Science Week in the ELC

The theme for National Science Week in 2023 is Innovation: Powering Future Industries. Children in the ELC are naturally curious, researchers by nature: they seek to find things out, to explore possibilities. They engage in research in ways that occur instinctively to them, in collaboration with each other, and through play. 

Throughout Science Week, all ELC children were involved in a number of fun filled experiments and explorations, including attending an exciting Science Show presented by Mr Chris Boden and his Year 6 Science Crew on Wednesday. The Mantiri children viewed and listened to the story 'Going Places' by by Peter and Paul Reynolds before making their own model aircraft in the Mini-Collaboratory and created imaginary futuristic small worlds using loose parts. The Karrambi children participated in daily experiments including ‘dancing raisins’, ‘fizzy rainbow’ and a volcano explosion!

Our younger researchers in Tarragon, Rosemary, and Lavender have also been very busy! Following on from their ‘Sharing the Planet’ discoveries, the Lavender children have been planting and observing their growing seedlings, as well as experimenting with colour mixing and changing. The Rosemary children have also been taking part in daily experiments exploring colour, including observing celery leaves changing colour, making lava bottles, mixing playdough primary colours (to make secondary colours), and the ‘magic milk’ experiment. Finally, the Tarragon children have explored floating and sinking, made paper rocket constructions, observed volcano explosions, and practised coding using the blue bots.

Complementing Science Week and exploration in every ELC day, research, and play as research, is embedded in our ELC philosophy:

We encourage children to perceive themselves as researchers. We challenge thinking, scaffold children to see things from different perspectives, and build on their previous understandings. We believe that playful learning is a fundamental right of children, and that they grow and learn in collaboration through the many experiences they share and enjoy each day.

Alicia Flowers
Assistant Director of Early Learning