Fall investigations!

 December 2020


This semester has flown by. The children have been busy exploring fall and observing and studying insects.

Pumpkins

During the month of October we explored many of the aspects of autumn, including collecting and exploring multi-colored leaves on the light table, observing, painting and cutting open the pumpkin and drawing gourds. 

Throughout the month of October, the children had opportunities to explore the pumpkins and the gourds using various materials. We read a story which described how pumpkins grow and this gave us the chance to talk about some new vocabulary words. Then, the children drew pictures of the pumpkins with the teachers encouraging them to include details. At a whole group meeting, the children were asked to predict what was inside the pumpkin. After cutting open the pumpkin, the children helped scoop out the seeds. Through the pumpkin exploration, the children strengthened language and writing skills, enhanced their vocabulary and began to focus their attention on small details.


                                            


Insect Investigation

At the end of October the children discovered a praying mantis on the playground. We brought it inside and began to look at it through magnifiers. The children were incredible curious about the body parts, the wings, etc. This began our next investigation. With the praying mantis in a jar, we introduced a new vocabulary word-specimen. 

The children were so interested in the praying mantis, we began to look at other specimens. We borrowed some specimens of other insects from another class. The children began to notice similarities and differences among the insects. They all had six legs and three body parts and they all had antennae. They continued to observe and draw different insects including a cicada and a variety of beetles.




 

       JJ took a particular interest in the head of the praying mantis. He spent one afternoon drawing the different parts of the head using a drawing on the phone as a guide.  When he was unsure of  how to draw a specific section of the head, he used his fingers to expand his view and make the part larger.                        




Introducing technology as a research tool also helped the children begin to focus on the small details they were seeing on the screen that they may have missed when observing the specimen first hand. Below is a sample of before and after drawings. The first drawing is a cicada before Harley looked at it "close up" on the iPad. The second drawing represents her understanding after viewing it on the iPad. 



 



Technology provided both children with an opportunity to explore the small details they may have missed in their previous observations. Technology helped both children refine their ideas and add  specifics to their drawings.







         


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