Kindergarten Science Research Articles

Acquiring Science and Social Studies Knowledge in Kindergarten Through Fourth Grade: Conceptualization, Design, Implementation, and Efficacy Testing of Content-Area Literacy Instruction (CALI).

With national focus on reading and math achievement, science and social studies have received less instructional time. Yet, accumulating evidence suggests that content knowledge is an important predictor of proficient reading. Starting with a design study, we developed Content Area Literacy Instruction (CALI), as an individualized (or personalized) instructional program for kindergarteners through fourth graders to build science and social studies knowledge. We developed CALI to be implemented in general education classrooms, over multiple iterations (n=230 students), using principles of design-based implementation research. The aims were to develop CALI as a usable and feasible instructional program that would, potentially, improve science and social studies knowledge, and could be implemented during the literacy block without negatively affecting students' reading gains (i.e., no opportunity cost). We then evaluated the efficacy of CALI in a randomized controlled field trial with 418 students in kindergarten through fourth grade. Results reveal that CALI demonstrates promise as a useable and feasible instructional individualized general education program, and is efficacious in improving social studies (d=2.2) and science (d=2.1) knowledge, with some evidence of improving oral and reading comprehension skills (d=.125).

Language use in kindergarten science lessons: language production and academic language during a video feedback coaching intervention in kindergarten science lessons

ABSTRACTThis paper aims to gain insight into language production and academic language of 4- and 5-year-old students and their teachers in the course of a teacher intervention during kindergarten science education. The study is based on videotaped classroom observations, and specifically focuses on the academic language use of students (Nintervention = 18, Ncontrols = 26) and teachers (Nintervention = 5, Ncontrols = 5). The results suggest that this general teacher intervention yields interesting changes in language use and production. Patterns of change over time confirm the idiosyncratic and non-linear nature of these changes. Science lessons represent an appropriate context in which to acquaint students with academic language, which can be used as a basis to build upon more sophisticated language skills.

Supplemental Material for Acquiring Science and Social Studies Knowledge in Kindergarten Through Fourth Grade: Conceptualization, Design, Implementation, and Efficacy Testing of Content-Area Literacy Instruction (CALI)

Supplemental Material for Acquiring Science and Social Studies Knowledge in Kindergarten Through Fourth Grade: Conceptualization, Design, Implementation, and Efficacy Testing of Content-Area Literacy Instruction (CALI)

Partners in Inquiry: A Collaborative Life Science Investigation with Preservice Teachers and Kindergarten Students

This article documents a collaborative project involving preservice early childhood education students’ development of inquiry-based learning experiences alongside kindergarten students within a science methods course. To document this project, I utilized a multiple methods approach and data included classroom observations, transcripts from lesson planning sessions, preservice teachers’ reflection journals, kindergarten science journals, and pre- and post-measurements for preservice teachers on the Draw-A-Scientist Test (DAST) (Chambers in Sci Educ 67(2):225–265, 1983) and the Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Inventory—B (STEBI-B) (Enochs and Riggs in Sch Sci Math 90(8):694–706, 1990). Analysis of the DAST, STEBI-B, and qualitative data revealed that the preservice teachers developed stronger understandings of inquiry-based science and self-efficacy beliefs related to their practice following participation in the collaborative project. While development of inquiry understandings and efficacy-related beliefs improved throughout the project, the preservice teachers voiced concerns over the challenges of integrating inquiry instruction within pedagogically restrictive contemporary classroom environments. Additionally, this research strongly suggests the need for early childhood teacher educators to take an active role in the construction of teaching and learning experiences that promote opportunities for preservice teachers to experience the process of developing effective inquiry-based, integrated science experiences within the supportive environment of a teacher education program.

Early Science Instruction and Academic Language Development Can Go Hand in Hand. The Promising Effects of a Low-Intensity Teacher-Focused Intervention

Early science instruction is important in order to lay a firm basis for learning scientific concepts and scientific thinking. In addition, young children enjoy science. However, science plays only a minor role in the kindergarten curriculum. It has been reported that teachers feel they need to prioritize language and literacy practices over science. In this paper, we investigate whether science lessons might be integrated with learning the language functional for school: academic language. The occurrence of scientific reasoning and sophisticated vocabulary in brief science lessons with 5-year-olds is evaluated. The aim of the study was twofold: first, to explore the nature of kindergarten science discourse without any researcher directions (pre-intervention observation). Second, in a randomized control trial, we evaluated the effect on science discourse of a brief teacher training session focused on academic language awareness. The science lessons focussed on air pressure and mirror reflection. Analyses showed that teachers from the intervention group increased their use of scientific reasoning and of domain-specific academic words in their science discourse, compared to the control group. For the use of general academic words and for lexical diversity, the effect was task-specific: these dependent measures only increased during the air pressure task. Implications of the study include the need to increase teachers' awareness of possibilities to combine early science instruction and academic language learning.

Children's Competencies in Process Skills in Kindergarten and Their Impact on Academic Achievement in Third Grade

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to investigate the factorial structure of kindergarten children's mathematics and science process skills and the impact of children's competencies in process skills on their performance on mathematics and science achievement tests in 3rd grade. A subset of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten cohort data set (n = 8,731) was analyzed using multilevel structural equation modeling. Results demonstrated that science and mathematics process skills were highly related at the construct level but not at the indicator level, as was anticipated. Kindergarten children's competency in mathematics process skills was a strong predictor of their performance on science and mathematics achievement tests in the 3rd grade. However, children's competency in science process skills was only a significant predictor of their performance on a science achievement test in the 3rd grade. Moreover, socioeconomic status and gender were statistically significant predictors of process skills and performance on achievement tests. Practice or Policy: The findings of the present study suggest that the development of children's science and mathematics process skills should be supported utilizing integrated inquiry-based science and mathematics activities to help children recognize the connection between mathematics and science and to contribute to their science and mathematics achievement in later grades.

How often do early childhood teachers teach science concepts? Determinants of the frequency of science teaching in kindergarten

The purpose of the present study was to explore how often teachers of young children teach science concepts in kindergarten and examine the factors that influence the frequency of science teaching in early years. A theoretical model of the determinants of the frequency of science teaching in kindergarten was developed and tested using a multi-level structural equation modeling. Data for this study (n = 3305) came from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten dataset, which included a nationally representative sample of US kindergarten teachers. The model tested in this study provided a good fit to the sample data. The results demonstrated that the number of science method courses that teachers completed, the availability of science related instructional materials in kindergarten classrooms, and teachers' perceptions of children's capacity for learning influence the frequency that teachers taught specific science concepts (e.g. earth and space, life, and physical science) in kindergarten. On the other hand, results indicated that teaching experience and teachers' perceptions of control over the curriculum do not influence how often early childhood teachers teach science concepts in kindergarten.

LONG-TERM OUTCOMES OF EARLY CHILDHOOD SCIENCE EDUCATION: INSIGHTS FROM A CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY ON CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE

The purpose of this research was to explore the long-term outcomes of either participating or not participating in early childhood science education on grade 6 students’ conceptual understanding of science. The research is situated in a conceptual framework that evokes Piagetian developmental levels as both potential curriculum constraints and potential models of efficacy. The research design was a multiple case study of grade 6 children from 3 schools in China (n = 140) who started formal science education in the third grade and grade 6 children from 3 matched schools in Australia (n = 105) who started learning science in kindergarten. The students’ understanding was assessed by a science quiz and an in-depth interview. The data showed that participating children from the high socioeconomic schools in China and Australia had similar understandings of science. Divergence between the medium and low socioeconomic schools, however, indicated that the grounding in early childhood science education in Australia may have placed these children at an advantage. Alternative explanations for the divergence, including the nature of classroom instruction in the two countries, are discussed.

Kindergarten Curriculum is Already Packed — How Can We Bring Science into the Classroom? Value-Added Science Experiments for Arizona Kindergartners

In this paper, I describe inexpensive and fun kindergarten science activities that scientists can bring into the classroom; each activity is aligned with Arizona state science standards. Additionally, since science often gets little time in kindergarten as teachers are focusing on early literacy and math skills, all science activities described are “value-added,” as they also incorporate a literacy or math standard as well. I describe simple assessments for each activity as well. Overall evaluation of activities is difficult because most kindergarteners are pre-writers and so we could not assign writing activities; however oral feedback that students were excited to perform science experiments and the teachers were happy to see that the students engaged in open ended thinking exercises.

BLUEPRINT FOR SCIENCE EDUCATION

THE NATIONAL Research Council (NRC) has released a framework for science and technology education that is expected to lead to new national standards for teaching science in kindergarten through high school. “Currently, science education in the U.S. lacks a common vision of what students should know and ... curricula too often emphasize breadth over depth,” Helen Quinn, chair of the NRC committee that wrote the report and a professor emerita of physics at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, Calif., said in a statement. This framework addresses these weaknesses and “provides a blueprint that will guide improvements in science education over many years,” she added. The NRC report, “A Framework of K–12 Science Education,” specifies four disciplinary areas all students should understand by the time they finish high school: life sciences, physical sciences, earth and space sciences, and engineering and technology. It outlines how important concepts, practices, and ideas in these four areas ...

Science for Young Children: A New Frontier for Science Education

Research in science education is becoming increasingly cognizant of the possibility that significant science education can begin as early as kindergarten and should be given much more attention in elementary school than it receives at present. This is manifest in the growing of number of articles in the science education literature as well as in many national educational reforms worldwide. However, while voices for early childhood education increase, one should also bear in mind that still there are those who object to the view that science should start so early in life. I cannot forget the comments I received from one reviewer on a recent grant proposal for the Israeli Science Foundation concerning science education in kindergarten. It was clear that in the reviewer’s eyes science in kindergarten should be limited only to causal observations of nature and the cultivation of an enjoyment of it. As far as I could see, the reviewer saw no place in kindergarten for developing the kinds of thinking and skills necessary for scientific inquiry. Unfortunately, this reviewer still represents a common opinion about early childhood science education. The danger of that view is that it opens the door to science education’s becoming marginalized in the schools. Indeed, there are a more than a few schools in which there is little science in the early grades and none at all in the kindergarten. Even where science is taught in kindergarten and the earliest grades of school, it is too often a caricature of science that is presented to the children. I of course agree that young children should observe nature and learn to enjoy it; however, it seems to me terribly wrong to think that science education in the early years should be limited to this. On the contrary, my experience in working with children in kindergarten and primary school as well as with their teachers has persuaded me that science education can go beyond observation in nature—much beyond! My own experience and research concurs with Metz’s conclusion that young children have well-enough developed cognitive machinery to benefit from activities geared towards significant scientific inquiry. Moreover, it may be that by ignoring the development of inquiry skills and reasoning at this age we are missing an important window of opportunity for expanding young children’s scientific thinking. Accordingly, this special issue explores the possibilities and benefits of teaching science in a significant way to children in their early school years. I hope, in the end, it will show that starting science as early as kindergarten will be viewed not only as possible but as essential. For me, this special issue is a natural continuation of the positions described in my book, Scientific Literacy in Primary Schools and Preschools (Eshach 2006) and broadens its horizons. The papers included in the special issue not only consolidate the positions in my book but also show, much more than I could in 2006, the variety of learning environments possible for K-6 science education and explore much more expansively the actual experiences of children and teachers vis-a-vis science education. For this reason, the special issue is divided into two parts: Innovative learning environments for K-6, and Children and Teachers’ Perspectives. In choosing the papers for this special issue, my hope was that taken together they would influence the science education community in the following ways: H. Eshach (&) The Department of Science and Technology Education, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel e-mail: heshach@bgu.ac.il

The influence of early science experience in kindergarten on children's immediate and later science achievement: Evidence from the early childhood longitudinal study

AbstractThis study explores the impacts of selected early science experiences in kindergarten (frequency and duration of teachers' teaching of science, availability of sand/water table and science areas, and children's participation in cooking and science equipment activities) on children's science achievement in kindergarten and third grade using data for 8,642 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Kindergarten cohort (ECLS‐K). A theoretical model that depicts the relationships between the study variables was developed and tested using structural equation modeling. Results demonstrated that availability of science materials in kindergarten classrooms facilitated teachers' teaching of science and children's participation in science activities. Likewise, the frequency and the duration of kindergarten science teaching was a significant predictor of children's science activities but not of the children's end of kindergarten science achievement scores. Children's engagement with science activities that involved using science equipment also was not a significant predictor of their end of kindergarten science achievement. However, children's participation in cooking activities was. Children's prior knowledge, motivation, socio‐economic status, and gender were all statistically significant predictors of their science achievement at the end of kindergarten and end of third grade. Results of this study indicate that early science experiences provided in kindergarten are not strong predictors of children's immediate and later science achievement. Findings of the study suggest that the limited time and nature of science instruction might be related to the limited effect of the science experiences. Implications for teacher education programs and educational policy development are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 217–235, 2011

Differential discourses: the contribution of visual analysis to defining scientific literacy in the early years classroom

This article presents a kindergarten science inquiry as an exemplar for the purpose of suggesting an analytic graphic that is visually inclusive of the multimodal resources brought to bear by children and teachers engaged in classroom interaction. The central aim is the visual representation of the analysis so that the analysis itself becomes visual communication, a means of generating knowledge about multimodal discourse. This makes the discourse structure much more accessible to viewers than a verbal transcript. Findings demonstrate that the children and teacher carried out activity that reflected generally mismatched classroom discourses. The children engaged in the science processes of observation, interpretation, and design of the investigation while the teacher focused on the social process of classroom management. Visual communication is central in helping researchers and teachers to visually associate the elements and structure of interactions so that teaching response can be designed.

Motivation for learning science in kindergarten: Is there a gender gap and does integrated inquiry and literacy instruction make a difference

AbstractWe investigated whether kindergarten girls' and boys' (N = 162) motivation for science (perceived competence and liking) differed. Children were ethnically and linguistically diverse, primarily from low‐income families, and attended one of three schools. One school offered a typical kindergarten science experience. Kindergarteners in the other two schools participated in the Scientific Literacy Project (SLP)—a program based on a conceptually coherent sequence of integrated science inquiry and literacy activities. SLP lasted either 5 or 10 weeks. Regardless of sex, both groups of SLP children had greater motivation for science than children who had only the regular science experience. Moreover, children receiving 10 weeks of SLP reported greater science competence than those who received 5 weeks. Boys in regular classrooms reported liking science more than did girls, however there was no sex difference for SLP children. These results are supported by interview data accessing children's ideas about science. The findings suggest that early meaningful participation in science is likely to promote girls' and boys' motivation for science. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 166–191, 2009

System dynamics—the next fifty years

AbstractFifty years after its creation, I review the current status of the field of system dynamics and assess prospects for the next fifty. I focus on the challenges the field must face if it is to realize its potential.The first 50 years of system dynamics have established an introduction to the field. We have shown the importance of achieving a better understanding of complex systems in nature and human affairs. Now, the field is on a plateau ready to launch the next great thrust forward.We can better understand the present status of system dynamics by comparison to professions that have developed earlier. We are now at about the same state of advancement that engineering was when MIT first opened its doors in 1865, or that medicine was in the late 1800s when the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine was established.We have as much to learn yet about high‐order nonlinear feedback structures around us as those earlier professions have already learned about their fields in the last 150 years. Now is the time to plan how the next 50 years can start to close this huge knowledge gap.Like those early days in more mature professions, we do not yet have universities devoted to 4‐year and 6‐year programs in system dynamics. Like the older professions at their beginning, we do not yet have the equivalent of programs in science and biology in kindergarten through 12th grade education to prepare students for more advanced study at the university level. Nevertheless, there has been major progress in system dynamics during the last 50 years just as there had been in those older professions before they became formalized in advanced educational programs and before they were publicly recognized. Copyright © 2007 Jay W. Forrester.

What happens in the early years science classroom?

SUMMARY The implementation of the science curriculum in kindergarten is reviewed in the light of data emerging from a recent evaluation study. The work explores the active classroom practices which early years teachers adopt when they introduce young children to science. Qualitative approaches have been employed in collecting and analyzing data. Observations of teaching activities in the kindergarten science classroom indicated a considerable gap between the proposed and the implemented curriculum and identified a number of factors that are not optimal. Findings confirm that early years teachers' “teaching” in science is in serious need of development. Implications of this study for curriculum development and teacher education are discussed and questions are raised concerning issues that may have influenced the way the outcomes of this study have been shaped and can lead to further research.

Emergent Environmental Literacy in the Nonnarrative Compositions of Kindergarten Children

This article shows how links between science and literacy offer kindergarten children the opportunity to create and express their individual understandings about environmental change through emergent environmental literacy. This article reports on one of the science experiences in a kindergarten classroom in which the children explored the phenomenon of environmental change. The kindergarten science program can help children learn how scientists look at the world; young children can express these concepts through nonnarrative compositions. The article concludes with suggestions for teaching practice in the kindergarten science program.

Comparison studies of reading readiness skills acquisition by different methods: Formal reading readiness program, informal reading readiness program, and a kindergarten science program

Comparison studies of reading readiness skills acquisition by different methods: Formal reading readiness program, informal reading readiness program, and a kindergarten science program

Working with science in the kindergarten

Working with science in the kindergarten