Early Childhood Science Process Skills Checklist
The future nuclear physicists, drug researchers and environmental engineers require the opportunity to observe, classify, measure, communicate, infer and predict and experiment in their primary science class. To help you keep track of the skills introduced and the achievement level of these skills in your classroom employ a science process skills checklist.
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Science Process Skills
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Taking your class outdoors exposes them to many of the science skills students need to practice. To make a science process skills checklist, list the six science process skills -- observe, classify, measure, communicate, infer and predict and experiment -- across the top of a paper.
To help children learn to observe, give students a bean seed to pop open. Encourage them to use all their senses to observe the seed. In the primary classroom, students can practice classifying by sorting pictures of jungle animals and marine animals. Measuring is the next skill on your list. Students compare items when they measure. In the primary classroom, students use nonstandard measurements. Is the bag of apples heavier than the pumpkin?
Communicating in science requires sharing information with others. Infer and predict is the next column. When students infer, they guess what will happen before their observation begins. Predicting requires the students to guess what will happen next. Experimenting is the last column on your checklist. The students do something to see what happens.
Students
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The checklist has the skills listed on the top of the page. Next, list the students in your classroom down the left-hand margin of the paper. Each student will be assessed on each of the skills. If you have students with an Individualized Education Plan, place their names at the top of the list. You will be able to keep their accommodations in mind more easily with their top placement.
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Evaluation Marks
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Keep your science process skills checklist on a clipboard as the students do hands-on activities. As you observe the students during their science activities, evaluate how well they have accomplished each of the six skills. "Science in Elementary Education" recommends an efficient method for evaluating. Write an 'A' if the student has achieved the skill, a 'C' for continuing to improve and a 'T' if the child has trouble applying the skill to the activity. Listing A-C-T in each space on the array allows you to give each skill a score as you watch the classroom 'doing' science.
Performance Based Assessment
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The science process skills checklist is a type of assessment that is performance based. These types of assessments are in contrast to formal assessment in the form of a test with multiple-choice answers or true and false statements. An advantage of performance based assessment is that students are actively involved while their assessment is happening. Students and teachers are not wasting time taking a three page test. Class time is spent doing to learn science. On the other hand, an argument against this type of assessment is that the teacher might be biased in her judgments. Developing rubrics and checklists like the science process skills checklist helps to keep the objectives clearly defined.
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References
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