A Head Start on Life Science: Encouraging a Sense of Wonder

Nurture curiosity and even joy in the youngest scientists. The 24 inquiry-based lessons in this lively collection show you how. The activities are organized into sections on animals, plants, and nature walks. Rather than merely presenting science facts to 3- to 7-year-olds, you’ll prompt them to make discoveries of their own. They’ll explore critter camouflage, probe pumpkin insides, make bird feeders, and more. A Head Start on Life Science is as easy to use as it is inspiring. Each lesson includes lists of learning objectives and required materials, relevant background to help you prepare, plus at-home activities written in English and Spanish. Connections to multiple subjects―including reading, writing, math, dramatic play, and art―let you offer related learning opportunities. Extensions help you relate the science to children’s everyday lives and encourage them to explore with their families. You can use A Head Start on Life Science in preschools, elementary schools, informal science settings, home schools―anywhere you want to engage children in meaningful, longer-lasting science learning. The book is a follow-up to NSTA’s popular A Head Start on Science. Like that treasury of science activities, this collection is designed to heighten children’s sense of wonder about the natural world.

William Straits is a professor of science education at California State University, Long Beach. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of California at Irvine (1991); master’s degrees in biology from California State University Fullerton (1995) and in curriculum and instruction from the University of Texas at Austin (1997); and a PhD in science education also from the University of Texas at Austin (2001). Throughout his career, as a science teacher and as a teacher educator, he has emphasized the natural and important connections between science and language literacies. He currently serves as director of the National Center for Science in Early Childhood and focuses much of his scholarly work on early childhood science education. He is continually amazed by the loving and tireless work of teachers of young children and humbly hopes that this book, in some small way, aids them in their efforts—helping children to heighten and expand their joyful “sense of wonder” about the natural world.