Science

Trees

When we learn about trees we explore year round! As you know trees change throughout the year as the seasons change. Children will explore each change in season by taking an in-depth look at how trees change and what characteristics each season has. Children will also learn how to identify the parts of a tree and what they need to survive. Throughout the year we will plant some seeds and watch the process of growth, we will observe and learn about different animals that live in trees, and we will learn how trees help our environment.

5 Senses

Children will be exploring our five senses as though they were scientists! Each child will have a science notebook in which they will record with pictures and words the date of each investigation as well as their findings from the experiment. Some activities may require some at home help. When those times occur a notice will be sent home or a worksheet will be included in your child’s homework packet. Some explorations children will be involved in include:

1. Sight: To investigate our sense of sight we will use a hand lens (magnifying glass) to look at different materials. We will learn about some of the basic parts of our eyes and what exactly makes us able to see. Finally we will spend a brief time talking about what it means to be blind. We will have a guide dog come to the classroom and there will be an instruction on how guide dogs help people.

2. Touch: The sense of touch becomes messy when kindergartners start exploring! With the sense of touch there are no boundaries! We explore different fabrics, and textures. We also play a guessing game of different mediums trying to guess what they are just by touching them. We have a mystery box children put their hand in and try to feel and guess what is inside the box.

3. Hearing: The sense of hearing is a fun sense to explore! We will play games with sounds where children try to guess what makes certain sounds! Children become amazed at what sounds they can identify without seeing what it making the sound! We will also practice listening to our heart beat with a stethoscope.

4. Taste: The sense of taste is the sense children most enjoy ‘investigating’. We taste different foods that are sweet, bitter, spicy and salty. Children will have to categorize the foods they taste into the specific taste categories.

5. Smell: The sense of smell is another fun sense children love to explore. We will smell all different kinds of scents some very pleasant and some not so pleasant.

Push, Pull, Go

Coming Soon

 

Wood and Paper

In this unit we explore what wood is made of, how we get it, and what is made from wood. It is important for children to understand this concept because it helps shape their idea about the world and how some materials are made. This unit also is joined with our year long unit on Trees. Children will experiment with how wood absorbs water, if it floats or sinks, and how to determine its age. Children will also learn about plywood, how it’s made and its uses. From there children will make their own plywood in the classroom. When we shift our exploration to paper the unit takes a whole different shift. We make the connection that paper is made from wood. Then we try to make predictions on what we will find out about paper. To end the unit we will make our own paper. To visit the FOSS curriculum for the wood and paper unit go to FOSS Web: Wood and Paper.