Biological Sciences: Suggested Classroom Activities

In early childhood biology, interactions are often less experimental than activities in other areas of science and focus more on observation of and participation with plants and animals. Your role as the teacher is to encourage children’s natural sense of wonder and appreciation of the natural world.

Krogh and Slentz (2001) suggest the following ways to facilitate and encourage such experiences in a natural way throughout the day:

• Keep a fish, gerbil, hamster, mouse, guinea pig, or rabbit as a classroom pet. Have children observe the animal, describe/record its characteristics and behaviors, help care for the animal, and/or keep records of how the animal changes over time (physically or behaviorally).
• Capture a spider, grasshopper, or some other insect and put it in a large jar with a screened lid. Add dirt, grass, leaves, sticks, and/or rocks to create a habitat for it. You may want to do a little research to determine what type of food it eats (such as a fly, cricket, or other spider), so you can feed it. Have children observe and describe/diagram the various parts of its body, how it moves, how it eats, and so on.
• Provide each child with a wide-mouth jar, some paper towels, a few lima beans, and some potting soil. Show children how to wet the paper towel, line their jar with it, and place their beans between the sides of the jar and the wet paper towel. Next, fill in the empty space in the jar with soil. Each day, children should moisten the soil in their jar and observe any changes that take place. Before long, the beans will begin to sprout and children can measure and record the daily growth that takes place. Later, beans can be transplanted into a class garden, or sent home with each child to plant there.
• Grow parsley or other herbs in pots by the window in your classroom. As they grow, cut clusters of each herb for children to taste raw and/or use in various cooking projects. Hang some cut clusters in a cool, dry, dust-free place and have children observe them as they change from tender and green to crisp and gray, as they dry out over several days. Once the herbs are completely dry, children can taste them again and make comparisons between the taste and texture of fresh and dry herbs. If you like, you can even take it one step further and make two pots of soup--one with fresh herbs and one with dry herbs--to see if students can tell a difference in the taste.

These are just a few simple suggestions of ways to create experiences with biological sciences within your daily program. There are many more. Take a moment to brainstorm other activities related to biological sciences that would be appropriate for the children with whom you work.