"Making potions and looking at things"

This week I asked the children what they thought science was.  I did not tell them what the definition was for a reason.  I wanted them to think of the word on their own and relate it to their own experiences.  Some children may have never thought about science or scientists before.  I learned their prior knowledge.  Eventually we will learn together, experiment, define, hypothesize, and experience.  Maybe we will see that science is more than just "making potions and looking at things."

Below are some of the children's ideas.

Scientist looking at a bird.

Scientists make potions.

Once upon a time there were machines.  Science machines.

Things they have at the doctor's office when you have surgery.

planets

volcano erupted

space

Inside the body

Welcome 2017-2018 school year

Welcome to the new school year!  This is my classroom blog where you will find a lot of information regarding your child's time at Branch Line School.  I use this blog to explain the children's work with projects and provide links to other helpful pieces of information.  Spend some time looking around the blog to visit past projects, other classroom blogs (coming soon), and links you might be interested in learning more about.  

For those of you who couldn't make orientation, here is a virtual tour of the classroom!


This is what you will see when you walk in to the classroom.

On the left is the water bottle station.  When you arrive every day, take your water and put it here so you can grab it whenever you're thirsty.

You will also have a shared cubby.  This is where you put your backpack and lunch box for now.  Don't forget to pack a raw fruit or vegetable for snack!

Behind this door is a bathroom for our class.

This big rainbow table is where I do a lot of my teaching.  I help kids learn in a lot of fun ways in small groups of 3-4 kids at a time.  You will learn more about this later.

This is the block area.  Here is where you can build, pretend, work together, and communicate with each other.  This is also where we have our class meeting times.

This is the small group space.  This is where kids can practice teaching each other, learn together, work by themselves, and play games.  Here you can practice collaboration and independent learning.

For now this is the drawing table.  After some time this will become the writing table.  Right now you can draw, write, and create.

This is the reading space.  This is a quieter space where you can get comfortable with a good book.  Right now there aren't too many books on the shelf, but this area grows and grows as time goes on.

This is the table where we have iPads.  Those won't be ready for a few days, but for now we can use the table to build on!

This is our sensory table.  Sometimes you just need a break and this is a great place to take it.

I hope you like the tour and I can't wait to start my days with you!

Making shade

After spending time discussing weather, the children focused on the sun.  What does it do for us?  How can we use it?  

Then a question was posed:  Can you make a structure to block out the sun from the earth?  They went to work planning out basic structures using everyday materials.  Then they tested it out!  

Reflection: Did it work?  What needed to be changed?  What was easy/difficult about making this?  What does this remind you of?  How could people use these ideas in real life?

Weather and the sun

The weather has been changing and the children have been spending more time outside.  This is a good time to talk about the science behind the changes.  What is weather?  What do the children know about it?

As a group the children have discussed seasons, weather terms, and even some extreme weather conditions.  Each day the children look at the weather and compare temperature, clouds coverage, precipitation, and make weather predictions.

The next step is for them to think critically about the sun, its purpose, and plan to create a structure to block out the sun.

Making posters

Now that the children have gathered facts through research and chosen which facts were the most important, they planned out a way to showcase their information.

Below you will see some of their work.  With some guidance from the teachers about how to organize their facts, the children went to work making their posters.

The Little "blue" Penguin is only 13 inches tall!

Here it is!

Animal facts

After the children finished their books, they were inspired to keep going.  The books were limited in the facts they presented.  The children began thinking things like, "how loud is my animal?" or "what is a predator to my animal?"  I then brought out a sheet of paper for each child so they could write down anything new they thought was exciting or wanted to know.

Step 3:  Fill out fact sheets

The children conferenced with Ms. Amy weekly and came up with plans on what else they would like to know about their animal.  With Ms. Amy's help, they answered questions and picked out relevant information.

From there, the children highlighted facts that they wanted to display on a poster.  What did they want to teach their peers?  The Explorers?

The start of animal research

Through the school year, the children have become great scientists.  They have used tools, practiced experiments, investigated and solved problems, and done some research.  In order to prepare for an end of the year field trip, they were going to put their skills and understanding of research to use.  Individualized research has been something they have not done yet.  As a class we have focused on the same research questions and worked individually or as small groups to answer it.  Each child now will be picking a zoo animal of their choice and learning whatever they want to learn about it.

Step 1:  Choosing an animal from the Detroit Zoo

The plan is to go to the zoo at the end of the year.  In order to be prepared, each child can choose an animal and research it.  That way they can share their "expert" knowledge with the class before we go to the zoo.  Each child looked at the list of animals and choose one.

Step 2:  Start research


I started small by giving each child a book for them to fill in blanks.  This got them thinking about what else they would want to know.

 



















Step 3 coming soon!