SCIENCE Understanding the World Around Us

Polar Bear, Polar Bear n Clap your hands and stomp your feet after each of the Polar Bear’s tricks. n Preparation: Bear shaped bottle; yellow, blue, red, food coloring; magic cleaner; water.

Children have a natural interest about the world around them and Children act as scientists as they question their surroundings.

Science is BEST LEARNED THROUGH: n Experiences of the senses: –eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and touch n First hand experiences n Simple experiments n Unplanned discoveries n Observations n Predictions n Exciting discussions n Effective questioning

THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS n Observe: notice, wonder explore. n Ask questions n Create a hypothesis n Predict outcome n Perform experiment n Analyze results n Evaluate hypothesis Chemistry transformation: scientific process

Effective Questioning n Children often need a little push or help thinking about things. n Effective questioning develops: –Critical thinking skills –Problem solving –Language and promotes Discussion –Responsibility –Personal opinions –Cause and effect, compare and contrast, observations n CLOSED-ENDED QUESTIONS: –Answering the question for the child. –Single word answers or Yes/No answers. What color is it? What shape is it? Do you like to look at the fish? Is that your favorite toy?

OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS: n What are you observing? –Look at the cream in the jar. n How could you group these? n What happens when you ….? n What do you think will happen if…. n What can you do to make that happen? n How does it look the same or different than it did yesterday? n How did you do that? n I wonder how _______ works? n What can you change to make ___ work/happen out? n When did this happen? What happened afterward? n I don’t know either. Let’s see if we can find out

The SCIENCE AREA n Allow the child to explore the world around them through hands on activities, displays, and simple science experiments. n Place it near a window and away from active play. n Include a variety of materials for the child to examine and experience using all of their senses. real and plastic animals magnifying glasses Sorting containers Balance scale Building materials MicroscopesglobePicturesPlantsLeaves SeedsRocksinsectsSeashellswater

Sensory Table -Anything that provides children with an opportunity to explore using their senses. -A sensory table is more than just sand and water: wheat, straws, snow, mud, rice, ooblek -Contain water wheels, funnels, plastic beakers, cups etc. -Sensory tables should be located near a sink for quick clean up.

ELLEN’S OOBLEK SHOW

SENSORY PLAY GAK (made this) n 1/8c (2Tbl) Glue n 1/8 c (1Tbl) –Liquid Starch n 1 drop food coloring n Combine in a bag/cup and let it sit until all absorbed. n Knead OOBLEK n 1 Dixie cup n 1/8 cup water n 5 TBL cornstarch n 3 drops food coloring n Stir it

CHEMISTRY n Suspension n Chemical reaction n Chemical change

CHEMISTRY n 1. Suspension –Fireworks in a Glass / Lava Lamp –Pepper Fun n 2. Chemical reaction –Volcano –Alka Seltzer n 3. Chemical change –Shiny Penny –Dinosaur Egg: –Ice cube and salt –Oobleck –Butter –Silly putty

FLUBBER / Real Silly Putty Combine in a cup and mix: 1 ½ TBL glue (1/8 c or 25 ml) with 1 ½ TBL (1/8 c 25 ml) water and 1-5 drops of food coloring Pre-make a borax solution for the group: ½ cup Borax with 1 liter water In a baggie: Pour about 1 TBL (15-20 ml / 15 ml is 1 TBL) of borax solution into a baggie. Add the glue mixture from the cup. Close the baggie and squish.

PEPPER FUN n Fill a pie tin with water. n Shake pepper into the water. n Put a drop of soap on your finger and touch the top of the water. n What happens to the pepper? OOBLECK n 1 Dixie cup n 1/8 cup water n 3 TBL cornstarch n 3 drops food coloring n Stir it

PHYSICAL n Balance n Weight and Size n Movements n Gravity n Water: Sink or Float n Magnets n Machines: wheels, gears, lever, etc.

PHYSICAL n Conductor/Insulator –Ice cubes on a metal baking sheet vs. ice cubes on a piece of cardboard, which melts faster? –Electricity Static on hair with balloons. –Crayon Melt on a hot plate n Balance –**Does air have weight? 2 balloons and a ruler. –**Dominoes falling in a chain reaction n Weight and Size –**Lift a bottle with a stick n Gravity –Drop various objects to see how they fall –Water fountain n Water: –Test Sink or Float –Scuba Diver or Dancing raisins n Magnets –**Dancing Socks n Machines: –wheels, gears, lever (nutcracker) –Push cars down a race track

ASTROLOGY- METEOROLOGY n Sun n Light and Dark: Shadows n Stars n Weather

ASTROLOGY- METEOROGY n Sun, Moon and Stars –Make a sundial, sun prints on paper. –Shapes, chart phases of the moon –Telescope n Light and Dark –Shadow tracing –Outdoors with the sun, indoors with the flashlight. n The water cycle –Make a cloud in a jar. n Weather –Tornado in a bottle. –**Thunder in a brown bag n Season changes

BIOLOGY n Living and non-living things n Animals n Habitats and Diets

BIOLOGY Studying Living and non-living things n Classify and sort items n Animals –Care of pets –Habitats and Diets –Seashells, pet fish, watch tad poles, hatch chickens –Make a bird house n Your Human Body –Our 5 senses Smelling jars, tasting table, sound cans, touch gel bags, hearing. –Graph hair colors, favorite ice cream flavors n Germs and Bacteria –Germy Hands (2 volunteers for this) n Non-living things –Does it breath? Does it move on its own?

BOTANY n Plants n Germination n Photosynthesis n Purpose of plants: food, building, clothing, etc.

BOTANY n Plants and trees –Do leaves breath? Place a leaf in a glass of water and watch as bubbles form on the leaf. –Matching leaves with the tree. n Germination –Sprout seed in plastic bag –Grass Head Guys. Grow grass in a stocking and potting soil. n Photosynthesis –Carnation /Celery in colored water –Place one plant in sun, one plant in dark.

ECOLOGY n Conservation n Recycling n Erosion n Care of the Environment –Worms in soil FIELD TRIP: AWARENESS WALK