What kind of science topics is suitable for preschoolers?

Question

What kind of science topics is suitable for preschoolers?

Answer 1

living things and non living things would be great because its easy and solid,liquid and gas is good becuz i think it will caught the attention of the students and make it more fun

Answer 2

As long as it is not at the exclusion of suitable grammar instruction, I think rocks are a good topic.

Answer 3

some practical topic, like sink and float...,esp topic that they r able to carry out experiments to see te results for themselves would be good. give topics that are age and developmentally appropriate, eg. topics on planets would not be suitable for 3-4yrs old

Answer 4

Weight – understanding that some things weigh more than others and this can be true even if they look the same.

Growth (seed to a flower, tadpole to a frog, baby to an adult).

The action of physical forces e.g. heat, light, floating & sinking, heat can change solid to a liquid.

Physical properties of objects (e.g. colour)

An example activity would be to examine an apple and ask children the following questions:

• What colour is it?

• What shape is it?

• What does it feel like?

• Which do you think would be heavier – the apple or a real cricket ball?

Shape- involves recognising similarities and differences and distinguishing properties of shapes (for example which will roll and which will ‘sit’ flat on a table).

Position – Children are required to be able to explain and develop their thinking, e.g. shorter, wider, behind.

Size – Children need to be encouraged to notice differences between lengths and sizes of objects (such as comparing other toys to a child’s size paintbrush).

Answer 5

Looking at different kinds of animals is perfectly appropriate.  Just don't get too complicated with the information you try to teach them on the topic.  This also fits well in with helping to raise a pet (such as a fish).  The easiest way to do this is to go to your library and find books at a young child's level on different animals.  (Most people do farm animals with preschoolers, but I have found that just about any animal is acceptable for my daughter.)

Another area to look at is plants.  You can talk about the parts of the plants and even grow them with the children.  Be sure to talk about what the plants need to grow.  You can also do the experiment with colored water and a stalk of celery in it to show how the water travels up the plant to the leaves.

If you want out of life science, you can look at magnets and what they attract and what they do not attract.  (Makes for a great sorting exercise.)  Weather is another great thing to talk about with them.  Try graphing what type of weather you had that day.

A slightly off-beat one to try would be the properties of paper.  Have several pieces of different types of paper and through exploration have the students answer questions about them: Which is the hardest/easiest to rip/fold/cut?  Which one is the best/worst for scribbling on with markers/crayons/pencils?  Which one absorbs water the best/worst?

I hope those helped some.

Answer 6

Anything dealing with colors and shapes. Using building blocks is a great way to see how certain shapes hold better than others.

Also, doing the whole sink or float thing during bath time (unless this is not your child) is fun.

Magnetism is a great one as long as you don't try to get too into the whole properties issues. Just get a magnet and find other things that are attracted to it. Then just do a simple explanation.

Mixing paints to learn about color is very fun, as is making play dough and adding the colors to that.

finding simple models to build

Growing things in the garden, starting with a lima bean in a sandwich bag so the child can see the roots grow, and the leaves sprout. You can explain that this also happens in the dirt, then plant something of your own.

Any cooking is great because it incorporates math with measuring.

Really fun is to play with cornstarch and water. At first it seems rubbery, but then you grab it and it feels powder and liquidy at the same time as it oozes between your fingers.

In Kindergarten, they will begin learning about their senses, but I honestly believe this to be a pre-k subject. Explore touch and smell and taste and sight and sound, etc.

Weather and seasons are other Kindergarten subjects that are actually appropriate for pre-k and younger.

I know there's more, but I can't think of them right now.

Good luck!!

Answer 7

Simple but safe things.   Try projects like collecting leaves and talking about the different types of trees and why they lose their leaves or do not.   Try different flowers, talking about the bees and how the pollution helps the farmer.   Talk about the weather and cloud formations and how rain helps us, and safety issues like going inside when it thunders and not under a tree.

Mix blue water with red water, yellow with blue, etc., to show them how colors are made.   Then each can make a rainbow and talk about what other things are the same color.

The idea is to keep the project short and simple.   The length of the project should be no more than fifteen minutes at a time but can be done in two or three segments.   Remember the attention span of a preschooler is about fifteen minutes or less, depending on their age.