Naturalist Activity Plan Early Childhood Lesson Plan Format 1.

Identifying Information - Making Salt Water Experiment, Exploring Shells and Sand - Naturalist 2. Developmental Domains - Cognitive 3. A. Behavioral Objectives - I expect to observe the children tasting the salt in the water and discussing the difference in taste from the plain water. - I expect to see the children observing and describing how the egg floats in the salt water and sinks in the plain water. - I expect to see the children using magnifying glasses to explore the shells and sand and describe the characteristics of the objects. B. Foundations/Standards SC.1.10 Express ideas and share observations with others. SC.1.11 Observe and describe properties of objects. SC.1.28 Use vocabulary that indicates understanding of scientific principles (e.g., sink, float). SC.1.41 Use a variety of scientific tools (e.g., balance scales, magnifying glasses, measuring cups, food coloring) to investigate the environment and to gather information.

4. Planning Thought Processes Context of Exploration This activity will assess the childrens ability to observe and describe differences, express and share ideas, use new vocabulary and toolsbserve and describe has been chosen to go with the day at the beach ocean theme the children have been participating in. Rationale This activity was chosen to support naturalist learners and will assess designated science foundations. The specific activity was chosen based on the current ocean theme the children had shown an interest in.

Anticipating challenges

The children may want to play in the water, getting carried away and making a mess. I will let them know that we are to use the water responsibly for the experiment that we are doing and that we can put water in the sensory table to experiment and play in on another day.

5. Materials Variety of shells several magnifying glasses 2 large clear plastic containers 1 cups water for each container 3 Tablespoons salt Spoon Hard cooked egg Very small cups one for each student to taste a dap of the salt water and regular water to compare 6. Activity Procedure A. Motivation/Introduction - For the Salt water experiment we will sit around a table or two put together and I will first ask the children Have you been to the ocean, swam in the ocean or accidentally drank ocean water? What was it like? Today we are going to make salt water like you find in the ocean and we are going to compare it to regular water we drink and see how salt water, the kind found in the ocean, makes it easier for objects to float. B. Concept exploration - We will sit around a table (or 2 pushed together) - I will pour 1 cup water into each clear container - The children will observe as I pour in 3 Tbsps salt to one of the cups. - We will stir the salt as it dissolves - I will pass around a tsp in cups for each child to taste. - Then we will put the egg in the regular water and ask what happens? - Then we will put the egg in the salt water and ask what happens? - I will probably split the children into 2 groups and let one group experiment with the egg and some other objects to see if it is the same with different objects. - The second group will explore the variety of shells with magnifying glasses and discuss the differences in the shells. - Then I will have the groups switch places and activities.

C. Inquiry (Open Ended Questions) - What did the ocean water we made taste like? - Which water did you like to drink better? - What did the egg do when you put them in the salt water? - What did the egg do when you put them in the regular water? - What are some ways you can sort the shells? D. Closure - So what did we discover about ocean water? - Why do you think we dont drink salt water? - What did we discover about shells? - Why do you think the shells are different why arent they all the same? - Which activity did you like most? Water or shells? Why? - What did you see today that you would like to know more about? E. Assessment - The activity will be complete when the children can articulate the answers to the questions above. I will document their observations and knowledge with observation notes and anecdotal notes. - If further exploration of these materials is desired we can do activities in the future with: - shells and clay making imprints of the shells in the clay. - We can put paper over the shells and use flat crayons to rub over them and make texture drawings. - We can draw the shells. - We can also paint with salt water and see the salt that is left behind when the water dries. Extension Ideas - We can extend the shell exploration with clay, play dough, or plaster of paris, or even cement to make fossils. We can explore which sea life comes from which shells. We could read a house for hermit crab. We could paint with salt water. There really are endless ways to extend these activities depending on what particular interest the children show.