Environmental Stewardship
Recycling is a concrete activity that develops math and science concepts such as sorting, classifying, and identifying different kinds of materials. It is difficult, however, for children to understand the more abstract concept about how recycling and other kinds of conservation efforts represent responsible environmental stewardship, sustainability, and reducing waste. Therefore it is helpful to establish routines and do activities with children that begin to build those connections.
For example, in the program directed by the author, children have been engaged in recycling classroom materials for many years. Children in each class take turns bringing a small container to the recycling center at the end of the day and sorting its contents to the bins for paper, cardboard, plastic, and metal. In the past year, we decided to reduce the number of consumable cups used by providing an individual water bottle for each child and installing a drinking fountain on the playground.
In addition to the composting bin in the garden, a rainwater collection system with two fifty-gallon barrels was also established. To help children understand how these measures would reduce waste, we involved them in:
- Counting all the paper cups recycled in a week on the playground before installation of the drinking fountain.
- Collecting and measuring water used as the teacher brushed her teeth with the water running and brushed them again with the faucet turned off to estimate how much water could be saved (several gallons per person!) Counting how many watering cans we were able to fill and use for daily watering before needing the garden hose after the first rainstorm filled the water barrels.
Many American educators are inspired by the Reggio Emilia concept of remidausing recycled materials for aesthetic purposes (Ferrari & Giacopino, 2005). There are many online and print resources with ideas for using recycled materials for arts, crafts, and other activities. Teachers in the program described above have, for instance, saved soda can pop tops and then used them to make holiday wreaths and jewelry. They have also permanently installed a wooden frame on the playground on which children hang painted or decorated found items such as pine cones, cast-off puzzle pieces, old compact discs, and festival beads. Children learned how to make paper from recycled cardboard and constructed a large permanent painted sculpture from cast-off boxes and packing containers.
Chapter Summary
- Cognitive development occurs as children accumulate and reorganize experiences and begin to apply logical reasoning to solve problems through application of their understanding of patterns, relationships, and cause and effect.
- Children develop and adapt concepts in a continual cycle of assimilation and accommodation in response to experiences and interactions.
- Teachers promote cognitive development by facilitating the acquisition and processing of physical, logicomathematical, and social-conventional knowledge.
- Teachers support knowledge acquisition by providing interesting materials, fostering cognitive conflict, encouraging children to think about their thinking, and modeling collaborative problem solving.
- Mathematics and the sciences for children share a focus on inquiry, problem solving, and the development of critical thinking skills through processes and practices that engage them in hands-on explorations.
- Mathematics and science standards differ in the specific content and ways strategies are applied to solve problems.
- Mathematics standards focus on number and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data/probability. Each strand of the standards emphasizes important concepts that build on one another.
- Teachers apply their knowledge of how mathematical thinking develops and direct observations of children to facilitate informal learning through play and planning appropriate mathematics activities as children are ready for them.
- Science standards address physical, life, earth science, and technology. Science activities for young children engage them in observation of and interaction with the natural world and phenomena that they can experience at first hand through their senses.
- Teachers promote scientific thinking by involving children in systematic investigations of phenomena and objects with questions that focus on questions like “What’s wrong here?” “What happened here?” “What proof do you have?”