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Introduction/Background:
Every young child is born a natural scientist. Their curiosities lead them to wonder,
discover, and explore through their everyday play. Early childhood educators have an enormous
impact on shaping the opinions that children have about science. I volunteered at the Foothills
Head Start where I planned and taught a science unit to the children. We focused on studying
rocks as I lead students through activities and lessons.
Literature Review:
Early childhood educators have such a strong impact on the feelings a child develops
towards science. According to Susan Wells (2014), Research shows that most children have
formed an opinion (either positive or negative) about science by the time they reach the age of 7
(Wells, 2014). That is why it is so important for teachers to show children how amazing science
can be through discovery, exploration, and creative thinking. Teachers have the ability to have a
lasting impact on childrens whole school experience if they are able to create fun and engaging
science related experiences for young children.
Science also helps children develop many skills that are important to life itself. Science
teaches children such skills as perseverance, problem solving and researching as well as the way
the world works. Kevin Squires states, "Science involves a lot of talking and listening to others;
it develops patience, too a lot of the time in science things don't happen overnight. It helps kids
to think about what could happen before they do it, to create a hypothesis in their mind. Then
kids learn that not everything works the first time. Some experiments fall in a heap and you have
to find out what went wrong, and try again (Squires). Teaching science to young children has so
many benefits and it helps to answer the tough questions that children often ask.

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The National Science Teachers Association Board of Directors adopted the declaration
that science experiences are already a part of what young children encounter every day through
play and interactions with others, but that teachers and other education providers need to provide
a learning environment that encourages children to ask questions, plan investigations, and record
and discuss findings (NSTA, 2014). Although children are naturally curious about the world
around them, they need teachers to help them further their learning and deepen their
understandings. Teachers play an important role in the education of science for young children
and need to make sure they are providing children with the essential tools and concepts.
Rationale:
I was interested in teaching science to young children because I personally have always
been fascinated with science and want to help young children develop a life long love for
science. There are so many wondrous topics in the field of science and I wanted to focus on the
nature aspect, and specifically rocks. Rocks are all around us and come in many different shapes,
sizes, textures, colors, minerals, and so on. I thought it would be a great idea to have children
explore rocks to get a better understanding to what they are and how they are made. Also my
grandpa is a rock enthusiast and collector so I thought it would be perfect to bring in rocks from
his collection to show the children and let them investigate the different types of rocks.
The unit I designed and implemented was important to children I worked with and myself
because it helped me to connect with the children by showing them something I am very
interested in, and helped the children gain a better understanding of what rocks are through fun
and engaging activities. This project was also important to me because I was able to take
everything I had been learning over the course of my education and put it to practice. Most

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importantly, I wanted to show children that learning can be fun and that our earth is an amazing
place filled with beauty if you take the time to look and discover.
Description of the Process:
Goals for Learning:
From this project, I wanted to learn about my own self in the process of planning and
implementing lessons and activities into a classroom. I have learned so many strategies, methods,
and ideas about educating young children, but had never put them to practice. It was great to
finally use the skills I have gained over the years and see how the students connect with the
activity itself and me as a teacher. I also wanted to create fun activities for the children that
would keep them fully engaged that were also informative and lead them to new discoveries. I
wanted to help plant the seed for life long learning in young children and show them how
amazing learning about our world can be.
Process:
I first met with the head teacher in the classroom I was interning at and she was very
open and flexible to what I wanted to do. I decided I wanted to be in the class for about a week
or two before I started planning so I could get a feel for the children and the rules of the class.
Once I was familiar with the class, the head teacher gave me some starter planning books to look
through and get an idea for the unit I wanted to plan. I found the unit on rocks and decided that
was where Id start. So I took a few ideas from the book and then went home to research ideas
for activities and lessons I wanted to plan and implement. I came up with about ten activities I
wanted to go over with the teacher to see what she was thinking. I showed her my ideas and we
weaved them into the lesson plan for the next four weeks.

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To introduce the unit to the class, I decided to bring in many different types of rocks from
my grandpas collection and have the children look, feel, smell, and observe the differences
between all of the rocks. I started off by reading a book about rocks and asked the children what
they already know about rocks. I then recorded their answers onto a sheet of paper with their
names. I then asked the children what they want to know about rocks and recorded their answers
on a separate sheet of paper. I then brought out all of the different rocks and encouraged the
children to feel the different textures of the rocks, notice the different colors and shapes, and
even smell the rocks to see what they all smell like. The children seemed to be very interested in
exploring the different rocks and naming the differences they noticed.
Some of the other activities I planned included scraping different types of rocks with
tools such as paper clips and nail files to see if all rocks are hard, using rocks for one-to-one
correspondence, sorting and classifying different rocks, building faces and emotions using
painted on rocks, creating a rock out of pebbles and sand, and finally going on a rock hunting
expedition. Throughout each of these activities I read various books about rocks to children to
introduce the activity.
During this process of planning and implementing, it was important for me to keep in
mind developmentally appropriate practices and to observe the children to see what their
strengths and needs are. It was also important for me to remember all of the strategies I have
learned throughout my education so I could teach to the best of my abilities and help the children
engage and benefit from the activities. Lastly, it was important that I made the children feel
comfortable and welcomed and to start forming personal relationships with each and every one
of them.
Evaluation of the Process:

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The process of my project went very well. I was able to engage the students through the
activities and lessons I planned and they seemed to gain knowledge and understanding of about
rocks. They also seemed to really enjoy the activities because they would be so immersed and
concentrated on what they were doing. Next time, I will try and get more books that correlate to
the topic I am teaching. I just used the books the Head Start already had, and some of them were
either boring, or did not completely relate to rocks. Next time I would also like to decorate the
room more to the subject of the project. It would have been nice to decorate the room and walls
with rocks.
What it took to make my project successful was planning, openness, and confidence. I
had to take the time to plan all of the activities and lessons I wanted to implement in the
classroom and had to run it by with the teacher. I also had to be open to the suggestions of the
teacher and to the rules and ways of the classroom. Lastly, I had to have the confidence to jump
in and take control of leading activities with the children. I had never really taught lessons to
young children before so I was a little nervous at first. I had the confidence in myself that I
would be a good teacher to the children and remembered all of the strategies I had learned
throughout my years of education.
Reflection:
I learned a lot through my capstone project. I learned which kinds of activities and
lessons work well with children and keep them engaged and excited. I learned what it is like to
be a teacher in the lead of an activity and the kinds of questions to ask the children in order to
deepen their learning. I learned many ways to talk to children and how to handle conflicts. I
learned different finger play songs to get the attention of all the children and keep their focus.
Lastly, I learned about all of the work it takes to be an effective teacher to young children.

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It was helpful that the teacher was very open and flexible to what I wanted to do with the
children. She helped me pick out the best activities and was a great model for when I took over.
She always helped when I had a question and was very encouraging throughout the entire
process. Through my process, I found in myself the core qualities of caring, loving, encouraging,
and compassion. I feel that I was always talking with the children on a personal level and trying
to get to know them. I made sure they know I love and care for them by the way I conversed with
them and offered my comfort. I tried to encourage the children as much as possible and gave
specific feedback to the great things they did.
From here, I plan on continuing my studies in elementary education in order to acquire all
the skills necessary to be a wonderful teacher to my future students. In the future, I recommend
for myself and others to do a lot of observations on effective teachers. Observing the teacher I
worked with was probably where I learned the most about teaching. I have learned so much
throughout my education about different strategies and methods, but actually putting it to
practice was much different. It was great to be able to observe the teacher and learn from
example. I am a very visual and kinesthetic learner, so watching something and then practicing it
helped me to solidify what I was learning.

Works Cited
NSTA Position Statement (2014, January). In National Science Teachers Association. Retrieved
April 22, 2016.

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Squires, K. (n.d.). Why is Science Important in Young Kids' Lives?. In School A to Z. Retrieved
April 22, 2016.
Wells, S. (2014, October 8). Why Early Childhood Science Education is Important. In Steve
Spangler Science. Retrieved April 22, 2016.