Did Humpty Dumpty ever get over his fear of heights after the great fall? “After The Fall” by Dan Santat explores this idea.
We took it a step further and decided to help Humpty Dumpty by creating designs that can help him if he did fall again. The kids ran with this idea! Without prompting, they brainstormed ideas that related to our scientific learning throughout the year. “How can we slow him down if he falls so he doesn’t crack?” one student asked. Another one said, “We have to make a parachute so it can fill up with air. Air is all around us we just have to use it.” The student’s knowledge of characteristics of objects and materials was referred too when they were planning what materials they need to help create a soft landing for the egg. The class surprised me with their deep thinking, questions, and natural connections to our learning. “Ok Mrs. Didyk, we need paper so we can start designing!” We plan to create our prototypes for our egg drops on Tuesday and test them on Wednesday! We have a new student starting in our classroom on Monday and we just couldn’t do this STEM project without her. If you still have your child’s design at home that they wanted to share with your family, please return it on Monday. Stay tuned to see our results!
We read several books about life processes and the natural protection of eggs. The class learned that not all eggs are oval, they are different sizes, colours, and come from many different kinds of animals. Through the use of the Pebble Go website, the class looked for not only animals that are oviparous, but the classification of the animal. Is it a reptile, amphibian, fish, insect, or bird?
It was time we looked at eggs a bit closer. So using some eggs from our local grocery store, the class did “The Incredible Egg Investigation”! After reassuring the class that the eggs did not have chicks inside of them, they partnered up to explore some math and science centres with eggs. How many bear counters does an egg weigh? Does an egg sink or float? Can I estimate the circumference of an egg? Using describing words can I describe the inside and outside of an egg? The class used smilies and adjectives for this. My favourite simile about an egg was “The egg is as white as the Jets whiteout!” This is a reference to our city’s hockey team being in the playoffs this year for those of you checking us out from around the world and not getting that reference. GO JETS GO!
The class sorted definitions and picture cues such as hatching, albumen, yolk, oviparous, and viviparous.
These ladies along with others in the classroom decided that they wanted to help clean up or playground. They spent their centre time creating these badges and signs that they wore outside to encourage others to help. They brought gloves from home so they didn’t touch the garbage and even remembered to bring a bag. With Earth day coming up, I couldn’t think of a better idea to encourage. We will be going outside later this week to clean up our playground for Earth Day. Earth Day is Sunday April 22nd.
