Although butterflies are a common topic of study in many early childhood classrooms, integrating art production broadens the scope of the study and allows children to deepen their knowledge and understanding through creative self-expression. This article presents a set of integrated activities that focus on helping children fully grasp the process…

For curriculum content-related reasons, inquiry activities can be difficult in classrooms unless the activities are approached in a manner that makes variations among student group findings understandable in the context of the study. Studies of individual animals and plant reactions to stimuli, such as insect exploratory behavior, allow the…

The best place for students to begin to understand complex environmental relationships is in their own back yards. Doing investigations of ants allows students to establish a baseline survey of ant fauna, test the importance of ants in nutrient cycling and soil structure maintenance, and increase their understanding of the environment and their…