Motion and Young Children

Motion is all around us. Young children at play experience motion in many contexts. This article explores ways to encourage young student to understand motion. First of all verbalization ... See More

Motion is all around us. Young children at play experience motion in many contexts. This article explores ways to encourage young student to understand motion. First of all verbalization helps the educator to understand what these young children are thinking. The educator provides what these authors call ‘intentional learning.’ This is the same as guided learning or inquiry as students explore different variables. Formative assessment includes a walk around the school looking at real-world examples and then talking about what they know. They article is informative and makes sense. I was surprised they didn’t incorporate student’s drawings for formative assessment.

Learning with Discovery

This article takes the natural curiosity of children about force and motion and adds to it for some interesting activities for preschoolers. They just play with cars and ramps for awhile an... See More

This article takes the natural curiosity of children about force and motion and adds to it for some interesting activities for preschoolers. They just play with cars and ramps for awhile and then have some questions asked of them and finally record some of their observations. They are doing basic scientific investigations.

The Learning Cycle for Very Young Children

Observing ‘incidental learning’ of young children as they play with ramps and objects rolling and/or sliding down these ramps provide the observer with a deeper understanding of what these c... See More

Observing ‘incidental learning’ of young children as they play with ramps and objects rolling and/or sliding down these ramps provide the observer with a deeper understanding of what these children know. Using that knowledge helps to focus their learning to what these authors call “intentional learning.” This can be done by asking appropriate questions. The article culminates with suggestions for formal assessment with a list of what students should know. Following this developmental science inquiry activity provides the reader with an understanding of how children’s play can be used for observation of knowledge, guiding knowledge and finally assessing knowledge.

NSTA Journal Article Review

1. Why did you choose to put this article in your collection? Be specific...."because it looked interesting" is not sufficient. I chose to put this article into my collection because it basi... See More

1. Why did you choose to put this article in your collection? Be specific...."because it looked interesting" is not sufficient. I chose to put this article into my collection because it basically completed the entire lesson. It gave activities and formal assessment. 2. What new information did you learn? That students love to learn from their failures. It makes them even more determined to try again. 3. What TEKS would it go with and how could you use this information in your classroom? 2.6C (6) Force, motion, and energy. The student knows that forces cause change and energy exists in many forms. The student is expected to: (C) trace and compare patterns of movement of objects such as sliding, rolling, and spinning over time. 4. Based on your experience, is there anything in the article that you agree with? Disagree with? Have questions about? Overall, I loved this article it showed how to connect this topic of learning with the youngest of brains!

Walking the Plank for Physics

In this article, young children are provided opportunities to explore what happens to things in motion as they play with wheeled-toys, ramps, and various covered surfaces. What sets this in... See More

In this article, young children are provided opportunities to explore what happens to things in motion as they play with wheeled-toys, ramps, and various covered surfaces. What sets this incidental playing apart and makes it a rich learning platform is the addition of the time given to the children to actually walk the plank (so to speak) as they walk on a low balance beam with their arms at their sides and then with their arms out in order to increase their mass distribution. As a result of this activity, students were able to experience how increasing their mass distribution made it easier for them to stay on the path of the balance beam. Students might also “feel” how much easier it would be to move down a balance beam if it were to be set at a slight downward angle. Allowing students to use their bodies to help them feel the effects of various forces on their motions provides a hands- on, bodies-on approach to learning.