## North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

#### Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Cognitive Development (CD)

#### Subdomain: Scientific Exploration and Knowledge

#### Goal: Children observe and describe characteristics of living things and the physical world

#### Skill Progression: Observe and describe characteristics of living things and the physical world

#### Age: 54-60 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 54-60 Months.

### Notes the physical properties of different aspects of the environment

Situations for Observation of Skill

Go to the park or on a nature walk. Bring along a nature book with pictures of different animals, environments, etc.

Elicitation Strategy

Examine a nature book and talk about habitats in the book. Ask how the various habitats are different from a person’s home. How do different animal’s homes vary?

Behavior Observed

Notices many characteristic patterns in nature. The child talks about the differences between manmade and natural materials.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Actual engagement with aspects of nature is important. Books illustrate nature, but experiencing nature helps children understand and apply principles at a deeper level of understanding. Field trips and outings make learning come alive!

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015

©2015 by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.