Week 2 of summer school was Mad Science themed!
During science week, we learned that science is how we learn about the world around us. The first step is to ask a question. Then we make a guess. And finally we test out our guess and figure out the answer.
Today's question was "what things are magnetic?"
After our intro to magnets lesson, we searched the room for things that were magnetic. We discovered that the board was magnetic.
Thanks to The Measured Mom for sharing this awesome data sheet! Some of my friends understood the concept of taking data, while others were simply happy testing out the materials to see if they would stick to the magnet.
Day two was all about color.
One of our main goals for the kids is to practice playing together, rather than next to each other - and we're doing really well so far!
Some of our friends practiced finger painting - the goal was to color in the whole shape!
Our big experiment for the day was these white flowers.
Miss D had a bunch of flowers, and wanted to color them orange, green, purple and brown. The problem was, Miss D only had red, yellow and blue coloring. How can we solve that problem?
Each child got red, yellow and blue finger paint and had to test mixing different colors to work out how to get the desired color. Then we had to measure water for each of our jars and counted the drops of each color we put in.
Wednesday was a chance for us to play outside! We set up the kiddie pools, had some fishing poles, and let the kids play! They loved it.
Our science topic for the day was camouflage. We talked about why animals are the color they are and answered the question "Why are polar bears white?".
Different animals are different colors depending on where they live! Their colors help them blend in or camouflage.
Our second question of the day was "How do penguins stay dry?". We talked about how penguins spend a lot of time in the water. We learned that much like the wax in a crayon, penguin feathers are covered in wax to help protect them from the water.
We colored in penguins, making sure to cover them with crayon wax. We put water on both a blank paper and a colored penguin and noticed that the blank ones that got wet were destroyed and ripped easily, while the colored penguins were protected by the wax.
We made our own flowers, making sure to include all the parts of the flower.
We read a book about a girl planting a garden. We had to figure out all the things a plant needs to grow - water, sun, soil and air.
Our flowers from Tuesday started to change colors!
On Fridays, I only have half of my kids, so it was a pretty laidback day.
We focused on physics and engineering today. We built with blocks and played with cars and ramps. We tried to see which cars would go faster and how far they would go.
We read a book all about buildings! And we used legos and blocks to try and build our own.
Overall, science week was really successful. Some of the kids, by the end of the week, understood the concept of asking questions, making a guess, and then testing to find out the answer.
A lot of the kids in my class are working on more basic life skills, so some of the activities went over their head, but the exposure is important for them as is including them in the group. We make accommodations so that everyone can participate in some way and make sure to focus on each child's individual abilities!
Want to know more about my summer school class? Stay tuned for week 3 - all about dinosaurs!
During science week, we learned that science is how we learn about the world around us. The first step is to ask a question. Then we make a guess. And finally we test out our guess and figure out the answer.
Magnet Monday
After our intro to magnets lesson, we searched the room for things that were magnetic. We discovered that the board was magnetic.
Thanks to The Measured Mom for sharing this awesome data sheet! Some of my friends understood the concept of taking data, while others were simply happy testing out the materials to see if they would stick to the magnet.
Technicolor Tuesday
Day two was all about color.
One of our main goals for the kids is to practice playing together, rather than next to each other - and we're doing really well so far!
Some of our friends practiced finger painting - the goal was to color in the whole shape!
Our big experiment for the day was these white flowers.
Miss D had a bunch of flowers, and wanted to color them orange, green, purple and brown. The problem was, Miss D only had red, yellow and blue coloring. How can we solve that problem?
Each child got red, yellow and blue finger paint and had to test mixing different colors to work out how to get the desired color. Then we had to measure water for each of our jars and counted the drops of each color we put in.
Water Wednesday
Our science topic for the day was camouflage. We talked about why animals are the color they are and answered the question "Why are polar bears white?".
Different animals are different colors depending on where they live! Their colors help them blend in or camouflage.
Our second question of the day was "How do penguins stay dry?". We talked about how penguins spend a lot of time in the water. We learned that much like the wax in a crayon, penguin feathers are covered in wax to help protect them from the water.
We colored in penguins, making sure to cover them with crayon wax. We put water on both a blank paper and a colored penguin and noticed that the blank ones that got wet were destroyed and ripped easily, while the colored penguins were protected by the wax.
Green Thumb Thursday
We spent Thursday learning about plants!
We made our own flowers, making sure to include all the parts of the flower.
We read a book about a girl planting a garden. We had to figure out all the things a plant needs to grow - water, sun, soil and air.
Physics Friday
Our flowers from Tuesday started to change colors!
On Fridays, I only have half of my kids, so it was a pretty laidback day.
We focused on physics and engineering today. We built with blocks and played with cars and ramps. We tried to see which cars would go faster and how far they would go.
We read a book all about buildings! And we used legos and blocks to try and build our own.
Overall, science week was really successful. Some of the kids, by the end of the week, understood the concept of asking questions, making a guess, and then testing to find out the answer.
A lot of the kids in my class are working on more basic life skills, so some of the activities went over their head, but the exposure is important for them as is including them in the group. We make accommodations so that everyone can participate in some way and make sure to focus on each child's individual abilities!
Want to know more about my summer school class? Stay tuned for week 3 - all about dinosaurs!
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