Each fall at harvest time, young students in the authors' part of the Midwest visit apple orchards to learn more about the life cycle of plants. This tradition is one part of a larger unit centered on apples, integrating life science with language arts and social studies. The authors partnered with kindergarten teachers at several schools to…

This manuscript elaborates the value of looking beyond the written and spoken word in science education research and practice at the early childhood level. We examine one plurilingual child's descriptions of a science activity to explore the "diversity of resources" that she used while expressing her understandings of a sound…

This article discusses how children can build teamwork through science activities. Through science experiences, the excitement can generate a sense of shared community in class. Science experiments help develop children's learning. Science experiences are a prime source of powerful new words because they use a common language to describe the…