I'd like to share them, in the hope that maybe others will try them out too.
Initiating spark: L. (3yrs) made the mental leap from balloons popping when they go outside to that they might potentially becoming rubbish that harms sea turtles. In doing this he pulled together information from our current conversation about keeping balloons inside, an interaction with his mum about needing to hold onto his birthday helium balloon so it wouldn't float away and land in the sea, and watching videos of sea turtles on his dad's phone. (A seriously impressive piece of mental gymnastics there for a barely 3 year old.)
Experience concept: Explore sea creatures and rock pools, extend by adding small plastic wrappers and ask what might happen.
EYLF: LO2.4, LO 4, LO 5.3: exploring the interconnectedness of all beings, building on our ideas of how our actions impact the environment close to us, and more distantly, using a variety of materials. This involves a lot of hypothesising of potential effects and interactions between the animals and the human impact.
Materials: Individual dishes, clear plastic is good, about the size of a large cake pan. Water, rinsed sand (so the water doesn't get too murky), small plastic ocean animals, smooth rocks, shells, small plastic wrapper type rubbish (to add after children are developing story with the figures).
Questions to provoke thinking/extension:
How might rubbish get into the ocean?
Have you seen rubbish left at the beach?
What might happen to the animals swimming with the rubbish?
Do the animals like the rubbish?
Further Extension: walk to local waterway, look at what rubbish has ended up there. Bring tools for cleaning up?
Examine our own rubbish, ask about how families manage rubbish at home and how we can improve our practices at our centre.
Participate in Clean Up Australia Day, ask whether children might like to make posters to share their understanding with other people.
