Science lab- matter!

This week, we worked on a science lab all about matter. We read this book and talked about what solids, liquids, and gases are. Do you remember an example of each? What was chocolate milk? How about a wooden block?

We then made predictions about what would happen when we added a liquid (vinegar) to a solid (baking powder). What do you think happened? We heard a lot of fizzing and saw bubbles! The talked about the gas that was inside the bubbles, and what would happen if we tried to trap that air. We then put a tablet of alka seltzer in a film canister of water. We covered it with its lid, watched, and waited! What do you think happened? Pop rockets! The air trapped inside the container had so much pressure that eventually the lid pops off! Here is the link in case you would like to try it at home!

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/film-canister-rocket

New games

Fill the hexagon is one of our new math games this week. Partners roll a die with different shapes on it. Together, they try to fill the hexagons with various shapes.

Number combinations to 6- children take turns reaching into a bag and pull out a color tile to place onto the 6 square grid. When the shape is covered, they write a number sentence to go along with it. 

We have been trying to get a lot of practice with puzzles this month. This 100 piece space puzzle is very challenging! A great way to build spatial awareness and an easy thing to do at home!

We have been practicing writing numbers in number sentences each week with partners. This week we are working on rainbow writing- which number was the hardest to write?

"Say hello to the moon!"

Here is a peek at our moon buggy and control panel in our dramatic play center- more to come!

Math centers

Here are some of our math games this week:

Venger shape space pictures- what shapes did you use to make yours?

New Stackers game- int his game, the architect describes his blueprint to the construction worker who has to build it as he instructs how to do so. Level one begins with the construction worker having a page with the outlines of the shapes he is going to need. The next level is much harder, and the construction worker has a blank page. The architect has to describe the picture so that the construction worker can build it. "This is going to be a dog so picture a dog in your head. Start with a hexagon for the body, and a other hexagon above it for the head." At the end, partners compare pictures to see how close they got! Very fun but very challenging!

Fill the number shapes- each partnership has a bag of two different colored bears. They take turns reaching into the bag and picking out a bear for their number shape. At the end, they write a number sentence to go with it. 2 +3 = 5. We are working on internalizing the different ways to make 5.

Combination toss- partners roll two die and build two corresponding towers. If they roll a 4 and a 5, they woulld build a tower of 4 and a tower of 5. They place these towers on the 9 section of the game board, and the number that has the most towers first is the winner!

Find the turtle- one person hides a small paper turtle beneath a shape while his group is looking away. Each person takes turns asking a yes/no question to find out where the turtle is. Is it under a red shape? A shape with three sides? A thick shape? A thin shape? The shapes cannot be moved or touched until someone thinks they know where the turtle is hiding. This is a very challenging game building self regulation. Many children want to peek while the person hides the turtle. Others want to immediately ask if it is under the blue triangle. This is an easy game to make with paper shapes at home to help challenge your own self regulation!

Colors!

This week we experimented with mixing different colors. We used color tablets, food coloring, and water- an easy experiment to do at home! Partnerships predicted what would happen when they mixed certain colors together. With eye droppers, we took drops of different colors and mixed them together. We then added water to other colors to see if the color would get lighter or darker. What was your favorite part?

Melting science lab

Each partnership had 3 ice cubes and 3 melting materials- water, salt, and sand. We made predictions about which material would cause the ice cube to melt, and most of us were torn between water and sand. We tested out each material, waited, and watched. What did you find out?

We even decided to add one more ice cube and mix all the materials together. What do you think happened?

Happy Monday!

Here are some of our literacy centers this week:

Become an archeologist at this excavation site, looking for bones from the ice age. Put your skeleton together and write about it. What did you find?

Find the snowman hidden under the snowflake sight words.

Make your own wooly mammoth. 

More photos to come!

Animal tracks

For our science lab we learned all about animal prints in the snow. What did the tracks look like in the Ice Age? What tracks have you seen in your own yard? Using size, shape, number of claws and toes, and the distance between tracks, scientists can make good guesses about what animals have been in an area. We became trackers and made our own footprints of plastic animals in model magic, which we pretended was snow. We then went on a museum walk to check out our friend's animal tracks and guess what they were! 

Literacy centers

Listening to "if you give a pig a party." Respond with a connection to yourself- did you ever go to a party? 

Sight word bingo

Making cave paintings with sticks. Was this easy or hard to do?

Making spelunkers! 

Dramatizing center 

Math centers

Here's a peek into our math centers for this week:

Make your own quick image using bingo robbers and write a number sentence to go with it.

Geoboards- what did you make?

An under the sea counting game

Build a structure with 100 cups. This group is making two structures that they will join into one- a difficult task!

10s triangles- using 2 colored chips, how many ways can you add them up to 10?

Thank you!

What a surprise I found this morning when I entered my classroom! A great start to teacher appreciation week!