Seeds & Plants:

Learning about seeds is a great way for children to practice the scientific method. While exploring seeds, they will come up with questions. They can do research about seeds and plants based on their inquiries. Next, they can test their hypothesis by planting seeds and observing them overtime. After planting the seeds, they can draw conclusions about their original wondering and develop new ones based on their findings.  

Here is a link to a song about seeds: https://youtu.be/sK6SfpOIhAQ 



Activities:

Seed Sorting:

*This activity was done with beans, but any type of seeds can be used*

You will need:
A variety pack of seeds
Large Container
Several little Cups
Magnifying Glasses

Place all of the seeds in a large container and have the children sort the seeds. They can sort the seeds in many different ways. The children could also research what kind of beans they might be and attempt to find what each bean is.
Ask the children what they think would happen if they planted these beans







Lima Bean Experiment-

You will need:
Lima Beans (enough for each child to have several)
Sharpie Markers
Cups (1 for each child)
Measuring tools
Magnifying Glasses
Tweezers
Water

The children will use any technique they want to label the lima beans (different colors, numbers, names, etc.). Then they will measure each beans and write down their observations. When they are done, they will place their beans in their cup and cover them with water.

Let the beans sit for several days. Children can frequently return to the cups to observe any noticeable changes and write them down. After about three days, the children will take the beans out and observe the beans again. They can write down their observations and measure the beans again. This is when the children can use tweezer to dissect the bean and have a discussion about what they find. 

Tip: It might also be helpful to provide dry lima beans at this part of the lesson so children can see and feel the difference rather than simply using their memory.

Books: 

*This book would be a great introduction to a math lesson using seeds!

 

Nature Connections: January

 

In this blog, I will share with you some fun things for children to do in nature during the month of January.

Activities (From the Nature Connections Book): 

*List of Manmade vs. Natural Materials: Look out the window and make a list of the things that are natural and things that are manmade. Have a discussion about what you find.

Here is my list: 

*Picture of the Month: At the beginning of the month go outside and take a picture of anything that interests you. 

This is the picture that I took. I was trying to zoom in on my camera to figure out what type of birds were in this tree and how many there were. I thought they were cardinals, but I found out that they were not. 

Variation: Have children take a picture of each month of the school year and make a photo book with all of their pictures. They could write about the things that they like or dislike during each of the months. 

Variation: When using my camera to zoom, I realized that it might be helpful to have binoculars that children could use when exploring outside to get a closer look at different things in nature. They could draw what they find in their nature journals

*Nature's Little Houseguests: 
Although most animals are found outside, sometimes they can be found in other places. Sometimes animals can be in our homes, even if we don't know they are there.

Have you ever found a hole in your box of cereal or other snacks.

How did it get there?

Maybe it was from a: 


Mouse!


Have you ever found a web in the corner of your home? 

It was probably from a: 



Spider!

Here is my drawing of my houseguest:




More Books!

Giant Squid

Giant Squid!! 

We recently learned how long a blue whale is, 

but how long is a giant squid?

Here is a Comparison: 

Giant squids have been a mystery for a long time. We know they exist because they have been found, however they have never been caught on film until now. 

Here is the video about how they caught one on camera for the very first time: 

https://www.ted.com/talks/edith_widder_how_we_found_the_giant_squid 

Activities: 

Making a Giant Squid: 

Idea From: https://megduerksen.typepad.com/whatever/2011/04/giant-squids.html 

I used: 

4 large pieces of poster paper

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Tissue Paper

Googly Eyes

Glow in the dark glue 

Bubble Wrap 

Scissors

Stapler and Staples

You might also use: 

Different color paints

Eggs Cartons 

Fancy Scissors 

Newspaper

Instructions: 

1.) I cut two pieces of paper to make the shape of the head and glues all of the edges (except for the bottom) together

2.) Put pieces of tissue paper or newspaper into the opening at the bottom of the head 

3.) Using the remaining poster paper, cut out 12 even strips (the long way)-these will be the arm

4.) Combine two of the shorter strips to make a long strip (do this twice)-these will be the tentacles 

*You should have 8 arms and two tentacles

5.) Glue or stable the legs and tentacles to the opening at the bottom of the squid body

6.) Glue or stable the opening closed 

7.) Glue bubble wrap to the arms and tentacles

8.) Glue the eyes on

*I decorated my squid with glow in the dark glitter glue when I was finished, however it might be easier to have children paint/decorate their papers and let them dry before putting the squid together*

Here is my giant squid: 

Other Activities: 
*Show children a picture of a squid and ask them to tell you something about it, ask them what they think the tentacles or arms are for, etc. (Have a conversation to get them thinking and discover what else they might want to know)
Squid vs. Octopus: Show the children pictures of both and see if they can discover what is similar or different about them
Build a squid: http://squid.tepapa.govt.nz/build-a-squid/interactive
*This site has a lot of information about squids and also allows you to make a squid and track it


Books: 

How to be a Naturalist

Teaching Children to Become Naturalists: 


In order to become a naturalist, one must spend time outside-crazy, right? So unsurprisingly,  the first step for teaching children to become naturalists is to allow them to spend as much time as possible outside. 

A great way to promote an appreciation for nature in young children is to create nature journals. Children can create a personal nature journal where they can keep all of their discoveries. 

Here are some more examples of Nature Journals: https://vimeo.com/180339011 

Here is a picture of the nature journal that I made: 

Activities (From Nature Connection Book): 

A quick Drawing Lesson: 
The drawing activities in the book would be very useful to do with children after creating a nature journal to get them started with some ideas. 

Contour Drawing: Draw an object that you are looking at without looking down at your paper or picking up your pencil. 

Here is my contour drawing of a squirrel: 

Variations: 
Some other types of drawing that I used in my nature journal were memory drawings (where you look at something for a certain amount of time and then draw it from memory) and gesture drawing (where you focus on drawing the movement of objects)

The Colors of the Seasons: 


This activity has the children choose a color to represent the seasons and decorate the wheel. 

Example: 



Variation: 

Have the children pick a symbol for each month to make a personal monthly calendar. They will think of things that occur in each month that makes it special to them and make a symbol that represents that. For example, the children might make a birthday cake for the month of their birthday. At the end, they can put it together to make a personal calendar. 


Write a Nature Poem: 

For this activity, after spending 15 minutes in nature, the children will find a quiet spot to write a poem. 

Example: 

Squirrel 
By: Michelle Birmingham


Silly Squirrel 
Quirky Squirrel 
Unpredictable squirrel
I love to watch you play
Running squirrel 
Rambunctious squirrel 
Excited every day 
Little squirrel, I love you so, please don't run away

Enjoy this funny Squirrel Video!!

Variation: 
While outside children can write down individual words that they think of. When the class goes back inside they can re-write or decorate their words and put them together (on a large piece of paper), to create a story or poem. 


Find a Favorite Spot: 

For this activity, children will go their favorite spot outside and write or draw in their journal. 


This is my favorite sit spot 

Variation: 
Sound-Mapping: 
Children close their eyes and focus on the sounds that they hear to inspire their drawings. The children will mark an X at the center of their paper to show their sit spot and then they close their eyes for 5 minutes, listen, and draw. They can use simple markings to represent the sounds that they hear around them. 


Books about Nature: 

     

 .  

Blue Whales

The blue whale is the largest animal in the world!! 

 


But how big is it?





A Blue whale is as long as an airplane, 3 school busses, or 6 elephants 

& weighs about the same as 40 elephants or 15 school busses. 

video.nationalgeographic.com/video/101-videos/0000015d-3233-d466-a57f-babb832e0000 


Activity: How Many Kindergarteners long is a blue whale? 

After researching how long a blue whale is, students will figure out how many of them it would take to be the same length as a blue whale. 


Inquiry Activity: How do whales stay warm?

Use a glove (or a Ziploc) without shortening and a glove with shortening. The one with shortening represents blubber. Have children put their hand in the water using the regular glove and then the "blubber glove" and encourage them to share their observations. 
`

Inquiry Activity: How do whales eat?: 

Teacher will help children research how whale eat and find ways to simulate this. 

 
This example uses a comb to show how baleen whales filter their food.

Whale Talk 

Play whale sounds and ask the children what they think the whales are trying to say. Assist the children in their research of whale songs and the different ways that they use them. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SujL16F1U4

Enjoy this videos of whale jumping: 

Books: