Observational Skills

One of the most important science skills is the skill of observation. We've been training Joy to observe things in the natural world since the day she entered our lives! It's not hard at all; children are naturally curious. So we just point out things to her:
*Look! There's an eagle! Look how it soars without flapping its wings.
*Whoa! That's a really cool gall on that leaf. Let's look at it with a magnifying glass!
*What weather do you think those clouds will bring?

After several years of this kind of conversation, Joy now begins these conversations all the time. Just the other day, she asked me what kind of bird a turkey vulture was. She asked if it is related to the eagle because it soars like one. That's observation!

Today we traveled out to our backyard where we have an ENORMOUS anthill. We didn't even know it was an anthill until International Mud Day, when we were hunting for dirt to dig up to make mud. I stuck a shovel in it, and Joy shouted, "Look! It's ANTS!!!" That was a couple of weeks ago, and today we revisited the anthill with some paper and a clipboard.

"Observe and then draw what you see, young scientist," I said. I want Joy to think of herself as a scientist. We aren't just learning science, we're being scientists! Here's what she drew:

She's got all the important facets of the anthill: a hill, ants, ovoid shapes that turned out to be ant eggs, and holes in the dirt. After she drew this picture (and wrote "anthill" in the top right corner on her own!), we looked closely at each element of the anthill and just talked about it. Joy got a stick and took interest in how the ants reacted to her movements.

I did not inform her that ants have six legs, that an ant group is called a colony, or instruct her on how to draw with perspective. My educational point is that scientists observe their surroundings and record their observations. I will certainly use the word colony, talk about the number of legs insects have, and work on perspective, but I wanted Joy to experience the observation and recording of information in the natural world.

Best of all, this was a positive learning experience that didn't take tons of preparation, can be done almost anywhere (Do you know many places without ants or other insects??), and gives kids experience with the scientific process. I'm sure the next time we go to the library, Joy will want a book on ants. We'll read it and it will lead us to another experience... and maybe even an ant farm!