A chilly day is the perfect time to pop a batch of popcorn and practice making predictions. This activity makes science and math irresistible and delicious!

Start with a hot air popcorn popper, plain popcorn kernels (not a microwave bag) and a timer—a sand timer or timer on a wristwatch or smart phone.

Cover the bottom of a large tray or clean shallow box with paper napkins unfolded. Number the squares of the napkin to create a grid.

Have the children wash their hands, because they will later be eating the popcorn. Show a small group of children the popcorn kernels and ask if they know what the kernels are. Many children have never seen uncooked popcorn, because they buy popcorn ready-made or microwave it in a bag. Invite the children to hold the kernels and squeeze them. Do they look and feel like popcorn? Ask, “What would these seeds be like to eat before they are popped?” Record the children’s observations. Say, “Let’s see if we can make the seeds easier to eat.”

Set a shallow box or tray on a table near an electrical outlet for the popper. Place the popper in front of the box and place the numbered napkin squares in the box to catch the popped corn. Ask the children on which numbers they think most popcorn kernels will land. Record their predictions, including each child’s name on a sheet of paper. To help children feel comfortable making predictions I predict a number far from the popper.

Ask the children how long they think it will take for the popcorn to pop. Record their predictions.

Make half a batch or less of popcorn following the directions on the popper. Safety note: It’s essential that children not touch the hot popcorn popper.

Invite a child to start the sand timer, or start the timer on a wrist watch or smart phone. If you are using a sand timer, children take turns flipping and counting the flips until the popcorn finishes popping.

Record how long it takes for the first seed to pop and how long it takes for the rest of the batch to pop.

Observe where most kernels land. Invite children to count how many are on each square. Compare the results with the children’s predictions.

Empty napkins of popped popcorn into the bowl to share. You can either serve it immediately or wait until lunch or snack time.

Make multiple small batches, asking for new predictions each time. Children in my class often continue to predict that the popcorn will land on number four or five, even though the popcorn usually lands on the numbers right in front of the popper each time. Why don’t their predictions change? Because they are four or five years old and so obviously those are the “best” numbers. “I’m five, you know,” they tell me. That’s OK. They are still getting practice making predictions and observing what actually happens, with a quick turnaround time. And it’s so exciting when a child realizes that the popping is fairly consistent and changes his or her prediction!

This activity also gives children opportunities to practice the math skills of counting, estimating and measuring distance and time.

We read The Popcorn Book by Tomie de Paola to enhance literacy and learn a wealth of fun, interesting information about the science and history of popcorn. Popcorn seeds contain a little moisture. When heated, the water becomes steam, which puffs up the starchy interior. Eventually the outer seed coat bursts, sending the kernels flying.

It’s easy to incorporate dramatic play by inviting children to pretend they are popcorn seeds. They crouch down in balls while I say, “It’s getting hotter in the popper. It’s getting hotter. Let’s count to 10 and the moisture inside you gets really, really hot and POP you’re popcorn.” The children jump up. Then children take turns deciding how long to count before everyone pops.

For more curriculum ideas, see my book Thinking BIG, Learning BIG: Connecting Science, Math, Literacy and Language in Early Childhood.

Have fun making popping predictions with your young scientists!

This post was contributed by Marie Faust Evitt, head teacher of a preschool class for four- and five-year-olds. Prior to teaching, Marie was an award-winning newspaper reporter and freelance journalist for more than 20 years. Her articles and essays on education, parenting, and child psychology have been published in Newsweek, Parents, Child, Parenting, Scholastic’s Parent & Child, Scholastic.com, and Family Fun. She posts about her classroom activities at www.thinkingBIGlearningBIG.com and on her Facebook fan page. She lives in Mountain View, California.

Make Your Own Slime!

Make some ishy-squishy ooze with this gross-tacular activity from The Budding Scientist.

What You Will Need:

• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• Food coloring
• Measuring cup
• Measuring spoon
• 1/2-pound-size plastic margarine tub with lid, clean and dry
• 5 teaspoons water
• Wooden or sturdy plastic spoon

What to Do:

1. Place cornstarch, water, and food coloring into the margarine tub.
2. Mix with a spoon until you have a thick paste. The mixture will be stiff.
3. Handle the mixture. What happens when you poke it? When you roll it? When you let it sit for a moment?
4. This “alien slime” mixture will stay fresh for two or three days in an airtight container.

Books to Enjoy:

• Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman
• The Book of Slime by Ellen Jackson
• Dr. Xargle’s Book of Earthlets by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
• How to Make Slime by Lori Shores
• Space Case by Edward Marshall

Which book will we give away last? Visit us here again tomorrow! For official contest rules, visit our Facebook page.

Build a Spiral Spinner!

Make a spinner out of paper, and observe how it moves through the air with this spectacular science activity from Sally Anderson, author of Where Does My Shadow Sleep?

Great Books to Read Before Doing This Activity:

• Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros
• I Face the Wind by Vicki Cobb
• The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins

What’s Needed:

• 8″ x 8″ piece of paper
• Scissors
• String
• Tape

How to Do It:

1. On the piece of paper, draw an 8″ diameter circle.
2. Start at one edge of the circle, and cut a spiral going in toward the center of the circle. The number of coils will vary depending on how thin or thick you make the spiral cut – feel free to experiment, or just make it about 1″ thick.
3. At the center of the spiral, poke a hole. Tie a knot at one end of your string. Pull the other end through the hole in the spiral until the knot stops at the hole. This way you don’t tie the spiral tightly to the string.
4. Hold the string and move your arm up and down. What does the spinner do? Is it the same each time you pull it up or down?
5. Hold the spinner near a heat vent, a fan, or anything that might be blowing air – what happens? Try various places around your home, inside and outside.

Which book will we give away next? Visit us here again tomorrow! For official contest rules, visit our Facebook page.

Great Books to Read Before Doing This Activity:

• Garbage Helps Our Garden Grow by Linda Glaser
• A Log’s Life by Wendy Pfeffer
• The Magic School Bus Meets the Rot Squad by Joanna Cole

What’s Needed:

• Camera (optional)
• Magnifying glass
• Plastic, resealable bag
• Plate
• Small pumpkin
• Refrigerator

How to Do It:

1. Cut open the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds. (Hint: Use the sections of pumpkin you are not using for the experiment to make a yummy pumpkin pie, if you like!)
2. Place one chunk of the pumpkin shell in the plastic bag, and seal it closed.
3. Place another chunk of pumpkin shell next to it on a plate.
4. Put the experiment in a place where you both can see it easily.
5. Periodically, record the changes you observe. What’s the same? What’s different?
6. Make drawings or keep a chart of any changes that occur over time. Take photos if possible.
7. Talk about the changes you observe: color, shape, and smell. What might be the causes for these changes?

You can also experiment with speeding up and slowing down decomposition.

1. For another challenge, place one of the chunks of pumpkin shell in a cold spot (such as the refrigerator) and another in a warm spot (such as on the counter or windowsill).
2. Observe and compare the decomposition of the pumpkin in cold and warm temperatures. Which shell decomposes faster? Why do you think this is so?
3. Over a period of several weeks, look at and talk about the changes you notice.

~~~

For more ways to take the time to watch, wonder, ask questions, talk about, and explore the world of science with your child, check out Where Does My Shadow Sleep? by Sally Anderson with the Vermont Center for the Book.

Where Does My Shadow Sleep? along with all 19 of our other new titles is available at 31% OFF (plus free shipping) for a limited time. This exclusive savings offer ends October 31, 2012, so be sure to cash in on this spooktacular deal soon!

]]> http://blog.gryphonhouse.com/2012/10/30/the-icky-factor-exploring-decomposition-with-pumpkins/feed/ 1 gryphonhouse Rotten Pumpkin Where Does My Shadow http://blog.gryphonhouse.com/2012/10/09/pump-up-the-learning-with-pumpkins/ http://blog.gryphonhouse.com/2012/10/09/pump-up-the-learning-with-pumpkins/#comments Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:00:32 +0000 gryphonhouse http://blog.gryphonhouse.com/?p=2166 ]]> By Marie Faust Evitt

Halloween can be a challenge for teachers and families who would like to steer clear of the scary, commercial aspects of the holiday. Fortunately, children LOVE pumpkins which means I can take advantage of the excitement of the season to introduce many learning experiences through pumpkin activities in my preschool class.

We kick off the pumpkin season with a fieldtrip to a pumpkin patch. We explore the pumpkin life cycle from seeds to plants to pumpkins and seeds again. Each child chooses a small pumpkin. We transport the pumpkins back to school and those cheery squash have a “sleepover” so the children can study them the next school day.

Pumpkins provide a fun way to practice making predictions and measuring. I ask children to predict which they think is bigger around – their pumpkin or their head. Then taking a long piece of yarn we help each child wrap the yarn around the pumpkin to find the circumference—how big around it is. We cut the yarn and then wrap the piece around the child’s head. Is it bigger than their head, or smaller or just the same? The children love proclaiming, “My pumpkin is bigger than my head,” or “My head is bigger than my pumpkin.”

We record the class results on a big chart with the pieces of orange string.

We measure how heavy their pumpkins are through two different types of scales. We use a spring scale to see how much their pumpkins compress the spring platform to get a reading.

Then we measure the pumpkins using a giant balance scale my colleague Tim Dobbins created from a wooden cross piece suspended by a rope from a patio beam to a center hook. Eye screws on either end attach slings big enough to hold a pumpkin and weights made from water bottles filled with sand. Small 16 ounce water bottles make convenient one-pound weights. Fill the bottle slowly with sand and check it with a kitchen scale to get an accurate amount. Use smaller amounts of sand to make half-pound and quarter-pound weights.

Children add and subtract the weights to find out how much they need to make the scale balance with their pumpkin.

Children reflect on the fieldtrip experience by drawing pictures and dictating stories to an adult who records their thoughts.

I connect literacy by reading books – nonfiction books about pumpkins such as Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin Pie by Jill Esbaum and the poetic Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden by George Levenson. I also read stories such as The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll.

We’ll continue pumpkin math by estimating how many seeds are inside a pumpkin and then counting the seeds. We’ll incorporate dramatic play by setting up a pumpkin stand and farmer’s market. Science study will continue as we put carved pumpkins in our garden and watch them slowly decompose.

Have fun learning with pumpkins!

For more curriculum ideas, see my book Thinking BIG, Learning BIG: Connecting Science, Math, Literacy and Language in Early Childhood from Gryphon House.

~~~

This post was contributed by Marie Faust Evitt, head teacher of a preschool class for four- and five-year-olds. Prior to teaching, Marie was an award-winning newspaper reporter and freelance journalist for more than 20 years. Her articles and essays on education, parenting, and child psychology have been published in Newsweek, Parents, Child, Parenting, Scholastic’s Parent & Child, Scholastic.com, and Family Fun. She posts about her classroom activities at www.thinkingBIGlearningBIG.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thinkingBIGlearningBIG. She lives in Mountain View, California.

]]> http://blog.gryphonhouse.com/2012/10/09/pump-up-the-learning-with-pumpkins/feed/ 4 gryphonhouse Pumpkin Patch Field Trip! Pumpkin versus Head Measuring Pumpkins Chart Measuring Pumpkin Pumpkin Balance Scale http://blog.gryphonhouse.com/2012/07/30/climate-creations-for-kids/ http://blog.gryphonhouse.com/2012/07/30/climate-creations-for-kids/#comments Mon, 30 Jul 2012 13:22:37 +0000 gryphonhouse http://blog.gryphonhouse.com/?p=1952 ]]> By Joy Lubawy

August means winter in Australia, and lots of short, foggy (and sometimes sunny) days for me and my fellow Australians. As I am looking out my window today, it’s bleak, cold, and wet – a far cry from the hot, dry weather in parts of the northern hemisphere this time of year. This difference in climate brought me to today’s blog post…

Climate is often difficult for children to understand, but it is made easier when young ones observe weather conditions over longer periods of time.

Now, I am NOT saying that you should set up one of those weather chart stations with rain clouds and sun cut-outs to add to the chart each day.  In my experience, children don’t pay much attention to those things! What I am suggesting, instead, is to create observation cards (made from plain pieces of card stock) for the children to take outside and draw on. This is an easy way for children to monitor what they are seeing outside each day. It might be clear blue skies or it could be light rain. It might be warm or chilly, so they will also need to find ways to show both hot and cold temperatures.

A large wall chart might be drawn up inside the classroom for children to take note of the slight changes in weather over time. I suggest selecting one observation card to put on display each day, making sure that each student gets a turn. The other cards can be taken home or made into individual charts for the children to easily access.

Absolutely nothing beats real observation, real data collection, and real graphing along with an interested, involved and attentive adult asking questions, posing issues, and adding language to the conversation, but not taking over.  Making a long-term weather chart like the one I describe above will also bring children into contact with days of the week, months of the year and the passage of time in a very real way.

For more simple ideas that incorporate data collection in everyday activities, check out my book, Preschool Math!

This post was contributed by Joy Lubawy. Joy has more than thirty years of experience in the early education field, including teaching children with special needs, directing preschools, and educating teachers. She now travels between Australia and New Zealand providing professional development in the areas of curriculum, imagination, creativity, and documentation. Joy lives in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.

The summer season is full of beautiful things for our eyes to enjoy! Help your child remember these beautiful things by creating a nature journal together. While we were building our home, the kids and I would take field trips to our new property. We would usually take a picnic and our nature journals.  Some weeks, the children would draw the house being framed or the roof going on. Other weeks, the children would draw the trees or the creek.

I will never forget the day we discovered the pair of owls that lived on our property. The pair soared across the sky as we watched in amazement. Immediately, one of the children grabbed their journal and began sketching. I was so thankful that she had her journal so she could record this special time. We continue to nature journal at our house. We have taken our journals on walks to see the horses and goats. We have taken our journals into the woods, into our garden, and onto our front porch. There is so much to see in nature, your child might need a new nature journal each season. If you are like me, you will decide that you need your own journal too.

Getting Started:

• Buy or make a nature journal. Larger pages work best because they provide adequate space for your child to sketch.
• Provide a variety of colored pencils.
• Keep binoculars handy so your child can get a better look at birds and other animals from a distance.
• Purchase bird and flower identifying books. We like The National Geographic My First Pocket Guide to Garden Birds and The National Geographic My First Pocket Guide to Wildflowers.
• Assist your child when they want to learn more about things they see in nature. Recently, we saw several snakes on a camping trip and now my youngest son is obsessed with knowing everything about snakes. He has recently learned that the most poisonous snake in the world is the Inland Taipan and the fastest snake in the world is the Black Mamba.
• Ask your child if they would like to tell you a story that goes with their drawing. Write their story down word for word. This makes this science activity a great language arts activity too.

What shape is water? I never considered that question until I became a preschool teacher. My sons loved to splash in the bathtub and wading pool when they were young, but I never thought to give them containers of different sizes and shapes so they could pour water from one cup to another and start to realize the fascinating fact that water always takes the shape of its container.

When I began teaching, I saw how playing with water provides the perfect opportunity for promoting scientific inquiry at school and at home.

When children play with water they naturally ask questions: What will happen if I pour water from this container into this one? What if the container is already full of water? When they have lots of time to try pouring again and again with a variety of containers, they can begin to develop their own theories and understanding.

Water exploration is especially fun in summer when you don’t have to worry children will get cold if they get wet. During our preschool summer program we have several water tables and tubs set up every day because they are so popular. It’s easy to encourage water exploration at home, too, in the kitchen sink and bathtub, playing outdoors with a garden hose and in a wading pool.

We introduce different materials over days and weeks so children can experience many different actions of water – flowing, dripping, spilling, splashing and bubbling. Adding food color or liquid water color can add a different element of exploration.

We begin with different size containers in the water tables, including a variety of plastic measuring cups. On other days we add clear plastic tubing and funnels to introduce the idea of carrying water like pipes do and use a metal fence to help support the tubing so children’s hands are free. We introduce items that squirt and make drops such as turkey basters, eye droppers and plastic squirt bottles. We later introduce bottles and cups with holes punched in them so children can observe streams of water.

You can help deepen children’s thinking by asking questions such as:

• How do you think the baster works?
• What happens when you pour the big container of water into the little measuring cup?
• What do you notice about the bubbles in the tube?

After children have had much time for free explorations you can propose challenges:

• How can you move the water from this tub to this one?
• Can you make water go up a tube?
• Can you stop the water flowing?

Asking children to describe and draw what they see happening with the water, helps focus their attention and builds language and literacy. Math is naturally part of water exploration as children compare volume of different containers.

Exploring Water with Young Children by Ingrid Chalufour and Karen Worth provides an in-depth look at water table science.

I enjoy introducing children to water exploration by reading a few pages at a time of I Get Wet by Vicki Cobb. Water Dance by Thomas Locker is a poetic look at different forms of water.

More curriculum ideas are included in my book, Thinking BIG, Learning BIG: Connecting Science, Math, Literacy and Language in Early Childhood.

Have fun diving into water explorations!

~~~

This post was contributed by Marie Faust Evitt. Marie is the head teacher of a preschool class for four- and five-year-olds. Prior to teaching, Marie was an award-winning newspaper reporter and freelance journalist for more than 20 years. Her articles and essays on education, parenting, and child psychology have been published in Newsweek, Parents, Child, Parenting, Scholastic’s Parent & Child, Scholastic.com, and Family Fun. Marie posts about her classroom activities at www.thinkingBIGlearningBIG.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thinkingBIGlearningBIG. She lives in Mountain View, California.

As the end of the school year fast approaches for my preschool class, we’re having fun exploring the invention process. I love introducing children to the empowering idea that anyone can be an inventor. As Thomas Edison said, “To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”

You know what great imaginations preschoolers have. We harness it by giving them lots of “junk” to work with – including parts of discarded appliances we have taken apart, container lids, old CDs, cardboard tubes, berry baskets and lots of masking tape. You can use whatever materials you have an abundance of—pipe cleaners, paper cups, small cardboard boxes, plastic water bottles, Styrofoam egg cartons. Just be sure you have LOTS of masking tape. Assorted colors of tape add to children’s creations.

To begin our invention explorations, I told the story about a real invention children love, the Band-Aid. Then the children explored making their own Band-Aids with a variety of materials.

Another day I said, “Let’s think about what we could invent with a cardboard tube.” Children brainstormed briefly in small groups at circle time. They had so many ideas –binoculars, telescopes, wheels, a pirate spy glass, a marble tunnel, a birthday hat, a rocket.

Then I invited them to the Invention Workshop – tables set up with a variety of materials. I told them, “You can create whatever you want. Your inventions will be powered by your imagination. When you are imagining, anything is possible.”

Most children immediately started constructing and decided afterwards what they had created, just like more experienced inventors. Post-it Notes, for example, evolved from a technology that needed a use.

We helped children hold and tape various parts of their invention together and brainstorm solutions to problems as they arose. “How can you attach this differently so it will stand up?”

When they were done, we asked children to draw their invention and dictate what it did so we could record their ideas. What a range of creations! From a Heater and Cool Air Express, to a CD phone, a TV machine, a remote controlled star, a robot worm that can tell time, a Fooda Madooda that will take your old toys and store them until someone needs them, and rocket binoculars that can blast into space. The children’s enthusiasm could have lifted us all into outer space!!

We continued delving into the invention process at story time with some of my favorite books including Sydney’s Star by Peter Reynolds and Mrs. Armitage and the Big Wave by Quentin Blake.

More curriculum ideas are in my book, Thinking BIG, Learning BIG: Connecting Science, Math, Literacy and Language in Early Childhood.

“Messing around” with materials, identifying problems, brainstorming solutions, trying and trying again are lifelong skills. Have fun watching your inventors develop new ideas. Maybe one of them will figure out how to keep markers from drying out when you leave the cap off!

On blustery spring days children in my preschool class love to run with their arms outstretched as if they were airplanes. Sometimes they’ll ask, “What is wind?” If I answered, “Wind is air that is moving” they would still have questions. Instead I say, “Let’s see if we can figure that out.”

I begin by inviting them to take a breath, hold their hands in front of their mouths and then gently let out their breath. I ask, “What do you feel?” Then I ask them to take a deep breath and blow it out hard. I ask, “What do you feel when you blow hard?” “I’m making wind!” a child will often say.

Then it’s fun to play a game based on moving air invented by my colleague Tim Dobbins.

Air Soccer

It’s easy to play Teacher Tim’s Air Soccer. Create a “playing field” by taping strips of cardboard about 5” high to the sides of a table and marking goals and a center line with masking tape. Cut two pieces of cardboard about 8”x”8” to use as fans. Gather some packing noodles and you’re ready to play.

• Two children stand on opposite ends of the table, each holding a piece of cardboard . Invite them to fan their faces with the cardboard so they can feel the air move.
• Place a packing noodle in the center of the table. The children try to fan the packing noodle to the goal at the opposite end of the table without touching it. Say, “Use only wind power to move the noodle.”
• The children enjoy moving the packing noodle up and down the table. There is no need to keep score. If other children are waiting, set a timer to take turns.
• Invite the children to observe what works best for fanning the packing noodle—fanning from in back of the noodle or above it, fast or slowly. This is a good opportunity to reinforce vocabulary words such as above, behind, gently, vigorously. You can also introduce the vocabulary of different types of wind, “You are making a gentle breeze.” “That looks like a big gust of wind when you fan so hard.”

Many variations of the game are possible:

• Use multiple packing noodles so there are more than one to fan at a time.
• Use cotton balls, ping pong balls or other light materials.
• Play outdoors with a light beach ball or partially inflated sturdy balloon on the ground. Remind the children not to kick the ball. Say, “In this game, only the wind can touch the ball.” Several children may need to fan together to get a beach ball to move. Safety note: If a balloon pops, it is essential pick up all the pieces.

Playing Air Soccer starts to build a foundation for understanding wind power. Powerful winds can be frightening for children. Making wind themselves, experiencing it over and over through play, helps children feel more in control.

Math naturally becomes part of the game when we measure the length of the table to figure out where the center line should be, set the timer to take turns playing, and count how long it takes to make a goal.

I connect literacy by inviting children to draw pictures and dictate stories about wind. And I read nonfiction books such as Can You See the Wind? by Allan Fowler and stories such as Elmer Takes Off by David McKee.

The ideas come from my book, Thinking BIG, Learning BIG: Connecting Science, Math, Literacy and Language in Early Childhood.

Have fun playing with science!