Caitlyn Mauck March 5, 2013 FCS 400: Observation Lab February 26, 2013 1.

How does the child react to each quantity of the items? a. Play-Doh Experiment: The younger students each picked one ball to be bigger when rounded (because they had watched Sydney roll it up). When Sydney flattened one of the balls, they also said that the flattened was bigger because it was squashed. i. Miriam, the only 5 year old to do this experiment, did say that the two balls were the same to start with and that the flattened ball was the same. b. Coin Experiment: All of the students said that the rows had the same amount when the rows were the same length. When the coins were expanded in one of the rows, Grace and Elissa said that the longer row had more coins even after counting the coins. Miriam and Philip said that both rows still had the same number of coins though. c. Water Experiment: When Sydney poured the water from one cup to the other, no matter if one was filled higher, lower, or the same, all of the students said that the cup that had water added had more in it. Miriam was the only student who understood depth and could say that one cup was deeper than the other even if water was poured from it. 2. How does the older child complete the task compared to the younger child? a. Miriam, the older child, completed most of the tasks correctly and was able to determine if things were had more, less, or the same based on depth and number.

3. Piaget theorizes that children in the preoperational stage will vary on their ability to complete conservation tasks. Why might this be true? What do you observe with this child? a. During the preoperational stage of cognitive development, children are learning how to think about things in their minds to solve problems, but they cannot retrace/explain thoughts or imagine objects from multiple angles. They see that the object was changed, either flattened, stretched, or filled/emptied, but they dont necessarily make connections that things may be the same even if it is in a different form. For example, Grace and Elissa were quick to point out that the stretched row of coins had more even though they counted the same number of coins in both rows. Miriam and Philip, who are both eager to learn and interact with education, noticed that both rows had the same number of coins even though one was longer. 4. What areas of the room are children playing in during free time? Is there any gendered pattern that you are observing? a. Most of the children were divided evenly among the story center, Play-Doh, and the blocks. It is interesting to note though that only girls were playing with the baby dolls, which is a more gender oriented play. Also, almost all of the children playing in the kitchen were girls, which is probably what was socialized to them through their mothers. Philip was the only boy to play in the kitchen, but as he and his mom have mentioned in the past, he has been socialized through helping his mother to cook in the kitchen somewhat regularly. It was also a little odd that only girls were playing with the blocks. That is typically the gender associated

with blocks. On the other hand, Ronnie was playing with the blocks, so maybe the girls have become attached to Ronnie or fascinated by him. 5. What are other observations of the classroom as a whole? What are your observations about teacher or aide interaction with the children? a. When all of the kids are on the carpet they constantly scoot up and crowd each other to be close to the teacher and materials (book, items in the magic box, etc.). Some of them stay to the back by themselves though, or interact with the assistants. In response to the students interest in the book, the teacher involves them in the story and asks for their predictions and participation in the repetitive parts. Also, when measuring ingredients, the teacher makes sure to include all of the students and give everyone a chance to measure. b. Philip strives for everyones attention constantly by calling out or telling others to look at what hes done. Sometimes the teachers ignore him until he somewhat settles down and other times the teachers instantly gratify his need for attention through praises or picking him to participate in an activity. These strategies reinforce his behavior by showing him that if he acts long enough he will get what he wants. Another student who likes to interact with the teachers is Electa. On multiple occasions, she would be wandering around following a teacher until the teacher would give her a task or remind her of what she needed to be doing. c. The teachers are all very encouraging and enthusiastic toward the children with big smiles and positive voices/words to reinforce good behavior. They encourage interaction among the students while eating lunch or sitting in the circle. At one

point, Tristan began telling Ronnie a story and was very excited. Ronnie also shared Tristans enthusiasm for the story even if he wasnt really interested. d. Toward the end of playschool while the kids were packing up, Philip started running in circles around the carpet area rather than putting on his coat. Some of the teachers ignored his behavior or calmly asked him to stop from across the room. One teacher went over to him and redirected his attention back to putting on his coat and his backpack so that he would be ready to get in line. This was a perfect display of the id overpowering Philips ego and superego through impulsive behavior.