This article aims to implement an engineering design-based STEM activity for young children and evaluate the implementation process of the activity, along with providing some revision ideas. The activity was held as a 90-minute weekend workshop with the participation of six children aged four to seven. Data were collected through digital…

The objective of the current study was to identify an effective learning environment for kindergarten students as they acquire an initial understanding of scientific inquiry activities (SIA) and a simple (idealized) scientific inquiry cycle (SIC). The study aimed to examine (a) the effects of instructional support and (b) the role of similarity…

This research explored kindergarten students' learning of simple particle models to explain the properties and behavior of matter in the solid, liquid, and gas states and during phase transitions (evaporation, melting, freezing, and condensation). Science instruction for young learners tends to focus on the concrete and directly observable. This…

Background/Context: Literacy stands as a pivotal life skill, especially as it strengthens education across subjects. The elementary years are crucial for mastering literacy, yet national assessments show a decline in elementary students' reading proficiency, with only 33% of American fourth graders reading at grade level (National Center for…

This qualitative multiple-case study examined kindergarten students' engagement in science concepts and literacy learning in a classroom in which these two subjects were integrated through Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI). CORI is an instructional framework created to increase reading engagement by teaching reading comprehension…

Studies into early mathematics education have reported that play, and active exploration, provide promising settings for early mathematics education (Ginsburg, 2006) as the early years is a time to engage children in a range of mathematical ideas to develop their mathematical capability (MacDonald, 2018). More recently, the Australian Association…

The Anthropocene is a geo-stratigraphic unit of the upper Earth's layers, impacted by human disturbances, but also humankind's historical record, and children's place to live on. It is an unfinished narrative. This study explores how garden and soil-related activities with kindergarten children, guided by well-informed teachers, may have the…

In this essay from a teacher in Argentina, Valeria Vincent describes how she employed Multiple Literacies in Project-based Learning (MLPBL) (Krajcik, Palincsar, and Miller 2015). ML-PBL, an open education free resource, has three design principles that support teacher and student learning and satisfaction. ML-PBL builds on teacher ingenuity and…

Teaching that supports children in scientific sensemaking emphasizes discourse that prioritizes children's ideas and supports children in engaging in disciplinary practices. However, supporting science talk requires skillful instruction, and without support, teachers may find it challenging to engage our youngest students in rich discussions. In…

In response to Earnest (2019) who asserted "too often studies involving time in maths education are divorced from duration, the quantity that time measures…therefore future studies ought to incorporate the experience of duration into the study design" (p. 25), the purpose of this study was to begin mapping possible conceptualizations…

Young children are familiar with astronomical phenomena from everyday life, such as the movement of the celestial bodies or the shift from day to night. The present study examines the extent to which kindergarten students understand abstract concepts related to celestial bodies and processes (such as gravity and time), and whether they change…

The aim of the current study was to examine the way in which preschool children deal with the concept of sound. For this purpose, a study was carried out in the context of detecting and categorizing the mental representations among young children of sounds which propagate through space from source to the receiver. Specifically, 91 preschool…

There is a severe shortcoming in science programs in kindergartens in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this paper presents a conceptual framework for teaching physics concepts to kindergartens to contribute to the consolidation of scientific knowledge by stimulating the skills of inquiry, problem-solving and scientific thinking among children. The…

This study examined the effects of science and engineering (S & E) inquiry on preschool and kindergarten children's academic outcomes using a randomized control-group design. Participants were divided into three groups: a classroom-only group (C-only) receiving NGSS-aligned S & E inquiry; a classroom plus family engagement group (C + F)…

Science and engineering practices (SEPs) and crosscutting concepts (CCs) constitute a significant part of "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (NRC 2012). As teachers, the role of the authors is to highlight the pivotal role that both scientific knowledge and the practices used to generate knowledge play in learning. This article…