Increasing Science Literacy in Early Childhood - The Connection between Home and School

Oct 15, 2026

Fictional narrative shows how a preschool baking activity—making chocolate chip cookies with and without eggs—can become a genuine science investigation. The story highlights scientific thinking: turning a potential conflict into a testable question, proposing an experiment, making predictions, measuring accurately, and observing results through a taste test. It argues that keeping learning opportunities open matters for both children and adults, and frames science inquiry as fun while strengthening problem-solving, self-regulation, and academic readiness.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Increasing Science Literacy in Early Childhood

The Connection between Home and School

Parents’ Attitudes about Science Learning

Increasing Science Literacy in Early Childhood The Connection between Home and School By Phil Vahey, Regan Vidiksis, and Alexandra Adair J ulia invited Marco, her friend from preschool, over to make chocolate chip cookies.“Mmmm,” says Julia,“chocolate chip cookies are my favorite!” “Mine too,” says Marco,“but I’ve never made them before! This will be fun!” Julia’s parents help the children collect the ingredients and put them on the counter: butter, flour, chocolate chips (“Yay, the best part!”shouts Julia), sugar (“Sugar must be what makes them sweet,”says Marco), and all the rest until Julia’s dad asks Marco to get two eggs from the refrigerator.“Eggs!” says Marco,“I don’t like eggs!”“Well, Marco, we need them, so please take two out.” “Do we need them? I really don’t like eggs! I think they will ruin the cookies—I don’t want to get them.” Julia’s dad looks at her mom: What to do? Their favorite recipes all call for two eggs. Besides, this is supposed to be a fun Saturday activity, not a battle of wills with a 4-year-old!“Hmmm,” says Julia’s mom,“I have an idea. Your teacher’s last science newsletter said that in class you tested different ways of making play dough. Do you remember that?” “Yes,” says Julia,“that was fun—one turned out Phil Vahey is the director of strategic research and innovation atSRIEducation. Regan Vidiksis and Alexandra Adair are research associates at the Education Development Center. soft and one turned out hard!”“Well, let’s try two different ways of making chocolate chip cookies!” Julia’s dad breaks into a grin: “What a great idea! We can make one batch with eggs and one without eggs. Something else I read in the newsletter was that it is good to make predictions. Julia, which cookies do you predict will be better?” “Dad, how do I know? I’ve never done this before. What do you think?”“I have absolutely no idea! Isn’t that great! We get to try something new and see what happens! Let me go get some paper and a pen—I want to write down everybody’s predictions about how the cookies will turn out.” A few minutes later, Julia’s dad has written down everyone’s predictions: since Julia can’t taste egg in regular cookies, she thinks there will beno difference (now that she thinks of it, maybe parents just sneak eggs into cookies because parents like kids to eat eggs); Marco says the cookies without eggs will (obviously) taste better than the regular cookies; Julia’s dad says he thinks eggs make the batter fluffy, so the cookies with eggs will be fluffier; and Julia’s mom thinks eggs help to make the cookies soft and moist, so the cookies without eggs will be harder and drier than the cookies with eggs. Now it’s time to make the cookies: “Marco, you measure the chocolate chips.” And so begins the process of measuring, mixing, and baking. There are two things to notice in this fictional account of Julia’s home: The first is the scientific thinking that happened (and will happen as the day goes on). A potential showdown with a picky ILLUSTRAT IONS BY CA ITL IN ALEXANDER AMERICAN EDUCATOR | WINTER 2018–2019 17 eater was turned into an authentic question (what happens when we remove the eggs from a cookie recipe?), a way to investigate the question was proposed (make one batch with eggs, one batch without), predictions were made, and the practices of mathematical thinking and accurate measuring were used to conduct the cookie-making investigation. We can also imagine them discussing other scientific observations once they try the cookies. The second thing to notice is that making cookie baking more scientific didn’t make it any less fun—infact, it made it more fun. All the traditional aspects of cookie baking are present (includingthe final step of eating the delicious cookies) . But there is also a sense of wonder and anticipation as they await the results of the taste test. On a related note, if you are wondering what the differences between the two batches of cookies are, we don

FAQs

How does the cookie-baking activity become a science investigation?

The story turns the question of removing eggs into a testable experiment by making two batches (with eggs and without), then using predictions and accurate measuring to guide the inquiry.

What scientific thinking steps are emphasized in the story?

It emphasizes asking an authentic question, proposing a method to investigate, making predictions, and using mathematical thinking and accurate measuring while conducting the activity.

Why does the article say adults don’t need to know the results in advance?

Because genuine learning is created by providing opportunities for investigation, which can involve adults and children alike, rather than requiring adults to already know outcomes.

Oct 15, 2026

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