CONTENT STANDARDS
Preschool programs provide children with opportunities to:

EXAMPLE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Some things a child does to demonstrate competency:

Hawai`i DOE Content and Performance Standards

Science

General Learner Outcome

Engage in complex thinking and problem-solving

Standard 1: Engage in scientific inquiry.

• Show curiosity and inquiry in play through exploration of objects and materials (rolling a toy car down a ramp made out of blocks, mixing all the colors of the paint together).

• Ask scientific questions (Why does the spider make a web? Where did the rainbow go?)

• Use observations in making predictions and formulate theories about how things work (The clouds make the rainbow go away).

• Use materials appropriate for problem solving and exploration of the physical world, including equipment like magnifying glasses and scales.

• Engage in discussions and/or document in drawing/writing what is learned through exploration and experimentation.
   

Science: The Scientific Process: Scientific Investigation

Discover, invent and investigate using the skills necessary to engage in the scientific process.

Standard 2: Explore physical properties of the world.

•  Describe, compare and categorize objects based on their physical properties (These rocks have sparkles and these rocks don’t.)

• Explore and begin to identify changes that occur in natural and man-made materials over time (Ask, What happened to the puddle? Notice that the carved pumpkin decomposes over time).

• Experiment with the effect of his/her own actions on objects (see if it’s easier to pull the wagon with one or two children inside, drop toys into the water table to see if they float).

Science: Physical, Earth, and Space Sciences: Nature of Matter and Energy

Understand the nature of matter and energy, forms of energy (including waves) and energy transformations, and their significance in understanding the structure of the universe.

Science: Physical, Earth, and Space Sciences: Force and Motion

Understand the relationship between force, mass, and motion of objects; and know the major natural forces: gravitational, electric and magnetic.

Standard 3: Explore characteristics of living things.

•  Explore the nature of life through observation of and interaction with a variety of plants and animals.

• Notice similarities and differences and categories of plants and animals appearances, behaviors and habitats (act out the behaviors of different animals in dramatic play).

• Notice and ask questions about growth and change in plants and animals (changes in the garden, life cycle of classroom pets, caterpillar changing to a butterfly).

Science: Life and Environmental Sciences: Organisms and the Environment

Understand the unity, diversity, and interrelationships of organisms including their relationship to cycles of matter and energy in the environment.

Science: Life and Environmental Sciences: Organisms and the Environment

Understand the structures and functions of living organisms and how organisms can be compared scientifically.

Standard 4: Learn about earth and sky.

• Investigate the properties of rocks, dirt, and water.

• Talk about and/or draw their observations of the characteristics and movement of sun, moon, stars, and clouds.

• Observe and discuss changes in the environment including weather and seasonal changes.

• Notice and describe environmental changes such as erosion, tides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.
   

Science: Physical, Earth, and Space Sciences: Earth and Space Science

Understand the earth and its processes, the solar system, and the universe and its contents.

Standard 5: Have a variety of educational experiences that involve technology.

• Pretend to use everyday technology in play (pretend to use a computer, use a block as a phone, bake mud cakes in a toy oven)

• Use real technology with guidance (for example computer, tape player, telephone, blender).

Career and Education: Technological Design

Design, modify, and apply technology to effectively and efficiently solve problems.

Science: The Scientific Process: Nature of Science

Understand that science technology and society are interrelated.