Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/early-connections-with-nature-support-childrens-development-of-science-understanding/5017857/
Jane Goodall, best known as the “chimpanzee scientist,” showed considerable interest in science and nature as a young girl. In an often-told story, Jane remembers when her mother found a pile of earthworms under Jane’s pillow (1999). Though Jane was only two years old at the time, she well remembers that her mother did not scold her for the slimy mess in the bed. Rather, her mother explained that the worms needed to be returned to the out-of-doors, or they would die. In Jane’s mind, this guidance greatly influenced her thinking of science in her formative years. Even as a toddler, she was learning to understand the concepts about organisms and their environment. The worms, of course, needed the moisture and nutrients found in soil; but plants needed the benefit of the worms’ tunneling and animals looked to the worms as food.Certainly, developing complex understandings of the interdependence of living things seems a lofty goal for preschool-aged children. However, guided nature studies can provide important, conceptual frameworks for later learning. This article provides some insight into these benefits and an understanding about how early nature experiences actually teach science concepts.
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Science is a unique way of ...