I noticed Emma, Finn and Adam sitting together on the concrete. Emma seemed to be experimenting with a paint brush and a cup of water by painting onto the concrete. Emma was using the paintbrush to paint long strokes on the concrete. She watched as the water disappeared with the warmth of the sun. “Would you like some colour? I asked her with the hope to extend her self-initiated experience. “Yea” she replied excitedly.
I added some purple food dye to one cup, and yellow in the other which sparked an interest with Finn and Adam. All the children began exploring the concept of colour on the ground. “I’m making it change colour, it’s going grey! “Said Adam, as he mixed the yellow and purple together. “Now it is turning brown” he added, looking closely at the coloured water. “Mine is turning brown too.” Added Emma. “I’m making it a bit darker” said Finn, he had just added two colours together and the water colour deepened.
The children continued applying the dye to the concrete, constantly communicating their ideas as the experiment progressed. “I’m painting ducks” said Emma. She put a stone onto the concrete and painted a circle around it. Adam picked up and painted some leaves found nearby. “Look, it’s changing colour!” Said Finn, as he added some water to his cup. “It is changing to red!” exclaimed Adam, looking at Finns colour as he added more water to the purple, changing its appearance.
“I wonder why it’s changing? “I asked to provoke thought. “With some more paint in it” answered Adam. I went to find two more colours to add to the evolving experiment. “It’s blue” said Finn, as he brushed the blue dye along the ground. “No, it’s green” replied Adam. “It looks a bit like blue and green doesn’t it” I added. “It is called aqua, like the colour of the ocean, bluey, green!” Emma mixed some blue and yellow together. “I made green” she said surprised by her own discovery. “That’s right, blue and yellow make green”. I Replied. “I made a different green too Emma” said Finn. “I made a different colour too” added Adam, making a lighter blue with water. The experience then continued over to the drain puddle. Finn added some sand to the blue dye. “I made pale blue” he said. “It’s all black colour now” said Adam, as the colour appeared very dark over the drain. The children swished the colour around in the puddle for quite some time.
Adam
Adam was really eager to hear his learning story. He asked if we could read it with his mum the very next morning. When we spoke about the mixing of colours he said, “see mum, I made Aqua – like your favourite”. Adam’s mum said that he has been finding everything Aqua since yesterday and that she had told him that it was her favourite colour.
Emma
Emma arrived today (next day) I asked if she would like to come and read her learning story with me. She smiled and said, “The one about the colours?” We read the learning story and looked at the pictures that I had included. Emma was excited about the prospect of a potion station and said that she can’t wait to mix more colours and potions like a wizard. Emma was very excited to be called a scientist and as soon as we had finished she ran up to her friend, Amy to tell her that she is a scientist now.
Finn
Finn was away for a few days and it was a week before we were able to read this learning story with him. Finn looked at me with a cheeky smile when I said that they were scientists and said “Really? We are the same as a scientist?” I explained that scientist do experiments and find out new things and that is what he and his friends had done. “wow, can I make more colours now?” Finn asked and questioned where the potion station was. I showed him that we had started the potion station but had wanted to wait for him to finish adding the things that we would need. He said, “Thanks for waiting for me – cause we scientists got to work together”.
Emma, Finn and Adam, you each created your own unique colours today. The most exciting things is that you all became scientists in the ways that you each continued to try new ways to make colours and to then change the colours you had made into something new. You learnt that adding more of a colour to the water turned the colour darker and that blue and yellow make the colour green. You shared what you were creating and learning along the way with your friends and each of you learnt more through listening to each other. You discovered a new colour name and learnt that aqua looks like a mixture of blue and green. All of you began to understand that you can make colours lighter and darker. You were all so interested in the way that you can change and create colours that you continued this exploration for a very long time, showing that you enjoy experimenting in this way.
Outcome Group 4: Children are confident and involved learners
4.2 Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem-solving inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating
Outcome Group 5: Children are effective communicators
5.1 Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes
Adam: Adam communicated his understanding of the colours changing and that he knows the names of colours
Emma: Finn spoke to his friends about the changing colours and conveyed that he understood the concept of lighter and darker.
Finn: Finn communicated that he has an understanding of shades when he told his friends that he is making the colour darker.
Emma, Adam and Finn are enthusiastic about experimenting and intrigued by their ability to create and change something. We can explore the learning process of experimentation, trial and error, cause and effect more deeply with them by introducing a “Potion Station” where they can experiment further with colours. This could be facilitated with clear beakers to best see the colour mixing, blotting paper to test out the colours and maybe a light table to enhance their vision of the end result. I would like to also encourage the children to photograph their own before and after results.
Scientists experiment – Potion Station (May 2017)
