Science education outdoors
All aspects of science can be included when outdoors. Intentional teaching opportunities exist every time children are taken outside. Children make many discoveries on their own however the experiences will be richer and learning deeper when staff are involved in drawing children’s’ attention to their environment and providing them with knowledge and opportunities.
Below are areas and aspects that can be included when educating in outdoor spaces:
Below are areas and aspects that can be included when educating in outdoor spaces:
- Developing an eye for detail - how has the environment changed since last time we were here?
- Developing a relationship with the environment – fauna and flora.
- Experiencing the seasons and what happens in your environment.
- Specific learning about creatures and plants. Identification as well as information about each species.
- Developing an understanding of the connectedness between all that is found within an environment.
- Learning about weather patterns: what does the sky tell us?
- Specific scientific concepts will vary depending on the environment – bush, creek, beach, yard, open space.
- Developing dispositions for future scientific learning – observation, discovery, exploring, curiosity, experimenting, wondering, hypothesising, investigating, questioning.