IF YOU HAVE EVER WATCHED A YOUNG CHILD collect
rocks or dig in the soil looking for worms you probably
recognize that children have a natural tendency to enjoy
experiences in nature. Young children actively engage with
their environment to develop fundamental understandings of
the phenomena they are observing and experiencing. They
also build essential science process skills such as observing,
classifying, and sorting (Eshach & Fried, 2005; Platz, 2004).
These basic scientific concepts and science process skills begin
to develop as early as infancy, with the sophistication of
children’s competency developing with age