## 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

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### Differentiates between manmade and natural materials

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

After the nature walk talk about the various things in the home and ask whether they are from nature or manmade.

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/.