This post will focus on physical science in early childhood. Karen Worth and Sharon Grollman, authors of the book Worms, Shadows and Whirlpools, define physical science as the exploration of objects, materials, and events of the nonliving world. Children can manipulate nonliving objects and observe what happens. The process can be repeated to see if the effect is the same each time. For a child the exploration of objects, materials and events is happening all the time.
Some content topics that can be adapted to early learners are:
Properties of Objects and Materials
• Solids
• Liquids
• Gases
Position and Motion of Objects
• How things move
• How to make things move
• What makes things move
• When things move
• Gravity
This helps children to understand that inanimate objects do not move on their own; they need to be acted upon by some outside force.
Properties and Characteristics of Sound and Light
Sound
• Different sounds have different properties
o Loud or soft
o High or low
o “Feeling” the sounds (vibration)
Light
• Light and dark
• Brighter or dimmer
• Shadows: how the size changes depending on the location of the object
While many of these subjects may seem more like common sense to us than science we must remember that for an early learner many of these things are topics of great discoveries.
This breakdown is great! You are correct that when looking at dealing with younger grades we must be able to break down the most simple part sometimes. Even when discussing properties of solids, liquids, and gases you must be able to break these down. It may be difficult for some students to grasp the ideas of being able to move from each state. While others may not have to have it broken down. I also like how you discussed what parts of each aspect to look for. For example looking at light, light and dark, birghter and dimmer,and I never thought to think about different shadows.
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