Children in early childhood years need to gain some scientific skills to make sense of the world around them (Oakes, 1990).  Early science experiences can help young children to be able to think more imaginative, creative and logically so that they can be ready for new challenges (Jarvis, 1995).  That’s why; the key role is shouldered on teachers. They already have the common idea that young children are active entrepreneur of science (Bredekamp & Rosegrant 1992; Bredekamp & Copple 1997). In science activities, children need to be oriented by the teacher as well as discovering everything themselves (Novak, 1977) since learning and understanding occur when they experience some activities that extend their prior knowledge (Overtone, 2007). However, it is not always easy to provide this kind of atmosphere by teachers. In fact, there are some problems for teachers while implementing science activities in preschool years. It is believed that science is a difficult and less interesting topic than the other academic subjects for teachers (Mantzicopoulos, Samarapungavan & Patric, 2008). Therefore it is highly crucial to know prospective teachers’ attitudes in order to change and enhance young children’s way of thinking about science. Osborne & Simon (1996) also stated that when a teacher is not competent in teaching science, s/he cannot implement appropriate activities to teach science. In addition, Elliot (2000) revealed that when teachers are not well educated about science teaching methods, they cannot be good guiders for young children while conducting science activities with them. In fact, teachers’ own knowledge and preparedness regarding science issues affect their teaching practices related to science activities in classroom settings. As a result, considering all those issues, the current study aimed to understand relationship between the pre-service early childhood teachers’ attitudes towards science and their competencies in science activities. During this presentation, participants will have an opportunity to enhance their awareness about importance of science education for young children. Therefore, they will be more sensitive while preparing science related activities or implementing those activities in their practices with children. In addition, it is believed that this study will contribute to the limited literature in this issue as well as shed light on the new studies related with similar subjects.

References Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C., eds. (1997). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs: Revised. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. Bredekamp, S., and Rosegrant, T. (1992). Reaching potentials: Appropriate curriculum and assessment for young children (Vol. 1). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. Cho, H., Kim, J., & Choi, D.H. (2003). Early childhood teachers’ attitudes towards science teaching: A scale validation study. Educational Research Quarterly, 27(2), 33-42. Elliot, A. (2000). Effects of sociocultural contexts and discourses on science and technology teaching in early childhood education. In J. Hayden (Ed.), Landscapes in early childhood education: Cross national perspectives on empowerment – a guide for the new millennium (pp. 393–408). New York: Peter Lang Publishing. Jarvis, T. (1995) Children and Primary Science (London, Cassel Education Ld.) Novak, J. (1977). A theory of Education. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Overtone, M. T. (2007). Creating Lifelong Math & Science Learners. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse. Osborne, J., Simon, S., & Collins, S. (2003). Attitudes toward science: a review of the literature and its implications. International Journal of Science Education, 25(9), 1049-1079. Özbey, S., & Alisinanoğlu, F. (2010). Testing validity and reliability of “the preschool teachers’ competencies in science activities scale”. National Education, 39 (185). Ünal, M. P., Akman, B., & Gelbal, S. (2010). The adaptation of a scale for preschool teachers’ attitudes towards science teaching. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2, 2881–2884.