Organization of observations at ecological trail sites
Mikhneva Valentina Nikolaevna Chueva Irina Ivanovna teachers MBDOU “Kindergarten of general developmental type No. 25 “Fairy Tale” p. Morozovo, Gubkinsky district, Belgorod region
Implementation of the educational field of “cognitive development” through the organization of observations at ecological trail sites
Preschool childhood is the most fertile time for the formation of environmental consciousness, the child’s understanding that the Earth is our common home, and people in it are part of nature.
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A specific feature of environmental education for preschoolers is the child’s direct contact with natural objects. Children of preschool age can learn the natural connections of living organisms with the environment and understand the rules of communication with living beings, treat nature humanely and with care. One of the elements of ecological culture is ecological ideas - ideas about plants, animals, humans as representatives of living things in the natural world; ideas about the needs of specific plants, animals, people in environmental conditions; ideas about different habitats; ideas about seasonal changes in basic conditions in different habitats, about the ways in which various living creatures living in these environments adapt to them; ideas about the growth and reproduction of living beings; relationship and interaction of living organisms in communities (ecosystems). The brightest and most interesting manifestations of the world around a child are living nature. Therefore, the formation of a preschooler’s ideas about living nature serves as an understandable tool for him to develop abilities and awareness of the reality around him.
An interesting and fairly new form of organizing communication, cognitive interaction of children with the natural world and the formation of environmental ideas can be considered an ecological trail, which is a specific route into the natural world (both on the territory of a preschool educational institution and beyond).
An ecological trail is a specially equipped route in nature that allows you to solve educational problems. Systematic acquaintance of a child with the natural world allows him to develop the most important operations of thinking: analysis, comparison, the ability to establish relationships, generalization.
Children are constantly in contact with nature in one form or another. On the trail, children learn to express their opinions, ask and answer questions, and write a descriptive story. Thus, by learning about nature, children’s vocabulary is enriched. Pupils learn to grow plants, care for them, and realize the value of the life of even the smallest insect. They learn the rules of behavior in nature, show interest in collective activities, and develop a responsible attitude towards the products of their labor.
The emotional response of children to the beauty in the world around them, in the process of educational work on the trail, and the observation of beautiful objects awakens in children the desire for artistic and creative activity.
Thus, educational work on the ecological trail covers all educational areas, which meets the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard.
The ecological trail of our preschool institution was created on its own territory and is represented by several stops or points.
- Stop "Rowan". We introduce children to rowan - red and chokeberry, develop children's cognitive activity in the process of forming ideas about trees and shrubs. We cultivate a caring attitude towards living nature objects. Children learn to watch the birds that fly to the feeder in the winter and determine the name of the birds by their appearance.
Joint activities of the teacher and children at this point:
- viewing and observing trees and shrubs at different times of the year;
- comparing them with each other: trunk, branches, leaves, bark, flowers, fruits, seeds;
- conducting research: measuring the height, thickness of trees;
- productive activity: “Rowan branch”, “The waxwings have arrived”, “Rowan beads”
- environmental actions: planting trees, growing seedlings from seeds;
- environmental project “Rowan and mountain ash - are they the same type of plant?
- didactic games: “Children on a branch”, “What grows where”.
- Stop "Green Pharmacy ". We introduce pupils to the medicinal plants of our area: chamomile, plantain, calendula, mint, lemon balm, hyssop, echinacea, dandelion, rhubarb, wormwood, valerian, St. John's wort, catnip, thyme, coltsfoot, etc. Children learn about the medicinal properties of plants , learn to properly collect and store medicinal raw materials. In winter, we brew herbal tea from harvested medicinal raw materials.
Joint activities of the teacher and children at this point:
- observing the appearance of plants in spring, growth, flowering, examining flowers, leaves, comparing different plants during the spring, summer and autumn months;
- collection of plants for herbal tea;
- looking at illustrations and searching for medicinal plants on the site, talking about the rules for collecting plants;
- work in the garden bed: planting new plants, watering, weeding, loosening, preparing the garden bed for winter;
- conversations with children about the healing properties of each plant;
- didactic games: “We are plants”, “What is useful”, “Whose leaf”, “Guess what to treat”, “Guess by the smell”, etc.
3. Stop “Spruce Row ”. Let’s clarify the idea of spruce and its beauty: slenderness, pyramidal shape, green outfit. We learn to determine the age of spruce by rows of branches. We are conducting a mini-survey “Which is better: a live spruce or an artificial one for celebrating the New Year”
Joint activities of the teacher and children at this point:
- viewing and observing trees at different times of the year;
- comparing them with each other: trunk, branches, needles, bark, fruits, seeds;
- conducting research: measuring the height, thickness of trees, comparing cones in spring and winter, drawing;
- physical education and health activities (aromatherapy);
- conversations “Yolka needles”, “Who is the spruce tree friends with”;
- observation “Who comes to the Christmas tree in winter” (following footprints in the snow), comparison of Christmas tree needles with other coniferous trees”, “How a spider flies”;
- didactic games: “Whose traces”, “Yolka’s riddles”, “Find and feed the wintering birds”;
- productive activity: “Ate big and small”, “Don’t prick us with a furry twig”, “Decorated Christmas tree”, “Crafts from pine cones”,
- reading environmental fairy tales: “Spider”, “Once upon a time there was a Christmas tree”.
4. Stop "Alpinarium ". We introduce rock garden plants: sedum, young, alyssum, echinacea, purslane, bellflower, cloves, chives, aquilegia, fescue, periwinkle, shallots, spurge, iris, primrose; the relationships of plants with the environment (sun - light, water, heat, soil), with insects: butterfly, bumblebee, bee; we establish rules of behavior in nature.
Joint activities of the teacher and children at this point:
- conversations with children about the beneficial properties of plants and their fruits;
- viewing and observing the growth of plants in the rock garden at different times of the year;
- observations of an alpine hill as a community of plants and insects that cannot live without each other: “Acquaintance with mountain plants and their characteristics”, “What is soil for”, “Acquaintance with minerals”, “Butterflies and moths”, “ Aphids and ladybugs"
- learning proverbs, poems and sayings about insects with children;
- games: “Why did they call me that?”, “What grows in your native land?”, “Find out the plant.” “What kinds of plants are there?”;
- productive activity: “Blooming Flowerbed”, “Ladybug”.
- Stop "Lipa". We develop the cognitive activity of children in the process of forming ideas about the tree - honey plant. Its appearance, the characteristics of this plant; about tree bark and why linden is often found in Russian folk tales. Please note that the linden tree is the first of all the trees on the site to shed its leaves.
Joint activities of the teacher and children at this point:
- examining and observing the tree at different times of the year (particular attention to flowering);
- comparison with other trees: trunk, branches, leaves, bark, flowers, fruits, seeds, examining the bark with a magnifying glass;
- conducting research: measuring the thickness and height of tree trunks;
- didactic games: “We are trees”, “Give the tree a gift”, “Which tree is the leaf from” “Run to the named tree”, “Pathfinders”, “Who is friends with whom”, “If I were a tree”
- exhibitions of drawings: “Miracle Tree”, “Blooming Linden Tree”, “How Spring Decorates the Earth”
- Stop "Shrubs". Various shrubs (lilac, sea buckthorn, serviceberry, jasmine, currant) are planted at this point. Children learn to distinguish shrubs from trees, distinguish them by appearance, remember the name of the bushes, know medicinal shrubs, whose fruits are used to prepare herbal tea (currant, jasmine).
Joint activities of the teacher and children at this point:
- looking at illustrations and talking with children, searching for medicinal plants on the site, talking about the rules for collecting plants;
- conversations with children about the beneficial properties of plants and their fruits;
- learning with children proverbs, poems and sayings about bushes and insects;
- labor landing “Help the plants” (thinning branches with the help of adults, planting cuttings);
- didactic games: “Make a guess and guess”, “Which branch are the kids from?”, “Brew compote”, “Edible-inedible”; "Children on a Branch";
- productive activities: “Blossoming May”, “Preparing for the winter”, “Vitamins on the branches”.
- Stop "Reservoir" . We introduce the plants of the reservoir (reeds, algae, water lilies, etc.), reptiles, amphibians, insects; We develop in children the ability to see the diversity of the world in a system of relationships and interdependencies, to accumulate their own cognitive experience with the help of visual aids (natural objects, symbols, conditional substitutes, models). They released crucian carp and frogs into the pond. This is the most favorite and interesting point for children. Models of a stork and a bench for observation were placed next to the pond.
Joint activities of the teacher and children at this point:
- examining and observing the life of a reservoir at different times of the year;
- conversations with children about a pond as a community of plants, insects, amphibians and birds that cannot live without each other;
- learning proverbs, poems and sayings with children;
- conversations with children about the beneficial properties of plants, moisture-loving plants and trees (willow);
- drawing in the fresh air: “Weeping willow tree”, “Frog frogs”, etc.
- organization of experimental and search activities: “Ice melting in water”, “The ability of water to reflect surrounding objects”, “Sinking-floating”, “Why is the ice cracking on a pond?” and etc.
- reading ecological fairy tales: “Willow - willow”, “Why did the river cry?”
- Stop "Beryoza". We introduce children to the symbol of Russia - the birch, with its characteristic features. We have several of them: of different ages and different trunk thicknesses. We teach children to notice the changes that occur with a tree during each season. We invite you to express your opinion: why did the tree wither? How is it different from living things? Children explore the bark and branches. Are there insects on the tree? How can you help the trees on the kindergarten grounds stay alive as long as possible?
Joint activities of the teacher and children at this point:
- determining connections in a plant community (growths on tree trunks, as well as herbaceous plants growing in a birch grove);
- observations of birch trees of different ages and different thicknesses;
- didactic games: “Which branch are children from?”, “Recognize the plant”, “Find a tree by seeds”, “Autumn leaves”, etc.
- conversations: “How plants prepare for winter”, “Plants also cry”, “Hoarfrost and frost”, “Where insects hide”, “trees like people”;
- entertainment: “Russian beauty - birch tree”, “We danced around the birch tree”, “Travel with a birch leaf”;
- productive activity: “White Birch”, “Golden Autumn”, “First Leaves”;
- pantomime game "People and Trees".
As a result of organizing observations at ecological trail sites, preschoolers develop cognitive activity, curiosity, and the desire for independent knowledge and reflection.
Thus, the ecological trail provides an opportunity to focus children’s attention on a small number of living nature objects, on their most typical features, and thereby provide deeper and more lasting knowledge about the world around them.
Bibliography:
- Voronkevich O. A. Welcome to ecology. – St. Petersburg, Detstvo-Press, 2007, 489 p.
- Ryzhova N.A. Me and nature. – Moscow, Linka-Press, 2001, 53 p.
- Penzulaeva L.I. Outdoor games and play exercises for children 3-5 years old. – Moscow, Vlados, 2001, 67 p.
- Shishkina V. A. Walks in nature. Moscow, Education, 2003, 110 p.
