Science Concepts

Preschool

What We Saw: The teacher had made a chart called "Mixing Colors." She had four lines with a (blank space) + (blank space) = (blank space). She velcroed a white circle in the first blank and a red circle in the second blank. Then she asked the children, "What color do you think white plus red will make?" The children responded, "orange, red and blue." The teacher told them that they would be painting at the easel with red and white paint today to see what color it makes when you mix them together. Later during free choice time a child was painting at the easel. He shouted out with excitement, "Red and white make pink!" The teacher replied, "That's a good discovery." After choice time the children came back to the circle rug. The teacher asked the children what color is made when you mix red and white together. All the children yelled out "pink". The teacher put up a pink circle on the chart after the = sign. The teacher told the children that tomorrow they would mix blue and yellow.

What It Means: The teacher was making science come alive for the children. By using a chart that showed each day what different colors would be mixed, the children were being encouraged to hypothesize what would happen when you mixed two colors together. Then they were allowed to test out their hypothesis through a hands-on activity, an experiment. Finally, the teacher reviewed the results with all children. Children were learning the basic scientific concept that two things can be added together to create something new. They were also learning that knowledge comes from your own systematic observations of the world (also known as "science").