Mung beans experiment - 11th November 2021
Spontaneous:
This morning the children were playing outdoors happily when Sandra (educator) decided to do a mung beans experiment with the children. Sandra went and collected the mung beans, paper cups, cotton balls and a cup of water for the experience. Sandra placed the items onto the stage, the children happily came over and joined her. Sandra wrote the children 's names of the children onto each paper cup and offered it to the children. The children were so excited and held onto their cups. Sandra then gave each child some cotton balls and asked them to place it in the paper cup. The children followed Sandra's instruction and placed the cotton balls into the cup. Then Sandra placed some mung beans into each child's cup. Hunter tried to eat the mung beans out of his cup while Elya and Abuk liked to play with the cotton balls. Finally Sandra poured some water into each cup the children were so interested they decided to put their hands into the cup and the feel the wet cotton balls. Sandra explained to the children that the mung beans will grow inside the cups after awhile. The children seemed to enjoy their sensory experience with the wet cotton balls, mung beans and the paper cup. Sandra then placed the paper cups onto the window sill awaiting the arrival of our bean sprouts.The educators each day will help the children water and then to see what happens to the mung beans over the coming weeks. After the experience the children went to explore the resources in the outdoor environment.
Link to Pedagogical Documentation
EYLF Outcomes
Outcomes: 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world Elements: 2.4 Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment. The children in this learning experience were curious and participated with interest in planting the mung seeds onto cotton balls.
Theorists
This learning experience can be linked to Steiner's theories. He believes that providing real life tasks for children gives them a sense of belonging and connectedness.
Interpretation
Critical Reflection: Sandra helped children throughout the experience and also explained to them what will happen to the mung seeds over the coming weeks. It was nice to see that even children under 2 years can participate in this experience with interest and enthusiasm. Follow up: Make a herb garden in Joey's yard. Links to : STEAM - Science
