Research Findings: This study explores how Chinese preschool teachers' enactment of Concept Development (CD) strategies, as measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), might effectively elicit children's higher-order thinking during whole-group science teaching. Participants included 25 Chinese preschool teachers and 800 young…

Inspired by the positive impact of serious games on science understanding and motivated by personal interests in scientific outreach, we developed "Bacttle," an easy-to-play microbiology board game with adaptive difficulty, targeting any player from 7 years old onward. Bacttle addresses both the lay public and teachers for use in…

This paper examines where science fits within the early years foundation stage developmental framework and aims to create an understanding of common science practice within the early years, with particular focus on practice at Balham Nursery School and Children's Centre. Within the paper both theory and a range of practical examples are…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of astronomy activities in science education with preschool children through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted with the children before and after the implementation of the activities. Five activities about astronomy were conducted for five weeks in practice. A total…

This article describes an early childhood lesson that integrated science, technology, art, social studies, math, and language. The authors' students compared robots, programmed and created stories with robots, and became robot-inventors. They also imagined how their robot-creations might impact the world--a core idea related to Science, Technology…

This study aims to introduce inquiry-based play activities and to examine their effectiveness on young children's conceptual understanding of the shape of the Earth and the day-night cycle. The inquiry-based play activities for preschool children were designed to support children to learn the concepts of the shape of the Earth and the day-night…

As children develop an understanding of their place in the universe, their mental model of the solar system should really go beyond a list of planet names and attributes to become a dynamic concept of bodies in motion and interaction. Montessori educators can help build a Sensorial impression of the cosmos by physically modeling the nature of…

Investigating real-world phenomena in a playful, exploratory setting is a natural process for young children. Teachers can capitalize on children's curiosity to foster their understanding of science ideas and their engagement in science practices, such as predicting, experimenting, observing, comparing, and contrasting. Force and motion…

This paper studies the scaffolding of conceptual development for children aged 4-5 years old during a science project at a Swedish preschool. It specifically examines how bodily knowledge and language are used in interaction, and how conceptual knowledge can be scaffolded with the use of external tools and artefacts. The science project was…

Environmental education is becoming a growing area of interest in early childhood education. In France, more time is given to environmental education activities in the preschool curriculum. Yet, there is a risk of narrowing preschool environmental education only to carry out pro-environmental behaviours, without giving pupils the opportunity to…

This article grasps the essence of how a science content can be foregrounded by elaborating around concepts as floating and sinking, in relation to boats. The data consist of a videotaped authentic session with one preschool teacher and four children. The model of pedagogical reason and action [Shulman, L. S. 1987. "Knowing and Teaching:…

In recent years, there has been an effort to develop reform-oriented and inquiry-based early science instruction. Preliminary studies suggest that participation in inquiry-based learning activities promotes preschoolers' learning and interest in science. In addition, science education in early childhood is of great importance to many aspects of a…

The purpose of this article is to present an analysis to identify the reasoning processes and representations that preschool students develop about sound based on the inferential-representational approach. Participants were 18 preschool students between the ages of four and five attending three rural schools located in the Sierra Norte of Puebla,…

Many studies have been conducted in recent years on the explanations given by preschool-age children about different natural phenomena. Nonetheless, very few studies have actually focused on the important domain of matter and its transformations. Specifically, the field of chemical reactions remains unexplored. This qualitative study aims to…

Research Findings: This research aims to examine the affordances for high quality instructional support offered by the Northern Territory Preschool Science Games, alongside differences between classroom quality during the enactment of this teaching resource and the broader early childhood program. Applying a multiple-case study approach, quality…