Growing/Change---Living and Non-Living Things

Growing/Change/Living Things:

When we were feeding Mango and Jelly, I brought in a full cucumber.  There were a couple of students who had not seen a cucumber before, and we started talking about what was in it!  This led to a discussion of seeds, and because it was so close to Halloween, inevitably went to pumpkins.  Many of the students had different ideas of what was inside a pumpkin (seeds, gooey stuff, stars, strings, fruit, baby pumpkins, leaves were all ideas put forward.)  We cut open the pumpkin, observed and investigated, cut it into a jack-o-lantern and left it.  We came back to a moldy pumpkin which led to a whole new set of questions and wonderings including if we planted the seeds we took out of the pumpkin would it grow into a new one?  We planted the seeds, made signs for them so we would know who they belonged to, and have been watching them grow and have been taking care of them by giving them sunshine and water.

This led us to some new questions:  WHAT IS LIVING?  WHAT IS NOT LIVING?  We explored some things in the classroom and outside.  The kiddos were suddenly very into the clipboards and paper, clay and drawing.  Some of the students observed various living and non-living things and drew them. Some of the students tried to make clay representations.  Some became “scientists” and went around the classroom and courtyard drawing and writing their observations.

“I’m being a scientist because I am recording everything I see and hear.” –Shayne

“Yeah, me too! I am listening to what people are saying.” –Ella

“Living things move around a lot like Mango and Jelly.”  -Aria

“But they need water like our plants!”  -Daniel

“This leaf doesn’t need water—it is already dead!”  -Xavion

The students will have a little surprise waiting for them on Monday—a delivery of caterpillars arrived in our classroom….

Explorations like these really allow the students to make their own meaning with their peers and teachers.  They learn to keenly observe, record and share information and to continue questioning.

At one point something changed and a few of the students began using the clipboards and paper to take food orders! They really got into the idea of a restaurant and wanted to start planning one for outside!  We brainstormed and we will see where this new direction takes us!  It looks like we may have a couple of big projects going at the same time! J