Solids 3 & 4

To talk about the last two substances, I thought I'd show how similar they are.  The children got a chance to see each jar individually and then we compared and contrasted as a group.

Substance 3

Substance 4

They are the same because:

• They're white
• They are in glass jars
• They are powders
• They are solids
• They look clumpy

They are different because:

• One is clumpier than the other
• They smell different
• When they move, one is chunky
• One makes "smoke" when it is shaken

I wonder what they are...

Liquid #2

I brought in a second mystery substance, but with a twist.  I altered this liquid slightly to throw the small scientists off of their game by adding food coloring (they're quite observant this year).  We did the same thing as before. I introduced it to the group and then they went off in their small groups to do some investigating.

With their words, I wonder if you can figure out what the substance is?  If you figure it out, don't tell!  

Here are some of their words:

Sight:  Blue, wet, juice, melted popsicle

Smell:  Lemon juice, gross, eww, The stuff you dye eggs with, room spray

Touch:  Wet, cold, gooey

Hearing:  Drain, ocean, water, nothing

Liquid #1

How do we become scientists?  This driving question has been fueling our project.  Last week I brought out an apple and asked the children to forget what they knew about it.  "Pretend you don't know what this thing is.  You're a scientist and you want to investigate.  What can we discover about it?"  We then used our 5 senses to describe it.  It was hard to forget that deep down we knew what it was.  So I figured I'd put their scientific skills to the test.

I brought out a jar of a mystery substance.  Immediately the children wanted to guess what it was.  I told them I would not be telling them the name of it, because I wanted them to come up with their own thinking.  This was the first of four jars I would be bringing in.  

What is it?

The children used their senses to understand this liquid.  

Here were some of our ideas:  

It looks like yellow, applesauce, apple juice, water, golden, and vinegar.

It sounds like nothing, a drain, zombies, and a ghost.

It smells like olive oil, plants, cinnamon, playdoh, 16 year old cake, and stinky. 

It feels like slippery, water, wet, sticky, smooth, and like a baby.

I wonder if you adults have a guess?  Don't tell!

Wants and needs

About this time of year I talk to the children about what it means to want something or need something.  Many relevant science and social studies concepts are brought up like what it means to be alive, what we need to survive, how we can get the things we want, etc...

Talking about wants and needs are important as we think of the holidays.  There are many families in our community who cannot afford "wants" and even some "needs."  This year I am continuing the tradition of adopting a family in need from the Children's Hospital of Michigan.  We just received the details of a family in need and discussed what was on their wish lists today.  I wrote down items on cards and the children helped me sort.  

This process will take us some time, but we will keep you posted.  Keep an eye out for a "Giving Tree" by the office!

Balance work

Carrying on from the seesaw experiments, the children got the chance to work with a balance.  A balance is a tool that can compare the mass of two objects.  It is essentially a seesaw.  The children knew what the seesaw looked like when the mass of each object was even (it balanced) and they also knew what the seesaw looked like when the mass of each object was uneven (the heavy side went down).

First we compared.  Next we found how much something weighed.  Our unit of measurement was kangaroos!  On one side of the balance we put an object.  We put kangaroos on the other side one at a time until it balanced- meaning equal weight.

On to magnets!

Would you want to play seesaw with an elephant?

I posed this question to the children at the start of meeting time.  Before I heard their answers, I asked them to think about it first and come to a conclusion.  Together we watched different sized characters testing out a seesaw.  We saw their struggle when the seesaw was unbalanced and wouldn't work.  

I asked the question again.  Did the students' opinions change?  For some, it did.  At first it may sound fun to play seesaw with an elephant, but it really would not work out well.  This was the start of our investigation on the ways to test out weight.  

Next we grabbed familiar materials (blocks, tape, balls, etc) and tried to make seesaws of our own.  Here is a picture story...A lot harder than it seems!

Here are our representations of what we found:

Eyedroppers

"Doctors use them to put drops in your eyes to make you see better."
"Scientists use them to make potions."
"Scientists use them to mix chemicals and to do experiments."

These tools take more concentration than what we have used in the past.  They are harder to manipulate and control.  Trying their fine motor skills with water, the children were asked a question.  How many drops of water fit on a penny?

First the children made predictions.  We talked about the importance of making a best guess and not coming up with a random number.  Below are the results of our first official experiment!

Magnifying glasses and tweezers

The first two tools we used these few weeks were magnifying glasses and tweezers.  How could scientists use these?

"To work on brains"
"To see very tiny bugs"
"To fix babies"
"To hold something very carefully"

We used them in different ways.  We talked about them, went over expectations for use, and used them to do a task.  Follow our picture story below!

Science Safety

To become great scientists, one of the first things to learn is how to use tools the right way.  I posed a question to the students.  How do scientists use tools? We will be investigating this question over the next few weeks.  The first thing we had to do was go over what it means to be safe.

We discussed safety and then talked about a safety contract.  By signing the contract, everyone must agree to the terms.  In order to participate in the science investigations, each student had to understand what was expected of them.  

From there we browsed through pictures of tools used by scientists and some tools that would be brought into the classroom later on.  The children talked about some as they cut pictures out and organized them in their science notebooks.

Next week I will bring in the first of the tools and we will get to work!

Scientists

This week I introduced the children to their science notebooks.  The science notebooks are going to help them become scientists this school year.  They are a great place to organize thoughts, make observations, and plan experiments.  One of the first things we did in them was share ideas of what scientists are.

Someone who studies things so we can learn.

A guy that does cool stuff and makes money doing science stuff.  Science is stuff that's blobby, cool, and gooey.

Wonderful and I like it!  Make potions!

They work together on experiments.

They work on experiment potions.

The astronauts went to outer space because they wanted to see God.  But they didn't see him because he's invisible.  So they touched a rock.  They saw the sun moon, and stars.

I don't know what a scientist is.

They make potions.  They're cool.

They can go to outer space and get cool stuff.  They don't have hair.

What my scientist can do is learn about how volcanos grow.

Soon we will talk about the tools that help scientists do their job.  Look for that next!

Welcome! Virtual Classroom Tour

Welcome Junior Explorers and families to the 2016-2017 school year!

This is my classroom blog where I like to post details about project work, but we can start off by giving you a classroom tour.  

This is how the classroom will look for the first day of school.  Things always change as we change, but this is how I thought everyone would like it!

This is the sensory table.  Here is where you will get a chance to feel, pour, measure, predict, relax, and chat with friends.  I have a variety of scoops, cups, and brushes to experiment with.

This is the table where I do my small group instruction.  I meet with each student twice a day in their small groups to work on math and reading/writing skills.  This is also a great place to eat snack and work in big groups.

This is the reading area.  I tried to make it as comfortable as possible to cuddle up with a good book.  There are other things like maze balls, magazines, and puzzles that help reinforce those pre-reading skills.

This is where the action happens!  The shelves have legos, trains, blocks, cars, and animals right now.  I like to rotate the materials in this space so we can try out new things.  The block area is also were we have our whole class meetings.  

This is an extension of the block area.  Here you can use a table to build on, cook on, serve friends dinner, or play games.  The white shelves are full of games and activities for me to use when I meet with small groups.  

This is the writing/drawing area.  We have crayons, markers, paper, stickers, and colored pencils.  Here we practice writing, sounding out words, use our imagination, tell stories, practice fine motor skills, and talk to peers.  

Thank you for visiting the classroom!  You may notice some of the walls and shelves are empty.  This is because I like to add more to it as the year happens.  When I know what is needed I will bring it in.  I also leave a lot of areas and furniture to be open-ended.  Seating is flexible and alternative.  You won't find desks here!  

I am excited to start another year with everyone and can't wait to see what it brings!

Animal Research 2

Check out part 1 here!

After spending time writing down information, gathering facts (not opinions), and figuring out what they wanted to share, everyone was on to their next step!

The children sat down with me and saw various ways to display information.  They saw charts, bullets, graphs and webs.  From there each child decided on a layout for a poster.  The thinking then changed: what was the best information to share?  There were a lot of facts gathered, but what would fit on the poster?  And what information was too much?

Inspired by what they were shown, what their neighbors were doing, and what was in their own heads, the children began to write their ideas down.  I was there to guide thinking about layout and general organization.  There children referred to their fact sheets and informational books they made earlier to decide what to write down.

Animal Research

Our class found out a few weeks ago that they will be taking a field trip to the Detroit Zoo.  In preparation, we are taking time to learn about what we may see on our trip. 




We started by studying the map.  The children are already quite familiar with maps because of our unit previously.  This knowledge helped us understand the layout, animals, and what to expect.  We looked at the list of animals, the general layout, and figured out what to expect.




We wanted to learn everything we could!  But we didn't have the time (or the patience), so I had an idea.  What if we each took an animal, researched it, and then shared what we learned with the class?  I shared my thought with the children and they agreed it was a great idea.  From there we went to the Detroit Zoo website to see their official list of animals.  Which one did we want?

Then we used multiple resources to do research.  We looked at the zoo website, teacher tube, classroom bookshelves, Epic, and RAZ kids.  This helped us read all about the animal of our choice.  While reading we picked out information we thought was interesting.  We wrote it down.

It will take us at least another week to finish researching and recording before we start figuring out a way to present what we learned to the class.  Stay tuned!