Prompt children for their noticings and observations of plants and animals in their environment, encouraging greater and greater detail.

Adaptations specific to this investigation are included in the resource.

• Use visual cue cards for different plants and animals.
• Encourage verbal and nonverbal responses and follow children’s interests.
• If children are in a buggy or can’t get close enough to observe, bring different stimuli to them as appropriate (e.g., a flower, leaf, ant, etc.)
• Focus on children’s sensory strengths. For example, if children are strong listeners, focus on auditory input vs visual input, etc.
• Try open-ended questions first, but if children don’t respond to open-ended questions, provide close-ended questions (e.g., “Is the rock hard or soft?”)