Measuring Distance

We investigated ramps in the classroom last week.  We discovered we needed more room to allow the balls to roll.  We compared how far different balls went in the hallway. The children discovered that smooth balls roll farther on smooth surfaces.  Then we tested if taller ramps made balls roll farther, and they did.  We even made a graph of our results.  

We moved our lesson to the hallway so that the balls could travel farther.

We made ramps using blocks and boards.

The beach ball went a shorter distance than the utility ball.

The children watched and were excited to see if their predictions were right.

We conducted a survey to see which ball the children thought would go the longest distance.

Our second investigation was to see which ball would go the longest distance.  We discovered that the the rubber ball and the plastic ball went about the same distance when the ramp was one block high.  However, when the ramp was two blocks high, the rubber ball went much farther. We counted the bricks on the wall to see which went the the farthest.

Measuring our Snowgirl!

Mrs. Shepley brought in some snow and she and the children built a snowperson together, the children picked items from around the classroom to use as eyes, arms, nose, mouth and hair.

The children helped build a snowperson.

They decided that the snowperson was going to be a snowgirl, we used cubes to measure how tall she was, the children estimated then we counted, she was 17 cubes tall.  We had the children make predictions about what would happen to our snowgirl.

The Snowgirl began to melt and she lost her nose first, and because the surface she was on was tilted, she slid over.

She was starting to get shorter

She lost her mouth, we moved her back over, we were afraid she might fall off the table.

At the end of the day, she had lost her eyes and she was 3 cubes shorter!

In the morning, this is what was left of our snowgirl, just a puddle and the things that we added.  The children were excited to discover what happened!

We're Baking!

Something new has been added to the play dough centre!  A stove!  Some friends are busy baking cakes and pies for the whole class!

Another Great Discovery!

The students were discovering that it was taking a long time to fill the cups up to the top using the eye droppers.  They experimented with different ideas.  They used 2 and 3 eye droppers and noticed that they were able to put more water.  We thought about what we could do to make it even faster and one friend came up with the idea of getting a bigger eye dropper.  Great thinking!

Our Science Experiment!

We decided to try an experiment in our classroom.  Which ice cube will melt the fastest?  

Our 4 options are: 

1.  An ice cube with salt sprinkled in it.

2.  An ice cube with pepper on it.

3.  An ice cube with dish soap on it.

4.  An ice cube with water on it!  

The wait begins!

Here is what we discovered:

The ice cube in the water melted first, the ice cube with the salt melted second, the ice cube in the dish soap melted third and the ice cube with the pepper melted last!  

Ramps

We are beginning to experiment with ramps!  Stay tuned to hear about our discoveries!

Transferring Water!

Some friends are transferring the water from the melted snow into cups.  Chayse noticed that if you really squeeze the eye dropper it fills up to the top.  If you only do a little squeeze you only " suck up" a little water.  Great observation!

At the Science Table!

Mixing colours in the snow using eye droppers.

Our Creations!

It might be a bridge.  Zack is going to wait till he's done before he decides what it is!

Haedon is making a popcorn machine that collects popcorn!

What a great skateboard!

Cupcakes Anyone or Would You Rather a Cake!

Some children are busy baking today!

Making Hot Chocolate!

Our friends are busy making hot chocolate with marshmallows at the sensory bin!  Below are our vocabulary words we are using at this centre.  

5 little Snowman!

Today we did a flannel board story about Five Little Snowmen.  Then we decided to act it out.  We practise our subtraction skills as each snowman melts away.  It goes like this:

Five little men all made of snow.

Five little snowmen in a row.

Out came the sun and shone all day.

And one little snowman melted away.

As one of the snowman melts, you change the number in the poem!  Practise at home and have them use objects to show 5-1=4 etc.  

The Water Centre!

The penguin is sitting on an iceberg says one friend.  It is very cold, says another!  Below are the vocabulary words at the water table we are trying to use in the classroom!

It's sooo Cold Here!

Our scientist are exploring cold places in the world such as the Arctic also known as The North Pole and the Antarctica also known as the South Pole. They are using binoculars, magnifying glasses, telescopes, and flashlights to explore the land, animals and water.  Kadence asked for flashlights because it is dark in the Arctic in the winter and they need light to see.  Great thinking!

SNOW!!

Happy New Year!  It's been a slow re-entry into our classroom, with only 5 students on Monday, 7 on Tuesday and 15 on Wednesday.  Even though it was too cold to go outside, the children were able to play with some real snow in our water table and in our sensory bin we had play snow made from flour and baby oil.  We've also had stories about snow!