COVER PAGE

Name:

BKR - Anonymous

Student Number:

999999999

Subject Code:

Investigation: Maths, Science, & Technology

Assessment number:

Assessment Item 2

Assessment title

Planning for Play and Investigation

Word count

2,863

Date Submitted:

5th JUN 2011

Assessment 2
Page 1 of 12

Part I: Description of the setting and your position

The children in this planning for play and investigation experience are from the childcare
centre where I work as an Educator. They play together and are between 4 to 5 years of age.
The children were born in Australia and speak English as a first language. Their families are a
mix of Australian born and recent migrants of Asian and European background. Their
learning development and interests are similar (but not same) for their age group. They share
their favourite toys between them. Some toys, tools and games belong to the children, while
other learning tools available at the centre. They have been in my care since the beginning of
year 2014 and are attached with me.

Part 2- Rationale for selection of the children

The selected group shares an emotional and social bond, and participate together in play.
Their trust in me enabled my observations without intruding facilitating their process of
learning in different opportunities at times acting as a scaffold (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86). As
documented in my EYL setting daily reflection book from past observations, I was able to
conclude their mathematical and scientific development in accordance with expectations with
reference to their age group development. The demonstrated quality of objective permanence
which is necessary for the use of mathematics as it requires visualising or conceptualising
objects as existing, even if they are not seen (e.g. one car, two cars, three cars etc.). The group
also understood causality and spatial awareness (Geist, 2009, p. 137) in the demonstration of
fine motor skills required for delicate manoeuvres like stacking blocks and assembling Lego
kits.
Part 3- Summary of the childrens interests and understandings
Observations indicated that this group has an understanding of shapes in the context of
motion, and ordered operations in the context of building vehicles from Lego bricks and
Duplo-Lego kits. In their play time they mimic vehicular motion and operations (e.g. lifting,
dumping) and reproduce the sounds of vehicles in motions. For example the turning of
ignition key to start an engine, making the sound of a vehicle in motion, stopping, etc. The
group also mimics the use vehicle tool-box (Duplo-Lego) and tools such as screw driver,

Assessment 2
Page 2 of 12

spanner, jack lift for changing of a wheel, the use of scoops for excavation etc. In their play
they compare objects they have built using terms such as fast, slow, big, small, heavy, light.
The dots on the top of each Lego brick not only help to join the bricks together but they also
provide an in-built system of measurement. The group demonstrated measurement skills
when asking for bricks by expressing for example I need another four, I need a little piece,
just two dots. Their language exhibits familiarity with shapes (round, square, rectangular
etc). The social interaction within the group led to conclude evidence of Bishops six
mathematical categories (Macmillan, 2009, p. 21) as:
- Counting: classifying and sorting bricks in an arrangement and pattern, fitting the right size
and number of wheels to a vehicle
-Locating: using coloured Lego bricks of various shapes as appropriate to the vehicle
-Measuring: using terms such as long/short/small/big
-Designing: construction of vehicles from Lego bricks and Duplo-Lego kits
-Playing: imaginatively recreating real life experience in play
-Explaining: communicating the need for order and balance for e.g. proper fit of bricks
Observations also pointed to evidence of processes such as in observing, making connections,
inferring such as in the use of a key to start an engine of a make believe car and using a
spanner to tighten/loosen a bolt (Stelzer, 2005, p.5) based on their real life experiences.

Assessment 2
Page 3 of 12

Part 4- Learning Experience Plan

Experience Information
This learning experience plan will be implemented on Tuesday, 19th of June 2015. It is called
Shapes, Motion, Friction and Sound. It will be conducted with a group of 4 children in my
Early Years Learning setting. For this group the next stage of learning is kindergarten.
It is intended that this plan will be implemented over 4 to 6 sessions of approximately 1 hour
each in child initiated play-time sessions.
The learning is in accordance with the key scientific concepts of friction, sound, motion of
elementary machines as suggested in Guiding Science Learning and Assessments in the
Early Years (Harlan & Rivkin, 2012, pp. 238-271).
Learning Focus
The main focus of this learning experience plan is on promoting childrens learning by being
responsive to children with the planning and implementation through play (NQS PLP, 2013,
pp.1-3) in a learning environment in my EYL setting.
It also focuses to extend the groups learning through Lego bricks and Duplo-Lego kits, and
is intended to facilitate their learning of shapes in motion, causality of friction and sound
in motion, motion on solid surfaces and in liquids.
The focus in mathematical, scientific and/or technological learning is on extending the
groups understanding and language by introducing new concepts of Friction and Motion.
Four to five year-olds enjoy playing with friends using their creative abilities in building with
Lego bricks and Duplo-Lego vehicular objects from Lego materials. The plan envisages that
the children will become more and more advanced/proficient in building with Lego materials
and it also recognises and addresses the risk that the children may lose interest over the
duration of their learning experience. Hence, it provides for small duration easily achievable
success scenarios to encourage and motivate their learning. The learning experience plan also
takes into account the short attention span of the children and therefore includes sufficient
time to arouse their interest by using play tools of their choice and proving them a flexibility
and freedom of constructing any type of vehicular construction, in steps that will ensure
Assessment 2
Page 4 of 12

success, to maintain the groups collective and individual self esteem as part of nurturing
(Harlan & Rivkin, 2012, p. 39).
As an Educator I have planned to help trigger the imagination of this group and spark new
ideas by responding to their questions and prompting them with questions essentially acting
as a scaffold in a non-intrusive way without restricting their direct first-hand experiences.
Based on successive and progressive session observations, throughout the implementation,
some of the questions that may be asked are:
-

How many dots are there on the Lego bricks?

Why do you want to use wheels for your cars, trucks?
Why dont use tracks as you use for your tractor?
How many wheels do you need for your truck?
Can you move your car use square blocks or rollers?
Will your car move in water? Will it make a sound?
What happens if round wheels are replaced with cylinder rollers?
What happens when we use square blocks (corners) to slide down a ramp instead of a
coin?

New mathematical and scientific terms such as friction and motion would be introduced
and observations made on their use in childrens interactions, that would then demonstrate if
the group is progressing in the direction intended by the plan. The plan encourages the group
of children on self - discovery encouraging their curiosity and active involvement.
EYLF Outcomes section
The Learning Experience Plan focuses on extending and enhancing the mathematical and
scientific learning towards achieving the EYLF outcomes as follows:
Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners:
-

Children develop disposition for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence,

creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination, and reflexivity.

Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry,
experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating

It is intended that the children will use play to investigate, imagine and explore ideas and
Educators will provide a learning environment that is flexible and open-ended and that will
Assessment 2
Page 5 of 12

encourage them in individual and collaborative learning processes, and also allow them to
reflect what and how they have learned (DEEWR, 2009, p. 34)
By promoting this learning Educators will also work towards Outcome 4: (DEEWR, 2009, p.
35) by planning learning environments with appropriate level of challenge and recognise the
mathematical understanding that children bring and provide intentional scaffolding for
childrens understanding.
Requirements
The setting for this experience is my EYL centre, where I work as an Educator I will provide
indoor play area which will be sufficient and comfortable for all children where they can
explore their experiences by construction and examining their work. There will be a spate
area allocated to each child to keep their incomplete work to resume/continue in the next
session.
The duration of the learning experience is spread over a week in four stages, to facilitate the
communication and understanding of mathematical and scientific concepts of shapes and
motion on solid surfaces and in liquids, friction and motion on smooth and rough surfaces
and motion and sound. The materials needed are as follows:
-

Ramps or Inclined planes (currently available in the EYL Setting)

Coins, wooden square blocks, rolling dice, small square or rectangle glass coasters

(currently available in the EYL Setting)

Lego bricks and Duplo-Lego kits (currently available in the EYL Setting)
Floor mats (currently available in the EYL Setting)
Fish Tank with fishes in it (currently available in the EYL Setting)

The Lego kits (bolts, nuts, bricks, tubes, wheels, tracks etc) will be laid on the mats for the
group to pick up in a self-led play, with ramps/inclined planes available close by. Coins,
glass plates will be introduced by the educator along with square/cylindrical blocks, to
demonstrate how motion produces friction and sound in solids and in liquids
When children are exposed to literacy and numeracy through hands-on, practical, and playbased experiences, they are more likely to engage meaningfully and successfully (NQS PLP,
2013. p. 1).

Assessment 2
Page 6 of 12

Procedure
The plan provides for a learning experience over 4 to 5 play sessions, of approximately 1
hour each, based on the attention span of the children for this activity in play time. Their
incomplete constructions will be placed on a table in an allocated area (pack away) from
where it can be retrieved and resumed.
Initially the children will be encouraged to engage in self-led play in their area of interest
(Lego) with the Educator acting as a scaffold to respond and prompt with question(s) to
arouse their curiosity and explore the phenomenon of friction in motion e.g. What happens
when different vehicles move up and down a ramp? Then questioning them on the motion of
square/rectangle objects with corners (wood blocks) e.g. Wheel wheels, rollers or square go
faster? As an example using round objects (coins) and then square objects (blocks and dice)
to roll down a ramp?
To explain friction and sound the educator uses the example of rubbing hands together to
produce sound and heat, and asks the children to compare with what happens when rubbing
hands/fingers on glass plates/coasters. Only after the children have experienced first-hand,
will the Educator provide abstract concepts and terms to explain the phenomenon (Primary
Connections, 2008, pp. 1-2) of friction on smooth and rough surfaces. Likewise the effect of
motion in water and of motion on solid surfaces can be explained. For example by showing a
fish moving in water from end to end within water in a fishing tank, and asking the question
how come there is no audible sound of the fish moving inside water.

Assessment 2
Page 7 of 12

Plan for Review

A continued observation across all sessions would reflect on whether this learning experience
plan is achieving / has achieved its objectives.

Some observations on the learning

development facilitated are as follows:

Observing whether or not the children remain engaged and involved throughout
actively participating in this experience. This would demonstrate that they have

embraced my learning experience and become confident and involved learners

If the children demonstrate evidence of new mathematical, scientific and
technological concepts as outlined in Part 2: Learning Focus, it can be determined

that this learning focus was appropriate for this group

If the children achieve the learning outcomes envisaged then my procedure and
strategies that I implement throughout this experience plan will be effective and

successful
If the terms introduced in learning new concepts are heard or expressed in subsequent
sessions with children then I would have achieved the outcomes of introducing new

key mathematical, scientific and/or technological concepts

It is also important to allow the children to complete the tasks at their own pace and in
their own time to explore the construction work in their own way, but under
supervision without intrusion.

An Educators role is to observe and find out what is it that the group does not understand
and to try and help with understanding everyday concepts (friction, motion, sound) that
can be transformed into abstract concepts (Fleer& Raban, cited in Knauss, 2013, p.13).

Part 5- Evaluation of the teaching and learning

Throughout this planned experience (intentional play), it was evident the teaching and
learning objectives that I had set out to achieve are good and have been successful to a
degree, but require time more than originally envisaged for children to absorb the new
concepts through first-hand direct experiences at their own pace. This learning experience
plan therefore may need some more time for a holistic effect.
The outcomes from this experience clearly demonstrate that the childrens knowledge of key
mathematical, scientific/technological concepts on shapes and motion, motion and friction,
Assessment 2
Page 8 of 12

friction and sound, have been broadened (Harlan & Rivkin, 2012, pp. 28-52). Their
vocabulary has expanded to include the words such as friction. This needs to be further
reinforced by follow up actions. Their curiosity about the motion of vehicles and the sound
produced was aroused, when questions were raised on the silent motion of fish in the water
and the noisy motion of vehicles on the roads. It was interesting to note their engagement in
thoughtful contemplation and to see that they found it interesting to compare the effect of
friction when they rubbed their hands together as compared with and when they rubbed their
hands on a glass coaster. This helped understand the effect of friction on surfaces
(rough/smooth). It was a brave step to extend the childrens learning by using a subject play
of their interest. By providing the material that encourages such play and by naming and
drawing attention to what children are learning as they engage with the materials, educators
play and invaluable role in scaffolding the development of childrens mathematical thinking.
Construction toys such as Lego are designed to fit together easily and neatly. The bricks and
pieces are scaled so that their dimensions are in proportion to others. The nature of these
proportions means that such construction materials are an ideal medium for teaching and
learning about mathematical relationships (NQS PLP, 2013, pp.1-3). They may sound
complex but when we observe the children at play it shows how much maths is present in
childrens everyday play. At the basic level such material encourages children to use
positional language and the language of measurement.
Part 6 Reflection and Future Practice
For Educators the planning cycle begins with observing. That is finding out what knowledge
children already have about mathematical concepts. The use of strategies such as modelling
and demonstrating, open questioning, speculating, explaining, engaging, shared thinking and
problem solving to extend childrens learning helps us to achieve the outcomes desired as per
the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF, p. 15). It is therefore important to specifically
plan for mathematical and scientific learning and not just rely on incidental opportunities to
occur. It is through play that children acquire basic mathematical and scientific
understanding. Through their developing an understanding of new concepts and by planning
activities that intentionally foster development in response to childrens natural inclinations in
a way that supports and scaffolds their learning, is one of the underlying factors of successful
planning and learning experience (Seefeldt, 2012, p.101).
Assessment 2
Page 9 of 12

In reflection, Educators should think about what opportunity there is for literacy and
numeracy learning in EYL Settings. For example how do you incorporate mathematical
language and ways of thinking into discussions and interactions with children in a natural
way? What motivation is there for children to use complex and detail written and spoken
language and how do to show their efforts to do so are valued. Positive attitudes and
competencies are essential for childrens successful learning. The foundations for these are
built in early childhood (DEEWR, 2009, p. 38). The importance of play in early childhood
education is often linked to childrens stages of cognitive and social development and is
defined as appropriate to support childrens learning during the early years (AJEC, 2011,
p.70). For every child who develops a clear understanding of a particular idea or concept
there is potentially another child who may not. This is particularly true of complex ideas such
as those in mathematics and science. Therefore such learning has to be intentional and not
incidental. It is easy to assume that the Educators role in a play-based plan is always handsoff. That is we prepare the environment, provide the resources and stimulus and then sit back
and watch the result. Sometimes we may take this approach. But sometimes we also need to
become involved, to engage with children to support extend and challenge their thinking.

Assessment 2
Page 10 of 12

References
Australian Journal of Early Childhood (AJEC) Volume 36 No 4 Dec 2011. Early Childhood
Australia.
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), (2009)
Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia,
Barton, ACT Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved (15-Mar-2015) from website:
http://education.gov.au/search/site/
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, (2009). Belonging, being
and becoming: Educators guide to the The Early Years Framework for Australia,
Barton, ACT: DEEWR. Retrieved (20 Dec 2014) from website:
http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/National-Quality-Framework-Resources-Kit/
Geist, E. (2009). Infants and toddlers. In Children are born mathematicians: Supporting
mathematical development, birth to age 8 (pp. 135-182). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Education.
Harlan, J.D., & Rivkin, M.S. (2012). Guiding science learning and assessments in the early
years. In Science experiences for the early childhood years: An integrated affective
approach (10th ed., pp. 28-52). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Harlen, W., Macro, C., Reed, K., & Schilling, M. (2003). Making progress in primary science
(pp. 55-71). London: Routledge Falmer. Retrieved (18 Mar 2015) from CSU website:
http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/EMC305_201520_A_D
Knauss, M (2013). Maths is All Around You: Developing Mathematical Concepts in the Early
Years. downloaded from website:
www.teachingsolutions.com.au
Macmillan, A. (2009). Shared contexts for teaching and learning numeracy. In Numeracy in
early childhood: Shared contexts for teaching and learning (pp. 20-33). South

Assessment 2
Page 11 of 12

Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press. Retrieved (18 Mar 2015) from CSU
website: http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/EMC305_201520_A_D

National Quality Standard Professional Learning Program (NQS PLP). E-Newsletter No 66

2013. Play based approaches to literacy and numercay
Primary Connections. (2008). An elaboration of the Primary Connections 5E's teaching and
learning model. Retrieved from:
http://www.science.org/au/primaryconnections/teaching-and-learning/images/5Es.pdf
Project Maths Access (2006). Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI )
Teaching Mathematical Concepts: Basic Concepts. Downloaded Retrieved (18 Mar
2015) from:
http://s22318.tsbvi.edu/mathproject/index.asp#main
Stelzer, E. (2005). Structure of matter. In Experiencing science and math in early childhood
(pp. 32-52). Toronto, ON: Pearson Education Canada. Retrieved (18 May 2015) from
CSU website: http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/EMC305_201520_A_D
Seefeldt, C., Galper, A., & Stevenson-Garcia, J. (2012). Developing geometric and spatial
thinking skills. In Active experiences for active children: Mathematics (3rd ed., pp. 100117). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Vygotsky L. 1978 Mind in Society: The development of Higher Mental Processes, Zone of
Proximal Development. Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA. Retrieved (18 Dec
2014) from CSU website: http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/EEP417_201490_A_D

Assessment 2
Page 12 of 12