Participants will use problems found in familiar early childhood children’s literature as the basis for hands-on models that promote children’s STEM learning in the preschool and pre-kindergarten childhood setting. Participants will experience opportunities to seamlessly infuse STEM concepts throughout the day with young children. While providing participants with tools and tasks that promote scientific inquiry, the presenters will share the actual work from their integrated public school early childhood center classrooms that allowed all of their 3, 4, and 5 year old students to behave as young scientists.
While engaging in STEM learning experiences participants will pose “What if…?” questions, make predictions, test their models, record their findings, develop solutions, and present their findings. All activities will be carefully linked to the Science, Math, and English Language Arts Curriculum Frameworks, as well as the Social and Emotional Learning, and Approaches to Play and Learning Standards. Focus will also be given to the integration of the eight science and engineering practice standards. Participants will be afforded opportunities to better understand the important roles of team work and problem solving in order to excite their students and provide students with experiences that reinforce feelings of success at the end of a challenge.