Week in Review

September 15-19

Exploring Pathways

     Through our observations last week, we have noticed that the children are developing an interest in pathways.  We implemented two different experiences that incorporated this idea. In the first exploration, the children observed and discussed how the hermit crabs moved through the sand. They noticed that each hermit crab made a unique path that could  be followed through the sandbox. Vanessa noticed that "one crab moves kind of sideways." Paisley recognized that "the shell on that one leaves a mark, too."

As the children continued to watch the hermit crabs, they began to make their own paths in the sand with their fingers. "Look! I made my own marks." In the coming weeks, we will explore other ways that the children can create their own pathways.

The second exploration that we implemented this week used clear tubes and marbles. We were curious to see how the children would use the tubes as pathways for the marbles. Rayan, Diego and Ivan realized that they could connect the tubes by placing the end of one inside of another tube. This worked well to create a long path for the marbles; however, some of the larger marbles became stuck at the junction of the two tubes. The boys solved this problem by asking a teacher to hold the tubes for them. 

 We will continue to explore how to successfully connect the tubes together without "getting the marble stuck."