Mystery jar #2

A few days later I brought in a new jar with a mystery substance inside.  Once again, I brought it from home so it was safe.  Here is what they said:

Sight:  blue, water, sea water, melted jello, gatorade
Smell:  yuck!, stinky, vinegar chips, poison, perfume
Touch:  water, cold, smooth
Hear:  echo of the container it is in, nothing

Next we will get to experiment!

Mystery jar #1

Because the children are getting better at putting on their "scientist hat" I brought in something to test their skills.  

I told them nothing, other than it was safe and from my house.  

They used their 4 senses to come to any conclusion that they could.  Here is what they were saying:

Sight:  marshmallows, snow, flour, ashes, sand, powder
Smell:  ice cream, nothing, yucky, flour, peanut butter
Touch:  snow, powder, sand, powder with water, cold, smooth, little bumps
Hear:  wind, air, the echo of the bowl, nothing

Do you have any ideas based on the children's descriptions?

Adopting a family

Every year our classroom adopts a family in need from Children's Hospital.  We spend time talking about important social studies concepts like wants and needs to make it relevant to daily life.  

How do you get what you need?
Do you get things you want?
Do you get everything you want?  Why?
Do all people get everything they want?
Do all people get everything they need?

I told a brief story of a family who is in need this holiday season.  Maybe they are in a situation where they cannot afford most things.  I read the names of the children and their ages.  I compared those ages to the children in our school.  A four-year-old girl.  Do you remember when you were four?  I then read what was on the wish list.  Clothes, Shopkin eggs, a baby doll.  I asked the children why they thought those items were on the wish list.  Have you ever wanted to play with a baby doll?  Did you ever need new clothes?  We went through the list and categorized the items into "wants" or "needs."  What struck the children was that the list had quite a few "needs."

I introduced the idea of a "Giving Tree" to organize the wish lists for the school to see.  That way, more than just our class could participate.  The children decorated ornaments and hung them.

The class developed a plan to inform the school so everyone at Branch Line could be involved.  As a group, we drafted a letter to all the teachers to tell their class.

Dear Kids,

The tree by the office has ornaments on it.  Don't touch them.  Only grown ups can touch them.  Our class made a wish list for people who are poor.  There are 4 kids who want and need stuff on their wish lists.  You need to ask your mom and dad if you can get an ornament and buy what's on the ornament for the family.

From, Junior Explorers

I then put the information in the weekly school newsletter so all the parents would know.  As of today, the Giving Tree is up and running, so stop by and take a look!

Wants and needs

To continue with our service project, we started talking about the difference between wanting and needing.  This fits perfectly around the holidays.  I started by asking the children what they needed to stay alive.

We looked through various pictures and discussed if it was important for us in order to live.  We talked about toys, pets, clothes, houses, and plants.  A few subjects sparked a debate.


"We need a microwave to make food warm.  We need food to live."
"I don't have a microwave.  I just have a grill."
"Microwaves make vegetables, and vegetables are healthy."


"You need books to read and learn."
"You don't need to read to learn."
"You need to learn to live healthy."
"You can learn without books."


From there, the children worked through a picture sort on their own and discussed their reasoning with their teacher.

Alive vs. Not

To prepare for our annual service project, I start by discussing what it means for something to be alive or not alive.  

As a group, I asked the children what it meant for something to be alive.  How did they know the difference between alive and not alive?

"You know a fish is alive because it is swimming."
"A penguin is alive because it lives somewhere cold."
"An elephant is alive and then it gets shot and dies.  It gets dead."
"A shoe

is not alive because human feet are moving it."

I then showed various pictures of animals, plants, toys, and everyday objects.  I told the children that right then they might have different ideas on whether the things are alive or not, and that was okay because they are going to learn more soon.

This got us thinking and gave us more ideas.  If something is alive, it needs water.  If something is alive it moves.  If something is alive it can die.  We made a list (which I added to) about the qualities something needs to have to make it alive.

If something is alive:

• It can grow and change
• It can reproduce (make more of itself)
• It needs food and water
• It needs air
• It moves by itself

The children have been showing their learning by doing a sorting on their own.

Our 5 Senses

Over the past few weeks we have been exploring and experimenting with our 5 senses.  Our 5 senses help us understand the world around us.  

For our sense of sight the children looked at small portions of a picture and tried to describe and guess what they were seeing.  For touch the children felt around in a mystery bag and practiced their descriptive words while pulling out familiar classroom objects.  To practice their hearing, the children shook eggs filed with familiar objects and made guesses for what they could be.  For their sense of smell, the children closed their eyes and made guesses as to what they were smelling as a teacher held something under their nose.  

Putting those 5 senses to work, everyone got to examine a simple glass of water.  What were some descriptive words?  

Working with magnets

One item the children have used often is a magnet.  They are used in the classroom to spell words, make pictures, and are even on some refrigerators at home.  What I heard a lot from gathering prior knowledge was that magnets "stick" and only to things made of metal.  We experimented with a magnet wand and tested out different objects to see if it was magnetic. 

From there I talked with the children about the terms attract and repel.  We found that magnets can go towards each other or away from each other.  We saw that magnets that were the same wanted to go together when they were on opposite sides.  

"repel" "attract"  make note of the magnets in the picture