Plants in the Midst: Bees

During our scavenger hunt, the children notice bees among the plants. Grace asked if we could learn more about bees. What do the children know about bees:
Tyreese: they are yellow
Jayla: they have a stinger
Sophie: they fly

Examining a flower

Grace and Oliver: they make honey.

We couldn't answer how honey is made so we had to do some research. First, we watched a video of a bee pollinating a flower. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CdoBCEEpz4

Showing his book

We had to watch it a few times to get a good look at the bee and what was happening. We read some books to learn more about the relationship between bees and flowers. We concluded with the children each making a flap book using what they learned and observed.

The honey taste test!

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Similarities and Differences Between Friends

We are nearing the end of this unit of inquiry. Next week is already our summative week. Our focus this week was likes/dislikes: do we have to like the same things as our friends? I asked this question to the children. All of the children said yes except Rocco. Rocco said "friends don't have to do the same things." "Do we have to like the same things as our friends?" Using the book, Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley (the story of two great friends), we listed the traits of each character.. The children found out that Pearl and Charlie were complete opposites yet were the best of friends. I asked the question again. Esme and Simone changed their response. Simone replied that "that friends don't have to do the same things but sometimes we do." We wrapped up by making "Wanted: Friends" posters. Some of the qualities listed on the posters were: Rocco: caring Simone: someone who is nice Alfie: play with me Bela: someone wi...

Storm Drains: How we impact water.

The car wash The clean creek Today we explored where water goes when it enters a storm drain and the impact we have on what flows into these drains. The children experimented with different types of utensils at the water table. The children were able to see how water passes freely through the different openings and how other items can also pass through. We used these utensils to recreate how storm drains work. We created a creek and watched what happened to the creek when different types of pollutants pass through the storm drain. We also simulated washing cars. The children noted that the soap goes down the drain with the water. "Oh no, are fish will be sick!" commented Sofia. Simone thought we could give the fish medicine to get better. This started a conversation on how difficult it would be to give medicine to all of the fish in all of the creeks!! The children noticed how dirty the water was and that living things would not survive in our p...

Helping Hands

Through different stories, we have been discussing the qualities of a friend. The one quality that the children unanimously agreed upon is that friends help one another. In the story, The Little Red Hen, the Hen did all of the work by herself. The children thought that the Dog, Cat and Goose were not good friends because every time the Hen asked for help, they refused. Before we reached the end of the story, I asked the children if Hen should share her bread. There were mixed responses however, the majority of the children thought Hen should share. Louis' first response was to not share but he quickly changed his mind and said "sharing is caring!" This coming week, the children have asked to make bread and share it with the entire class. "I hug my friend when he is sad." "I blow up a balloon for my friend, Amalia, when she pops her." "I help my friends when they fall." "I help carry stuff for my friends." ...

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