Our theme for this week is scientists, which goes along with the theme of Unique for the month. Our book features lots of different scientists such as Mary Anning, Neil Degrasse, and Charles Darwin, to name a few. Each of these scientists have contributed greatly to our society! We have a scientist of our own featured on the front cover and our version of Jane Goodall featured on the back. Check it out!
Here is a link to the book: scientists-are-amazing
This week we learned about some famous scientists. We chose this theme to compliment the Unique Curriculum unit for some of our grade levels. The sensory groups explored boxes related to individual scientists. The fine motor groups created science themed art projects and the language group performed some fun science experiments!
SENSORY GROUP
Galileo and Neil DeGrasse Tyson are famous for studies in the area of astronomy. Our little astronomers loved our solar system umbrella. With its twinkly stars and hanging planets, it was a real hit.
Recognize a space-related object is a science access point.
Stephen Hawking knows a LOT about black holes. We used black kinetic sand for our “black hole” box and added a star shaped cookie cutter. So much fun and irresistible to both our students and staff 🙂
The science access point apply a push to move an object can be addressed here.
The thermometer was invented by Daniel Fahrenheit. In honor of him we filled a box with some “Insta-Snow”. While not quite as cold as the real thing, it still feels a little chilly!
Distinguish between hot and cold objects is a science access point.
We think our chimpanzee habitat would be a hit with Jane Goodall, she is an anthropologist who studies wild chimpanzees! Included in this box are binoculars, a variety of chimps, play fruit, and a voice output device with monkey sounds we recorded from You Tube. The monkey sounds were a huge hit!
The science access point recognize common objects related to science by name, such as animal or plant, can be addressed here.
Kepler was a famous mathematician. In our box of white cornmeal were numbers 1-9 for our students to find. We haven’t used this cornmeal box for a while and it has a really intriguing texture for our students.
Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.
Mary Anning was a famous fossil hunter. The students had fun hunting for dinosaur skeletons buried in our box of moon sand. They also had a lot of fun with the dinosaur molds.
Recognize a model of a real object is a science access point.
Since our theme was all about famous scientists, we decided to put pop rocks into our shaving cream to start a “chemical” reaction. Those crackling pop rocks sounded pretty cool!
The science access point recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli is addressed with this activity.
Charles Darwin’s boat the HMS Beagle sailed in our little ocean—-passing a giant sea turtle along the way!
Apply a push to move an object is a science access point.
Since we found out that chimpanzees like all sorts of fruit—not just bananas—-we used Bath and Body Works mango tangerine scent for both our water and lotion this week. The citrusy scent was a real hit with the students!
Recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli is a science access point.
FINE MOTOR
On Tuesday our students made a galaxy!
We started by discussing the shape of planets found in galaxies and used communication symbols to identify a CIRCLE.
Recognize objects with a 2-dimensional shape is a math access point.
Then we used a circle punch to cut “planets” out of wallpaper scraps. You have to push pretty hard to make the punch work, so the students needed a little help with this. Of course, we counted how many planets each student cut out.
Apply a push to move an object is a science access point.
Next they painted watered down glue onto black paper and the planets were placed on the glue.
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
Sparkly stars were added using chunky silver glitter.
Recognize that the appearance of an object or material has changed is a science access point.
Ta Da!
It’s a galaxy!
On Wednesday the students painted with corn syrup! We have done this before and always love how the syrup retains its “wet” look after it hardens. VERY COOL!
First we discussed the color of our syrup—-we had added some food coloring 🙂
Identify objects by one observable property, such as color, is a science access point.
The students identified the color using communication symbols.
We poured a little of the syrup onto their science lab beakers, cut from poster board using this:beaker-template
The students used regular paint brushes to spread it around. Yes, this did get a little sticky and messy but it was WAY fun 🙂
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point addressed here.
TA DA!
Let’s do some experiments!
LANGUAGE GROUP
Our students turned into little scientists today! We tried out 2 different experiments today. Here is a breakdown of each experiment: experiments
For our first experiment, our students helped POUR some baking soda into a pan. Then, our students helped fill up some cups HALFWAY with vinegar. They also got to choose what color should be put into each vinegar cup.
Recognize when an object is added to (addition) a situation, is a science access point.
Once everything was ready, each student got a chance to use droppers and SQUEEZE some of the vinegar onto the baking soda.
Our students loved seeing the colorful fizz!
Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.
For our second experiment, we filled up a measuring cup HALFWAY with vinegar. We added some food coloring as well. Our students got to CHOOSE the color glitter they wanted. They also got to help SQUEEZE some dish soap into the measuring cup. We STIRRED it up.
Finally, we got a big spoonful of baking soda and POURED it into the measuring cup. We gave it another little stir and watched it foam up! It was pretty amazing how much foam came out of our experiment!
What an exciting week! Join us again next time for more fun and learning——Group by Group!
The theme for the Unique Curriculum is earth science this month so we tied our groups to go along with the theme. Cara wrote another great book and found some great pictures to go along with it.
Our students were AMAZED 🙂
When we got to the page about rain, we used our spray bottle to mist water up into the air to then fall gently down on the students. They LOVED this part and needless to say there were lots of giggles AND lots of opportunities for them to request “more”—-one of their math access and language points!!!
Do we make learning FUN or what???!!!! 🙂
Sensory Group—
The surface of our earth is covered by a variety of plant life. In this box we put in silk leaves, easter grass, plastic trees, flowers to represent all the different plants to be found. We loved these bright and colorful sunflowers!
We included yarn pieces and beads in the colors of green and brown. The sun and moon affect our planet so we also put in a moon shaped cookie cutter and little wooden sun.
Finally a little globe was included—our earth!
This box addresses the science access point of recognizing common objects related to science by name, such as a plant. It also addresses the science access point of recognizing a model of a real object.
Noting that the globe is a sphere addresses the math access point of recognizing a 3 dimensional shape!
Wind is one of the forces that affects the surface of our earth. We created our own windstorm using our little battery operated fans.
We had some different reactions to the tactile feel of the blowing air—-some of our students loved it and couldn’t wait to push the buttons themselves—-others had to think about it for a while 🙂
They were also pretty fascinated by the soft spinning blades!
Applying a push or pull to move an object is a science access point.
Underneath all the plants and trees is soil.
We buried 3 circular puzzle pieces for our students to find and they loved pushing aside the coffee ground soil to find them—-and then pushing the grounds back to cover them back up 🙂
This box addresses the math access point of recognizing a 2 dimensional shape.
Digging down deep enough into the earth’s crust and you will find layers and layers of different rocks—-just like our mixed beans!
E is for Earth! We put in some letter E’s to find and match—-and then bury again!
We included a measuring spoon for some scooping fun, although most students prefer to run their hands through the beans for that wonderful tactile feel that they have.
Now we do try to keep a close eye on students when they have the bean box—to make sure there is no “sampling” but also to watch for our little scientists who want to see if gravity REALLY works with handfuls of beans 🙂
We used this grey floam to represent our earths mantle which is one of the many layers that form our planet. By squishing it together, our students could form it into a hard ball, kind of like the hard rock that makes up the mantle.
This floam is pretty cool stuff and everyone, adults included, is pretty fascinated by it.
Forming the ball is great for building hand strength, bilateral coordination, and palmer arches.
Of course our ball of floam can also be called a “sphere” and recognizing 3 dimensional shapes is one of our math access points!
Digging down still deeper we will get to earth’s liquid core! We mixed yellow and red food coloring with our shaving cream to make our lava. What fun to mix it all together and come out with this fabulous orange lava!
This addresses the science access point of recognizing a change in an object.
Its also a great opportunity to practice prewriting skills with a wonderful tactile experience.
The earth has a magnetic field. We used a magnet discovery bottle to help our students learn about magnetism……it really is pretty fascinating to watch the magnetic wand “capture” the little metal pieces inside the bottle!
Its also a great activity for bilateral coordination.
The science access point of tracking the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled is addressed here.
Finally we rinsed our hands in Ocean scented water from Bath and Bodyworks and then used the matching lotion to help us remember all the cool things we learned about our planet today!
Our little ocean had 2 different sized measuring cups to address the math access point of recognizing differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.
Exploring the aroma of the lotion addresses the science access point of recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli.
Fine Motor—
On Tuesday we thought making a volcano would be a great art project for our students. We started by turning our brown rectangle into a triangle by using our paper cutter to cut the 3 sides—counting each side as we cut.
Then we glued in onto our blue rectangle paper.
Recognizing 2 dimensional shapes is a math access point.
Now for the really fun bit—the lava! We mixed glue, shaving cream, and orange paint to make our lava. We wanted a three dimensional tactile texture and this stuff turns out just like puffy paint when it dries—-if you haven’t tried this concoction you really should!
Our students did a great job using their brushes to spread the mixture. They are spending more time painting and visually attending to their projects—we are so proud 🙂
This activity addresses spatial relations and eye hand coordination.
We had lots of Ta Da’s as usual.
Don’t these volcanos look SO COOL!!!!!!
Some of them were so proud of themselves they asked for hugs also—
needless to say we obliged 🙂
On Thursday we continued our explorations of earth science with our next art project. We started with a blue circle—addressing the math access point of recognizing a 2 dimensional shape again! We are going to make a picture of our earth.
Tissue paper was then torn and crumpled and glued onto the blue circle—to make some continents.
Tearing and crumpling the paper promotes bilateral coordination and addresses the science access point of recognizing a change in an object.
We asked the students to identify the colors of the paper we used today. Identifying an object by one observable property (in this case color) is a science access point.
Are students are just so smart!!!!
TA DA!!!!
Language Group—
We decided to make a visual of the Earth’s different layers. We found this idea on www.birdandlittlebird.com and thought it would be PERFECT, as well as lots of fun. The students had to follow the directions which consisted of PIXON symbols, Boardmaker symbols, and real pictures.
Since the pictures depicting the Earth’s layers are color coded, we decided to base our visual support off of some of the pictures we found. We started with 1/4 cup of liquid dish soap. The dish soap was pink and we added a little red food coloring to it to show how hot the Earth’s inner core is.
Graded motor control and eye hand coordination are needed to pour the liquid from the measuring cup into the jar.
Recognizing the next step in a simple pattern or sequence of activities is a math access point.
Throughout this activity we are also addressing the math access point of solving problems involving small quantities of objects or actions using language, such as enough, too much, or more.
For the next layer, the outer core, we used 1/4 cup of water. We dropped red and yellow food coloring in the water in order to make orange. Since our visually impaired students could not see the color changes they participated by being in charge of shaking the liquid (we used a lidded juice bottle).
They really enjoyed this bit 🙂
The science access points of applying a push or pull to move an object and recognizing a change in an object are addressed here.
Now, as scientists conducting experiments, sometimes things don’t go QUITE like you had planned——- after putting the water in, we did not see any distinct layers! We couldn’t figure out what we did wrong—- so we decided to start over and use karo syrup at the bottom instead of the dish soap.
Although the colors were very similar in appearance when in the jar, you could see a little more layering than before.
The third layer, or the mantle, consisted of 1/4 cup vegetable oil. We did not add any coloring since it was already yellow.
On an added note, it is important to pour the liquids SLOWLY—a funnel helps.
For the last layer which is the crust, we used 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol which we colored blue. The students seemed to LOVE watching the liquids separate into different layers, and the adults enjoyed it too!
All in all, the experiment was a success AND we learned some new words!
We turned off the lights and held a flashlight behind the jar to really see the layers.
Science experiments are just so FUN!!!
Join us again next week for our final groups of this school year—
Its going to be filled with more fun things to learn and discover—–Group by Group 🙂