Homework Projects!

Yesterday amidst the hot cocoa, cookies and pre-vacation excitement, the 1-2 kids presented their homework projects! The majority of students created gameboards based on a favorite fairy tale or nursery rhyme which we spent time playing in the morning. There were also some beautiful dioramas and two very entertaining interviews (those hosts really knew how to ask some probing questions to put Goldilocks on the hot seat!).
The projects are now set-up in the hallway bench area just outside the art room where they will be displayed for other classes to see. We are so proud of the effort and creativity that went in to making them. Some kids worked completely independently while others worked as a family team. We hope this was a fun way to channel holiday energy for all. Check out pictures of the projects below:

Exploring Light!

This week, Tom Keenan came in for a second visit to teach us more about light energy! He demonstrated that a beam of light, though it moves in a straight path, is made up of transverse light waves - so they move in a straight line even though their waves move up and down as they travel. These are tough concepts for even Mr. Keenan's high school students; our first and second graders are just gaining some exposure into this world of light energy.

House Tables got to explore with different materials using a flashlight to see which materials allowed all light to pass through (transparent), some light to pass through (translucent), no light to pass through (opaque), and which reflected the light back. All the kids were engaged in this investigation and were able to appropriately sort the materials. Some students are even starting to use some of this vocabulary, though it is not an expectation that they will own this academic language.

We are looking forward to one last visit from Mr. Keenan next week to explore how light is the source of the colors we see. It's been great to hear the cries of delight from the kids when we say it's time for science!

Science Study

This week, as part of our science study of waves, we had a special guest speaker come in and show us some really cool information about sound waves.  Mr. Keenan made a visual representation of sound waves using computer imaging (because we can't see real sound waves). He also put some packing peanuts on a speaker to demonstrate the powerful vibrations from the sound waves that made the peanuts dance to Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling"!
Mr. Keenan then passed out tuning forks to house tables so we could explore making sounds and seeing the effects of the vibrations in a dish of water. If you held the tuning fork to the edge of the metal water dish, it made an interesting buzzing sound as the metal vibrated. Kids couldn't wait to get their hands on the materials to experiment themselves. We are really looking forward to another visit from Mr. Keenan next week!