We are wrapping up our building study, and just so happen to be going into a bird study, so this would be the perfect hands-on project to celebrate their learning of both!!
I also love to welcome parents into my classroom, so this would create an opportunity for each child to invite a special person; whether mom, dad, grandparent, older sibling, or just someone special to them, into our classroom to help with this hands-on project! With project studies, you also try and get guest speakers to come in, and we were so blessed to have an electrician and a general contractor come in to speak, both being related to kiddos in my classroom.
So far, the students have learned many different things about building! With project studies, students come up with the questions to research. Some of the questions we have explored, include: what kind of tools do you use, how do you use the tools, how are tall towers built, what are the steps in building a house. We have also explored things like the difference between an architect and a builder.
My favorite have been the STEM challenges we have done, one where we had a certain amount of materials and a certain amount of counting bears, and had to figure out with our group how to make all the bears fit. We also built bridges to hold marbles and tested which type of bridge would hold the most.
Next week, we will be doing an experiment on static electricity using balloons, carpet, and aluminum cans. We'll be using the static electricity made from rubbing the balloon on the carpet to then propel the can across the table. Students will be excited to "race" their cans.
About my class
We are wrapping up our building study, and just so happen to be going into a bird study, so this would be the perfect hands-on project to celebrate their learning of both!!
I also love to welcome parents into my classroom, so this would create an opportunity for each child to invite a special person; whether mom, dad, grandparent, older sibling, or just someone special to them, into our classroom to help with this hands-on project! With project studies, you also try and get guest speakers to come in, and we were so blessed to have an electrician and a general contractor come in to speak, both being related to kiddos in my classroom.
So far, the students have learned many different things about building! With project studies, students come up with the questions to research. Some of the questions we have explored, include: what kind of tools do you use, how do you use the tools, how are tall towers built, what are the steps in building a house. We have also explored things like the difference between an architect and a builder.
My favorite have been the STEM challenges we have done, one where we had a certain amount of materials and a certain amount of counting bears, and had to figure out with our group how to make all the bears fit. We also built bridges to hold marbles and tested which type of bridge would hold the most.
Next week, we will be doing an experiment on static electricity using balloons, carpet, and aluminum cans. We'll be using the static electricity made from rubbing the balloon on the carpet to then propel the can across the table. Students will be excited to "race" their cans.
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