The First Steps of Science: The Experience of Kindergarten Students at MAKÜ with Anthropology Laboratory and History Talk

On December 3, 2025, Tuesday, the students of the Inventors Class from Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Kindergarten, under the guidance of their class teacher Dilek Altınışık, had the opportunity to closely acquaint themselves with the university's scientific infrastructure by visiting the Anthropology Laboratory within the Faculty of Science and Letters. As part of the visit, a comprehensive and age-appropriate informational presentation was conducted by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmet İhsan Aytek to support the children's cognitive and curiosity-based learning processes. In the presentation, topics such as human biological diversity, the basic structure of the skeletal system, and anthropological examination methods were conveyed in a simple language that small age groups could understand; thus contributing to the development of the students' scientific observation skills.

After the laboratory activity, the group visited the Faculty of Science and Letters Department of History to gain information about different academic units of the university. During the visit, an interactive "history talk" was organized for the children by Dr. Lecturer Şükrü Ünar. Within the scope of this talk, the basic concepts of the science of history, why researching the past is important, and the value of museums and excavation works in terms of cultural heritage were explained with examples suitable for the students' developmental level. The answers given to the children's questions and the interactive narration provided contributed to both the formation of historical awareness at an early age and the acquisition of awareness towards cultural values.

The visit is generally considered to have strengthened university-community interaction, supported the scientific curiosity of preschool-level students, and served an important function within the scope of the university's mission to contribute to society. It is thought that such activities lay the groundwork for children to develop a positive attitude towards scientific disciplines in the future.