Learning Center Blog Hop Series: Science Center

I'm excited to be back for another PreK Partners learning center blog hop.  This week we will be sharing about how we are setting up and using the science center in our preschool classrooms.

​Our science center or science lab is a place for children to explore, question and observe the world around them.
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Our science center has accessibility to a wide variety of objects and materials that will spark children’s interest to acquire knowledge and support learning in physical, life, and earth science.

In order to support the children’s learning I like to have a table so that children have a place to observe, document and experiment with the materials. A shelf that houses basket and trays with provocations and we also like to have our sensory table close by because it provides a great place for children to conduct experiments in like sink and float, color mixing, and chemical reaction.
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The science center is a way for young children to build a foundation for future learning and scientific understanding. It is a center to provoke thought, discussions, questions, interest and ideas. It is a center that will allow children to observe, communicate, and predict.  
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Nature is always a great place to start to provide materials for the science center.

• Natural Materials
• Living Things

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Introduce children to scientific tools.

• Magnifiers
• Microscopes
• Measuring tools (rulers, tapes, scales, test tubes, droppers, beakers, and flasks) 

Provide children with a way to visually see their learning.
• Documentation Charts and Graphs

Include long term investigation projects in your science center.
​• Long Term Investigations

As the teacher we can…
 

• Use Scientific language
• Read books about science
• Create engaging provocations
• Encourage close observations
• Help children formulate questions
• Encourage predictions
• Experiment with objects- to test predictions
• Documentation

​I hope you enjoyed the tour of our preschool science center.  To see more fun and engaging science center’s hop on over to PreK Partners.