Under 5 magazine

RESEARCH, OPINION AND BEST PRACTICE

Darwin and discovery

This Darwin Day, we look at how the ethos of ‘discovery’ can be embedded throughout early years practice

Darwin Day – which takes place on his birthday, 12 February – is a day to highlight Charles Darwin's contributions to the world of science and biology and is celebrated around the world.

Developing the concept of evolution from his observations and studies, Charles Darwin’s approach to discovery is one of the core legacies of his work.

Darwin isn’t often thought of in the early years, with some of the details of his scientific discoveries being reserved for Key Stage Two learning in the first instance. However, though some of the concepts may be too complex to look at in detail, the overall principles that supported his work – questioning, exploring, hypothesising, testing, and concluding – can all be woven into little ones’ learning adventures.

These principles are embedded into the ethos of ‘discovery’ learning in the early years, meaning that you can carefully hone children’s exploratory natures to make sure that their curiosity is sparked, and they lead their own learning.

Charles Darwin facts

Born 12 February 1809 in Shrewsbury.
Died 19 April 1882.
A naturalist, biologist and geologist, he’s best known for his Theory of Evolution.
He dropped out of medical school because he didn’t like it – one reason being his dislike of blood!
It took Darwin 20 years to publish his book, The Origin of Species, because he wanted to make sure he had enough evidence to back up his scientific theories.
Darwin was an avid beetle collector, with his collection containing 1,500 different species from all over the world.
In 1831, he voyaged on the HMS Beagle, where he spent five years exploring South America, the Pacific Islands, and Australia.
Several species of plant and animal have been named after Darwin, including Darwin’s frog and Darwin’s finches (see below).

‘Discovery’ learning

Also known as ‘enquiry-led learning’, discovery learning is core to the development of children’s individual learning experiences and development. In essence, it’s about allowing children to embed knowledge through their environment and self-directed exploration than by direct teaching from an adult. This helps form a base upon which new knowledge can be hinged – also referred to as ‘scaffolding’ learning.

The principle of discovery learning was devised by developmental psychologist Jean Piaget and educational philosopher John Dewey. Piaget believed that allowing children to learn through experimentation and 'discovery' of the environment around them embeds a more concrete understanding of learning.

It’s proposed that the concepts and knowledge learned through discovery play enable children to apply and advance what they’ve discovered. It encourages children to constantly ask ‘why’ and then explore further via their environment to answer the question for themselves.

Benefits

Increases resilience.
Fosters curiosity and critical-thinking skills for active engagement.
Creates an active learning environment.
Offers children a concrete foundation to build on.
Embeds knowledge.
Supports independence, creativity and problem-solving skills.

How to influence your own practice

True discovery learning needs time. Children must be given ample space to make enquiries and follow-up their ideas without being rushed along to a conclusion or a different task, and they should also be the ones leading the process.

Choosing arbitrary links or shaping all experiential learning to a set theme can inhibit children’s natural curiosity and turn their exploration into a chore, leading to disengagement. But, despite some drawbacks, themed discovery learning can be beneficial, provided it’s meaningful to the children.

One way of including a theme that doesn’t place limits on the children is to develop a line of enquiry via a hook – this could stem from first-hand experiences, interests or a book, for example. The key then is to ask yourself how you can extend their existing knowledge without steering it or placing expectations on outcomes.

For example, while discovery zones, tables, and sacks with items to explore are a given in the early years, providing a selection of ‘tools’ alongside these give children the option to extend their knowledge based on their own choices. This could consist of including mark-making tools and paper, tipping scales, a selection of varied containers, water/water tools, torches, or material offcuts – as long as the children can choose whether to use them or not and how to use them.

Darwin-themed discovery learning

An example of theming discovery learning may be to use Charles Darwin and his work as a starting point. But how can you link Darwin to children’s first-hand experiences? A book is a good place to start!

The Same But Different Too and Rumble in the Jungle both focus on animals, their unique characteristics, and their differences, and can be used as a hook to start discussion around animals and why they might be different, weaving in children’s existing knowledge. Once the children have suggested some lines of enquiry (questions), they can then explore themed discovery zones with these in mind.

But what might you include in these zones? Think about the differences between animals and their habitats, and mimic in your zones – different materials (short fur, long fur, velvet, plastic, faux leather etc), water, sand, soil, rocks, leaves, pinecones, grass and flowers – with additional tools such as scales or various containers for children to explore with. You could even create individual ‘islands’ for the children to explore!

The idea here is to use children’s existing knowledge of animals and their features to explore why they might live in certain places. However, there should be no set outcomes or expectations; if the children take their learning in a different direction to animals and their differences, your role is to facilitate this and enthuse about their discoveries!