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L'Shanah Tovah!

Geosciences
For Youngsters

Jerusalem — "This rock feels
) sandy and has probably been
here for hundreds of years," says
5-year-old Ron as he chips away
at a piece of sandstone lying in
a rock-strewn field near his school
in Ramat Gan.
Ron is one of 200 Israeli
kindergarten children who have
been introduced to the geo-
) sciences through an experimen-
tal program developed by Dr. Nir
Orion of the Weizmann Insti-
tute's Department of Science
Teaching, in collaboration with
veteran kindergarten teacher
Tamar Leviatan.
"The program, " says Dr.
Orion, "fosters scientific skills
) through hands-on activities with
earth materials such as rocks and
soil and develops an awareness
of the importance of these
materials in our daily lives. It
does so by focusing on six
rocks — sandstone, clay, salt,
gypsum, limestone and flint.
These are studied in four "activ-
ity corners."
One of these is the "experi-
mentation corner," in which chil-
dren might, for example, put two
identical rock specimens into
separate containers — one with
water and the other empty. They
would then let the water evapo-
rate, observe the processes tak-
ing place and "record" the results
on a piece of paper.
During the experiments, the
children use hammers and a very
diluted chloric acid. They wear
goggles, gloves and aprons and
are given a strong concern for
safety. After gaining basic skills
in observation, classification and
identification, they go on to-
acquire more advanced skills:
measuring, representation of
data, questioning and controlling
variables.
The "crafts corner" includes
drawing sand pictures, molding,
sculpturing and making natural
paints. In the "investigation cor-
ner," the children explore rock
characteristics through hands-on
tests and observation under a
magnifying glass. And in the "sto-
ry corner," they hear folklore
about rock origins and the uses
of rocks in different societies
throughout history.
Upon completing this class-
\
room work, the youngsters go
outdoors to find samples of the
rocks they have studied.
As the year progressed, the
teachers reported that the pro-
gram, in addition to instilling
scientific knowledge and skills,
also fostered language enrich-
ment and smoother socialization.
An additional benefit was height-
ened parental involvement: The
children asked their parents
to accompany them on rock
hunts. 0

7

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