Abracadabra

What Is Science?

Science is Abracadabra! In the children’s world, science is real magic, something that cannot be resisted. She is all around us and is not just a set of facts. The kids enjoy exploring things, watching and eventually seeing the result. Certainly, facts are an important part of science but science is much, much more. Science involves:

Watching what’s going on;
Classification or organization of information;
Predicting what will happen;
Testing predictions in controlled conditions to see if they are correct; i
Conclusions.

Science involves trial and error – try, fail and try again. Science doesn’t provide all the answers. It requires us to be skeptical so that our scientific “conclusions” can be modified or changed altogether as we make discoveries. These activities are of increasing importance in the preschool program. When the love of science, also scientific thinking and expression skills are developed among preschool children, they will get a chance to learn science concepts, methods, and attitudes at a young age. This will create a strong foundation among these children for science, mathematics, reading-writing in the future. Science helps children develop vital life-skills such as problem-solving, communication and research. A lot of the time, scientific results do not happen immediately and so it also teaches children to be patient and to persevere.

Asking Questions

It’s important to encourage your kid to ask questions. It’s also important to ask him or her questions that will get him talking about his ideas and to listen carefully to his answers. Keep in mind that children’s experiences help them form their ideas—ideas that may, or may not, match current scientific interpretations. Help your child to look at things in new ways. For instance, concerning the blizzard, you could ask, “Have you ever seen it snow sideways?” or “What do you think caused it to snow sideways sometimes?”
Such a conversation can be an important form of inquiry or learning. Encourage your child by letting him know that it’s OK to make mistakes or admit he doesn’t know something. Rather than saying, “No, that’s wrong,” when he gives an incorrect explanation, give him accurate information or help him to find it. Going back to the blizzard, you could ask your child, “How could you check your definition?” “How does the dictionary’s definition of “blizzard” fit with what you said about snow moving sideways?”

Science at Home

Your home is a great place for you to start to explore science with your kid. Incorporating science activities and language into familiar routines will show your child how science works in his everyday life and provide him with a safe environment in which to explore and experiment. Even a walk around the yard can provide many opportunities to introduce children to scientific concepts and processes by helping them to gain the scientific habit of observing what’s around them.

Making cakes

Making cakes is an enjoyable way to help children of all ages learn about chemical reactions and change. *Here are some chemical reactions that occur as a cake bakes:

Heat helps baking powder produce tiny bubbles of gas, which makes the cake light and fluffy (leavening).
Heat causes protein from the egg to change and make the cake firm.
Oil keeps the heat from drying out the cake.

Science in the Community

Our communities offer many opportunities and resources to help children learn science, including

Zoos;
Museums;
Planetariums;
Aquariums;
Farms;
Science at Work;
Community Science Groups and Organizations; and
Other Community Resources.

Five Senses

As seen in the picture, draw the five senses. Get items that resemble the senses. Ask kids to identify the senses and briefly explain them to the audience.

Sink or Float

Get a big bowl with some water in it.Show and Put few items that can float or sink. Eg:clip,nail,bottle cap,plastic ball,rubber band,coin etc…

Walking Water

Take three glasses.Put two different color water in two glasses keeping the middle glass empty.Put Two paper towels in each colored water glass,putting the other end in the empty glass.Slowly you will see the water.

Blue plus Yellow

Take two bottles.Add blue in one and yellow in second.Hold them in front of each other to see two primary colors make a secondary color.

Glass Harmonica

Just fill several glasses with water and tap them with a spoon, and you’ll have a genuinely beautiful-sounding musical instrument.

Static Electricity

Blow two balloons.Rub it against wool sweater and then hold the balloon near the objects shown in the picture.Observe which objects stick to the balloon and which did not.

Taste Checker

To diffentiate between tastes like Sweet,Sour,Bitter,Salty,spicy and different textures like’Soft,Hard,Crunchy.

Pebbled Water

Add pebbles in the glass of water to see if the water level rises.

Different Types Of Grains

Recognise different type of grains.

Smell N Guess

Smell and guess the fruit or vegetable.Put each of them in a small jar and tell the names.

Size Matters

Sort Buttons with Colors, size, Numbers(physical properties) to determine common and uncommon things.

Seeds anyone!

Bring seeds of fruits and vegetables like Orange, Apples, Grapes, Strawberry, Lemon, Avacado, Pumpkin,Watermelon etc and try to recognise them.

Color Mixing

Mix Primary colors to show how secondary colors are formed.

Shake and hear

Add beans,pebbles,sticks,pins, small legos in the opaque containers to hear and guess the sound of these objects.

Beans Sprouts

Soak different kinds of beans in water overnight and let it sprout for another day…take pictures or bring the sprouted beans on the project day and show it off…

Carrot Sprouts

Cut off the top inch of a carrot. Place the top in a shallow dish, and add enough water so the
carrot tops are halfway covered. Set the dish in a sunny windowsill. In a few days you should
see little green sprouts appearing. Check every day, water, and document the growth with few
pictures. Get the carrots and the pictures to the Science fair.

Play with Magnets

Get couple of magnets and a compass. Also get few iron nails,paper clips,safety pins plastic clips,wooden pieces. See which pieces stick to magnet. Also determine the North direction with the help of compass.