The kids had quite a few ideas to approach this topic. Ziggy said we should talk about having a balance in nature. I think that was even her actual words. So we talked about what was needed to keep nature in balance. They came up with some of the following ideas: (I did not write them down, as we talked about this while driving to dance class, so bear with my interpretations and memory)
- not cutting down trees unless you plant a new one to replace it. And it should be the same size. (We then talked about removing damaged, sick, or dying trees to help keep the balance.)
- not removing habitat - which upon further discussion seemed to focus on trees and shrubs for birds and rabbits. (We have been talking about rabbits for nature study recently. And our bird feeder is a constant source of nature education this winter, too.)
- not spraying chemicals on gardens. (Our discussion on this one did not go beyond that point because we had reached our destination, but boy did I want to delve into this one to help them understand why it is important to lessen the ubiquiness of said chemicals!)
Gherkie wanted to use the balance scale we have, and see which of her plastic animals weighs more. This was a doable project, and a great little science project as well! We took out our project journals and proceeded to write down our predictions, results, and guesses as to why one weighed more than the other.
They really got into it, and when my mother came to pick up Ziggy for an afternoon of sewing, they could not wait to share this project and their results. They are excited to try next weeks theme, Ball.
Keep looking for updates. This is a great project we have successfully scheduled into our week and added some balance to our learning and playing.
4 comments:
I am so glad that you are enjoying the projects! I have not been visiting everyone as regularly as I would like, so I missed your square project last week, although I just saw it now (I love the Knex and Mondrian, ie. science and art connection).
Your children had wonderful ideas about nature/the environment. I am happy to see future generations thinking this way.
Welcome to the Unplugged Project!
Wow you had a really well-rounded approach to the balance theme!
I liked your list...I'm a worm composter too! (Though I do it at the school where I teach)
Nice goals!
Hehe. Oops...I didn't see the "killed them all" thing until afterwards...do you need any advice? I had mine going for over a year before the worm-sitter watered them...bad results. Feel free to email me for troubleshooting if you want to!
megelias@sbcglobal.net
Post a Comment