The Blubber Experiment!

Earlier in the week, we did a science experiment to learn how snowy owls are able to see their prey in the dark.  On Thursday afternoon, we did an experiment to learn how polar bears survive in the cold climate of the Arctic.  In studying the polar bear, we read Gail Gibbons book, "Polar Bears." In her book, she describes how polar bears have a layer of fat called blubber that helps to insulate the bears from the cold.  The children were very "curious" about how the blubber really worked.  So, on Thursday, we prepared two bowls of ice,  and two sets of bags. Three of the bags were empty, and we filled the fourth bag with Crisco.  We explained to the children that we didn't have real blubber, but that Crisco was a fat.  Then we had them test the bags to see which set would keep their hands warm.  The set without the Crisco was cold and the set with the Crisco was warm.  Half way through the experiment, our inquisitive children wanted to see how long they could keep their hands in the ice without any insulation.  As you can see from the pictures,they discovered that polar bears need the blubber to keep them warm in the Arctic!

The 100th Day of School

On Thursday, all the children were so excited as it was the 100th day of school!  We had talked about this day since the beginning of school.  When the children entered the classroom, we had filled the writing center with  markers, stickers, numbers, sequins, glue sticks, and white bags.  Everyone decorated a bag, which they later filled with 100 treats.

The children had fun counting out 100 treats to fill their bags.  We want to thank everyone for sending the requested treats. We enjoyed watching the children choose the various treats for each row of 10 on the number grid. The children got a great deal of math practice on this very special day!

After counting our 100 day treats, it was time for circle.  It was Alex's job to be the caterpillar helper on this exciting day. We counted by tens to 100. Everyone clapped and cheered as Alex put an X on the 100, and added the 100th circle to our caterpillar. Now we are counting backwards towards the last day of school!

The children have been waiting all year to meet Zero the Hero.  Every 10th day of school, the number zero would be in a different place in our room for the children to find. We told them that Zero the Hero left the zero as well as a treat in the shape of a zero. They always thought it was the teachers who left the zero and the treats, but on Thursday the"real" Zero the Hero made an appearance.  Their eyes were wide with wonder, and they were full of questions for the famous Zero the Hero! How does he make it to every school on the 100th day???

A Hunt for 100 Life Savers

On Tuesday afternoon, the children went on a hunt for 100 Life Savers that were hidden in the classroom!  We explained to the children that each Life Saver had a number from 1 to 100. Once they found a Life Saver, they had to come and tell us the number and place it on the number grid. It was challenging to keep all those Life Savers on the grid,but the children worked together to meet the challenge.  After we filled the grid, we sat in circle and counted the Life Savers in groups of 10 until we reached 100.  The hunt was a fun way for the children to practice the math skills of number recognition and counting by ones and tens. Math was definitely a sweet adventure on Tuesday in the Curious George Class!

Artic Sculptures

There are not many building materials available to Inuits except ice.  Mini marshmallows are our version of ice squares---look at the different sculptures the children created.  What a tasty way to get a fine motor workout!

Dramatic Play Becomes The Artic!

There's "snow" in the sensory table and small figures of Inuits, dogs and their sleds, arctic foxes and polar bears.  Great conversations occur all the time and we love to listen in as the children talk about their own recent adventures in snow and ice, and what they might do if they visited the frozen Arctic.

We're making the northern lights! First, the children carefully spooned out their choice of colored paint in a line.  After putting a piece of foil on top, the children used a rolling pin to spread all the colors.  There was so much excitement as we peeled off each piece of foil....different colors and amounts of paint produced very different pictures

What would the arctic be without snow and ice?  When we looked at pictures in non-fiction books, we realized that snow is not just pure white.  Iya, Norah, Lilly and Evie are  using a different kind of paint brush to create our snow.  It is a big piece of paper so they must reach and stretch using many large muscles in the process!

Jack, Dylan, and Will are creating an igloo using a block as a stamper.  You can see that Jack must use good fine motor control to carefully place another "ice square" on the paper. 

One of the coolest things we learned was that many kinds of flowers bloom in the Arctic, but not for long!  When the snow melts,  patches of water with dirt beneath it can be found.  Flowers on very short stems start to bloom.  See if your children can remember which flower is the wooly lousewort....they loved that name!

Ice fishing in the Arctic...what could be more fun!

Grandfriend's Day 2011

We want to thank all our Grandfriends for  coming  to school on Friday! The children were so excited to sing their special song at Shabbat, and to share our circle time activities with their Grandfriends. After a snack of Challah and juice, the children showed their Grandfriends their art, and took them to see our new Artic center.  We enjoyed sharing our morning . Come back and visit us anytime!