Science with 3 yr olds - is it worth it?

[WomblesAbound]

The title says it all I guess. Are there any scientific concepts that can actually be understood by 3 year olds?

I think that most topics (eg magnetism, floating/sinking) are so abstract, that although a child can 'see' what happens (these two ends of a magnet push each other away, this particular metal 'sticks' to the magnet, when the plasticine is made into a boat shape it floats), they certainly can't understand the actual sciency bit behind it.

The only things I think could be understood are things like growing seeds and making shadows.

I think playing with magnets and things at that age makes a lovely game, but can you actually teach them anything sciency at that age?

baking is a great one!

they don't know its science, but they are learning anyway

Of course! Science is just learning about the world, after all.

With my three year old, we do experiments, eg on a sunny day we "painted" two walls with water, one was in the sun, the other in the shade, and we saw that the one in the sun dried quicker, then felt them and felt that the sunny one was warmer. We repeated this in different places to check it still happened. Since then we have been noticing things in the sun drying quicker.

We have also found minibeasts (worms are a favourite), measured them, observed them and drawn pictures and looked them up in books to find out interesting facts. Same with plants.

We have listened to our heartbeats and tummys gurgling and talked about what is going on there. We have also had a good look at a chicken carcass, chopped up variuos plants and veg, melted snow, waved flags, noticed changes with the seasons, compared helium balloons with air filled balloons, rolled things down slopes and so on.

It's more about instilling the scientific value system of finding stuff out from evidence rather than just making stuff up.

I think that is a funny way of looking at it OP. Surely the very first step along the road to understanding scientific concepts is eg enjoying finding out what floats in the bath and what doesn't, or playing with magnets. It is a bit like saying it's pointless letting them mess around with phonetic sounds because they can't write a novel yet.

You ask - is it worth it? In my experience, YES! My own 3-yr-old was very interested in how the human body works.

We have gone from giggling about the fact that 'food turns into poo', to buying and reading a DK Human Body book and enjoying the pictures together, and now aged just 4 she can tell you all sorts of interesting things about organs and bones and energy and bacteria. For her 4th birthday last week she was given a human body cut away model which she had a jolly good bash at putting together herself. She loved it and I love seeing her so interested in something.

They don't have to understand the scientific concepts, but can enjoy the 'awe and wonder' side of things.

Ds aged 3 is definitely starting to have a grasp of scientific concepts. Atoms, conservation of energy, etc.

He can't make head or tail of religion though. When we have tried to explain the concept of gods (in the context of talking about the greek ones) he tends to laugh and say 'That's silly!'

Working hard on the whole 'respect other people's beliefs even if not backed by evidence' thing now.

He understands atoms at age three?

This is too young for abstract concepts.

Just give them lots of experiences. When in the country, spend some time looking at bugs, flowers and birds and use guides to help you identify them. Count legs, see how you find different things in the wood, open grasslands, and ponds. Look under rocks. Listen, smell, touch. This will all help science come easily later.
You don't need the facts/concepts but it helps to have the experiences for these to make sense.
You can talk about atoms, particles etc. they probably won't get it but at least the words will be familiar.

he doesn't understand them as such, I'm sure, but can talk about how things are made of lots of little pieces and the little pieces of one thing join with the little pieces of another thing to give a third thing.

Also about how heating water puts energy into it so all the little pieces jump around more and some manage to escape into the air. He loves this and talks about it when he sees steam or clouds. We recently had to explain how come you get fog even though it's cold in the mornings.

Actually, dh had to explain it, he's much better at both the science itself and tailoring it to something he can understand than I am.

He often comes up with questions we have to google the answers to as well, and which suggest to me that he is actually understanding things (recent e.g. if the flying dinosaurs didn't have feathers, what did they use for insulation?)

Of course they understand the science bit just not in the same way as you do as an adult. Young children soon develop their own hypothesis about what will stick to a magnet and eagerly experiment to put their ideas to the test. They love exploring things that float and those that sink. They understand that some materials can be changed (for example when we cook) some things change permanently and others can be reversed.

You say they understand shadows which is a really difficult concept - the absence of light so magnets should be child's play

They can make sense of the world where there are concrete concepts - basically things they can see and experiment with themselves, such as falling objects, and light/shadows.

The problem with abstract concepts, such as electricity, they can end up with a lot of misconceptions that take a lot of getting over.

Ok, fair points made and all taken on board. I guess I'm just incredibly fustrated that yet again, for the third time this year, ds' science topic is magnetism.

I would be quite happy for them no to do any science at all, given that they are only 3yrs old, and just do the awe and wonder bit of exploring the world.

Yet again though, he is learning that some things are magnetic and some things are not. He found that out in the Autumn, he found it was still true in the Spring, and now, suprisingly enough in the summer he'll reaslise that its still the case. If they were actually going to the next stage and explaining why or how (magnetic fields or something?) then I could understand it. Just to do the same thing over and over again shows no imagination.

If they did the more child friendly things now, then when they came to the more complicated things in a few years time they would probably pick them up straight away.

Arrrghhhhh. Rant over.

Will take ds and do some baking, habitats, bodies and that sort of thing with him and ignore nursery.

Now I can see where you are coming from having a nursery topic on magnetism is the way 3 year olds learn. Having a collection of magnets and materials freely available for them to explore (with support of an adult when needed) is

why on earth would they explore the same topic three times???

doesn't make sense to me.

why not ask nursery if they feel they've 'done' magntism for this year and if they could have seeds and nature or floating/sinking or gas/liquid/solid or basic newtonian mechanics (cars and bouncy balls) or something instead.

[p.s. am a science communicator but don't know about the early years curriculum so although i know they are age approprite i have no idea if these things are on it.

What kind of school/curriculum is your 3 year old involved in?

I am a Science Teacher, and teach from Year 5 upwards, although run a successful STEM club for Year 3 upwards.

We do introduce abstract concepts from Year 5, such as the basics of the particle theory, but don't really use the particle theory to explain very much until Y7/8. Mostly what we teach younger children is to make accurate observations (although just make it seem like fun).

One of the things we have to disseminate in all subjects is a sense of 'awe and wonder' and that is the easiest thing to do with younger children. They can be amazed by the simplest things.

Magnetism for tinies should only really be about playing with Brio, and making fridge magnets. They do not learn about magnetism properly until Year 8. Anything before that is just fun, with real learning limited to magnetic materials and the observation of attraction/repulsion.

Is he doing Knowlegde and Understanding of the World as part of the Early Years Foundation Stage?

For three year olds the LO would be

Investigate objects and materials by using
all of their senses as appropriate.

and the type of activity would be

Comparing different types of materials and their properties, ie wood, plastic, metal, sponge. (which are attracted to magnets)

Sorting objects by the materials from which they are made and predict which will be attracted to magnets, eg. wood, plastic, wool, paper

As said earlier brio trains why one end of the truck pulls (attracts) and the other pushes away (repels)

Using floating magnetic rings on a length of dowel to demonstrate the force

making magnet wands spin by using opposite poles to repel

lots of fun experiences

I would have magnets freely available all year round for the children to explore but wouldn't make it a formal science topic

I agree, mrz. Have magnets around, eg a Brio set, but the curriculum you just posted just fills me with dread. It just takes the fun out of the subject. We secondary teachers have to pick up the pieces and justify our subject.