Monday, August 26, 2013

Southern Nevada Playground Scavenger Hunt

South Tower Park
1022 Park Vista Drive, Las Vegas, NV
The Vistas village, 
is home to two shaded play areas,
a spray basin, a picnic and barbecue area,
open play areas and restrooms.

Southern Nevada Playground Scavenger Hunt


Southern Nevada Playground Scavenger Hunt: Science is Everywhere


Get scientific! A southern Nevada playground is a great environment to be a scientist. Follow the scientific method: ask questions, research, construct a hypothesis, test your hypothesis by conducting an experiment, analyze the data and draw conclusions, and report your results. Get out your pencil and be ready to explore the areas of physical, life and earth science.

 

Physics, Biology, and Geoscience: Apply your Science Knowledge


Children have a natural learning style already reflecting the scientific process. Alison Gopnik, a psychology professor at the University of California, Berkeley stated in an interview, "What we need to do to encourage children to learn is not to put them in the equivalent of school, tell them things, give them reading drills or flash cards. We really need to put them in a safe, rich environment where the natural capacities for exploration, for testing, for science can get free rein" (Sparks, 9/27/12). Maria Montessori believed that all children behave like "little scientists in that they are eager to observe and make "what if" discoveries about their world. Dr. Montessori also stated, "Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment". A playground scavenger hunt encourages discovery through nature. Encourage your child to observe the world and to feel a sense of wonder for everything in it.

Playground Scavenger Hunt Engages Children in Learning Adventure


January 2010, a group of agencies and organizations collaborated and proposed a Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights, a tool to communicate the benefits of being outside and physically active. The mission is to encourage Nevada’s children to participate in outdoor recreational activities, engage in lifelong learning adventures, and become stewards of the environment. The Southern Nevada Playground Scavenger Hunt incorporates a child's right to discover and experience the outdoors: create an outdoor adventure, explore a trail, discover nature, play in a park!

Download: Southern Nevada Playground Scavenger Hunt (PDF)

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