3-+Backyard+Science

=Galileo’s Thermometer = “Stimulate curiosity to learn and to engage”(Dr. MacKinnon, May 24, 2013)

=Backyard Science =

During the class where we as a group participated in trying to figure out how a Galileo Thermometer works two things came to mind. The first is that I do not have enough science knowledge to be able to find answers, especially when it comes to physical science (I have always found physics difficult and couldn’t understand it… I even refused to go to my O level physics exam and not for lack of my parents’ efforts to get me out that door and on my way). I felt uncomfortable and worried. What if the kids expected answers from me? What if one of my students needed help to better understand a concept? The second thought that came that crossed my to mind was a colleague’s comment about what her Kindergarten child had learned in the Early Years program (our school was a Nursery -12 school, with 3 years of schooling in the Early Years program; Nursery, KGI, and KGII )….. “All that my child learned was stacking boxes.”

Stacking boxes became a private joke between the Elementary teachers for the Early Years did not put much of a stress on literacy, they followed the Reggio Emilia approach. Students were allowed to explore, construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct theories as they learned about the world around them. It was a joyful experience but lacking in some aspects.

In my years of teaching, I tried many approaches but I never carried questioning back home with me. I was always fast in giving my nephews and niece the answers to questions, or show them where they can get the answer. Today, I remembered to stop and question. I did not try to give answers but experimented with my niece.

My three year old niece and I were sitting in my backyard waiting for her dad to pick her up. It was getting very hot and I decided to hose down the porch planks to cool the area for the dogs. “Look, you make a rainbow.” My little niece exclaimed. I held my answer, waited, and then asked, “where?” “Over here,” she said, “in the water.”  We tried making a few more rainbows until she decided to fill an inflatable baby boat to put her feet in. she got out and started leaving wet footprints on the porch. Her footprints would disappear and she would make new ones. “What is happening to your footprints?” I asked “It go away.” She answered with a ‘don’t you know tone’. “Why do they go?” I persisted. “The sun, it is too hot, it take it away.” was her answer. I pretty much enjoyed that answer; although the old fashioned teacher in me wanted to use the words “heat and evaporation”, I stayed quiet.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">As an active 3 years old, she soon lost interest in making water footprints and decided to wash her brother's flip-flops. They floated and another backyard lesson developed. We tried other objects; pebbles, leaf, flowers, grass, plant tags, and a toy. Some "stayed up", others "went down". She couldn’t figure out why (and even asked me what I thought) but she did learn two new words: sink and float. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">And I also learned. I learned that I do not have to know everything, that children will try to find answers to their questions and that science is fun with and without answers. I also learned to say nothing but "why?".