Children can be introduced gradually to basic scientific concepts that will provide a framework for understanding and connecting many scientific facts and observations. In this website, we will focus on five concepts and processes taken from the National Science Education Standards, released by the National Resource Council of the National Academy of Sciences. You can easily introduce your child to the following five concepts through the activities in this website and many other simple science-related activities that you and your child can do at home or in the community.
Systems, Order and Organization
The natural world is so large and complicated that scientists break it down into smaller parts in order to study it in depth. These smaller units are called systems. Scientists look for patterns through which they can classify—or organize—things into systems. For instance, animals that have fur or hair are classified as mammals. When you encourage your child to gather and organize objects according to their size or color—for example, leaves or insects—you are helping prepare her to think in terms of systems. Furthermore, scientists believe that nature is understandable and predictable—that there is an order to it. For instance, low barometric pressure is often followed by storms. Challenging your child to make reasonable predictions such as this will further prepare her to look at the world in a scientific way.
