THE CHILDREN’S SCHOOL MARCH/APRIL 2018 PAGE 1 KINDERNEWS With spring’s arrival, we entered into the wonderful world of water. We started our new unit with the celebration of World Water Day, a yearly event that occurs every March around the world to bring attention to the importance of water and ways that we can help protect and care for it. We began our unit by creating a class chart about what water means to us, how it is important, ways we use it each day, and our favorite things to do with water. We then brainstormed how we can help save water, for example turning off the water while brushing our teeth and taking a shower instead of a bath. Wonderful Water Our Kindergarten Water Cycle Mural. Mark your calendar for Fridays! Parent-Teacher Conferences (No School) 4/20 & 4/27 Lab School Conference (No School) 5/2 Kindergarten Graduation/ Whole School Picnic 5/18 Amelie and Alia work together to make water flow. Adrian and Leo pour water.
Transcript
THE CHILDREN’S SCHOOL MARCH/APRIL 2018
PAGE �1
KINDERNEWS
With spring’s arrival, we entered into the wonderful world of water. We started our new unit with the celebration of World Water Day, a yearly event that occurs every March around the world to bring attention to the importance of water and ways that we can help protect and care for it. We began our unit by creating a class chart
about what water means to us, how it is important, ways we use it each day, and our favorite things to do with water. We then brainstormed how we can help save water, for example turning off the water while brushing our teeth and taking a shower instead of a bath.
Wonderful Water
Our Kindergarten Water Cycle Mural.
Mark your calendar for Fridays!
Parent-Teacher Conferences (No School) 4/20 & 4/27
Lab School Conference (No School)
5/2
Kindergarten Graduation/Whole School Picnic
5/18
Amelie and Alia work together to make water flow.
Adrian and Leo pour water.
THE CHILDREN’S SCHOOL MARCH/APRIL 2018
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SINK OR FLOAT
BOAT BUILDING
With the majority of the class agreeing that they like to play and swim in the water, we continued our exploration of water by discussing why some things sink and others float. The friends predicted that both size and weight of an object would influence the results. To many friends’ surprise, we discovered that an orange with
its peel will float, even though it looks and feels like a heavy ball. And that when the peel is removed, the orange will sink. The friends were very curious as to how that happened, which lead us to a discussion of Density (how closely packed together molecules of a substance are). Objects that are less dense will float to the
top, because air has more room to move in an object. By looking more closely at the orange peel using our Zoomy, we realized that the peel acted like a floating device for the orange, where air had more room to move which allowed it the float to the top. The friends were eager to
investigate sinking and floating by using various materials from around the classroom. They quickly discovered that several other factors, displacement, shape and mass, impact an object’s ability to float. Taking the investigation a step further, the friends then explored how adding salt increases the density of the solution thus sometimes changing the outlook on whether an item will sink or float.
After exploring what makes an object sink or float, the students’ curiosity was piqued. Using materials we had already tested, the friends were challenged to build a boat that would not only float, but support the weight of their family. Each friend spent time designing and testing their boats, then redesigning if necessary. If their boat floated, they would then place their family (one plastic counter per family member) onto the boat.
Josie and Aubri test to see how many pennies
can the boat hold.
Chudi and Adrian explore sink or float.
Emilia and Sydnee construct their boats.
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WATER CYCLE
As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers. This April, the kindergarteners thought that the weather must have known we were learning about water as we were provided with many
opportunities to view and discuss all the forms of precipitation, rain, snow, sleet, and hail. This variety was a great way to lead into our discussion of the Water Cycle, learning that “All the water in the world is all the water in the world”. To help understand how water cycles itself through the earth, the friends created a water cycle to take home. Using a plastic bag, water, and sunshine, the friends prepared an environment that would demonstrate evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection. To further understand how the process of the water cycle
works, the friends helped make it rain in the classroom by placing hot water into a vase (evaporation), then covering it with a plate filled with ice (condensation), which then after a few minutes caused water droplets to run down the sides of the vase (precipitation).
The friends quickly discovered that the role of a scientist involves lots of trial and error when trying to solve a problem. We encouraged the students to become thinkers who learn by doing. By reflecting on which materials we knew worked well, those that floated, the friends had the knowledge to use these materials, to create a sturdy boat.
Max testing his boat.
Dash and Siobhan watching colored rain.
A Water Cycle bag.
Amelie, Harris, and Julia begin our Water Cycle Mural.
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As the rain and snow continued to fall during our water unit, we discussed the different types of clothing or objects that we wear and use to help keep us dry, such as a raincoat, umbrella, and rain/snow boots. We learned that these items are meant to repel (push away the water) helping keep us dry. We began to wonder, “when do we want water to be absorbed?”. The friends brainstormed objects, such as flowers and plants that absorb
(take in the water) as well as how a paper towel absorbs water when cleaning our tables and our hands. The friends explored absorption and repelling by testing a variety of materials with placing drops of water on them, first making a prediction as to whether they would absorb or repel and then graphing our results. We further made predictions by using the Zoomy to observe similarities in objects that absorbed, helping
us to predict what other materials may absorb as well. The friends went on to continue their exploration of absorption, by testing how sugar cubes when placed on watercolor, quickly take in the water. They then
were challenged to build a tower of sugar cubes, watching how the watercolor absorbed up the tower.
ABSORPTION
Dean and Siobhan explore absorption.
Lillian observes how sugar cubes soak in watercolor.
Eli and Avi watch as the paper flower unfolds as it absorbs water.
Chudi, Josie, and Emery explore how water and oil do not mix,
creating a repel artwork.
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After observing how water can be absorbed or repelled, the friends were curious as to what would happen to water when mixed with something else. This question lead to the discovery of when a solid is mixed with the right liquid, it forms a new solution, demonstrating the
process of dissolving. We experimented and found that salt, sugar, and coffee will dissolve in water, learning that they are soluble. Pepper, sand, sprinkles, and flour would not dissolve, which means they are insoluble. After exploring as a whole group, the friends took the chance to bring a solid material from home to test, “Will my material dissolve in
water?”. Each friend shared their selection with the class, added water, and observed the reaction, then ended with charting our discoveries.
DISSOLVE
Our class experiment on what will dissolve or not.
MAKING ART WITH ABSORPTION
Using what we learned from absorption, we took our scientist skills and applied them to art. We took absorbable material and scrunched them into
small shapes. Then placing ice cubes, that we learned would melt using another solution over time, we used pipettes to place a variety of paint colors on top. After allowing absorption to take place, we came out with a beautiful tie dyed effect artwork that we used to create a pillow.
Yuval makes his predictions.
Colby testing if cocoa mix will dissolve.
Tyrease shows his completed Tie Die pillow.
Yerick uses ice to create Tie Dye.
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The Science/Discovery Area has continued to be a busy place in the kindergarten classroom! We have explored several experiments involving the basic properties of water, cohesion, surface tension, and absorption.
Water Drop Cohesion I wonder...how many drops of water can stay on a penny at one time?
I think...the children worked with Mrs. Armbruster to make some predictions about how many drops they could fit on a penny. Some friends predicted: “Only one drop will stay on the penny.” “The drops will pile up and make a large pile.” and “I think 15 water drops will fit.”
I learned... when you place water drops on a penny, three important forces are tugging on the water molecules: gravity, cohesion, and adhesion. Gravity flattens the droplet, cohesion holds the droplets together, and adhesion holds the drops on the surface of the coin. The cohesive force is the pull of the water molecules on themselves. Water molecules are attracted to other water molecules. Each successive drop sticks to the water that’s already on the coin, hence being able to drop over twenty droplets onto a coin at one time before sliding off.
Surface TensionI wonder...what will happen when we add pepper in a bowl of water?
I think...The children made predictions about what will happen to the pepper. “The pepper will sink to the bottom.” “I think the pepper will float to the top.”
I learned...that the pepper will rest on the surface of the water, but when you add dish soap, the “skin” breaks, causing the pepper to sink to the bottom. Surface tension is the name we give to the cohesion of water molecules at the surface of a body of water. The cohesion of water molecules form a surface “film” or “skin.” Some substances (dish soap) may reduce the cohesive force of water, which will reduce the strength of the surface “skin” of water.
KINDERGARTEN DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION
Emery and Dean test cohesion.
Leo tests cohesion on a variety of sized circles.
The friends watch
cohesion take
place.
Mrs. Armbruster demonstrates cohesion and
adhesion with traveling water.
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SOLID, LIQUID, GAS
VISIT TO THE POOL
Continuing our exploration of the science of water, we dove into a discussion about Matter (what things are made of). We learned that matter is everywhere, from the air we
breathe to the clothes we wear and the beverages that we drink. We identified that the three most common types of matter are Solids (something that holds its shape), Liquids (something that flows and takes the shape of its container), and Gas (something that can take on the shape of a container and are always moving). The friends were excited to discover that water is the only item that can naturally take on all three states of matter, with ice being its solid form, water being its liquid form, and water vapor being its gas form.
With our unit coming to an end, we took a trip to the campus pool, where we received a delightful tour from our friends Ms. Alicia and Ms. Patty. They shared with us the variety of ways in which the campus pool is used, and many friends were excited to share that
they take swim lessons at the pool. We also learned about pool safety rules and types of flotation devices that can be used. The friends were amazed to learn that the pool holds more that 300,000 bathtubs full of water! The excitement only continued when we ended our tour with observing a college diving class; the friends cheered and clapped at the dives, front flips and backflips!
