Science is an exciting subject for students to learn. It allows students to explore, investigate, think critically and delve into a subject or experiment. They gain an understanding of the world around them, how things are created, how things work and why things look the way they do. Science allows the students to have a firsthand experience with what they are learning about, which increases their comprehension of the concept or idea being taught. The students also have a better recollection of the activities that they do on their own, than those activities they watch the teacher demonstrate. Science can often be an outlet for the reluctant reader or poor math student because science can be trial and error, allowing for mistakes to be made.
Kindergarteners enjoy the kinesthetic activities that science provides them. They like to play with things to see how they feel, how they Sound, smell and sometimes taste, even when they should not. Science is an excellent way for students to explore using their five senses. The five senses allow a student to make their descriptions more vivid and understandable. Young students are very curious about the world around them and often want to know the "why: of so many things. Science allows students to explore through hands on activities, thus engaging all students, even those with limited attention spans.
Five and six year olds are excited about watching things change into something completely different. Therefore, watching bacteria grow before their eyes is a great way to motivate students to learn about science concepts.
The first part of this unit provides background information on the ocean environment, the seashore and plant life of Long Island Sound. Then the unit describes key aspects of the rocks and minerals and geological processes at work in the Sound. Finally, the unit focuses on the microbial life and microbial processes important to life in the Sound.
