Happy Treeday

Composting is an everyday activity at the ECEC.  Each class fills their green compost bucket with organic snack and lunch waste.  Most classes have a compost helper, the shomer adamah, who will bring the bucket out to the garden with a teacher.  Some classes will incorporate this task when they come to the scheduled Gan class once a week.   This week, we began our conversation sharing our knowledge about Tu BiSh'vat.  Most children understand this holiday as the "birthday" for the trees.  I asked if anything else celebrated birthdays.  Of course!  People do.  I asked what happens on their birthdays.  "Eat cake". "Have a bounce house and balloons".  "Get presents".  I told them that they had been making a gift for the trees since the beginning of the school year.  And, this week we were going to give the trees our gift.  I showed them the rich, dark humus collected from the compost bin.  This humus is the gift made from all the composted waste that they had brought to the garden.  I explained that the humus was like super vitamins for the trees.  In order to collect the humus, we needed to filter the finished product from the compost waste that had not yet decomposed.  Teams were formed and the process was explained.     

Two different sized screens were used to separate the humus from the unfinished waste. The children worked cooperatively to process the humus. The material that was too big to pass through the screens was returned to the main compost bin to continue the work of decomposing.



Presenting the gift

As children walked through the garden gifting the rich humus, they offered a prayer of thanks.  Thank you for

"air"
"apples to eat"
"leaves"
"for climbing"
"for food"
"for flowers" (the Pomegranate tree)
"a home for the animals"
"wood for beaver dam"
 



Thank you

Things That Go Bump in the Night

Winter brings colder weather and longer nights.  Our conversation began with the question, "what do you do when the moon comes out?"  The unanimous reply was, "go to sleep".  Parents, you might beg to differ, but honestly, that was the answer.  Using a visually stunning, wonderfully repetitive story book titled While The World Is Sleeping, the children discovered that while they sleep, some animals wake up to eat and play. 

A corner of the Living Science room had been transformed with the addition of a life size tree constructed out of a discarded branch.  Leaves and paper bark were added.  To finish the display, an assortment of Folkmanis animal puppets were placed in real life poses.  The puppets represented nocturnal animals that the children might see in the area.  To enhance the experience, we also covered all the windows with black craft paper to create a "night" environment. 

When the book was finished, the children watched two videos introducing nocturnal animals.  After the videos, the children were asked to watch the tree.  As they watched, a spotlight would shine on an animal, and the specific animal's sound would play over the speakers.  Each puppet was highlighted accompanied by the individual voice of the animal.

One of the favorite experiences was learning about echolocation.  As the children sang and danced to the video, they learned how bats locate their food while flying in the night sky.  Several parents commented that their child had been singing the song at home and teaching the parents about echolocation!

Another exciting display was the live scorpion that glowed under the black light.  Very cool!

To strengthen understanding, the children discussed which of our classroom animals were nocturnal.  They discovered that we have a total of 4 nocturnal animals that live in our room.  

For the children, this learning experience developed new vocabulary, and an understanding of behaviors in the animal world, which lead to a new awareness of their world.  The information was delivered in a differentiated learning style so that each child found their pathway to understanding.  One teacher commented that she felt like they were at a museum and they never left the building.

Here are some of the wonderful websites used in this exploration.  But, I'll warn you..get your dancing shoes ready for the Echolocation Song!
Interactive game  
Night Noise Game 
Youtube video about nocturnal animals 
Video of night noises 
Echolocation Song 

Light in the Darkness

The book, Harvest of Light, offered a wonderful prompt for discussing Chanukah with a natural approach.  We began the conversation with the question, "what makes light in the darkness"?  Not surprisingly, the answer "candles" was very popular.  Other ideas included, a flashlight, the moon and sun, a lightbulb, and a firefly.

I read the book, Harvest of Light.  At the conclusion, I asked the question again, "what makes light in the darkness"?  And the answer was, "olive oil".

We decided to try and create a light using the olive oil.   We compared the flame on the candle with the flame from the olive oil.  They 

decided that  the olive oil made a larger

flame.

Next, we conducted a taste test.  The book explained that green olives were not ripe.  Before they are eaten, they need to be pickled.  The dark olives are the ripe ones.  They are the olives that make the oil.  The students tasted both types.  Most everyone liked the green olives the best.

In this experience, we incorporated literacy, home and cultural connections, and Judaic concepts and observance. In addition, through sensory and hands on experience, the students gained an understanding of the origin of the Miracle of Light story, where the oil comes from, and the multiple uses of the olive.

Tops & Bottoms

Our Toddler playspace has a small raised garden bed.  Here the young ones experience the feel of soil on their hands and discover wiggly worms.  Sensory experiences abound with the fragrance of mint, the colors of swiss chard, and the sweet juice of a cherry tomato.  We used this space to enjoy a hands-on discovery of tops and bottoms in the garden.

I began with the wonderful Big Book entitled The Vegetable Garden.  The children were able to identify the pictured vegetables. 

We looked at the pictures and noticed that some of the vegetables had soil surrounding them. But, other pictures showed fruits up in trees or beans hanging on a vine.  We decided to go out to our garden to see what we could find.

Pulling the tops of the plants provided a delightful surprise at the bottom.

Delight results in a carrot dance.

Assessing our harvest.

We took our harvest into the room to wash off the soil.  Now we are ready for snack time.

On a rainy day, we created the same experience indoors.  As you can see, the delight of discovery is still evident on their faces.

These Toddlers gained an understanding of how plants grow and of their structure.  They know that sometimes they eat roots - the bottom of a plant.  And, sometimes, they eat the tops.

Structure and Function

Continuing our exploration of plants,
we began a conversation about structure and function.  I opened the conversation with the question, " What parts make up your body?"  Not surprisingly, the answers came easily, such as, legs, hands, brain, tummy, bones, and knees.
I then asked, "what job do those parts do for your body?"  This question took a little more thinking, but eventually the answers were offered.  The students said legs were for walking, teeth help you eat, ears help you hear, and bones help "carry your brain".  We all agreed that every part of their body had a specific job  that helped the whole body function properly.

Next, I showed them the plant recently pulled from our garden.  I had it mounted onto a presentation board so that everyone could see it.  I asked them to name the parts of the plant.  Each student that volunteered the answer had the opportunity to write the name next to the part.  This activity incorporated literacy skills in a relevant manner.  I asked each student if they preferred that I write the word on a piece of paper so that they could see the letters first, or if they wanted me to spell the word out loud as they wrote each letter. 

Then the students watched a video that described the function of the root, stem, leaves, and flower.  The students learned that roots act like a straw as they drink up water from the soil.  The stem carries the water throughout the plant, and supports the plant.





The leaves make food for the plant, utilizing energy from the sun.  We decided the leaves were the "kitchen" where the food is prepared.  And finally, the flower is where new seeds are formed so new plants can grow.  One student described the stem as "a long neck".  Another student said the roots "make it (plant) still and it sucks the water".   The Pre K students completed their investigation by documenting their understanding.

The Three Year Old classes explored living plants, and had to locate and name each part of the plant.  They used hand lenses to look at the tiny roots.

The last week of the plant discovery, the students had the opportunity to apply their learning.  Several stations were available for the students to revisit the various concepts learned over the previous weeks.

The light table had an assortment of plant parts to investigate.  Another table displayed a variety of plant seeds.  A research center provided books and authentic samples to compare and contrast.

Finally, the students went out to the garden to locate parts of the plants and discuss their functions.  Several days after this exploration ended, a 4 year old boy was showing his family the garden.  A pod was picked from the hyacinth bean vine.  His mother said, "oh that is a bean".  The student said, "no it is a seed".

Over the course of several weeks, this concept allowed for differentiated learning experiences.  The students received information from live samples, science videos, a digital microscope,books, and verbal discussion.  As a facilitator, I was able to assess understanding in multiple ways.  Students could respond verbally to questions, they could visually document their understanding with a drawing, or they could locate real examples from their environment.  Literacy, science, wonder, discovery, and understanding all came together in a conversation about plants.