Early Science Matters

• Masking tape
• Chart paper
• Butcher paper
• Measuring tape

Note: Small parts pose a choking hazard and are not appropriate for children age five or under. Be sure to choose lesson materials that meet safety requirements.

1. In a large group, explain that we will be observing ourselves throughout the school year.
2. Discuss how tall we are, how our height changes as we grow and how we are each a different height and will grow to different heights.
3. Brainstorm to figure out how we can find out how tall we are, guiding the children to document heights on a wall.

1. Separate the children into small groups at the beginning of the school year and invite them to measure their heights by standing against a wall, with a teacher assisting by placing a piece of masking tape on the wall at the top of their heads.
2. Using a measuring tape, invite children to measure and document their heights on a piece of chart paper, with a row for each child’s name and the number of times throughout the year that measurements will be taken (at least six data points).
3. After each measurement, help the children mark their height measurements on pieces of butcher paper. Invite the children to draw life-sized versions of themselves on the paper to represent their heights.
4. Repeat this process throughout the school year. Before each measurement, ask the children to predict how they might have grown.
5. After measuring, discuss what the children have noticed. How did your height change? What will happen when we measure again in a month?
6. At the end of the year, review all of the children’s height drawings on butcher paper to see how their height has changed over time.

• Predict: To guess what might happen
• Observe: To watch with the purpose of identifying changes or behaviors
• Document: To write down observations that can be used to identify changes or similarities over time
• Growth: How a living thing develops over time

Early Science Glossary

Adapt Lesson for Toddlers

Toddlers may:

• Not yet have comparative and/or measurement language
• Not yet recall and connect all past experiences throughout a school year

Child care providers may:

• Plan shorter times for measurement, rather than a full school year, or use one data point to discuss height
• Engage in frequent discussions about how we grow and what we need to continue to grow
• Include families in measuring children at home to extend these discussions

Adapt Lesson for Preschoolers

Preschoolers may:

• Want to explore other factors beyond height in how they are growing
• Make connections to other living things that grow
• Be beginning to use standard measurement

Child care providers may:

• Encourage children to think about ways to track their growth, such as measuring the length of their arm or leg or taking measurements to see how their hair grows over time
• Encourage the children to track the growth of other living things
• Introduce aspects of standard measurement, while continuing to use common classroom items to measure with nonstandard units