McCrory, A

English

UCL Discovery

This interesting, informative and highly accessiblebook puts the agency of the child at the heart ofbecoming an emerging biologist. Written by anexpert in the field of early childhood scienceeducation – Dr. Sue Dale Tunnicliffe, Reader inScience Education at UCL Institute of Education –this book demonstrates how young children can bescaffolded and supported to become emergingbiologists, via a number of age-appropriateactivities steeped in good pedagogical practice forscience education in the early years. Sue DaleTunnicliffe explains that this book is the result of aquestion that has driven her own reflections andresearch for 50 years in science education: wheredo children aquire their knowledge of biology andhow do children interpret their world? She notesthat the answer is found in children’sunderstanding of their home and community, priorto any formal schooling, and this reflection I amsure will resonate with effective early yearspractitioners. She goes on to explain that this book is also theresult of conversations about how childrenestablish the foundations of their biologicalknowledge in the early years with her friend andfellow biologist Ann Wright, Professor at CanisiusCollege, Buffalo New York, who unfortunatelypassed away in 2016.Therefore, this bookis a poignantdedication to herand their sharedvision for biologyeducation in theearly years, and iswritten forteachers,practitioners andparents tosupport them toenable thechildren theyteach and raiseto further developtheir understanding of the living world. Recognisable themes in biology run through thebook, underpinned by key information aboutresearch, scientific concepts and ideas, as well assuggested activities and discussion pointshighlighted as ‘Talk science’. The book iscompartmentalised into 8 chapters, focusing onlearning about:p The living world, from the perspective of youngchildren themselves – their interests;p Ourselves;p Animals;p Plants;p Observing changes in the living world;p Naming living things;p Earth science; andp Interactions between physical science and living things. Resource ReviewsResource Reviews JES19 Summer 2020  page 57Emerging Biology in the Early Years – HowYoung Children Learn About the Living WorldBy: Dr Sue Dale TunnicliffePublished in 2020 by RoutledgePrice: £19.99 ISBN: 978 0 81537 710 8All the activities and pedagogical approachessuggested would fit well into delivering the EYFScurriculum as well as Key Stage 1 (ages 5-7);however, Dale Tunnicliffe cautions that very youngchildren will not necessarily manage to carry outthe activities in the same way as older children andso it is important for the adults supporting them tosee how their ‘emerging biologists’ respond to theactivities presented, because the methodsdescribed in the book may not be the best way forevery child to tackle each activity. This reflects apersonalised learning approach as well as theimportance of assessment for learning, both ofwhich are recognised as integral to effective earlyyears education (Colwell et al, 2015). I also thinkthat this is sage advice for parents and teachers,given that sometimes activities can be disregardedas not appropriate or inaccessible for youngerchildren, rather than being adapted. The author also clearly emphasises that early yearseducators should seek to facilitate active learningand encourage children who, she argues, are allintuitive scientists, to ask questions. Therefore,insights into the crucial role of adults as facilitatorsand scaffolders of learning are given – it is clearthat the author believes that adults do not tellchildren what to do, nor provide detailed scientificinformation (this is the remit of formal learningmuch later on in the school setting, she argues);instead, the role of the adult is to encouragechildren to ‘think, and wonder and work on theirown initiative, rather than be dictated to’ (2020:3) by adults. For me, the power of this book lies with the focuson the importance of ‘play’ to promote challengingand positive opportunities for emergent biologiststo explore, interpret and understand their world. In today’s political climate, teachers and facilitatorsare held highly to account, and rightly so – allchildren deserving the absolute best educationundertaken in a safe and stimulating environment.However, there still unfortunately exists theattitude, from some, that ‘play’ is ‘just playing’,thus taking a negative approach to ‘play’ and failing‘to understand its essential and critical value’ (2020:5). Experiential learning and learning through playare key early years teaching pedagogies, which,when facilitated well, lead to effective learningoutcomes for young children. This absolutelyresonates with the idea of teacher-initiatedactivities leading into child-initiated exploration(and vice versa), incorporating observation,questioning and problem-solving: a clear reflectionof good practice in teaching science to youngchildren. Therefore, all educators in the field of early yearseducation would certainly benefit from reading thisbook, but I would also go as far to say that thisbook could inspire teachers and science co-ordinators of older children within the primary agerange to utilise play and opportunities for talk tosupport the development of their emergentbiologists throughout their primary school career. ReferencesColwell, J., Beaumont, H., Bradford, H., Canavan,J., Cook, E., Kingston, D., Linklater, H., Lynch, S.,McDonald, C., Nutkins, S. & Ottewell, S. (2015)Reflective teaching in early education. London:Bloomsbury PublishingAmanda McCroryResource Reviews JES19 Summer 2020  page 58This book provides examples of practical step-by-step science experiments for teachers to follow andorganise with primary students. The scienceactivities cover all the primary years (ages 5-11).The experiments are simple and safe to implementand are designed to engage children when learningscience. The experiments are aligned with theNational Curriculum for England Statements.Topics covered include: plants; materials; seasonalchanges; living things; sound; light; electricity;Earth and space; and evolution, catering for a widerange of topics. Each activity is pegged with theNational Curriculum Statements and AssessmentIndicators. The equipment needed is listed,together with instructions. Health and safety issuesare also covered and black and white pictures ofequipment are included.The book provides many good ideas for primaryteachers who wish to include plenty of hands-onactivities when teaching science to their students.Many of the experiments use everyday materials.This helps teachers to design experiments withlittle difficulty in finding the materials needed.While the book would have benefited fromphotographs in colour, it can still be considered as agood aid to planning science experiments.The book is thus a good companion for enthusiastic primary teachers, who can regularly consult it to beinspired to find experiments to augment thelearning science experience. It can also be used bystudent teachers, who need to have practical ideasat hand and access to simple experiments that areeasily implemented.Suzanne GattResource Reviews JES19 Summer 2020  page 59Tried and Tested Primary Science Experiments– practical enhancements for Science in thePrimary CurriculumBy: Kirsty BertenshawPublished in 2019 by RoutledgePrice: £18.39 ISBN: 978 1 138 31782 6Resource Reviews

Emerging Biology in the Early Years – How Young Children Learn About the Living World? Book Review by Dr Amanda McCrory

https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10105436/4/McCrory_Resource%20Reviews.pdf

Emerging Biology in the Early Years – How Young Children Learn About the Living World? Book Review by Dr Amanda McCrory

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