (2017). Nature and Environmental Education in Early
Childhood.
Poehner, M. E., & Lantolf, J. P. (2014). Sociocultural theory and the pedagogical imperative
in L2 education: Vygotskian praxis and the research/practice divide. Routledge.
Robbins, J. (2005). Brown paper packages? A sociocultural perspective on young children's
ideas in science. Research in Science Education, 35(2-3), 151-172.
Verdine, B. N., Golinkoff, R. M., Hirsh‐Pasek, K., Newcombe, N. S., Filipowicz, A. T., &
Chang, A. (2014). Deconstructing building blocks: Preschoolers' spatial assembly
performance relates to early mathematical skills. Child development, 85(3), 1062-
1076.