BERG: Beginning learning about the biological world

We discuss our findings from field observations , including  teaching experience,  how very young children (1 year to 4 years)  begin to understand biology in action through their lived experience as a functioning organism and their observations and experiences of  other biology organisms. This talk focuses on the developing understanding through observing=g and interacting with green planet outside in a garden and a wooded area.   The theoretical background its We humans are biological organisms, we  experience biology in action as we live the life processes. However, we share our world  with other biological organisms which we begin to  notice whilst we also learn about the physical world in which we all exist. Thus learning is acquired experientially and later through instruction. It is gradual, beginning with the self and immediate environment. Biological literacy starts here. We feel in planning curricula and teaching programmes it is important to understand how the earliest learners begin acquiring their biological literacy so that formal teaching initiatives and requirements build on such learning. Research and literature largely focuses on the secondary development of biological literacy. Uno and Bybee (1994) for example suggested 4 levels, nominal, functional, structural, multidimensional. For secondary aged learners. Other researchers (Semilarski, Laius, 2021 )recognised the importance of the affective dimension they also identified sustainability, interdisciplinary career awareness and nature of biology. However, observations of children pre-school showed that they noticed in the biological domain from their everyday (Tunnicliffe, 2020).This earliest awareness of biology is firstly of themselves functioning as a biological organism and observing others where they recognise and identify parts of organisms and learn everyday names for them as well as dev eloping an understanding of their ecology. Understanding this early awareness and interpretation of the biological world as foundational is a neglected part of biological understanding and teaching. We humans are biology in action as living organisms. However, such an idea, in our experience, is rarely recognised nor discussed in school. As science educators, we recognise too that biology relies on physical and environmental phenomena for our systems to work. This recognitio0tn of the role of other sciences in biology is also an important aspect of acquiring realistic biological holistic literacy as we interact with the rest of the planetary systems. Early learners have everyday observations experiences in which they encounter aspects of Biology in their lives. Thus, when the child arrives in formal learning they have some knowledge, understanding and personal interpretation already. Hence our role as educators is to use this  personal repository and  introduce the learner to the  accepted  explaining the links with their interpretations. Thus learning is acquired experientially and later through instruction. It is gradual, beginning with the self and immediate environment. Biological literacy starts here. We feel in planning curricula and teaching programmes it is important to understand how the earliest learners begin acquiring their biological literacy so that formal teaching initiatives and requirements build on such learning. We plan contributions from audience thus sharing their observations and experiences