Water!
Water is
everywhere. It surrounds us in the environment – flowing in oceans, lakes, and
streams and falling from the sky in rain, snow and hail. Water is essential for
life on Earth and makes up approximately 60% of our own bodies.
Children
have experiences with water daily: they bathe in it, drink it, play with it,
see it as rain and snow, and observe rivers and ponds. Children are naturally
drawn to water and love to play in it – pools, sprinklers, water tables, rain
puddles, you name it and kids will play in it!
Let’s explore water further!
It’s time
to explore water as a class. Set up an outdoor water center. Use a water table
if you have one available. Other containers that hold water can work as well. While
children are playing and experimenting with “what happens when?” they will be
developing and using basic science skills.
Water center supplies:
Buckets
and other containers of various sizes and shapes (drill holes in the sides of a
few so children can observe how the water “shoots” out)
Tubing of
various sizes and shapes
Water wall
(pieces of plastic coated wire shelving made to stand on side like a wall,
tubing can be passed through and supported by wall)
Plastic
connectors
Simple
hand pumps
Funnels
Turkey
basters, eye droppers, and other squirting tools
Paintbrushes
Various
objects of different materials (wood, metal, paper, plastic etc…for children to
observe what sinks/floats)
Food
coloring
Any other
containers, objects etc… that will allow children to experiment with the
properties of water and how it changes, passes from one object to another, and
make other observations
Questions to ask children (these are only a
place to start):
How can you move water through the tubes?
What will happen if you put the wood (or other
object) in the water?
How will a funnel help water get into the tube?
Why does ___ sink/float?
What happens when you put a drop of water on the
pavement? The grass? Sand? A piece of paper? Why is it different for each?
What happens when you add food coloring to
water?
What happens if you mix colors?
Encourage
children to share their observations and ideas. Take pictures of children as they play and
experiment. Share their pictures and observations with the class. Allow
children time to openly explore the water. After they have had time to openly
explore the water focus their exploration with eye droppers, tubing, questions,
challenges (i.e. Can you get the water
into the tube?), and observations for them to explore.
Field trip:
Plan a
trip to a local pond, or creek to observe water. Visit a water fountain and
watch the water. Take advantage if it rains and take children on a walk to
splash and play in rain puddles (after or during a rain shower).
For more
information use Exploring Water with
Young Children by Ingrid Chalufour & Karen Worth.
Book List
Amos, W.H. 1981. Life in Ponds
and Streams. National Geographic Society.
Arnosky, J. 2008. The Brook
Book: Exploring the Smallest Streams. Penguin Young Readers Group.
Base, G. 2001. The Water Hole.
Harry N Abrams, Inc.
Branley, F.M. 1997. Down Comes
the Rain. HarperCollins Children's Books.
Brimner, L.D. 1999. Raindrops.
Scholastic Library Publishing.
Dewey, J.O. 1987. At the Edge
of the Pond. Little, Brown & Company.
DK Publishing. 2007. Water
Everywhere. DK Publishing, Inc.
Edom, H. 2007. Science with
Water. EDC Publishing.
Fleming, D. 1993. In the
Small, Small Pond. Henry Holt and Co.
Fourment, T. 2004. My Water Comes from the Mountains. Roberts Rinehart Publishers.
George, L.B. 1996. Around the
Pond: Who's Been Here? Greenwillow Books.
George, W.T. 1988. Beaver at
Long Pond. Greenwillow Books.
Giesecke, E. and A. Royston.
2002. Pond Plants. Heinemann Library.
Greenfield, E. and J.S.
Gilchrist. 1999. Water, Water. HarperCollins Publishers.
Hooper, M. The Drop in My
Drink: The Story of Water on Our Planet. Viking Press.
Jango-Cohen, J. 2005. Why Does
It Rain? Lerner Publishing Group.
Jarnow, J. and E. Hathon. 2000. Splish!
Splash! Penguin Group, Inc. (USA).
Kerley, B. 2006. A Cool Drink
of Water. National Geographic Society.
Kosek, J.K. 2003. What's
inside Lakes? Rosen Publishing Group,
Incorporated.
Kurtz, J. 2000. River
Friendly, River Wild. Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing.
Kurtz, J., C. Kurtz and L.
Christiansen. 2002. Water Hole Waiting. HarperCollins Publishers.
Locker, T. 2002. Water Dance.
Harcourt Children's Books.
Luenn, N. 1994. Squish!: A
Wetland Walk. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
Olien, R. 1999. Splish Splash
Science, Grades 1-3: Learning about Water with Easy Fun-Filled Activities. Scholastic,
Inc.
Petersen, C. 2004. Water
Power. Children's Press (CT).
Pluckrose, H. 2001. Water.
Gareth Stevens Audio.
Pratt-Serafini, K.J.
2001. Salamander
Rain: A Lake & Pond Journal. Dawn Publications.
Rauzon, M.J. 1995. Water,
Water Everywhere. Sierra Club Books for Children.
Rosinsky, N.M. 2002. Water:
Up, Down, and All Around. Capstone Press.
Schuh, M.C. 2002. What Are
Lakes? Capstone Press.
Seuling, B. 2000. Drip! Drop!:
How Water Gets to Your Tap. Holiday House, Inc.
Swanson, D. 2005. Wonder in
Water. Annick Press, Limited.
Tresselt, A.R. 1990. Rain Drop
Splash. HarperCollins Publishers.
Waldman, N.
2003. Snowflake: A Water Cycle Story. Millbrook Press.
Wells, R.E. 2006. Did a Dinosaur Drink This Water? Albert Whitman & Company.
Weininger, B. and A.
Moller. 2003. Precious Water. North-South Books.
Wyler, R. 1990. Puddles and
Ponds: An Outdoor Book. Silver Burdett Press.
Links
Investigating
Water
Water Play
– Better Kid Care
Explore
Water
Science
in Early Childhood Classrooms: Content and Process
