Gravity and Planet Study!

 With the help of additional science materials that were loaned from the lower school science classroom, we continued to study the effects of gravity on materials.  When PreK children "study" they  play and explore....

When children are given the opportunity to explore materials freely, they will experiment naturally and learn intrinsically what is happening.  The car ramps have been put in various configurations and speed rates exclaimed upon.  There were many races of cars, and different configurations of ramps, and deep exploration!  We had a balance scale, and piles of blocks were put into each basket and the children watched closely as the arrow moved back and forth, trying to distribute the weight so that the baskets would "balance". We had many experiences working with gravity. 

We tried a marble and pool noodle ramp activity which involved some tricky tape work BUT also highlighted this group's ability to work together for a common goal. 

We worked with this scenario both as a teacher-helped project and independently.  It was interesting to see the children lining up the edges and making the tunnel longer or shorter. They had to work together, as one child needed to "hold the tunnel" while the other child taped it. It was very satisfying to watch the marbles roll !

AND SNOW! inside the classroom and outside the classroom. We put baking soda in the sensory bin and it has a satisfying sprinkling ability and the powder brushes off within minutes....

and outside the children ran around in powdery snow and found ice crystals under the path in the forest. Gathering ice crystals is heavy but satisfying work!

And, finally, we had some art work happening including the last installment of our gravity painting activity-throwing and bouncing a tennis ball dipped in paint. We also used markers and water to create coffee filter "earth" circles, and salt dough clay to make the moon. 

Each child painted a planet and then described their planet. This work will be displayed after break! 

Until Next Time,

Michele

Learning Scientific and Mathematical Concepts Through Art and Play

 "Learning Scientific and Mathematical Concepts Through Art and Play" is a long title for the blog this week! BUT wait and see.....

We have begun a study of Outer Space and Planets this week, as we've noticed through observing and writing down the children's language in play that space travel and the moon are big topics. Our approach will be to introduce concepts such as GRAVITY, and ORBIT,  as well as talking about planets, black holes (yes, they have been mentioned!) and rockets in ways that allow the children to experience them through art mediums, conversations, story books both fictional and non fictional, and songs and music as well as play choices.  

As the children play and experience the concepts, they will develop vocabulary for their play and scientific interests that may pull them beyond our basic concepts. The idea for the study originated in the children's play, and we'll explore as far as interest and motivation allows!

Our topic of conversation this week is GRAVITY.  We explored GRAVITY through the art medium of paint. 

Given drippy paint, an easel, and long pieces of paper, the children discovered that paint traveled DOWN their paper at different rates. 

We asked questions as they painted:  "Does the paint travel up? Why does it go down faster? What is pulling the paint down? How can you make the paint go up?" 

All of the questions that we asked had answers in action and play. 

Our next art exploration of GRAVITY included a pendulum. We filled a cup with paint and the children tried, again, painting with gravity. Part of the painting process involved moving the cup in certain ways to contain the spin or droplets.They experimented with different motions and observed as the cup swung one way and the next and continued in motion. We noticed that it was really easy to get the cup moving, and it kept moving, but in smaller and smaller motions. It was easy enough to get the cup moving again!

We will be creating books of all of our knowledge! 

And the outdoors gave us some experience in "gravity" this week.  Our feet were really stuck in the sandy mud with all the rain , and according to one four year old, the reason was "GRAVITY!"

Until Next Time,

Michele