Force and Motion!

 

Hello Science Friends,

It has been a busy week of investigating fun. We have been able to get outside and explore and investigate while the weather is still pleasant and the sun is still shining. We have learned a lot about force and motion in the past few weeks. It is always fun when you can add toys and playground equipment as necessary tools for Science investigations.

 

 

On of my favorite things about our Force and Motion Unit has been this predictable chart. Any amount of time it took to make it has paid off a million times over. We have been able to accomplish a lot with just one chart.



 

Reading/Beginning Reading Skills/Print Awareness

We have been able to use this chart for:

 Recognizing that spoken words can be represented by print for communication.

Demonstrating one-to-one correspondence between a spoken word and a printed word in text.

Recognizing that sentences are comprised of words separated by spaces and to demonstrate the awareness of word boundaries.

Identify that a sentence is made up of a group of words.

Science

This has been used as a visual aid to learn the terms needed for force and motion investigations. 



And to help us describe the ways that objects can move such as in a straight line, zigzag, up and down, back and forth, round and round, and fast and slow.

 

 

I always try to incorporate books into any unit study in Science and sometimes that can be challenging. The two books above could be used for K-2 Science with just a little modification for Kindergarten.

 

 

 

 

As you can imagine balls were some of our favorite objects to investigate!

 

 

For more Force and Motion Fun! This unit includes:

Table of Contents:

13 Different Hands-On Independent  Field and Indoor Investigations with Recording Pages/2 Conceptual Big Books/3 Conceptual Emergent Readers and so much more!  Options for building your own unique journals/notebooks to fit your classroom needs!

2 Versions of My Force and Motion Notebook/Journal backline printables

Magnets Vocabulary Poster colored printable

Magnet Safety Rules Poster colored printable

2 Versions of My Magnet Investigation Notebook/Journal backline printables

Safety Magnet Investigation Recording Page backline printable

10 Is It Magnetic? Investigation Recording Pages backline printables

Directions and pictures of Magnet Investigation Tools

My Magnet Investigation At Home backline printable

What Is Magnetic On The Playground Investigation Recording Page backline printable

Magnetic/Non Magnetic Sorting Headers backline printable

Magnetic/Non Magnetic Sorting Pictures backline printable

Magnetic/Non Magnetic Sorting Headers colored printable

Is It Magnetic Emergent Reader backline printable

Magnet Book Suggestions

Objects Can Move Vocabulary Poster colored printable

Objects Can Move Vocabulary Chant colored printable

Objects On The Move Teacher Big Book colored printable

Pictures and Directions for Objects On The Move Predictable Chart

2 Versions of Emergent Reader Objects Can Move backline printable

Force and Motion Investigation Recording Page backline printable

2 Versions of 5 Objects On The Playground Investigation Recording Pages backline printables

Objects On The Go Compare Fast/Slow Investigation backline printable

Where Is Hooty? Colored Props printable

Where Is Hooty? Teacher Big Book colored printable

 



YIKES!

 

Hello Science Friends,

Well our Observation Jars have turned in to Observation Trays and let me tell you they are a huge hit and just a little bit creepy. These are so perfect for Describing the Properties of an Object and they can get just about any Kinder kids excited for some serious notebooking. We have had so much fun with it that we had to add some other items to investigate and describe. In just a few days our Grow Me's changed quite a bit and I really love the new addition this year of the regular sized object that we can use for comparison. The kids did like the natural objects when they were added. I wonder what we will put in there next...we still have room for more!

 

 

Who can resist a little creepy Science fun?

 



I loved the book One Bean after reading it to my Kindergarten class for the first time. 

We had fun deciding which type of bean to plant. 

But we really had more fun planting our beans! 

We set up our own bean planting investigation. 

Not much talking going on... too much to concentrate on. I think that might be referred to as, hmmmm engaged! 

We saved a bean in our Science Notebooks just so we could remember what our bean looked like from the very beginning. 

I have had a lot of emails and questions about HOW young children learn to investigate independently and what that exactly LOOKS like. I really think the key is finding the right investigation and modeling the appropriate procedures. Once you have an appropriate investigation it really is simple. The children here did not need my help. I was close by only because I wanted to take pictures. One thing I have learned is that young children have the tendency to over water something and I can remember doing that as a child too. We have learned that if we over water our plants they will not grow. Even though this investigation had soil and water it was not messy. So, this is what it LOOKS like and HOW to set it up was simple for this investigation. I used the steps and pictures from the book as visuals. All in all, this was one of the easiest investigations we have done. 

Frogs!

Mrs. Unger sent me this photo of her class frogs. We have two frogs as well. We have Jumper and Bumper in our class. We have spent a lot of time observing these frogs and talking about them. Right now they are awaiting a new home as our Science Center is getting a face lift. Visit Mrs. Unger's class blog for more great information. 

From School Library Journal

K-Gr 2–The students at Hughes Elementary School have a new substitute principal, Mr. Greystone. He has lots and lots of rules, of the “NO” and “DON'T” variety. Budding illustrator Colin brings his new giant box of crayons to school and he and his friends try them out on the new cafeteria white board. When Mr. Greystone sees the kids' contributions, he is furious and bans all art supplies and tosses the crayons into the trash. A special guest illustrator is alarmed by the grayness surrounding the children. Meanwhile, the art supplies plan a rebellion, making a color wheel that whirls out of the bin, bonking Mr. Greystone “silly.” The dull principal then sees the error of his ways and finally realizes that “color matters.” Reed's mixed-media illustrations are fabulous examples of color, movement, and humor.

For more color mixing fun and Science in the Classroom please join me here inside the science lab. 

Pets In The Classroom!

Oh, if I could wish a wish then this is what I am wishing for!