The Week in Review

October 7 - 11, 2013

The children are very interested in creating pathways for their balls to travel on. Last week, the children explored with the wooden moldings; they observed how easily the ball traveled from one molding to the other. We wanted to extend the children’s thinking about pathways by providing them with different type of molding. We provoked the children’s thinking by supplying them with Whipple balls and flat white planks that had several grooves. Right away, the children noticed how their Whipple balls would roll off before reaching the second plank. Several children used the white planks to create a wall, this helped their ball stay on the pathway. Later in the week, we provided the children with small marbles to see if a different sized ball impacted the distance traveled on the white planks.   

   

Mrs. Tyler and the children have been very interested in the idea of transformation. This week Mrs. Tyler provoked the children’s interest using sand and water. She placed dry sand and water on art trays. The children used an eye dropper to add water to the dry sand. At the beginning of their exploration, the children noticed how the sand became more and more pliable.  When more water was added to the sand, the children observed how it changed in texture, appearance, and consistency .

                        

The two liter jug, clear plastic tubing and the metal serving tray was a great way to provoke the children’s thinking about the fluidity of water. The children poured the water into the two liter jug, and watched as the water traveled down through the clear tubing into the metal serving tray. A few children tried collecting the water at the bottom of the clear tubing with their hands. When they cupped their hands, then observed how the water dripped through their fingers and the side of their hands. Adam used the small measuring cup to collect the water that was coming out of the tubing. He then poured the water that he collected back into the two liter jug.

                                         

                           

This week the children have been exploring and documenting the gourds. We began our exploration using our five senses to examine the gourds. After examining the gourds, we drew them in great detail. The teachers guided their drawings by pointing out the size, shape and texture of the gourds. The children then created their best drawing of the gourds using a black tip marker. Next week, we will focus on the various colors of the gourds. This will help us decide what colors we need in order to paint the gourds.