Research Papers / "Science for young children"; 'Exploring nests in a BIG way!' [NEW]

I always seem to really struggle with word count in my Bachelor of Teaching course work. I often end up with twice as many words as Im allowed even after I edit it as much as I can. Can anyone offer any help with this as I have any assignment due and its almost twice the size it should be :(

The requirements are for an approx 200 word example of an early childhood learning episode (there are four in total for different curriculum areas) with a 400 words critical analysis

(FYI This is UK English)

Science for young children
'Exploring nests in a BIG way!'
Child aged 4 years
Example modified from narrative documented during my early childhood centre employment.
Today C brought in a bird's nest with an empty shell she had found in some old trees on her grandparent's property. Fascinated by the find, others crowded around keenly.

I asked the group why birds needed nests.
"To live in!" offered B.
"Yeah that's right, it's their house" C agreed.
"And they lay eggs in them" B added.
"The babies live in there and they come out when the egg breaks" A said.
C "Yes the baby ones come out of there."
B "they have to crack it with their beaks to get out."
A "they crack open the top and wriggle out."
Then the children wondered where the birds had gone now.
C believed they had gone to build a bigger nest.
B thought "somewhere up North" for the winter!
A suggested her Nana's house, as she made special water and food for them. They all agreed that would be a good place to build a new nest!

One by one, we examined the nest as the children discussed how they thought it was made.
B felt they used their feet, but
A was convinced they used their beak as she had seen it online, suggesting we "look on YouTube!"
You were right A! We goggled nest building and found a National Geographic article showing the whole process. We discovered they use mud to stick it together and it takes a long time. The group has been keenly trying this for themselves. We even discovered 'Twigitechture' - Large human sized nests made from recycled and natural materials and we were all keen to try one of those! That would be awesome; I wonder how we could build one of those here at centre?

3. Part B
Analysis of science for young children
The Ministry of Education (1993) defines science as '"people investigating the living, physical, material and technological components of their environment and making sense of them in logical and creative ways" (p.7). Vygotsky's (1978) work on concept formation, supported by Wellman and Gelman's foundational research (as cited in Hedges, 2003a), contends that young children learn extemporaneously and develop initial 'everyday level' conceptual understandings as they interact with their environment, which then serves as a springboard to build further 'schooled' knowledge within scientific domains (Fleer, 2008; McLachlan, Fleer & Edwards, 2013).

Young children are naturally curious and enthusiastic learners (Raffini, as cited in Wilson, 2007). However, until 4-5 years of age children cannot form mental representations solely through instruction (French, 2004). Therefore, teachers need to provide meaningful personal exploration to facilitate valid scientific understandings (Hawkins & Pia, 1987; Hedges, 2004, 2008). In this example the children were supported in their natural world exploration of the find as 'agents of inquiry' (Cooperrider, 1996), collaboratively testing their individual working theories and investigating new possibilities to develop their understandings from a valid knowledge base (Backshall, 2002).

These findings then served as impetus for further hands on exploratory learning, which Rogoff (1994) calls 'transformation in participation'. The 'community of learners' used the new conceptual knowledge as the impetus to extend these new understandings (i.e. working theories) in constructing their own nests. The example clearly exemplifies Te Whāriki's Exploration Goal (Ministry of Education, 1996) for "children [to] experience an environment where they develop working theories for making sense of the natural, social and material worlds" (p. 90).

Social interactions play an important role in children's development of scientific concepts (Watson, as cited in Hedges, 2003). Most children this age participate in self-chosen groups, although they still rely heavily on adult interaction (Berk, 2009). Wells suggests the most effective learning takes place when teachers engage with the "real questions" that arise as children explore first-hand the topics of genuine interest to them (as cited in Hargraves, 2011). Hedges (2002) highlights the importance of dialogue as a principal learning mechanism for four-year-old children, not yet able to access cultural tools such as books and the Internet without support. Wells (2001) refers to dialogue as "the discourse of knowledge building" (p. 185).

Questioning remains one of the most effective teaching strategies to support young children's scientific learning (Yoon & Onchwari, 2006). In this example, posing the question 'why do birds need nests?' provided a rich context for 'shared inquiry' (Chaille & Britain, 2003), developing important social skills in dialoguing and working with others (Worth, 2010). Additionally the skilful use of ICT supported problem solving and scaffolded emerging interests and understandings (Patterson, as cited in Bolstad, 2004).

The example illustrates how the children's fascination with natural world specimens provided a 'teachable moment' for an authentic hands-on experience supporting their intellectual, social and linguistic development as they expressed and extended their mental representations of complex natural scientific phenomena ('funds of knowledge') within a community of inquiry supported by appropriate content and pedagogical knowledge (Hedges, 2008; Wilson, 2007). Also providing many key biological concepts related to the life cycle and the environmental needs of animals (Seefelt & Gelper, 2007).

However, the teacher could have further extended learning by having the children research a more definitive answer to her initial provocation, to extend their nest theories, or also prompted further co-construction by relevant questioning, e.g. Do all birds build nests?" This situation also provides the potential for the teacher to introduce appropriate scientific language laying the foundation for skills such as classifying and hypothesising (Conezio & French, as cited in Hedges, 2003). Additionally whilst ICT technology provides ready access to information, real life encounters via greater community resources which allow children to experience nature first hand can also greatly augment learning (Kelly, 2013).