Week 5: Puzzles, Projects and Problem Solving!
Dear TKG Families,
What an AMAZING week!
– We built and explored the ocean blue in our submarine.
– We went on a rain walk and observed rain flowing down a hill because “it is like a ramp”, rain falls sideways when it is windy, evergreens have seeds and the needles fall off when they are brown, rain water flows into storm drains which flows into the ocean, some storm drains have water coming in from different directions, and if the leaf we followed was a piece of trash it would end up in the ocean and harm animals.
– We used our senses to describe sandy, rocky, and lava beaches.
– We documented many different types of shells and sponges in our Science Journal.
– We predicted, tested items, and determined if they would sink or float or both. Did you know a watermelon piece sinks and then floats later? We used our discoveries to build boats using the items that floated…we will continue to engineer boats and submarines this upcoming week.
– We classified and sorted sea life based on their environment and if they could be viewed from a boat, submarine, or both.
– We thought of ways to conserve water and decided the Knowing Garden should have rain gutters and a water barrel to use for collecting and using rain water in our garden.
– We continued telling stories about our kitties and began making a book to document the happenings in this wonderful land of imagination and collaboration.
Some of our favorite books this week included
Commotion in the Ocean by Giles Andreae
We’re Going on a Treasure Hunt by Tom Arma
Why Should I Save Water? by Jen Green
Swimmy by Leo Lionni
Children’s Ocean Life Encyclopedia by Sally Morgan
What’s in store for Week 5: The inventor, mathematician, scientist, engineer, conservationist, and consumer in all of us will be working together to solve problems big and small. Building on Our Ocean projects will be making submarines, boats, and other water transportation while discussing how they work, their purpose, and what we can do to make water transportation more efficient and better for the environment. Continuing on some thoughts about Fall and our environment we will discuss deforestation, the benefits of live trees, and what we can to do improve our air quality. We also love land transportation and will be building ramps, bridges, streets, and cars with the environment in mind of course! As the week progresses we will explore other problems we run across in our daily lives and collaborate on ways to “solve” them.
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| THINGS THAT COME UP AT SCHOOL Workshop is on October 17th, sign up at www.knowinggarden.org | |
Resource Of The Week:
HORRORIFIC & HUMANE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES
Americans are expected to spend $2.5 billion on Halloween costumes this year. But those costumes often come with a larger price than is listed on the tag.
In addition to many costumes becoming another part of the trash on November 1, most commercial costume fabrics contain hazardous chemicals. Make up –- often thought to be a safer choice than masks –- often includes toxic ingredients, such as formaldehyde, parabens or phthalates. Additionally, many costumes are made in sweatshops. And, have you noticed the kinds of costumes available for kids today? Marketers gleefully promote popular media characters and products through costumes; costumes for girls and young women are becoming more sexualized; costumes for boys often celebrate violence; and, some costumes promote biases and stereotypes. READ MORE…
Don’t forget to sign up for our upcoming communication workshop and look forward to seeing you on Monday!
Happy Learning,
Michelle Goldbach-Johnson