If you are looking for a hands-on science option geared toward young children, you may enjoy this free, 104-page K–2 Educator Guide from NASA! 3…2…1…Liftoff! is a multi-discipline approach to science in the early years.
Subtitled An Educator’s Guide With Activities in Science, Mathematics, Technology, and Language Arts, the guide offers a complete listing of the 50+ standards covered in the beginning of the guide for each of the 20 activities. Topics covered include:
- The International Space Station (ISS).
- Rockets.
- Newton’s laws of motion.
- Graphing.
- Space Transportation System (STS).
- Space shuttle.
- Modeling.
- Comparing.
- Rhymes, songs, and movement.
- Number sequences.
- Shapes.
- Problem solving.
- Fact vs. fiction.
And all of this in a way that is accessible to the youngest learners.
For the tutor/mentor/educator, the guide lists the materials needed to complete each activity, along with instructions. The experiments are clearly explained. You are also provided assessment and enrichment ideas.
There is a great deal of material included in the guide. Particularly at this young age, the guide can encompass an entire school year of material by stretching out the 20 lessons over the year (roughly two weeks per lesson). With the enrichment activities previously mentioned and suggested reading helps at the end, this should not pose a problem.
The graphics starting on page 71 are worth the download time! You can use these to create a simple science notebook.
One of the four categories of science listed in the national standards is Earth and space science. At these younger ages when we are focusing on developing reading, writing, and basic math skills, nearly any content can be used to cover science.
The main job of primary children is to acquire the skills of reading and writing (and numbers). They can use any any content for those language skills, science sometimes included….
Ruth Beechick, A Biblical Home Education
So here you go — a fun, hands-on way to cover science content while working on the biggies.
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