Category: How the World Works

A Bird in a Nest

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  • Wyatt “Oxford tell me a bird is here and we looked at it.”
  • Oxford “I wanted them. Eli think it’s not real.”
  • Lydia “This bird, her eyes are red. And Ms. Hannah said she is sitting on the nest waiting till the eggs come out.”
  • Liz “I see bird, at first it was not on the nest and then the bird is going on the nest.”
  • Eli “I see the bird I think he was laying the eggs because he was sitting there for a long, long time on the nest.”
  • Wyatt “I see the bird not moving.”
  • Oxford “Why no people can not go in there?”

  • Liz “I think the bird is see the people and it fly away.”
  • Jeongyoon “He is flying away and then eggs will crash to the floor and then break. And then the baby bird will be dead.”
  • Oliver “If there is no tape then people will just go in and scare the birds away while making the loud noises, then the baby birds will not have their mummy they will be very scared. The mummy bird might do a battle and might get distracted and the eggs in the nest might hatch and the baby birds might fall down and get hurt. And people might accidentally step on the nest and they might get more hurt.”
  • Liz “I think no have the mummy bird then the inside bird gets cold.”
  • Lydia “The people are so loud and the bird don’t want to be here and then she will go away. And then egg fall off and then the mummy bird don’t want the bird that falls out.”
  • Motong “If we go there and the bird will go crazy and will kick the baby down. If you go in there with a shovel the baby bird will get scared.”
  • Oxford “The mum bird he will think we are bad people and he will take his eggs and go away.”
  • Jeongyoon “Some people get the shovel and hit the nest then the bird will fall and be dead. The nest will fall and the nest will break.
  • Lydia “The tape Ms. Hannah used was broken so the security used the red one.” (in Mandarin)

  • Oxford “I think outside there is paper and it is raining and then the paper will break.”
  • Wyatt “I think outside the people can help the birds and the baby birds not die.”
  • Lydia “It is hatching the eggs.” (in Mandarin)
  • Yui “The bird protecting the eggs.” (in Mandarin)
  • Oliver “Not letting anything happen to the eggs.”
  • Oxford “She has lines on her neck and her beak is so long.”
  • Eli “I think protecting means she keeps her eggs safe. She sits by it and keeps the eggs under her bottom. Because she is in the tree the rain will not get through the tree.”

  • Liz “I think the bird has red eyes.”
  • Lydia “The bird needs to keep the eggs warm to hatch them. Or they will die if it’s cold.” (in Mandarin)
  • Oliver “My Chinese grandpa and grandma house they have real birds and one looks like a peacock.”

We wonder how we might observe the bird over time to see how it cares for the eggs and the baby birds (needs).

We wonder what decisions the children will make about their environment because of their developing understanding of the needs of living things in our playground (nature). 

Zones of the Ocean

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Morning and her team gathered resources to conduct their research. While drawing pictures to share what she learned about ‘food chains’, Morning pointed to her drawings and said, “These are ocean rabbits!”. Morning loved drawing and telling stories about rabbits. However, the team hadn’t heard about ‘ocean rabbits’ before. What creatures was Morning referring to? 
Considering the words Morning used to describe the sea creature (direct translation from Mandarin   to English), the team read books and watched videos to learn more about sea slugs. Morning and the team were excited to learn that there were such creatures in the sea, and they did look like rabbits in the ocean!  

Wyatt and Morning revisited their learning about the different zones in the ocean. They watched a video and discussed their observations, talking about the shades of blue they could see and the different living things that survived in the different zones.

Next, the team had to decide how they were going to present the different food webs they had created. After looking at different options such as creating trioramas dioramas and posters, the team decided that they wanted to create a poster to include their food webs. They visited the atelier to look for the creative art material they needed to create the posters. At first, Wyatt and Morning were unsure of how they were going to create the background to include the different shades of water they had seen in the video.

Through trial and error and feedback from their friends, the team worked together to create their posters.

When the paint had dried up, the team were ready to add the different elements to their posters. This required thinking about the different zones and deciding where those living things survived in the ocean.

The team went back to the books they had read to revisit the information and make their decisions.

The team referred to the book to write labels for the different living things. The drawings, arrows and labels provide clarity about the information they want to share about ‘food webs’ and zones in the ocean.

Talking about the colourful images presented in the nonfiction books helped the children talk about the creatures they had drawn. We noticed that their vocabulary, understanding and interest had developed through their research. They elaborated on their observations of the different habitats, sharing important characteristics and adaptations the creatures needed to help them survive in the different zones of the ocean.

How can we change the way the balls travel on the ramps?

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The children have been wondering about the ‘speed’ and ‘direction’ the balls might travel if they made changes to the ramps. They have been recording their theories and making changes to their ramps using a range of materials around the classroom.

 

 

What did they observe and learn from their experiments?

The Shape Test

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A paper cube that Oliver made after the paper experiment led to a discussion about 3-dimensional shapes.

The team wondered about the strength of paper shapes and decided to test their theories.

The team wondered:

  • if some paper shapes were stronger than others.
  • which shapes they could make to test their theories.

The team recalled a previous learning experience of going on a shape hunt and decided to refer back to the activity to choose the 3-dimensional shapes they wanted to make and test. When choosing the shapes Oliver stated, “Sphere is impossible for me cause how can you fold the paper round. I want to make a cylinder!”

Eli pointed at the pentagonal prism, “I want to make that one.”

Having thought about their options for paper, they decided to choose card stock instead of paper for their test as they believed it would be stronger than the A4 paper.

Oliver made his first paper cylinder by rolling up the paper and fastening it with tape. However, he quickly noticed that the edges weren’t flat and realised that this would impact the test. He decided to make a second cylinder, taking care to keep the edges of the shape levelled. During testing, Oliver discovered that the top and bottom edges of his first cylinder were not stable enough, so he decided to make a new cylinder.

 

Having looked at the pentagonal shape, Eli realised that to fold a pentagon, he needed to divide the paper into five equal parts. Eli initially used a ruler to draw lines but found that the width of one ruler was too narrow, which resulted in a lot of extra space at one end.

Then, decided to use the width of two rulers, but each section was too wide and there wasn’t enough space on the card for 5 equal sections.

Eli shared this challenge with the teacher, explaining that he wanted to divide the long edge of the paper into five equal parts.

Having heard Eli’s challenge, the teacher decided to bring Eli’s attention to the concept of measurement to think about what he already knows about the function of hash marks and numbers on a measuring tool.

Ms. Eileen “How long is that edge? How did you measure it?”

  • Eli thought about this and then pointed to the ruler and said, “Use ruler.”

Eli used the ruler to solve his measurement challenge, learning that the length of the paper was about 30 centimetres.

Ms. Eileen “How can we divide 30 into 5 equal parts?”

Eli found the unit cubes and counted out 30 unit cubes to represent the 30cms. Then, he divided them into 5 equal parts, with each part being 6cm.

Finally, Eli drew out the lines and folded his paper pentagonal shape for the test. The researchers were now ready to test their shapes!

The team decided to choose books that were of a similar size for their test. As they placed one book at a time on the shapes, they began to see that although the shapes were made with paper, they were extremely strong.

The team had enough books to reach a total of 19 books for each shape. Then, they ran out of books!

As they didn’t have enough of the same books in the classroom to support the progression of the experiment, they decided to test their shapes in the library.

The team’s paper and shape experiments have allowed them to think about the function of shapes and materials in design and engineering and the impact of forces like compression and tension that act on structures. Through their experimentation, they continue to explore how the design can impact the strength and stability of structures.

 

 

 

Changing the Ramps

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We noticed that the children were using two different ramps to create their structures in the block play area. The children’s conversations revealed that they were exploring the concepts ‘speed’ and ‘direction’ as they shared ‘how’ the balls travel on the ramps.

We decided to gather the children to talk about what they noticed about the ramps.

Similarities

  • Jeongyoon “You can slide balls on both.”
  • Eli “They can both be used for building.”
  • Oxford “The brown one the ball can go zig zag the white it can’t because the brown is big (wider).”

Differences

  • Oxford “One is big and one is small. The colour is different one is brown and other is white.”
  • Oliver “One is made out of wood and one is made with plastic.”
  • Liz “One is long and one is short.”
  • Eli “The brown is not narrow and the white is narrow. Because when I tried to put a big ball on it is got stuck on it.”
  • Oxford “The brown is think and white is smaller (thinner).”
  • Lydia “The small ball can go on the white and the big balls on the brown.”

We noticed that the children used descriptive words to categorise the ramps. We decided to build on this knowledge to see how they stretch their thinking and vocabulary by exploring new textures and materials in their scientific inquiry. 

Teacher “What would we change if we want the balls to travel on the ramps differently?”

  • Lydia “Use the pencil to colour it.”
  • Oliver “The white glue, we can add glue on a zig zag line, the ball when you roll it, it will go bouncy.”
  • Eli “We can put tape here and if you roll the ball too fast it might roll and go away from the ramp.”
  • Oxford “We can put string on it and use tape and then make lines.”
  • Wyatt “We can put water on it and the ball will go really fast.”
  • Eli “You can put wood (chips) inside the ramp and then the ball might go up.”
  • Oliver “We dig some holes on the two sides and get the circles made out of plastic and stick them on the sides so when the balls go down, the circles will spin.”
  • Oxford “Maybe we can put another stick on the brown ramp.”
  • Eli “You can stick some paper on the brown ramp and make it higher and higher.”

As the children shared how the ramps could be modified, they began to hypothesise about what might happen with their experiment.  

  • We wonder what the children might notice about the ‘speed’ and ‘direction’ the balls travel because of the ‘changes’ they have made to the ramps (causation).
  • We wonder how the children might record the theories and observations of their experiments.  

Rocks, Crystals and Minerals

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Groups of children have finding, exploring and wondering about the different rocks and stones they found in the Early Years garden. They often share their ideas and questions to learn about them; what the rocks are used for how they are made and where they come from.

  • Oliver “We want to find lots of crystals and we want to be good at finding sapphires. I want to be a crystal hunter.”
  • Eli “I was telling Mr. Seth which ones can draw different colours.”

What we know and think…

  • Eunbyul “I think this crystal inside have a diamond.”
  • Lydia “MY mummy home have diamonds. I like the diamonds.”
  • Oliver “Diamonds is a crystal that can break through glass. Its like super strong nails, if you scratch it on the glass then it will break.”
  • Oxford “I think that (diamond) is not real.”
  • Oliver “In games I see there are crystals. The name of the crystals one is diamond and gold.”
  • Liz “I think school is not have crystals. I think inside the stone there is nothing.”
  • Oxford “I think we don’t know why Eli can draw with it.”
  • Wyatt “I think diamonds is not in the school because school outside there is diamonds are not there.”
  • Jeongyoon “I think diamond is not real and not in the whole world.”

We wonder…

  • Oxford “Where did you find them?”
  • Eli “In the sand and some of them I cracked them.”
  • Oliver “I found them in the ground make out of bricks.”
  • Oxford “What is in the rocks? Why can he use the rocks to write? What makes it gold inside the rocks?”
  • Jeongyoon “Are crystals real or not real? What is a crystal?”
  • Oliver “I only know 4 names of crystals. I want to know the names of other crystals?”
  • Eli “Which one is a rock and which one is a crystal?”
  • Lydia “Why are some crystals are blue or green? Why are crystals so beautiful?”
  • Morning “Where are the crystals from?”

Having noticed this ongoing interest in rocks, crystals and minerals, the teachers have organised a field trip to the Nanjing Geological Museum.

We wonder what the children might uncover from their investigations and observations at the museum.

What do they eat?

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Conversations about living things in the ocean revealed wonderings about the food living things need to survive in the ocean. The teachers discussed Morning’s statement about ocean rabbits. Considering the words Morning used to describe the sea creature, we wondered if she was making a direct translation from Mandarin to English. Perhaps she was referring to a particular sea slug. We wondered if Morning would find a picture of the ocean rabbits she referred to in the picture books.

We invited the team to explore the picture books about the ocean, to see what they could learn about what ocean creatures need to survive.

Wyatt was puzzled about some of the sea creatures, “I don’t know what turtles like to eat”, he exclaimed. As he turned the pages and read the information in the pictures, he began to make connections by sharing what he noticed. “Seals like to eat this one!”, he said, pointing to kelp.

As the researchers documented their learning and observations on paper, we noticed that their drawings showed their growing understanding of ‘survival’ and the ‘interdependence’ of living things. However, it was hard to interpret the information in their drawings as they were their first notes and quick sketches that illustrated their process of meaning-making.

While the researchers flipped through the pages of the picture book, they paused and discussed the sea otter.

 

We decided to take this opportunity to help them tune into their research through the inquiry of one specific animal.

As they watched a short video on the sea otter, they learned that it loves to eat fish, octopus and crabs, and documented this new information in their research paper.

As the researchers dig deeper into the concepts of ‘survival’ and ‘interdependence’, we wonder how they might share what they learn through different medium.

The Story of Paper

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Over the last few months, the children have been borrowing books from the library to learn how to make and test paper airplanes.

Having observed this passion and continued interest in paper crafts and origami, the teachers decided to gather a group of children to talk about what they like to make.

  • Oliver “I like to make gifts and paper airplanes.”
  • Eli “Paper airplanes and TV.”
  • Motong “Paper airplanes.” 

What can we use origami for?

  • Eli “For playing and you can make games.”
  • Motong “You can use origami to fold things and you can test.”
  • Oliver “We can use it for using, like making a box and use it to put something you need in it. We can use a super big paper to fold a bookshelf and put books on it.”

  • Eli “If you just put the paper, the paper will smash and the books will fall down.”
  • Oliver “We can fold it many layers, fold them together.”
  • Motong “You can put some boxes under the paper to make it strong. We can make animals and play with them.”
  • Eli “We make paper airplanes to see which one goes the farthest.”

The team drew their origami creations on chart paper and put samples next to them, to let others know what the designs looked like.

We noticed that the team were wondering about the ‘properties’ of paper, particularly its ‘strength’ and ‘versatility’. We decided to gather the team, to see if they could create experiments to test the strength of paper.

  • We wonder how much weight paper can hold.
  • We wonder how we can make the paper stronger.

Lightning

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Lydia was excited to share a photograph her mum had taken during a thunderstorm.

  • Lydia “Me mummy took the picture, mummy said ‘WOW, this is so cool’. This everywhere purple colour. The lighting was white. Lightning have the water and small things. Lightning not so good, the people will die. There is a little blue. Lightning comes from the clouds. Daddy said when the weather is very hot there will be a lot of lightning.”

Lydia presented her photograph to her friends.

  • Lydia “On the window we can see lightning.”
  • Jeongyoon “I think the light bulb is using the thunderbolt.”
  • Oliver “The clouds are made out of gas and the gas gets hot. Because in the morning one day it was very hot day and many days later it was still very hot and then there was lightning.”
  • Oxford “I think this is real because there are too many lights.”
  • Eli “This one looks like its from the Thor’s hammer. He is a superhero. You see this at the nighttime, I see it, hear boom, boom!”
  • Motong “It’s in the night because of the lightning we can see in the night. There is no lightning in the day.”
  • Oliver “At home when I was eating supper, then I finished then mummy was waiting to go to sleep and then I looked at the window and I see 10 maybe 20 lightning.”
  • Oxford and Motong “This have like fireworks.”
  • Eli “We can get hurt, when you stand by a tree, you will be hit with lightning, my mummy said.”
  • Oliver “The lightning comes and it goes across and goes like this (like zig zag). The clouds have a gas, it’s a kind of smoke that is made out of water.”
  • Eli “I feel Scared.”
  • Oliver “I think it looks cool.” Wyatt and Motong agreed.
  • Eileen “I think it’s beautiful, the shapes and the colours. We can only see this in some kinds of weather.”

The children began to share how they felt about lightning. Lydia disagreed with some of the statements. The teachers suggested that she think of a way to find out how different people feel about lightning so she can learn why they feel that way. We were curious about the connection Jeongyoon made between the light bulb and lightning. We decided to dig deeper, to hear what the other children thought about the connection he made. Teacher “How does the lightning make the lightbulb work?”

  • Eli “This light has light. It is made out of power not of lightning. When thunder crashed into the tree and the pipe is in the tree and then it goes through the pipe into the electricity thing and then into the light.”
  • Motong “I think the sun will rip and then the lightning will come down.”
  • Eli “The sunlight can go in a pipe and then the sunlight goes into the power and then the many sunlight comes in and then the light works.”
  • Oliver “Some people get a big box and it also has a roof on top of it and the sun shines into it and then it turns it into electricity and then the lights work.”
  • Wyatt “The light go off when the rain will come.”
  • Oxford “I think in the pipe there is electricity. The electricity comes from the sun. A pipe is in the sun.”

Eli “This is lightning and it crashed to the tree and this is pipes, and the lightning goes inside the pipes and it goes inside the house. And this is light, and the light works. And then other lightning comes and other lightning comes and gets light to here. We don’t want to waste power so we want to use the light during lightning to do power. And these this picture of lightning, when the lightning goes in very slow and then when it’s a rainy day sometimes lightning comes out the black clouds because it’s a rainy day. When they are black they can make lightning really big.”

Oliver “This is inside the computer, and there was some cables connected to the lights. One lightning was blue colour and one was green and one was pink. And then I see in the floor there was fire. On top of my house there is something that makes it. If lightning comes here then the light becomes more bright.”

We noticed that the children were discussing the concepts of ‘power’ ‘safety‘ and ‘energy’ and how we use them in our daily lives. 

Our inquiry continues…

The Ocean Project

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We have noticed the children playing and telling stories using the miniature plastic animals. Through their storytelling, the children transport the animals to different places, exploring actions that help them survive in their natural habitats. 

What colour is the ocean?

One morning Wyatt said, “My favourite colour is blue because the ocean is blue only one blue.”

Wyatt is intrigued by the ocean. His drawings and storytelling often revolve around the creatures on the beach and at the shoreline. His books hold his memories and explorations with crabs, dolphins and other sea creatures.

The teachers decided to gather a group of children to talk about Wyatt’s theory about the colour of the ocean.

  • Wyatt began by repeating his theory about the colour of the ocean. He pointed to the shade of blue in the pack of markers.
  • To this Lydia responded, “No 2 blues.”. She chose a second shade of blue to add to Wyatt’s idea. She thought for a while and then added, “The second blue is in K1.”
  • Morning “This blue looks a little like green.”

The team went off to K1 to look for the shade of green Lydia was referring to. Although they found different shades of blue, they were not completely convinced that the ocean matched the shades they had found in the classroom.

We invited the team to the Atelier to explore with paints, to create the ocean. They gathered the materials they needed and sat with large pieces of paper to paint their pictures. At first, the team chose 2 shades of blue from the colour tablets and painted the ocean waves. As the children discussed their ideas, they decided to add a green colour tablet. They dipped their paintbrushes into the tablet, experimenting and creating a new colour. The children continued their conversation in Mandarin. They began to tell stories about the creatures that live in the ocean.

Wyatt “Crab is here because I go to the beach I looking at crabs in the beach. I really like crab. This ocean has many legs. Whale lives in the ocean. And it’s many beautiful colours.

Ocean and crab. Not the same blue. I used two blues. Crab is different blue because this crab is eating things. Octopus eat the crab. And whale eating octopus and the whale go away. That crab is so not feeling good because that cram is eating things and a long time water is put to the water. When the sea crashes on the shore, everybody can see the water is blue. I like to see in Hainan the best. The sea there is part of the Pacific Ocean. All the seas are the same blue.”

Lydia “This blue I see is in the ocean have something in the ocean. I am drawing the whale. He has the water here and he is jumping up and go to the water. This whale is quiet she is not feeling good. His mummy is not give she to play, she jump in the water and crying.”

After completing her painting,

Lydia reflected on what she had done. “We make the sea have so many animals in the sea. And the water have fish and whale. We use yellow, blue, red and green. Ocean is more than one blue.”

Morning “I have two blues. I have five blues. The dolphin is one red and one blue. I used five blues for the ocean” states Morning, pointing to different areas of her drawing.

“One is dark one is a little bit black. This one has other colours in there. Maybe green is in there. Dolphins live in the not dark blue because if they live in the dark blue, he can’t see to eat what.”

We noticed that the group were sharing their observations about the different shades of colour in the ocean. They also discussed their theories about the creatures in the ocean and how they find their food. We wondered what they knew about food chains and the different zones of the ocean. 

The teachers discussed possibilities for research and the next steps. We wondered how we could help the children explore the different shades, and colours of the ocean. We decided to share two photographs of the ocean that the teachers had taken on their trip, to stretch the children’s thinking.

We revisited the children’s initial theories about the different ‘blues’ in the ocean. Wyatt insisted that there were two blues. The crab was one blue and the ocean a second. The children were excited to see the photos and began to share their theories.

Morning pointed to the crashing waves and said, “The water is going up and the sunlight is coming and this will be white.”

Wyatt thought about what Morning was sharing and added, “The ocean is many colours because the water is many blue and white, the ocean has many colours.”

  • Morning “But the ocean does not have purple.”
  • Wyatt “The shark likes to live far in the ocean.”

We began to number the different colours we noticed in the photograph of the ocean. The children shared their theories on why the colours were different.

  • Morning “The shark needs water.”
  • Wyatt “The shark needs many water.”
  • Morning “If the shark goes out of the water then the shark will die.”
  • Wyatt “Because water has foods in the ocean. And the shark going up in the water then he won’t have foods in the beach. The crabs live on the beach because they go inside the sand. Crabs don’t go in the big water.”
  • Morning “The water near the beach is very small so they (sharks) need to live far.”

New theories about the ‘needs’ of living things in the ocean began to emerge. To help the children unpack the concept ‘causation’, we decided to explore this further by asking “What living things live in the ocean? Why do they choose to live there?”

Hot and Cold!

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We watched the video of the fish in the pond. The children were happy to see the fish swimming around again.

We know that we can ask questions about things in the natural world and can do something to find answers that help explain what is happening. ​

We read a non-fiction book with colourful photographs of different places around the world. The book talked about the choices we make as a result of the weather and the temperature.

We discussed the temperature in Nanjing, China and in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

We began to create a list of the things we would like to measure.

  • Oliver “We want to measure how hot it is. I want to measure cotton, it feels very warm.”
  • Eli “How hot is fire?”

One child talked about lava. We watched a short video to learn more about this word.

  • Jeongyoon “I want to measure how cold the snow.”
  • Eli “Ice.”
  • Jeongyoon “I know how cold ice is. It is 0.9. I want to measure cold water.”
  • Motong “How hot is a hotdog?”
  • Lydia “Ice cream is so cold. If you are so hot you can eat ice cream.”
  • Shemo “How cold is ice cream?”
  • Yui “I tasted ice cream before, when I put it in my mouth it was very cold.” (in Mandarin)
  • Eunbyul “Ice water.”
  • Wyatt “lava in the ice it gets cold. It’s a cold day you will get sick because its so cold and you not eating the ice cream.”
  • Oxford “The fridge.”
  • Morning “Why is the ice so cold? Measure ice in the ground.”
What can we measure?
We began to brainstorm the different reasons and tools we use to measure. 
We decided to explore temperature.  
The children went off to see if they could measure the temperature of different items and liquids. 

 

Approaches to Learning (ATL’s)
We are learning how to:  
• observe carefully
• seek information
• ask or express through play questions that can be researched
• gather information from a variety of sources 
• analyse and interpret information
• understand symbols
• document information and observations in a variety of ways
• choose and complete tasks independently

A Closer Look at Soil and Compost

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Oliver “Oxford and I put the food waste in the compost bin and then we can make dirt with it. We can turn it to soil. It’s because the wormies are eating all of the fruit inside this and poop out the food and the poop and the pee is good for the plants.”

Oxford “I put dirt in the box. Because no people eat so much fruit.”

What can we learn from Authors and Illustrators?

We read a book about growing and plants. We noted that the illustrator showed close-ups of different pictures to help us notice more details.

What helps us take a closer look at things around us?

  • Oliver “We can look at it close by. We can use a telescope.”
  • Eli “We can use a magnify. We can also use our eyes.”
  • Oliver “I want to look at a worm closely and see what patterns it has. I mean stripes.”

What might be in the soil and dirt? If we look closely, what do you think we might see?

  • Wyatt “We can see a caterpillar.”
  • Motong “Ants. Ants eating food.”
  • Morning “We can see a mouse.”
  • Oxford “We can see a spider.”
  • Lydia “Worms.”
  • Oliver “When I was outside I actually see this big beetle and it also was inside the dirt. It was so big. He was always sleeping on the dirt and he wakes up.”
  • Eli “We can use glasses. The thing that has the list at the front.”

The children found a magnifying glass. They thought it could be used to look at the soil. Yui was very excited to use the new tool and used it to explore the classroom.

We wonder what she discovered!

One child volunteered to get some soil from the garden plots that we could put under the microscope.

He took a second sample of soil from under the wood bark. As he dug into the ground he said “This is so hard.”

He made labels to let the children know what the samples were.

Ms. Eileen used the microscopes and the iPads to help us look closely at the soil.

(Garden Plot Soil, Under Wood Soil)

The children were fascinated with the images. We wonder what they might see as they look closely at the soil.

 

The class leader and was in charge of taking all the fruit waste and peels to the compost bin.

Each day we will add to the compost bin to help us make new soil for the plants.

Approaches to Learning (ATL’s)

  • observe carefully
  • seek information
  • ask or express through play questions that can be researched
  • gather information from a variety of sources (people, places, materials, literature)
  • listen actively and respectfully to others’ ideas and listen to information
  • participate in conversations
  • use mark-marking to convey meaning
  • document information and observations in a variety of ways
  • share responsibility for decision-making

Causation & Change – Temperature

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Sharing observations and theories…

  • Oliver “This is ice. I found it in the water, and I throw it but it didn’t break. I turned it into little pieces by punching it. There was because it was a cold day, it’s because it’s going to be snowing I think, because there is ice. I feel it’s very cold without my gloves on. In my country Germany, it’s now very very cold. It’s snowing.”
  • Teacher “But in my country Sri Lanka, now its warm. What do you think about that?”
  • Oliver “I don’t know.”
  • Eli “I think it’s because the sun is there and the moon is there and the planet is turning slowly. Because the planet is turning so places, some are cold and some are how.”
  • Teacher “What about in Australia?”
  • Eli “In Australia it is hot too. Because when I was on the trip it was hot. I go outside and I see the sun is up and it’s very warm.”
  • Oliver “But Thailand was near Australia so it was hot. But the first day in Thailand I was sweating. I think it’s also closer to the sun. But if the moon is gone then there would be not so much waves. On a video, I saw that. The moon is just blowing the waves.”

What happens to the fish when the water freezes?

  • Eunbyul “If the outside is cold, the outside is ice and fish water is freezing. I can help him.”
  • Motong “The fish are very cold.”
  • Liz “I think fish died because its so cold. Fish in the water is so cold and fish in the water not moving.”
  • Morning “The fish are too cold and they are hiding in their home in the rock.”
  • Wyatt “It’s cold, fish not moving to the water.”
  • Yui “The fish are not moving (in Mandarin).”
  • Oxford “I think ice in the water. Fish can’t move in the ice.”
  • Jeongyoon “I think fish will die.”
  • Oliver “At home when its not snowing Oskar just catches some frogs and puts them in the water and then its cold and icy and the frogs freeze and I can see lines coming out of the frogs and then they are not moving. They freeze. I think the fish are also frozen.”
  • Eli “I think fish are not moving and then fish are died. One time I find water and it was all ice in it and I hit and it comes out a flower shape and one time I find ice and I tried to walk on it. It was frozen.”
  • Motong “The fish will frozen and cold. They fish are not moving.”
  • Lydia “Fish in there is not moving.”
  • Oxford “The fish is too small and ice is too big. He can’t break the ice because he is too small. He can move in the water. He can’t break the ice.”
  • Oliver “I melt the ice one layer and then I can see some water and I put one ice on top of it and wait for 20 seconds and it connected when I put it upside down. And then it freeze together.”
  • Motong “When the water cold and the water will be ice the fish was very cold.”
  • Eli “I think if we get a shovel and smash the water and the water will break.”
  • Oliver “If you take a shovel and break the ice you might break the fish. Just make the ice very hot and the ice will melt and the it will turn the ice to water and the fish will be happy again. I think the water is -4. Its because my mummy said its -4 cold so I think the ice is also -4 cold. Just take the gloves out and check it to see.”

Ms. Elieen showed the children the digital thermometer.

  • Oliver “That one but its for the ears.”

We decided to see if we could use it to check the temperature at the pond.

 

A group of researchers went to see what more they could learn about the pond.

At first, they were sad to see the motionless fish. But then, they noticed some fish swimming in the pond! They began to share their theories, tested the temperature of the ice and looked for ways to help the fish. They shared their ideas about the impact of the temperature on the water and the living things in the pond.

They listened to each other, sharing their prior knowledge and making new connections as a result of what they experienced.

On their return to class, the team documented their ideas on paper.

They shared their learning story with their friends, presenting the chart paper and the video story.

Waste

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Two students in Grade 4 had a question for the NIS community.

Ella & Luna “What should we do with waste?”

  • Oliver “What is waste?”
  • Jeongyoon “Is it like erasing?”
  • Oliver “I think waste is like wasting money.”
  • Oliver “Wasting new paper. The teachers use the new paper but I think some people take the new paper. People will make an airplane and then when you open it is broken. We use recycled paper, we don’t want to waste the new paper.”

What is recycling?

  • Oliver “The paper has lines on it and the new one does not.”

Where does all the paper you use go?

What happens the paper that you use in the washroom?

  • Oxford “We can use the paper in the bin to make.
  • Oliver “The Ayi takes the garbage. When we put it in the garbage bin they will turn it to paper.”
  • Liz “It goes into the river.”
  • Lydia “They will put them in the garbage truck and take them away.”

Ms. Eileen reminded Oliver about a picture he shared of his holiday.

  • Oliver “We drink lots of plastic bottles and we put it in the garbage and then it goes to the recycled and people bring it to build it.”
  • Motong “If you take 2 papers then the new paper in the garbage bin. So the new paper is broken. Then the paper is waste.”
  • Liz “We use it again.”
  • Morning “We don’t waste the water because if you waste the water then we won’t have any more water. We can not wash the hands. We eat apples at home and throw the peel in the trash. I don’t know what happens to the trash.”

We decided to document the waste we collected at snack time.

  • Oxford “The banana peel in because the bin has all a picture of food. The box and the plastic in the other bin.”
  • Lydia “I put it in the bin.”
  • The Children “We have 2 different bins. One is the food garbage and the other is plastic, paper and wood bin.”

  • Oxford “I have trash at home. I don’t put it in the bin. But I can use it to make things. Grandma uses to make compost.”
  • Teacher “What does she do with the compost?”
  • Oliver “The things that look very cool then I want to keep it and make something with it. I can make something with the wood spike. I put the garbage in the bin at home. I have a recycled bin but its outside. I don’t use it because its cold outside. My mummy will take the bin and take the recycled all in the recycled bin. She puts plastic recycle. I don’t know what will happen to the food. I think they will make squishies.”
  • Teacher “I wonder what you can learn about the garbage and recycled waste at your home.”
  • Eunbyul “We have garbage at home. I go outside and find the rubbish bin.”

We decided to answer one of the questions on the Grade 4 survey.

We wonder what we can learn about garbage and waste.

ACTION

Computers – What are they for?

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Lydia and Liz have been creating and sharing ‘computers’.

  • Eli “Can we make one? Can I give my daddy one? Because it is a toy and he can play with the computer. I will draw on the screen and he can hit the letters and then play it.”
  • Oxford “I made it at home. I just draw circle and used a pen and drawing. Circles for drawing ABC.”
  • Oliver “I made a computer because it looks fun because you were playing on the computer its looks very fun. Ms. Shemo was using the words to play and make the computer work what you want it to do. The letters make it on the screen.”
  • Howie “Why computers can watch a movie on it?”
  • Eli “Because the computer screen, if you have some buttons it can turn and you can ask things and when you watch a movie you just write the word ‘movie’ and then they will give you to choose a movie and then you can choose and watch. It is better to first watch the add and then watch the movie!”
  • Lydia “I want to make a computer, I go home and give it to daddy. Daddy will play with it.”
  • Liz “I made the computer because I make the computer is fun. First, write the name. Then, draw and write ABC. And then colour the top.”
  • Wyatt “It’s so fun because it is so funny. Because friends like this. They play on the computer.”
  • Morning “Why can we use the computer to look at the movie?”
  • Eli “I watch Avenger.”
  • Oliver “On the computer I have to print out something. I just look what I want to draw and then it has no colours and then I can print it out. I push the button and it printed out. And then the robot is drawing the picture. The printer draws it and then the paper comes out.”
  • Oxford “Why computer inside can do so much things?”
  • Oliver “Inside the computer have lamps and electrics. Lamps make the screen work.”
  • Eunbyul “Have a batteries. No batteries no screen and no power.”

We wonder what stories they might create as a result of their design work.

Watch this space!

Can you make a paper airplane?

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The children continued to make paper airplanes using recycled paper. They were experimenting with new designs and different sizes of paper.  

Morning “I am making paper airplanes. Lydia taught me how to make paper airplanes.”

Oliver wanted to measure how far his paper airplane went in the classroom. He used a measuring tape with numbers to check how far it had gone.

  • Eli “He is measuring how far we threw the airplane.”

We posted the documentation about the paper airplanes in the corridor.

  • Howie “We are looking at paper airplanes because we can remember how much time to take to make the paper aeroplane.”
  • Liz “We tell people to make the paper airplane.”
  • Eli “Get a paper from the classroom and they can take and then they can make airplanes. We can come and make some too.”
  • Eunbyul “It’s airplane too far and write your name and what number to see how far the paper airplane went.”

  • Oxford “I am flying the plane.”
  • Eunbyul “We see who is no far and who is too far.”

  • Jeongyoon “Standing the line.”
  • Eunbyul “We have to stand on zero. Zero first and flying paper airplane.”

  • Oxford “I draw the numbers, 100, 200, 300, 400… Everybody can know where is the 300.”

  • Eli “Pin the paper plane on the wall because if we don’t pin it no one will know we made a airplane.”
  • Eunbyul “I made one paper airplane and faster and very far. 300cms.”

The children use what they know about number and measurement to record how far their paper airplanes flew. They are learning that standard units allow us to have a common language to identify, compare, order and sequence objects.

The Paper Airplanes

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Noticing the children’s interest in making paper airplanes, Ms. Eileen decided to introduce the children to a new design.

The children followed the instructions to make the paper airplane.

  • Eli “I want to throw it outside because outside will have wind so it will fly fast and high.”
  • Howie “I think the airplane the airplane can fly really high and really fast because the wind is really strong and it will go fast. We can feel it when the wind is cold you know what is the wind.”

We looked at a photograph of the playground to help us decide where we might fly the planes from. What would we need to consider?

  • Liz “I think airplanes go to water is broken. Airplane is paper, paper in water is wet and broken.”
  • Oliver “I think the airplane might go round and round all the time I think. Because the wind is going left then the airplane will go left and if the wind is going right then the airplane will go right.”
  • Wyatt “Outside is airplane is go out of school and people can’t go outside of school and then you make it again.”
  • Morning “The airplane will go to the tree and the people cannot play with it.”
  • Eli “It can go over the fence because if you throw on the mountain then it will go over the fence and no one will get it and it might go into the building and there might be sharp things and then it will get a hole in it.”
  • Motong “We can send it from the slide. We can stand on the yellow wall because the airplane will fly very far.”
  • Jeongyoon “If we fly it from the roof, then we can’t get it.”
  • Lydia “I think this flying to outside you can’t take it (the airplane).”
  • Eunbyul “If it goes to a very tall tree then I will not catch the airplane.”
  • Howie “Then, we can climb the tree.”
  • Oliver “The sticks are not very strong.”

How can we find out which airplane has gone the furthest?

  • Oliver “I think if the airplane looks the best then it goes the furthest. And my airplane looks the best.
  • Eunbyul “Throw it and it will go up and down.”

When you run a race, can you start from different places?

  • Eli “No, we have to stay together.
  • Howie “Some people together in the back, the first people will get number 1. The people in the back will be number 2.”

The children explained that they had to fly the paper airplanes from the same location for it to be fair. The children discussed the different options. The children were excited to see many planes flying high above the playground. Perhaps our planes would fly high too!

Many of the children suggested flying the plane from a height as it would help the plane go further. They agreed that the best spot would be the top of the short wall.

We decided to go out and try this out. The paper panes took off from the wall. We watched them scatter around the playground. 

How would we know which plane went the furthest?

Howie suggested that we use a tape to measure the distance. Ms. Shemo did not have such a long tape but had some string instead. We measured and cut out the string to mark the distance.

When we went back to class with the string, we had them in bundles on the floor. Many children believed Eli’s plane flew the furthest because his bundle of string was ‘higher’. We recorded everyone’s best guess using tally marks.

But how would we know for sure? How do we measure things in real life?

Eli suggested using the ruler. But the ruler was short, and it would take a long time to measure them.

Liz suggested measuring them using the white PVC pipes. We brought one over and kept it next to the ruler. It was longer. We noticed the numbers on the ruler and decided to add them to make our ruler with the pipe. But, there were too many numbers to write.

After some thought, we decided to count in 5’s and record them on the pipe. The children helped identify the numbers from 0-100.

Then, we began to measure the twine. We recorded the distance each paper airplane flew. Finally, we had the data we needed. Eli’s paper airplane flew the furthest!

Throughout this experience, the children shared their theories about paper airplanes, and considered the properties of paper. They considered the concepts of speed, height, distance and variables that may affect the flight of the paper airplane. They explored measurement, data handling and number, to find out who’s paper airplane flew the furthest.

The Pipes – How can we make the balls go faster?

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We have noticed the children playing and experimenting with the PVC pipes.

  • Liz “This (the slide) is so long it goes to Ms. Hannah’s class.”
  • Eli “I was balancing the crystals. Looking which one is more heavier.

  • Because the side will fall down if it is more heavier.”
  • Howie “I made a tunnel, the balls can go inside.”
  • Morning “Me and Wyatt building the blocks.”
  • Eunbyul “It’s no heavy, it’s no long. If it’s not too low the ball goes faster. The slide is faster and the ball is faster.”
  • Motong “When the slide is tall, the ball will go fast. Next, I want to make a hotel with the slide. I want to make it alone.”
  • Eli “Next, I want to make a slide that goes straight, like a mountain, then the ball will go down and up and fall down. Then, I will put a stop there.”

A group of K1 children wanted to borrow the ramps during indoor playtime. The teachers paused to observe and document (video) a group of children from different classes building and testing new designs.

They collaborated with each other, sharing the materials and using their imagination to extend their play.

The next day, we watched the video and discussed their structure.

What did we notice?

What theories do we have?

  • Eunbyul “The ball jumped out of the pipe.”
  • Eli “Because there was something blocking it and it went over the side. The ball fly out. They can put nothing on the track.”
  • Lydia “The ball is come down from the house. Keira and Jacob and me.”
  • Eli “The ball will go faster if it is more uphill.”
  • Eunbyul “Very long is very fast and it will go up, down and out.”
  • Motong “Very tall is very fast.”
  • Eli “Because it has more time to go fast.”

The children shared their theories about speed, height, distance and obstacles.

How might they use their insights as they build and create their new structures?

Homes for the Birds – The Nests

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Over the last few weeks, the children have been looking for ways to solve problems and take action to help the community.

We used the design thinking process introduced by Ms. Jo, to explore how we might use the process to solve the problems we see in the Early Years garden, specifically with the dying birds.

Empathise:

who are you trying to help?

  • The Birds

What do they need?

  • A safe home – nests

Define:

what is the problem you are trying to solve?

  • The nests in the garden are falling down.
  • The birds are falling from the nests.
  • The birds in the garden are dying.

Ideate:

How many ideas can you come up with?

  • The nest should have walls (Oliver)
  • a strong nest on a high tree (Eli)
  • make a nest with sticks (Wyatt)
  • Put cotton inside the nest to keep the birds warm in the nest when it is cold and snowing (Oliver)
  • use a basket because its tall (Motong)
  • Make the basket with sticks (Wyatt)
  • You stand in water to make nests (Morning)
  • use plastic to make the nest the bird won’t get hurt or fall down (Eunbyul)

Prototype:

which ideas will you try first what will you design to test your idea?

The children decided to use 4 different materials to create their prototypes.

  • clay or mud
  • sticks
  • materials for baskets
  • plastic

We noted all these ideas down on chart paper.

Then, the children went back to their first and second design ideas for the nest to see how they could improve on their initial ideas. They used drawings and labels to share their ideas with others. They made improvements to the structure, thinking about the materials they might use and how they could make the nests warm and safe for the birds.

The children created the prototypes of their nests, to help them decide on what works well and the improvements they could make in their final design.

  

 

Through this process, they had opportunities to:

  • Identify needs and opportunities for designing, through exploration. (Design: Ideating)
  • Select tools, materials and processes for specific purposes. (Visual Arts: Creating)
  • Use all senses to observe and notice details. (Research Skills: Data Gathering)
  • Use trial and error to make changes, solve problems, or incorporate new ideas from self or others. (Design: Making)  

 

Ramps: The Prototypes

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The children have been using a range of materials and manipulatives in the construction area to consider the concepts of height, speed, forces, and energy.

As part of this investigation, a team of young designers have been planning, designing and creating prototypes of ramps in their design class. The team began by discussing their ideas and creating a plan for their slides.

They know that designers need to source and test materials for different purposes and make choices about the materials they use for projects.

After careful consideration, the teachers decided to offer the children ‘clay’ as a material for the structure. Clay is malleable and easy to use when creating structures yet offers many opportunities for challenge and problem-solving. The children tested the different tools, making careful decisions about the size, height, width, and foundation of their structure.

While creating, the young designers followed the natural cycles of design as they planned, created, reflected and improved their structures. Through trial and error, the children have reached the first stage of their design work.

Design

Through this experience, the children had opportunities to:

  • identify needs and opportunities for designing, through exploration
  • generate ideas from their experiences and interests
  • add to others’ ideas
  • choose an idea to pursue

Design Learning Outcomes:

  • choose tools and materials
  • make a product using known procedures or through modelling of others
  • use trial and error to make changes, solve problems, or incorporate new ideas from self or others
  • develop their skills and add new ones through play and collaborative work
  • explore the use of simple, available tools and technologies to extend their capabilities

Paper Boats: Will they sail?

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A group of children wanted to make paper boats to sail in their PVC pipes.

But how do we make paper boats?

We noticed that the Grade 1 students have put up a poster with instructions on ‘How to Make a Paper Boat‘. We decided to follow the instructions to make the boats. 

A team of boat makers practiced making the boats. They made boats of different sizes and used printed paper to make these boats.

We look forward to testing these boats on the PVC pipes.

The children began to share their theories.

  • Liz “Putting in the water in the pipes, then is slides. I want to put lights inside the boats.”
  • Lydia “I think there have lights.”
  • Eli “The power and the boats will explode. My daddy told me that. If water touches power it will explode.”
  • Oliver “The boats will get wet. And then if its wet it can’t float on the water.”
  • Eli “It will melt if it goes on the water, it will just stay a little bit.”
  • Wyatt “Boat is inside light and slowly go another way.”
  • Motong “I think the boat will get wet because this is paper boat. I think that we can put something under it.”

The children paused to think about this problem. They began to think of solutions, to make sure the boats wouldn’t get wet when they were in the water.

  • Oliver “Waterproof, that means protecting it from getting wet and broken.”

Oliver brings over a plastic sheet that is used on the projector.

  • Oliver “It’s waterproof because it has no holes. If I blow it will not go through it because it has no holes. Maybe we can use this to make a boat.”
  • Liz “I think the plastic make the boats.”
  • Oliver “We can cover it with waterproof.”
  • Morning “We can use plastic for making the boat.”
  • Howie “We can put a plastic under the paper boat.”
  • Oliver “We can make this thing become flat and make it into a boat.”
  • Motong “I think put this under the paper boat.”

  • Liz “Put a small paper boat inside the cup.”

  • Oxford “We can use the whiteboards.”
  • Wyatt “Boat put it in the wooden cup.”

Morning Agreed with Wyatt’s idea. 

  • Motong “We can put a glove on it.”
  • Oxford “We can put a boat in the lunch box because lunchboxes are not made with paper.”
  • Eli “We can use the plastic paper so no one will see it so people will think it is magic it won’t melt.”
  • Howie “Put the boat inside the small plastic box.”
  • Oliver “If we put the boat on the wooden cup the cup is too heavy, and it will get wet.”

Howie suggested the cane basket.

  • Oliver “The basket has small holes the water will go in.”

Howie suggested the ceramic pot.

  • Oxford “That is too heavy.”
  • Jeongtoon “I see the paper boat making at home and the boat not wet. I don’t know.”
  • Eunbyul “Paper boat is wet then plastic boat is big and paper is small.”
  • Oliver “We can make it with something soft that will not get wet, it will float on the water. That might look like cotton.”

The children wanted to make sure the boats wouldn’t get wet because they had used special coloured paper to make them.

We will need to test some of the suggested objects to learn more about objects, materials and their properties.

CHALLENGE!
Jeongyoon was determined to make the smallest boat. He kept trying till he made one that was 2 cms. in length!

 

Designing Birds’ Nests

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One of the suggestions the children had made while they were looking for ways to help the birds in the Early Years playground was ‘to make different bird nests that would keep the birds’ eggs safe’. We began to think of different nests that we could build for the birds.

First, the children drew their initial ideas on one side of the paper.  

Then, we watched a video to learn more about the different types of bird nests.

The children were excited about the different designs and materials used to create these interesting and complex structures. Next, the children drew a second design.

This time, the children thought about the environments the birds may live in, and the materials the birds might have around them to create the nest.

Their second designs were more complex and included a lot more details.

We wonder how we might move this project further, to create and test some of the different designs the children have been thinking about.

Having revisited their designs, the children were invited to sign up if they wanted to make a nest for the birds. 

 

Nests: How can we help?

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We went out to the corridor to look at the documentation about the ‘dead birds’.

The children revisited some of their past observations and theories.

  • Lydia “Cats have eat the birds.”
  • Liz “Cats eat the birds. I think big birds eat small birds.”
  • Eli “I think birds flying and when they are sleeping the cat is down and the cat climbed the tree and then he the ate birds. Birds are in the nest.”
  • Jeongyoon “Nests on the tree.”
  • Liz “I think bird fell down from the nest. Its dead.”
  • Oliver “I think the baby bird fall down and then hits its dead.”
  • Morning “Maybe they rolled and fell down the tree.” 

What new ideas do we have? What can we do to help?

  • Howie “Put the soft things under the tree. If they fall down it will be soft.”
  • Oliver “Feathers, cotton.”
  • Eli “Maybe something bouncy. Maybe grass.”
  • Morning “Paper.”
  • Oliver “I see something white that is outside but it is not cotton.”
  • Oxford “Take the birds to the doctor. Take them home and look to see what is wrong.”
  • Oliver “I think the nest is a little bit not safe for the birds. I think it’s a little bit small. We can build one more.”
  • Morning “Use cotton to make the nest. Maybe grass.”
  • Oliver “Use sticks. Sometimes we can just put a bowl.”
  • Howie “And put inside some soft things.”
  • Oliver “I think they make them with water and mud. To make the sticks not fall off the nests. First, we need to find some stick. Then put some water in the sand. Cover the nests with the mud and then the baby birds can live on them. Not mud, we can use clay.”
  • Eli “I saw lots of sticks outside. I saw a special place that has lots of sticks.
  • Howie “Then we can put them on the tree. We can put them like on the fire trucks, to put the ladder and climb up and put the nests on the tree.”
  • Oliver “If we stick the clay to the tree then the nest will never fall off. Then we don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
  • Eunbyul “Children feed the birds and one more bird is fly and two more birds fly back. Feed the birds seeds.”
  • Motong “We can find some sticks and make a nest. Put paper on the nest because the snow flowing the nest. Put the paper on the top.”
  • Wyatt “Put the bird nest on the tree and the bird is going to the house. And the bird is go there and going to the house. If it’s cold, then there is snow. Snow is body is fall down. Help bird, help to put on a jacket to put on the bird.”

The children ran outside to collect the sticks they needed to build the nest. Oliver found some cotton-like material and put it in another tub.  

 

We wonder what we might need to think about when creating nests for the birds.

Observing Eggs

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A few days ago, one child presented his EGG Experiment to the class. The children wondered what was inside his egg as it felt soft and bouncy. The child wanted to take his egg home so we decided to place a second egg in vinegar, to see what we could learn about the egg.  

We decided to break another to observe what happens to it. We documented the children’s observations and theories at the time.

Over the last few days, our egg has been on the shelf. The children have been observing the changes. It was time to revisit the experiment to see what we could learn.  

We gathered to talk about what we see, think and wonder about the broken egg and the whole we placed in vinegar.

Oliver

First observations and theories: (whole egg) “This egg has smoke like it’s because it has white. It will become squishy because the vinegar inside has magic.” (broken egg) “Here is one bubble it is smoke bubble. The yellow part is a super small duck cause a white egg has a duck and a brown egg has a chicken like chickens are brown and ducks are white.”

Noticing change… “the small inside part has not so much of the yellow thing so it becomes smaller. The yellow and green patch has become darker.”

Jeongyoon

First observations and theories: (whole egg) “This one is white. There is bubbles. The egg will become squishy.”

Wonderings… “Why is this brown? (Patch on the eggshell)”

Oxford

First observations and theories: “This has so many bubbles. The other egg has green and yellow. The yellow is also a egg. The bubble is white because that and the white egg is white.”

Noticing change… “There is no white piece I think it is now the inside of the yellow looks orange.”

Morning

First observations and theories: “This one the water is yellow because the yellow part makes the water yellow. And the white egg makes the water white. I don’t like eggs because I don’t like to eat the yellow part.”

Noticing change… (whole egg) “This one is broken.”

Eli

First observations and theories: “Why did this one not have many bubbles before but now it has? I think why is an egg white? Why in the brown egg is the inside yellow and around is green? I think the white piece is a little water when it touches the floor it because sinks down it will bump on the floor and explode.”

Noticing change… (Egg yolk) “Before this is like a squishy circle an now it’s like inside it looks like it has a baby inside.”

Howie

First observations and theories: “Think inside there is another egg. It is a special egg. It has magic because it has green water.”

Noticing change… “It becomes small (broken egg) and the other one become big?” (whole egg)

Eunbyul

First observations and theories: “This one is yellow. Yellow bubble and green bubble. There is white bubble in.

Noticing change… “The middle is small and the white bubble is not here. Together they’re moving.” (broken egg)

 

Observations:

Liz (whole egg) “This one is brown what is inside the egg?”

Wyatt (Whole egg) “This is broken and the yellow is not broken no more bubbles.”

Motong “This is a little bit brown.” Pointing to the patch on the eggshell.

Lydia (broken egg) “This is green there is orange inside the yellow.”

The children continued to wonder what was inside the whole egg. It felt soft and rubbery on the outside. But what was it like inside?

The children continued to guess what might be inside the egg. Most of them predicted that there would be a chicken or a duck inside the egg. Some children disagreed. They believed that there would be water or liquid inside the egg. We decided to cut it open to see what was inside! Gently we pressed the knife to the soft and bouncy shell. As we pressed harder the egg popped, and the soft shell broke. The egg spilled over into the tray but the egg yolk was still attached to the shell. The shell was soft and torn.

Using pictures and words, the children documented their observations showing ‘what happened’ to the egg.

They used describing words (soft, squishy, hard, watery, bouncy, hard) to talk about the eggs.

Through exploring, observing and communicating we learn to make sense of the world.

The Pipes

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A teacher in the PYP came over to the Early Years to ask the teachers if they would like to have some materials that they had finished using. As the children were at a specialist lesson, we took a photograph of the teacher and the pipe and asked the children what they thought about it.

  • Eunbyul “That is plastic. And this one is a teacher.”
  • Oxford “He gave this to Ms. Hannah.”
  • Liz “Is it paper for Ms. Hannah to write?”
  • Oxford “And for children to write?”
  • Eunbyul “It’s not paper, it’s plastic for making a slide. Make all and it will slide.”
  • Oxford “I have it at home. I draw a picture with it.”
  • Oliver “I think it is metal or wood.”

The children disagree. “We think it is plastic!”

  • Motong “It is hard.”
  • Oliver “It is a pipe, used for making racing slides.”
  • Eli “I think it is used for the slide that the ball can go down.”
  • Oxford “I think water can go down. This is like plastic.”
  • Liz “This is a boat slide.”

  • Morning “I can put a paper inside. You can put water and balls.”
  • Oxford “This is like the bamboo outside.”
  • Wyatt “Is paper, water go down, like a slide, water goes there.”
  • Oliver “We can put marbles that it can go deep underwater.”
  • Morning “You can put a pencil on it.”
  • Oxford “I think you can put cars inside it. Can put one or two cars.”
  • Eli “Little, little ones. Big ones will be too big and this will break because it is too heavy.”
  • Liz “This slide I think putting the blocks. Blocks like balls.”
  • Wyatt “This use water, going the paper. Putting on the blocks and the water going down.”
  • Oxford “I think we can use this for play. To take blocks and we can put in and put cars in.
  • Eli “The paper boat will get in the water and it will melt.”
  • Oliver “You mean it will get wet.”
  • Eli “And then it will be really easy to break.” 

The children suggested that we use the PVC pipes in the indoor water play area. The children were excited and wanted to speak to the teacher and gather the materials for play. They signed up to help.

One group would visit the teacher while the other groups collect the different materials.

We went off to look for the teacher. The team checked the nametags on the door to see if they could find his classroom.  

On their return, the team informed the others of what Mr. Jamie said. He had given them more pipes, some sandpaper, a block and a collection of balls. The team showed us how to prepare the pipes for play by using sandpaper to smoothen the edges of the pipes.

We wonder how the children will use the materials to explore through their senses. We wonder about the different investigations that might lead to testing, identifying, classifying and researching.

The Egg Experiment – A Story of Research

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A Story of Research

@O had a book full of experiments. He described one to the teacher explaining “The egg becomes soft when it is in the water for 3 days!”

  • Teacher “Hmmm, is that so, well can you prove that?”
  • Child “Yes! I can show you!”

He began to make a plan, thinking about how he might share his theories and document the process and findings over time. He drew out his plan, made a list of needed materials, and shared the steps to be taken to complete the task.

At first, the child insisted that the egg needed to be submerged in water. He planned and experimented, even though he subsequently learned that the liquid should be vinegar for the experiment to work.

The teachers encouraged him to complete his first experiment, to observe and document his learning and the outcome of his experiment, to encourage the child to develop the ability to carry out tasks, and to learn through experience.

The child agreed, and documented his observations in his journal, learning new words, and referring to the sight words flash cards to help him spell unknown words.

He labelled his pictures and included details to share the process with others.

He learned how to revisit his journal post on Seesaw, editing and including his daily observations to document his experiment.

The child was excited to begin his second experiment, feeling confident that he knew the outcome.

Through this experience, he practised patience, resilience and learning through ‘trial and error‘.

He questioned to learn more, used observation to gather information and explored patterns and connections. The child used mark-making to share his observations and presented his findings to the community, all important skills, and processes that scientists need in their work. 

Living Things in the Early Years Garden

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What is happening to the birds in the EY Garden?

Over the past few months, the children have found bird feathers and a few dead birds in the Early Years Garden. The children were puzzled and wondered about the birds, often looking for and sharing ideas about the different living things in the garden.

Noticing their continued interest in living things in the spaces around us, we decided to discuss their observations and wonderings. The different pieces of documentation about birds we had collected sparked our conversation. 

We used the question words to help us think about what we wanted to know about the birds.

The questions led us to wonder (Lydia) how the birds died, (Oxford) why the birds didn’t fly away, (Oliver) what happened to the birds after they died and where the birds lived.

We revisited an inquiry project some of the children were engaged in last year (PK1B) to help us think more about the birds that live in the Early Years Garden.

The children quickly recalled looking for the birds and learning that they come into the garden when fewer people were in the area.

They liked to play in the water (Oliver) and live high in the trees for safety (Howie). Lydia recalled looking for the birds in the big tree, which has since been cut down. “They cut down the tree to make paper” she explained.

Oliver recalled seeing bird’s nests on electric cable poles and said he saw some nests made of sticks in the EY garden.

As the children shared many different theories about the dead birds, we gave them paper and writing tools to make their thinking and wonderings visible.

Later during playtime, a group of children found an empty nest on a bush, which had fallen from a tree.

The children were fascinated by the intricate weaving and discussed the materials (cotton, grass, leaves) used to make the nest.

  • Liz “Bird house.”
  • Motong “It’s a nest. The birds on the tree.”
  • Morning “A nest, the nest maybe inside is the bird. Or the birds already died. They use grass because it’s long and the grass is dry, not in the water.”

  • Oliver “I see there is a bird’s nest has been fall from a tree. I think a cat pulled the bird’s nest to the bush. It’s because cats don’t like birds nests, I think.

We wonder what others think happened to the birds in the Early Years Garden. 

We decided to share the documentation and the provoking question “What happened to the birds?” to help us gather more information.

Designing Ramps

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The team of researchers investigating ‘slides’ collated their drawings to make their own books about slides. On the cover, they decided to draw the most exciting slide! The designs were creative and complex.

Mr. Lewis, a teacher working in Hong Kong, visited us a few weeks ago and shared his excitement about the slide project. He told us that his class were also very interested in slides. He offered to share photographs of the slides they had made. On his return to Hong Kong, he shared them with us. 

The children discussed the ideas presented in the images.

  • The slides are very big.
  • The blocks are big and so the slides are high.
  • They used water on their slides!
  • The slides were connected to other things like car parks and buildings. 
  • They used bamboo slides at the water troughs! 

The children recalled having many of the same materials in their own space. They were excited about the different designs and were inspired to create more ‘slides’.

What more can we learn about slides?

Next, we read a book about slides to help the children expand their ideas further. The book had many examples of ‘slides’ which were referred to as ‘ramps’. Over the next few days, the slides in the block space evolved. The children explored new ideas, creating cities and maps with a range of materials. More children entered the play spaces with conversations around the structures becoming more animated and complex. 

We decided to offer the team a new opportunity to create ramps. For this, we revisited the team’s drawings created for the book covers.

What do designers and engineers need to consider when creating?

We reached out to Ms. Jo to plan this experience. The team went off with Ms. Eileen and Ms. Jo to begin their work on the structures. They have created a plan and discussed the materials they would need to make their ramps. In the next few weeks, we will learn more about their process.

Our research into ramps has resulted in a collection of chart papers that include brainstorms, Venn diagrams and drawings. We decided to move some of the documentation into a central location, a bulletin board in the corridor. As we sat back to reflect on the documentation, we asked the children why learning about slides was important to them.

  • Morning “I like slides because we can slide down and it makes us happy!”
  • Liz “I like big slides because it is fast.”
  • Eli “It is higher, it has more time to roll down. So on the floor it goes really, really fast.”
  • Oliver “I make slides for balls to go down and the slides are up hill and down hill. More higher makes the ball go faster.”
  • Howie “Because its fun. It is fast. The ball goes fast, the box goes slowly, because it has 4 corners, its not fast. I tried once.”
  • Oxford “Big slides, cars go fast. I like to put people and cars on the slides, they go fast.”

We heard the children talk about the attributes and properties of shapes. We noticed that they were exploring concepts about ‘speed’, ‘height’, ‘distance’, ‘forces’ and ‘energy’.

The discussion about the display led us to wonder if other people also like slides. How could we find out?

– Eli “We can ask people!”

We decided to post a paper to ‘ask’ the community if they like slides. The children suggested two options for the chart.

  • I like slides.
  • I don’t like slides.

– Oliver “I like slides should be in green and I don’t like slides in red.”

We decided to accept Oliver’s suggestion. Next, we documented the responses from the class, then we posted the table on the wall.

At the end of the day, the children invited their caregivers to add to the table. The children were excited to find out how many people would respond to their survey.

We are learning that we can:

– use all senses to observe and notice details

– gather information from a variety of sources

– sort and categorise information

Investigating Slides in our Environment

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A small group of children have been exploring slides in K2. They have been designing and building slides in the classroom and worked in PE to create different slides using a range of resources in the gym.

As more children showed interest in the research into slides, we decided to invite a few more children to join the initial group on a ‘slide hunt’ around the school. As the children walked around, they identified different slides, talking about the similarities and differences between them.

We noticed the children using a range of describing words and new vocabulary to help them talk about the slides. They observed, tested, discussed and documented their observations on paper.

 

They used their developing writing skills to add labels. We noticed the children sharing their drawings with each other, and giving feedback for improvement.

On their return, the group watched the video with the rest of the class. We wonder how the children’s inquiry into slides will help them talk about other design choices people make when creating objects, buildings and spaces in the environment.

Oliver “Some slides are very scary to slide on. It’s because some can move and if you are that way and you can go the other and its wobbly and you will fall down the slide. Someone hoped they are fun.”

Howie “People can walk on the slide. People can go on the bumpy slide. It is scary. There is also a climbing slide. We have triangle here at the top.” 

We paused to think about Jeongyoon’s observation of two slides. He said they looked the same but were different. We decided to create a chart, documenting similarities and differences between the slides.

We discussed the idea of ‘the same’ and ‘different’. The children quickly noticed the differences between the two structures.

Differences:

  • have different designs (white lines) and colours
  • one had supports for climbing (ropes and stepping stones).
  • different heights and sizes so this also meant that the elevation was different
  • were made of different materials

Looking for similarities was harder. A group went outdoors to take a closer look. 

Similarities:

  • go downhill and uphill
  • slide down
  • you can walk, climb and run up and down
  • are outside in the playground
  • used for play

When discussing the Venn diagram, we talked about the ‘purpose’ of the two structures. The children explained that the structures were for ‘PLAY’.

This brought us to the remaining slides. What purpose did they have?  We revisited the photographs we had of the different slides around the school and began to sort them out.

Two categories emerged through the discussion:

  • For people and wheelchairs to travel and
  • For play

They decided that the category ‘for play’ had subcategories:

  • For stones
  • For sliding

We wonder:

  • how these structures are designed.
  • how we might use different materials to create structures with different characteristics.

What materials might have been used to create or build the objects or structures?

The children began to share their thinking. Some were made of:

  • wood
  • metal
  • plastic
  • concrete powder
  • stones and rocks
  • paint to make it beautiful
  • fabric/material
  • feathers, cotton or wool

We wonder how these structures are designed. We wonder how we might use different materials to create structures with different characteristics.

When thinking and talking about the way things move on slides, the

children began to use the words ‘power‘ and ‘energy‘.

They used the words ‘push‘ and ‘pull‘ to explain their thinking of ‘forces‘. Eli wondered if your heart and blood help you move. We look forward to exploring these ideas further.

Our learning continues…

Approaches to Learning (ATL’s) 

  • observe carefully
  • gather information from a variety of sources (people, places, materials, literature)
  • record observations—drawing, using emergent writing skills
  • notice relationships and patterns
  • express oneself using words and sentences
  • participate in conversations

An Inquiry into Forces and Energy

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Different groups of children have been creating slides and ramps in the block play area. We began to collect pictures and videos for the children to review after playtime.

What did they notice about the different pictures (1,2 and 3)?

We documented their observations and thoughts on chart paper. 

How is picture 4 connected to the other 3 pictures? Were there any similarities and differences?

4

The children began to share their theories about the way objects moved on the pieces of wood. They discussed their theories about the concepts of form, materials, speed, height, force and energy.

Based on the children’s initial theories about energy and the movement of objects when creating slides with blocks, we decided to give them an opportunity to test their ideas in different situations.

We wondered how the children might experience the use of force and energy in P.E.

What would they need to consider when creating games and activities that have slides?

 

An Inquiry into Slides

Mr. Lee began the P.E. session by helping the children recall their ideas about slides.

  • Lee “What do you know about slides?”
  • Oliver “A bouncy slide.”
  • Lee “What makes it bounce?”

He drew a picture to share the image of a ‘bumpy’(uneven slide).

  • Lee “What can we put down a slide?
  • Eli “Blocks, to build the slide, put some wood under and make it bouncy. A mat under. Use a ball, use yourself, run down the slide.”

“Some people will roll down the slide!” said the children.

Mr. Lee invited the children to build slides using a range of soft play equipment.

When the children came back to class, they documented their thinking, strategies and observations on paper. We noticed that the children used a range of ‘Craft Moves’, shared during a writing activity to show ‘action’ and ‘movement’ to make their thinking visible.

The children:

  • shared ‘how’ the slides were made.
  • observed how objects (balls and their body) move on different pieces of equipment.
  • made choices about the shape and size of equipment they would need to make their slides work well.
  • used feedback to make their slides safer.
  • thought about the speed, safety, and characteristics of different materials and shapes as they designed their slides.
  • worked collaboratively in a small space, sharing resources and being mindful of the needs of others.

The group shared their process with the rest of the class. They began to talk about possibilities with slides.

  • Oliver “We can change the slides into water slides.”
  • Jeongyoon “Ice slide.”
  • Liz “Mud slide.”
  • Eli “I have been on a water slide like going up and down.”
  • Oxford “It has a tunnel.”
  • Morning “In the PE room!”
  • Teacher “Could we have water in the Gym?”
  • Children “NO!”
  • Jeongyoon “The swimming pool. Water mud slide.”
  • Wyatt “A monster slide? The monster can be inside and everybody is running around and playing and not coming to the slide.”
  • Oliver “We can make a super tall rollercoaster.”
  • Teacher “Why?”
  • Oliver “Because it’s FUN!”

“It sounds like we need a PLAN!”

Moths and Butterflies

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@O wanted to learn more about moths and butterflies after observing a moth on Oskar’s shoe. He had many questions about moths and butterflies after looking through a variety of nonfiction books. He wondered how you could tell the difference between them.

We decided to find an expert in the Early Years. @O recalled Ms. Karen having many different specimens of insects. Oliver went over to Ms. Karen to talk about his research. The video story shares @O‘s journey as a researcher. 

Research Skills:

Formulating and planning

  • Ask or express through play questions that can be researched.

Data gathering and documenting (audio recording, drawing, photographing)

  • Gather information from a variety of sources (people, places, materials, literature).
  • Use all senses to observe and notice details.
  • Record observations—drawing and using emergent writing skills to make thinking visible.

Evaluating and communicating

  • Notice relationships and patterns.

An Inquiry into Ramps

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A group of kindergarteners explore a range of concepts while building ramps. They collaborate with each other, thinking, planning and testing their theories (Forces and energy).

They explore how speed, distance, and height may change the result of the experiment. Curious investigators are drawn to the testing ground as laughter and celebration ripple across the learning space. 

Through experimentation, the children begin to explore how a variety of factors including size and shape, can impact the way objects move (Physics).

  • We wonder what variables impact the design of ramps. 
  • How are ramps used in the world around us? 

An exploration begins… 

Creating Non-fiction Books

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We have been exploring nature to learn more about change, responsibility and the choices we make. We began with a deep dive into non-fiction texts, reading many different non-fiction books to learn about the features in of these materials. We thought about non-fiction books that we can we make.

Inspired by non-fiction books, Patrick created and shared a book he made to teach us about ‘poisonous snakes’ and Mason a book about ‘jellyfish’.

We looked closely at a non-fiction book about snakes and compared it with the books the children had made.

  • What can we learn about non-fiction books?
  • What do we notice about the information presented in these books?

The children began by deciding on the topics or themes. We put these ideas down on post-it notes and shared them with the class.

We documented our ideas on chart paper.

We can talk about:

  • what animals/plants can do
  • what they eat or need to survive
  • how they catch their prey
  • how they move
  • how they grow
  • how they change
  • what they look like
  • what they like
  • why they behave in a certain way
  • how they play

Over the last two weeks, during Writer’s Workshop, the children have been creating their own non-fiction books, adding pages and information to share with their readers. A non-fiction checklist helped us think about the way we present ideas and important information.  

The Bug Hotels

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We have been discussing and planning where and how to place the bug hotels. We want to make sure the insects that live in them feel safe.

We needed to make the signs to let everyone know where our hotels are on the playground. The children decided to make the signs using wood, as it can be kept outdoors in all types of weather. 2 children went over to the Design room to use the wood burning tool to write ‘K2A’ on the two signs.  

 

Then, we went outdoors to place the two bug hotels. The teams decided where they wanted to place them so that many bugs make them their homes.

The children took all the bugs they have collected in the classroom out to the hotels. They gently placed the worms, pill bugs and beetles inside the different spaces.

We are excited about the hotels and wonder which little creatures will visit the bug hotels. We wonder if we need to make some signs to let the other children know how to look after the bug hotels.

Our project continues…

Homes – The Bug Hotel

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During the field trip to the Insect and Reptile Museum, the children went into nature to collect natural materials to make a ‘Bug Hotel’.

They worked in teams to make 2 homes for the bugs, decorating them to attract more living things.

When we returned, the children discussed their ideas for the ‘Bug Hotels’. They talked about the different materials they used, and wondered what types of insects might want to live in the hotels.

The children have noticed many different types of insects and littles creatures in the playground. They think the ants, bees, pill bugs, beetles, spiders and butterflies might want to make the hotel their home. Growing more flowers and plants will encourage the bugs to visit the playground.

The two groups gathered to decide where they want to place their bug houses. They discussed their ideas, trying to agree on the locations. This was challenging as they all had their own preferences.

They had to listen to each other, consider different perspectives and then reach a final decision.

One team decided to place their bug hotel on a tree and the other in the garden near the flowers.

Next, we discussed the different options we have for signage. Paper and card were suggested. However, paper and card are not suitable materials for outdoor signs as they get wet. The children decided to use wood to make the signs.

Over the next few days, they will work together to create the signs and place the hotels and signs in the correct locations across the playground. They are excited to see which insects make the bug hotels their home. 

We know that we share our playground with many different living things. We will continue to use our observational skills to notice and document our thinking to help us make decisions about the environment.

Field Trip Reflections

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We had a wonderful time planning and then going on our Field Trip to the Insect and Reptile Museum. We wondered what we learned from our trip and what questions we have as a result of our learning.

The children began to put their ideas on paper. They used drawing and writing to share their ideas.

We gathered to talk about the different ways writers can plan and share ideas with others.

As we discussed what we noticed about each other’s writing, we documented the different ways writers communicate their thinking, planning and ideas.

We could:

– draw, colour, add details and make our pictures look ‘real’

– use our own ideas

– sequence the different events

– add feelings

– use thinking clouds

– add writing using words and sentences

– include ideas in different spaces across a page

– add labels

– show the weather

Then, we went back to improve our work, to share more details through pictures and words.

What we learned:

  • Mason “If you see the snake and if he has a triangle shaped head it is a poisonous snake.”
  • Kenan “I learned about the chameleons can change colour.”
  • Doho “The dragon can change colour, if it is angry it can change colour to red colour. Many colours.”
  • Tracey “The chameleons tongue is sticky so he can catch the fly.”
  • Mason “We saw the bug swim in the water. Inside the water there are weeds and they eat them.”
  • Doho “I see the chameleon was walking in the water.”
  • Joon “I see the water. I saw fish in the tank.”
  • Tracey “The bugs get a jelly.”
  • Mason “The insects will run away if they are not in the cages.”
  • Doho “Some bugs make people die because some bugs have teeth.”
  • Mason “And some bugs have poison because they can help themselves (protect).”

Questions we have…

  • Sean “Why is the chameleon so slow?”
  • Eunice “Why does the chameleon change colour? Why do snakes have peeled skin?”
  • Eunice and Sanghyeok “Why do animals have 6 legs?”
  • Doho “Why don’t touch the snakes with a triangle head?”
  • Sean “Why snakes have poison? Why are snakes long?”
  • Noah “Why do the animals stay in the baskets?”
  • Tracey “How do they make the jelly for the bugs?”
  • Eui jin “Why do snakes go round and round.”
  • Allen “Why snake’s tongue is like a V?”

The K2 inquirers will continue to do their research to learn more about insects and reptiles. 

The Insect Museum

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Field Trip PLAN

We are planning a field trip to the Insect Museum. We gathered to discuss important information to help us plan a safe learning expedition. Some questions on a planning template helped the children draw, write and discuss their ideas.

What will we need to take on the trip?

The children decided that they will need:

  • a water bottle
  • a snack in a box
  • a cap
  • home lunch (if this is their choice for the day)
  • in a small backpack!

The teachers will take clip boards and writing tools for drawing and writing.

It would be a good idea to put on some insect repellent spray before arriving at school!  

 

What would we do at the Museum?

 

Many of the children were curious about the creatures that live in the Insect Museum.

 

They hoped that they could touch, feed and look at the insects and reptiles. They also wanted to make animal homes and eat a picnic lunch together.

 

What would we like to learn?

  • How does the chameleon catch its food?
  • Why does the chameleon change its colour?
  • Why are snakes poisonous? We want to learn more about them!
  • Can we borrow the insects?
  • Why can’t we let the insects out?
  • How many legs do insects have?
  • How long can snakes grow? (length)
  • Why can’t we touch snakes on their heads?
  • How do snakes catch their food?
  • How do alligators move in the water?
  • Why does the beetle have 8 legs?
  • Why are snakes scary?
  • Why does the beetle go on the tree?
  • Why do bugs have 6 legs?

We are excited to learn more about insects and reptiles!

How might we be safe?

The children suggested the following actions that will help us stay safe:

  • Wear the seatbelt on the bus
  • Follow the teacher’s instructions
  • Be gentle with the insects and reptiles.
  • Stay together.
  • If you are scared, don’t touch the animals.

What would kind behaviours look like?

  • Help, if someone falls down.
  • Sit on the seats and talk quietly on the bus.
  • Be careful when looking for sticks.
  • Take a first aid kit in case we need medicines.
  • help each other be in the green zone, stay calm.
  • Be gentle and quiet around the animals.

Our Brainstorm!

We wonder what we might see, learn about on our field trip…

We wonder what action we might take as a result of our learning…

Watch this space! 

Does it Sink or Float?

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The K2 scientists have been investigating floating and sinking with a range of materials and objects. Most young scientists guess that items will sink or float based on their size or weight. Through their experimentation, we noticed the children making and testing predictions about objects that will sink or float. They thought about the words they could use to explain their theories and observations.

We conducted an experiment to help us think about the language we can use to talk about sinking and floating.

The picture book helped us find new vocabulary to explain the observations.

The scientists continued their research, documenting their observations to help them talk about their discoveries about objects that sink and float.

 

Doho  “I think all the fruits float.”​

We wonder if this theory is true or false.

What do you think?

Inquiry Skills

  • Pose and respond to questions about familiar objects and events.
  • Participate in guided investigations and make observations using the senses.
  • Document and share observations and ideas.

Composting and Worms

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We have been reading books about composting as a result of our inquiry into the composting barrel in the EY playground.

The children had many theories about food and so we left fruits and vegetables out in the classroom to observe what happens to them over time.

During a discussion on composting, we noticed that the children were particularly interested in learning more about worms:

  • How do they live?
  • How do they help us?
  • What do they eat?
  • Do we have worms in our bodies?

Ms. Hannah is an expert in the garden. She likes to grow fruits, vegetables and flowers.

We decided to invite Ms. Hannah to talk about her worm farm and compost bins.

Ms. Hannah showed the children the worms. “We cannot squish them.

They don’t like to feel dry.”

Ms. Hannah let the children hold the worms in their hands. The children squealed with delight.

  • Mason “We can put the tomato and broccoli in the soil and the worms will eat it.”
  • Kenan “We can not put the box on the table because the worms will eat the fruit on the table. We need to close it.”
  • Tracey “We need to give them some water, some mud and soil.”
  • Patrick “And we can put some sticks and wood and cut the tree and put some wood on the floor. And sticks on the top for the worms to climb.”
  • Tracey “Why do the worms eat mud?”
  • Patrick “Why can the worms eat the stinky things?”
  • Doho “Why are the worms long?”
  • Mason “Why can’t the worm drink water?”
  • Kenan “I think he doesn’t have a mouth. He can use his nose.”
  • Heidi “How come we can see lots of worms when it is raining outside?”
  • Tracey “Because the worms need water. And the worms will dry.”
  • Patrick “The worms like the rain, when it comes down the water is all over and the worms like yucky and then the wet.”
  • Tracey “We can use some plates and the top like a house.
  • Mason “Inside have some soil and mud. We need to put the tomato and we put the brocolli and carrot in the worm’s box.”
  • Tracey “We need to put food all the time. Then we can help the worms by putting more food.”

Here are Ms. Hannah’s compost bins.

  • Tracey “This water is good for the flowers.”
  • Noah “The earthworms make the soil soft and that is good for the plants.”

The children wondered what was in the following pictures.

What are these?

We watched a time lapse of worms in a compost bin.

The children decided the following:

  • give the worms some leftover food
  • put the food waste in the composter
  • put some worms in the composter
  • add lots of leaves, food and some soil in the composter

The Bike Project – Research Groups

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Our Bike project continues, with children leading research projects to help them make the best decisions for their outdoor space.

 

Name for the Parking Spot: Conducting a Survey

from our brainstorm on the different A group of mathematicians interviewed the Early Years community to find out their preference for the name of the parking spot. The two choices were BIKE PARK or BIKE GARAGE.

The team used tally marks to record the data on the survey.  

Then they worked together to calculate the total for each choice.

Through their research they learned that more people preferred the name ‘BIKE PARK’!

 

NO PARKING area: Field Visit

The children wanted to find a way to create a ‘No Parking’ area near the emergency exit. We know the school has many NO PARKING areas and areas where you can park. Noah went on a field visit to learn more.

  • What do we notice in the parking spaces?
  • How is the space organised?

Noah created a video to share what he learned from his research. We wonder how we might use these ideas to help us organise the tricycle park.

  

Signs and Messages:

Another team of researchers brainstormed ideas for the signs. They began by looking for signs around the Early Years Centre.

  • What materials are signs made of?
  • How are colours, shapes and words used to share messages?
  • What messages and actions do they communicate to people?

They used the iPads to record their observations and brought photographs back to the team.

The researchers discussed their observations while Ms. Eileen documented key points on chart paper. 

The team decided that ‘plastic’ would not be an appropriate material to use as they didn’t know how to make plastic.

They didn’t want to buy plastic from the shop as it was their own project. They wanted to make the sign all by themselves.

 

‘Paper’ and ‘card’ were not the best materials for the signs as it breaks and tears easily.

Although card is stronger, it will get wet when it rains as the signs will be outdoors.

 

Yet another choice were ‘stickers’. They may last longer and are waterproof, but they might come off after a while.

The team decided that stickers were not a suitable choice either.

 

They noticed that the ‘wood’ was very strong and wouldn’t rip. If they used thicker wood, it would make the sign stronger.

The team decided that wood would be the perfect material for the signs.

They wondered if someone used stone to carve the wood, or fire to draw the sign. They decided that their next step would be to meet Ms. Jo and Mr. Danny to ask them more about the sign. Other ideas the team would consider:

  • How big does the sign need to be?
  • Where will the sign be placed?
  • How will it be fitted safely?

The team wondered how they might use what they have learned about traffic rules, signs and important messages in their own planning.

We look forward to our next steps as we begin to use what we have learned to organise the ‘BIKE PARK’.

Composting

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(Change, Nature)

We read a book about composting to learn more about the process, following our decision to make compost for our EY garden.

We noticed how excited the children were about the worms.

  • Noah explained how the worms make holes in the soil and that they help the plants grow.
  • Mason said he had worms at home.
  • Ms. Shemo told the children that Ms. Hannah was an expert on worms and gardening. The children wanted to learn more about the worms.

We decided to leave a tray of left over fruit and vegetables to see what happens to it over time.

  • Kenan noticed that the fruit had shrunk in size over the two days.
  • Tracey said the fruit might attract the ants as they like to eat fruit.

We wonder what more we can learn about the worms.

  • How do they live?
  • How do they help us?
  • What do they eat?
  • Do we have worms in our bodies?

Bird’s Nests

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During a meeting with Ms. Jacqui, Patrick heard a suggestion from the ‘Nest Design Team’ that sparked his interest. The team wondered if they could add nests for birds and squirrels in the playground. He thought about this idea and made a model at home. He presented his idea to the class.

Patrick “I made a model. A model is something that gives you ideas about the real thing. I used sticks, bricks and cement. It has warmth. Butterflies will be the birds’ friends. There is a bird sign and other animals can’t go in here.

I used cement to glue it on. Under it is metal. The birds can go in it and play. And the eggs can go there. The birds can sleep on the hay. I thought what materials will the nest need and I chose cement, bricks but not real hay.”

Patrick’s nest included some yellow bird food and some pictures of worms. There was also a cup for water.

  • Tracey “How to put water in the cup? If the water goes out then how do you do it again?”

The children shared their experiences with birds. Mason said he had birds at home and also say some in his playground, and they ate the food that Patrick brought in. Tracey described some of the birds she has seen in nature. Ms. Shemo also had birds and they ate two types of bird food.

The discussion led to many interesting questions about bird nests and bird food.

  • What type of birds do we have in the playground?
  • What do they use to make their nests?
  • What food do they like to eat?

We considered the idea of ‘bird watching’, to see what we observe in nature. We might need to read some books and do some research to learn more about the birds in our playground, before we begin to make the nests and homes. 

Peels, Plants and a Barrel

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Function, Responsibility, Nature

Some of the K2 students noticed a large barrel in the EY playground. We decided to share 3 images with the children to spark their curiosity and help them explore connections. 

How might these three images be connected?

The children began to share what they noticed, tapping into their prior knowledge to share their viewpoints.

Many of the children wondered about the barrel. It looked strange. They decided that it must be for water. They thought that the barrel was connected to the plants because plants need water to grow.

  • Do banana peels grow into plants?
  • Are the peels good for the plants?
  • Why do we need a barrel of water near the garden plots?
  • Is the water for the toilets?

We wonder how we can find out about the barrel. Perhaps the community can help us with our research.

A group of volunteers interviewed the teachers and students to see what they could find out about the barrel.

-What is it?

-How is it used?

-Why is it in the playground?

The team came back to share what they had learned.

Tracey “We were spinning the barrel. We can’t put worms in it because the worms will get sick.”

Two children went outdoors to test the barrel to see if it does spin around.  

  • Noah “I asked Kyle What is this?”
  • Allen “Ms. Dora says this is eat food put on the bin. Apples and banana peels and watermelon. No eggs.”
  • Mason “We go to some teachers and children and we asked them ‘What is this?’. And they said you put some rubbish in it. We can’t put plastic and glass and meat and egg.”
  • Noah “We can put egg shells in it.”

The research group documented their ideas on chart paper.

They watched a short video on what to put into a compost bin to help them expand on their initial thinking. The team visited PreK-K1B and Keira presented the ideas her class had documented on chart paper.

two children presented what they learned about the items that can go into the compost bin.

We wondered what we might do next?

Some of the children suggested that we begin to collect the food we throw away and put it in the compost bin. A few other children wondered what will happen to the food if we left it out.

-Perhaps ants might come in to eat the food.

-It might get yucky.

Nicolas explained that when you put these types of foods into the bin, they get rotten. Then, the soil can be used to put into the plants and that will help all the fruits and vegetables grow!

We know that we can use our senses to observe and notice the changes that happen in nature. We know that we use these skills to help us make decisions. We look forward to seeing how these observations may lead to action.

Our work as composters begin…

Making Paper

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Tracey gathered a few volunteers to make the paper. They went to the Atelier to see if the paper pulp was ready to be turned into new paper.

The papermakers followed Tracey’s instructions to make the paper using the paper making tools she brought from home. They collaborated and shared the different tasks.

At the end of the process, the papermakers remembered to clean up their workspace and the materials they had used.

We will now need to wait till the paper dries on the rack.

 

We wonder what the children will choose to do with their new paper…

The Early Years Florists

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A group of children worked with Ms. Hannah to create a flower arrangement for each class in the Early Years. This is an ongoing project that different groups of children work on every few weeks.

This time, the florists worked on creating a Chinese style flower arrangement with the focus of balance. Joon and Mason were our K2A florists for the week.

The florists had several pointy stands to use with their flower arrangement.

They decided who will use the different stands by pulling paper that were of different lengths.

Ms. Hannah showed the children how to place the flowers on the pointy stand.

Then, the florists had to choose one flower and put it on their stand. Thy had to consider balance, the length of the stems and how the flowers were going to be arranged.

When they placed the second flower, they needed to work out how they can balance both flowers. Then, the florists included the leaves. The florists had to take turns and collaborate, using their skills of observing, thinking and decision making to complete the arrangement beautifully.

The young florists stood back to decide if their arrangements were done well. Finally, they had to agree on which flower arrangements will be presented to the campfires and which ones will remain in the Atelier.

Joon and Mason proudly shared their arrangement with their classmates and placed it next to the class journal to welcome everyone to K2A!

The Paper Project

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(Resources)

Tracey brought in her paper making tools. She showed the tools to her friends. Tracey shared a video she created at home, explaining the process of making paper.

The children decided that they wanted to make paper too. We began to collect the wastepaper in a basket. Patrick also brought in some paper from home. When we have enough paper, we plan to make the paper using the special frames.

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We have been collecting the paper we do not want to use anymore, as the children suggested that we make our own paper.

The baskets were full. Tracey was ready to gather a team of helpers to make the paper. The project team went to the Atelier to begin the process.

The team had lots of different types of paper.

  • Tracey “We can’t put them together, we will put them in two trays.”

The papermakers got to work, tearing the paper into smaller pieces and putting them into different tubs.

  • Tracey “We rip the paper into small pieces.”
  • Noah “We are ripping.”
  • Nicolas “我们五个人可以干好吗？”Can we finish it with five people?”
  • Kenan “Is this big okay?”

Soon enough the paper was all in the two tubs. Tracey let the papermakers know the next step.

  • Tracey “Cover the paper but not too many.”

  • Kenan suggested they use their hands to mix the paper with the water.
  • Tracey “We can use a spoon and Ms. Eileen you need to help us, too.”

Tracey continued to direct the team of papermakers.

The papermakers put the two tubs on the floor. They were concerned that the cleaning staff or the other children might throw away the paper in the tubs. They suggested that Ms. Eileen put a note on the tubs to let others know that the tubs were part of a project.

We will now wait till the paper is ready for the next step. Tracey is our paper making expert and will guide us in this process.

Through this project we observed how the children: 

  • chose an idea to pursue
  • negotiated ideas and knowledge with peers and teachers
  • chose tools and materials
  • used trial and error to make changes, solve problems, or incorporate new ideas from self or others
  • developed their skills and added new ones through play and collaborative work

Seasons – Data Collection

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The researchers decided to conduct a survey to find out which season people preferred the most. They drew out their table and then interviewed the Early Years community to gather their data.

Then, the researchers used their information to create a vertical bar graph. They could clearly see the data they collected as it was organised by columns.

They used simple comparative language to talk about their graphs and will present their findings to the community.

Through this authentic inquiry, the children explored the different ways we can collect information to make sense of the world around us. Their research allowed for the following experiences:

  • collecting information by asking questions
  • using tally marks (1 line/1 object) to record data
  • recording data on simple graphs
  • explaining data using simple comparative language

Changes – Ice

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Patrick came rushing into the classroom to show the teachers a piece of ice.

He shared his theories about the changes water goes through as the weather and temperature change. He made reference to the chart the class maintained on the daily temperature, explaining that the weather must have been ‘0’ degrees the night before.

Noticing the children’s interest in the thin strips of ice in the playground, we decided to read a book about ‘Ice’. The images showed how ice forms everywhere, on houses, on roads, even on street signs! 

 

The children shared their thinking about the detailed photographs, making connections to their personal experiences as the reading progressed. While reading, the children visualised as they read to determine cause-and-effect relationships. At the end of the read aloud, the teacher asked the children to consider which of the seasons is their favourite.

A group of children conducted a survey to gather data on everyone’s preferred season and ‘WHY’. We wonder what the children will learn from their research!   

The Nest – Prototypes

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The young designers made a list of the materials they needed to create their prototypes of ‘the NEST‘.

In Design, they looked for materials and collected them in paper bags. We noticed how the designers tested the materials to see if they suited their design plans.

Some of the designers arranged their materials on the tabletops, then reconsidered their choices based on the properties of the materials. These are important considerations that designers often reflect on as they create and manipulate materials for a purpose.

The designers began to work on their prototypes. They were encouraged to refer to the shape and design choices they had documented on their plans. As the designers worked with the materials, they talked about their own projects and provided suggestions to their peers. Some of the designers ran in and out of the classroom, revisiting ‘the nest’ to see if their prototypes were accurate replications and improvements to the current structure. The teachers noticed some of the designers reconsidering their initial choice of materials. Through trial and error, the young designers continued to make improvements to the prototypes.

Tracey and Patrick reassessed their designs, reconsidering the materials as well as the structure of their prototypes. Patrick ran to a brick wall to see ‘how’ the bricks were laid, deciding that the pattern was an important consideration.

Sean, Doho, Eunice and Tae Woo considered new materials that were available in the Atelier and in the classroom. Mason decided to combine natural and synthetic materials in his design. While creating, the young designers followed the natural cycles of design as they planned, created, reflected and improved their structures.

Design Learning Outcomes:

  • choose tools and materials
  • make a product using known procedures or through modelling of others
  • use trial and error to make changes, solve problems, or incorporate new ideas from self or others
  • develop their skills and add new ones through play and collaborative work
  • explore the use of simple, available tools and technologies to extend their capabilities

 

The Prototypes

Research into Patterns: Patterns in Nature

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We have been creating patterns with shapes, colours, sounds, actions and movement. As the children have shown a keen interest in nature, we decided to go outdoors to look for patterns in nature.

First, we looked for patterns on leaves and in flowers. The children noticed squiggly lines on leaves, and circles and dots on the flowers.

We thought about the different ways we can document what we noticed. We used pictures and labels to document our observations.Then, we went outdoors to look for other patterns. The children took their clipboards with paper, thin tip markers for writing and iPads to take photos. They used shapes, lines and patterns to record their observations.

The children began to notice relationships and patterns, and shared their ideas with others.

The video shares our learning journey, including the photographs the children took and the notes they made of their observations.

We wonder how we might use what we know about groups and categories to help us sort and organise our information. We wonder how we might share what we learned with others.

Our learning continues….   

Research Skills

  • Gather information from a variety of sources.
  • Use all senses to observe and notice details.
  • Record observations—drawing, using emergent writing skills.
  • Notice relationships and patterns.
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