Some design principles for single-thematic free-choice science learning environments

Free-choice learning environments are popular in early childhood classrooms because they can provide stimulating situations that promote scientific learning. In general, these learning environments address different science topics that are distributed in different proposals, so that each of them usually deals with one topic. In this paper, in contrast, we present the design of four free-choice science learning environments with the particularity that they are monothematic, that is, all the activities that make up the learning environment deal with a single scientific topic. Following the cycle marked by Design-Based Research, after its implementation in classrooms of different grades of Early Childhood Education and the analysis of the learning situations generated, an evaluation rubric and some principles for the design of these learning environments are established, taking into account the context, the questions posed in the proposals and the didactic choice of materials.