Daily Activities & Observations 

  • Morning Meeting, (8:45-9:00 AM): Discussed the week with students following "under the ground,"  
  • Excavation Setup (9:15-10:30am) Made an archaeological dig site in sandbox using buried treasures and tools.   
  • Investigation Time (10:45-11:45 am): Kids looked through magnifying glasses, brushes, record sheets to go record findings   
  • Afternoon Research (2:15-3:00 PM) - Read about book underground animals, fossils and plant roots 

Professional Practice Elements Engaged 

Dimensions of Professionalism Ethical Decision Making: Ethical practice involves careful decision-making based on the child that is in the best interest (Early Childhood Australia, 2019): Situation: Emma discovered a live earthworm during digging and wanted to put it in a jar  

My reaction: involved child in a conversation on the issue of animal welfare and habitat requirements  

Result: Child has decided that worms would find more happiness in garden, as it learns to empathize and take responsibility of the environment. 

National Curriculum Frameworks - EYLF Outcome 2 (Connected to Their World): Connections of children to their world are developed through first-hand experiences in the natural worlds (Department of Education and Training, 2022):  

  • Children learned respect towards living beings and the surroundings that they lived in  
  • Uncovered relationships between land and subterranean ecology  
  • Subjugated the way underground discoveries work in informing us about the past  

Health, Wellbeing and Wellness: Risk Management health and safety programs are highly controlled to ensure there is a balance between safety and valuable learning opportunities in early childhood environments (Little & Wyver, 2018):   

  • Physical Safety: shown how to hold digging tools correctly and followed around closely  
  • Hygiene: Developed the habit of washing hands after touching the soils  
  • Emotional Wellbeing: Children were supported to overcome a feeling of discomfort when handling soil or insects  
  • Safety in learning: Developed children-developed rules of safety in dealing with scientists 

Play Pedagogies - Scientific Inquiry Through Play 

Hypothesis Formation: The children are inherently curious and in possession of scientific mindsets that are promoted by inquiry-based learning (Fleer, 2019):  

Jovana: "I think we found the dinosaur bones because they are so old!  

Process of testing: Methodical excavation where precision is taken in detailing.   

Results Discussion: had discovered pieces of pottery (planted by educators), talked about what it could tell us of the past peoples  

  • Learning: Playful exploration integrating scientific method Learning:  
  • Playful exploration incorporates scientific method  

Problem-Solving Play: Puzzle Play During the playtime when brushes got grounded with soil, children tried:   

  • Various sizes and stiffness of brushes   
  • Artifact cleaning spray bottles of water  
  • Other things such as spoons and cotton buds   
  • Collaborative cleaning systems 

Educational Program and Practice 

Emergent Curriculum: Using emergent curriculum practices is characterized by the fact that educational work is based on the interests of children and educational rigor is upheld (Jones et al., 2016):   

  • The children were engaged in weekly goal setting at Monday morning planning session   
  • The interactions were developed since genuine questions and interests of children  
  • Flexible daily routine could be used to provide additional time to invest in investigation in case children were highly engrossed   
  • Naturally occurring cross-curricular links (literacy based on documentation, math using measure, science based on observation)  

The Provision of Learning Environment: The appropriately set up learning environments are an element of the third teacher that helps children in their investigations (Curtis & Carter, 2020):  

  • Magnifying glasses, recording sheets, reference books (Indoor Investigation Station):  
  • Outdoor Excavation Site: Segmented dig areas, tool shed and washing center  
  • Documentation Area: Digital camera, clipboards, field notes: pencils 
  • Reflection Space: Appealing place to exchange findings and make schedules of further actions 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives 

The indigenous worldviews should be incorporated with respect and genuine practices (Harrison & Greenfield, 2021):  

  • Talked of respecting the land and lessons it can lead us to  
  • Read One Stolen Girl (age-appropriate version) read about archaeological diggings of aboriginal tools and art  
  • Acknowledged that we learn on lands with long histories/traditional lands