4
I am a scientist
General Goals and Objectives
The general goals for children’s development for this monthly topic are to deepen their
conceptual understandings of the world around them, to enhance their comprehension of how
science is conducted and to expand their abilities to engage in scientific investigations. The topic
for the month serves as a provocation for the students to carefully observe things around them, to
wonder and to investigate how the world works.
Students are highly connected with this topic simply because science is all around us.
Since their very early ages they are exposed to different experiences and objects that they are
connected with science. Instead of expecting students to learn facts discovered by others promote
active involvement. Such involvement must be both hands-on and minds-on in the environment.
Therefore, children should be engaged both physically and mentally in investigating and
manipulating elements around them. Thus, science for young children should involve asking
questions, inquisitive for answers, conducting investigations, and collecting data. Science, rather
than being viewed as the memorization of facts, becomes a way of thinking and trying to
understand the world. This approach allows children to become engaged in the investigative
nature of science and to experience the joy of having wonderful ideas. Teachers are not supposed
to give children wonderful ideas, children need to discover or build their own ideas. Developing
new concepts or ideas is an active process and usually begins with child’s inquiry, which focuses
on the asking of questions relevant to the child.
There should be ample opportunities for children to contribute in exploratory play at this
stage of their development. The relationship among play and scientific investigations becomes
more obvious as the children grow.