Scenario
Playing outdoors together, Susie (four years three months) and Lee (four years) decide to look for beetles. Susie suggests going to the wild garden, where they both begin to lift up logs and stones. After a few moments of unproductive searching, Susie says, 'You lift it and I'll look... They can run fast, can't they? There's one!.. Oh, it's gone.'
Lee runs inside and returns with a magnifying 'bug box'. Susie lifts the log and Lee catches a woodlouse in his box. Triumphantly, he shows other children who are gathering to watch.
'I'm going to get another one!' says Lee. 'Watch. When I pick this (log) up, I bet they all run inside the wood...They like it when it's dark.'
Lee catches a smaller woodlouse. 'It's a baby one... a mummy and a baby one! Look! They can climb up the box - they've got little legs.'
Amy watches and says to Lee, 'You'll have to put them back now. They don't like it in the box. They might die - they haven't got any food.' Lee says, 'I'll give them some food... they can have some grass.'
Meanwhile, Susie has found a spade and a plastic tray and is digging in the soil. When asked what she is looking for, she replies, 'Worms, wiggly worms. They're in the mud but I can find them. They are down here. I can pick them up in my hand. They're wriggly and squashy... they tickle me!'
Observation and assessment
Consider the following questions before reading the assessments of children's learning:
* What can you observe about Susie and Lee's motivation to learn?
* How effectively do the children use language and in what ways?
* What do you notice about children's social development?
* What comments can you make about Susie and Lee as independent learners?
* What knowledge do the children already have about woodlice and worms, and about their habitats? Are they able to identify features of living things?
* What do they learn about woodlice during the activity?
Points for team discussion
* How could you organise and equip the outdoor area to encourage wildlife investigations?
* How could non-fiction books be used to extend children's knowledge? What questions could you ask to extend learning?
* Are you aware of the correct scientific terminology to use during such investigations?
* In what ways can children's discoveries and observations be recorded?
* Do all children know where resources such as 'bug boxes' and magnifying glasses are kept in your setting? Can they access the equipment independently?Do they know how to use it?
Scenario evidence of learning
Susie shows knowledge about the habitat of beetles and worms when she selects the wild area for her search, and talks about digging for worms.
Both Lee and Susie are excited by the prospects and by their discoveries.
They work together effectively (one lifting the log as the other searches) and use talk readily to communicate their thoughts and ideas. Both identify features of living things and Susie offers descriptive language such as 'wiggly' and 'wriggly'.
Lee asks questions, showing an eagerness to find out more about woodlice and offers his own predictions, based on his observations, about their behaviour. Both Susie and Lee operate independently during the activity, determining the direction of their own learning and selecting appropriate resources. Amy is confident in sharing her knowledge of woodlice. She also shows concern for their well-being and an awareness of conditions for survival.
