Read an Excerpt
Chapter One: Patterns
If you take time to observe a young child playing, at some point you will see him organizing and grouping his toys. Children make collections and may call them families. They may sort items by shape, size, or color. They may categorize objects to create an orderly system and then find things in the room that "match." They are, in essence, practicing classification and creating patterns. Patterns are everywhere, and very young children seem to intuitively find them and point them out.
In the early childhood curriculum, patterns play an important role and are typically explored through math and the arts. However, patterns are an exceptional way to bring more science into your classroom or home. Patterns are abundant in both nature and the human-built world. A walk down the street or a stroll in the forest presents numerous examples of how humans and nature tend toward order and are oriented in patterns. From the simple—the shape of an elm leaf or of windows—to the complex—the number of pine needles in a bundle or the whorls of fingerprints—patterns are everywhere and provide a gateway into cultivating the scientific mind.
Why are we drawn to patterns, and what functions do they serve? First, patterns help us make sense of the world. They break and sort information into meaningful "chunks," allowing children to generate new understandings. For children, this sorting and organizing helps their awareness of the world and how things work, enabling them to make meaning. Second, understanding patterns sets the groundwork for an awareness of and appreciation for ordering. Understanding order, systems, and increasingly more complex patterns aid in the development of critical thinking. In a busy world where we are bombarded with information, patterns allow us to discern the important from the unimportant, laying the groundwork for informed decision making. And finally, patterns are the basis for our system of classification of living and nonliving things. For example, rocks are organized into three groups and living things into five kingdoms. Why does classification matter? It organizes phenomena, allowing for a systematic method of seeing similarities and differences among living and nonliving things. Playing with patterns is powerful pedagogy. Together, children and adults can create parallels, analogies, and relationships to understand how the world works and how systems exist. Scientists are continually looking for patterns—this is how they answer some of the most complex questions they pose. These patterns arise through data and observations—of the universe, of animal behavior, or of cells in a Petri dish. Collecting information and seeing what patterns emerge is an important part of scientific practice. As children apply this practice, they will develop their own scientific minds. Ultimately, through making observations, asking questions, creating groupings, and drawing conclusions, children will not only see that they can control their learning but also develop skills and habits of mind that will serve them for years to come.
Since patterns are accessible for children and tie into topics already part of the early childhood curriculum, adding a science dimension is not difficult. The following activities are designed to tap into the innate pattern-understanding and pattern-making ability of children. They will use scientific thinking and process to make decisions and defend and explain those choices.
The activities do not have to be done in sequence. Use the activity that fits the interest levels of the children you are working with. There is no time frame: The activities can be done for one week or an hour or as a standing exploration in a corner or a table in your classroom or home, allowing children to return to their exploration whenever they would like. Give the children plenty of time and space to explore, and join them in their discoveries!
Activities and Applications
Patterns in Nature
Essential Question: What patterns do we observe in the natural world?
Objectives: Children will explore patterns by examining and classifying objects from nature. They will create collections based on characteristics they observe.
Materials: flowers
insects (preserved in resin or glass)
leaves
magnifying glasses
pebbles
pinecones
preserved plants and animals
rocks
shells
Methods:1. Place the specimens on a large table where the children can observe. Alternatively, you can create collection boxes, and place them on tables for the children to work with in small groups. You could also create the collection together by gathering samples on a walk in your local environment or by having the children bring in something from home.
2. Ask the children, "What are all these things?" Give them all time to name what they see.
3. Give them magnifying glasses, and encourage them to see details.
4. When possible, let them feel the objects and describe the textures. Elicit details from them: "a rock" could become "a gray, sparkly rock."
5. Encourage them to compare items to other objects in the group, in the room, or at home.
6. Have the children make groups of two to five items based on characteristics the items have in common. You may have to guide them with a characteristic. Groupings can be based on color, texture, shape, habitat, sound, smell, function, and so on. Take photos of their groupings for display.
7. Have them explain their groupings: "All of these have lines running through them." "All of these are fuzzy." "All of these live in water." Discuss and reflect on their observations and groups. If possible, take video or audio recordings of the children explaining their groupings.
8. Continue making groupings using a variety of characteristics. Use their descriptions whenever possible, but also lead them.
9. Guide the children to the connections between two groups—for example, "These two groups are based on color, and these two are based on texture."
10. Guide the children to understand that objects may belong in more than one group. For example, a bunch of pine needles is both spiky and green. A seashell is spotty and smooth. Begin a discussion of how objects have many characteristics and therefore can be grouped in different ways. For children who are ready for a challenge, help them complete a Venn diagram to illustrate how two disparate groups may create a third group with characteristics in common.
11. To check for understanding, you can have the children play Name that Characteristic! Two to three children can create a grouping, and the other children have to guess what the items have in common.
Patterns in Our Neighborhood
Essential Question: What patterns do we see in our neighborhood?
Objectives: Children will explore patterns by examining their local environment.
They will begin to identify shapes and forms.
They will generate questions about their observations.
Materials:
binoculars
cameras
clipboards
Field Guide to a Neighborhood Walk
Field Guide to Shapes
paper
pencils or crayons
Methods: 1. Show the children pictures of shapes. For very young children, just seeing the pictures and hearing the names is fine. They do not need to know their shapes before going on the walk.
2. Prepare the children for a neighborhood walk. Explain to them that they will be observers, hunting for shapes, forms, and patterns. Give them clipboards, a Field Guide to a Neighborhood Walk, a Field Guide to Shapes, and a pencil or crayon.
3. Take a walk. This could be as simple as a stroll around the block or school or a short walk down the street.
4. As you walk, ask the children to notice the structures around them. Look at sidewalk slabs, windows, bricks, fences, doors, and so on. Ask the children to recall the shapes you talked about earlier. Do they see any of those shapes in the structures? What patterns do they see?
5. When they see something interesting, allow them to stop to record what they see. For example, if a child says he sees a circle, he can write, "Circle on school," or he can simply draw a picture. The key is that the children notice details around them, not that they accurately record everything they notice. Tip: If you have a camera, take pictures of what they point out and make prints for later use.
6. Upon returning from the neighborhood walk, ask the children to share their data. Talk with them about the shapes and patterns they noticed. Create charts with their findings—for example, how many rectangles, how many windows, and so on.
7. Give the children the photos you took, and let them create groupings and patterns of the photos of what they saw on the walk.
Variations: Have the children identify living and nonliving things on a walk. What evidence do they see of these things?
ow do they know if something is living or nonliving?
Create a scavenger hunt for the children to do on a walk. Give them a checklist of things to look for. When they are comfortable with the scavenger hunt, they can create their own lists for friends or family members to complete.
