Textures in the Garden

We went outside today and explored our sense of touch and different textures in our garden. Before going outside, we talked with Mrs. Riggins, our Math/Science strategist about what texture is and our sense of touch. She showed up how to make crayon rubbings of different textures. Then we lined up with paper and crayons and went outside to explore texture in our garden. I was so proud to hear them using texture vocabulary like rough, smooth, bumpy without being prompted.

Here's some pictures exploring texture in our garden:

Here's Mrs. Riggins helping one of our friends do a crayon rubbing of a cantaloupe.

Weather

In science, we focused on weather-what it is and different types. We read Brave Irene  and noticed the way weather affected her in the story. Then we talked about appropriate clothing for different types of weather. We illustrated a picture of ourselves wearing appropriate hot and cold weather clothing.

We read The Wind Blew and conducted an experiment to see how wind affects objects. We experimented by trying to blow on the objects first. Then we predicted if we thought the fan would move them or not. Then we recorded the results.

We also were able to go outside to the garden with one of the Real School Gardens representative and learn about weather with him. We discussed the temperature and made observations using our senses as our science tools. We were even able to take a nature walk!

We learned about how clouds and rain are formed. We watched a clip from Magic School Bus where it shows the students forming rain drops in the clouds and then falling as snow and rain. Then we illustrated and wrote about what we learned in our science journals.

We also learned about characteristics of snowy weather. We read A Really Good Snowman and I showed them pictures from my house when it snowed last winter. We created a circle map of characteristics and then illustrated a snowy scene using white crayons on blue construction paper.