Jersey City Public Schools Early Childhood Department Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I'll understand.

Transcription

1 Jersey City Public Schools Early Childhood Department Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I'll understand. STEAM: INQUIRY BASED LEARNING Unit of Study Title: Balls Name: Margaret Da Costa Pereira School/Center: Jersey City Day Care 100 Index It all started when Teacher Preparation Resource Hunt Study Web K-W-L Chart Activities Aha! Moments Photo Opportunity Teachers Helpful Hints Documentation Panel

2 It all started when In the box below, please state the originating idea for your study. We had an open discussion during Greeting Time about balls. We then created a KWL chart as the children were gathering information about what they knew about balls and what they wanted to learn about balls. Some of the things the children shared with the group were: MV I have a Spiderman ball. JV My ball bounces really high. DM My ball is broken. Then I asked DM, How did your ball break? DM said, It s flat. T- Why do you think your ball became flat? DM I don t know. T Would you like to find out? DM Yes! After a few back and forth exchanges, we decided to further investigate what makes a ball bounce, what s inside of a ball, and how to make a ball.

3 TEACHER PREPARATION Materials needed: Variety of balls E.g., tennis balls, basketball, soccer balls, whiffle balls, golf balls, marbles, bouncy balls, ping pong balls, beach balls, bowling balls, etc. cardboard tubes plastic tubes funnels discovery ramps wooden blocks painters tape strips of construction paper paper plates pipe cleaners sink and float chart water large container measuring tape outside slides (inclined planes) parachute paint metal trays computer camera writing materials measuring spoons air pump playdough aluminum yarn

4 RESOURCES Books Watch me throw the ball Mo Willems Balls! Michael J. Rosen Balls!- Melanie Davis Jones Peanut and Fifi have a Ball Randall De Seve Elmo s World: Balls! Can I play, too? Mo Willems Watch me throw the ball! Mo Willems A Ball for Daisy Chris Raschka Websites Songs Ball ramps: Ball Bouncing Inside of a basketball Pass the ball sung to the song, Pass the beanbag. Take me out to the ball game Fingerplays/Chants Basketball sight word chant Students pretend to dribble and shoot as we spell the sight word, y-o-u-! spells you!

5 Poems Bounce the ball My ball is round Parents/Home- School Connection STEAM letter to parents (see attached) Ball hunt Ball show and tell

6 Dear Parent(s): STEAM education stands for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. All throughout your child s Preschool year we are learning content from each of these areas. Now we are going to focus on a study of Balls, incorporating all of these areas of STEAM. We choose to do a study on balls from the interest of the children, deriving from conversations they had with us about their personal experiences with balls. Also, from their conversations about balls during Greeting Time when we created a KWL chart about what the students know and want to learn about balls. Given an opportunity please talk to your children about this topic. You can connect any experiences they have had playing sports that involve balls or to the experiences they are having in the classroom with discovering the many things you can do with balls. Throughout the next month you may send your child s favorite ball to school so he/she can share with the class. Please feel free to share anything else that you think may have a connection to our study! We look forward to sharing our discoveries with you as our study on balls progresses! Best Regards, Ms. Maggie & Ms. Reina Queridos padre(s): La educación del STEAM significa ciencia, tecnología, ingeniería, arte y matemáticas. Durante todo el año preescolar de su hija/o, estarán aprendiendo el contenido de cada una de estas áreas. Ahora nos vamos a enfocar en el estudio de las Pelotas, incorporando todos estos áreas de STEAM. Este tema viene del interés de los niños, derivando de las conversaciones que tuvieron con nosotros acerca de sus experiencias personales con las Pelotas. Tambien, de sus conversaciones sobre las Pelotas durante el tiempo del saludo cuando creamos un gráfico KWL sobre lo que los estudiantes saben y quieren aprender sobre las pelotas. Dada una oportunidad por favor hable con sus hijos sobre este tema. Puede conectar cualquier experiencia que haya tenido practicando deportes que involucren las Pelotas o las experiencias que están teniendo en el aula con aprender sobre ellos en profundidad y descubrir las muchas cosas que usted puede hacer con las pelotas. Durante el próximo mes, usted puede enviar la pelota favorita de su hijo/a a la escuela para que él / ella pueda compartir con la clase. Por favor, siéntase libre de compartir cualquier otra cosa que usted piensa que puede conectarse a nuestro estudio! Esperamos compartir con nosotros nuestros descubrimientos y creaciones! Atentamente, Sra. Maggie y la Sra. Reina

7 K What do you KNOW? You can throw a ball. MV You can catch the ball. DM I like to play basketball. DK Balls bounce. LH They come in different sizes. Balls and big and small. JV My ball bounces really high. -JV Balls are round. RL My ball is broken. It s flat. -DM W What do you WANT to know? How high can the bouncy ball go? - JV Which ball bounces higher? Which balls do not bounce? Do balls sink or float? What s inside a basketball? -LH Why did the ball become flat? -DM How can we make a ball? What do we need to create a ramp for our balls? Do all balls roll? L What did you LEARN? The bouncy ball bounced the highest. JV The marble don t bounce. AS The balls float! GL Air is inside a basketball. It don t have any air. DM We can make a ball using playdough. RL My ball rolls. MC We need the long blocks. Then he put it on top of another block. Now the balls can roll -MV

8 Study Web Science -Test predictions in a sink & float experiment. -Discover what s inside a basketball. -Use ramps to explore how far/fast different balls roll. Math -Classify, sort, order balls. -Make a ball pictograph. -Measure how far the ball rolls and bounces. -Compare groups of balls. Title: Balls Technology -Take pictures of children working. -Watch Youtube videos on how to make a ball ramp, what s inside a basketball, which balls bounce? Engineering Art -Marble painting -Create 3D works of art using playdough, aluminum, or yarn. -Paint a ball. -Marble painting -Create 3D works of art using playdough, aluminum, or yarn. -Paint a ball.

9 Activity 1: Paper Plate Marble Maze This lesson addresses the following area(s): (Please check one or more) Science Technology Engineering X Art X Mathematics Daily Routine: Small Group _X Large Group Outdoor/Indoor Transition Other Originating Idea: After adding balls to the block area, JE created a tunnel for the balls. Standards/COR items: Use imagination to solve problems, use materials, role play, write stories, move the body, or create works of art E.g., create pretend spinach out of torn green construction paper to make a sandwich. ATL Materials: Marbles, paper plates, tape, pipe cleaners, strips of construction paper Beginning: Using imagination to create a maze on the paper plate, students will use trial and error to tape a variety of materials, such as, strips of paper, yarn, pipe cleaners onto the paper plate to create a maze for the marbles. Teacher will say, Here are some materials to use to create your maze. Encourage peer to peer problem solving. For example, Can you hold this while I put the tape? Middle: Demonstrate how to use the paper strips to create tunnels. Also, show them how they can use the pipe cleaners and yarn to make pathways for the marbles. While modeling ask children for their opinion, How should I stick the tape? or The tape isn t sticking does anyone have a solution? End: When students are just about done with their mazes ask them to explain how they did it and if any one helped them in the process. Give them each a marble to test on their maze. Have children switch with a peer to test out another way of creating a maze.

10 Higher Order Questions: I wonder what will happen when you put your marble on the paper plate maze. How did you create the tunnels and pathways for your maze? Scaffolding Technique: How can we get the pipe cleaners to bend to make a tunnel? When students were having difficulty getting their tunnels and pathways to stick, teacher encouraged peers to help one another. Child Anecdotes: AS I made a tunnel. Jeylani helped me. JR The ball goes around and around. JV I worked with Alana. The ball went under and around. REFLECTIONS: What worked was pairing the children to work together in creating a marble maze. While one is holding down the materials (strips of paper and pipe cleaners) the other one is taping it to the plate. New vocabulary: Marbles Maze Tunnel Pathways

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13 Activity 2: Which balls bounce/roll? This lesson addresses the area(s) of: (Please check one or more) Science x Technology x Engineering Art Mathematics x_ Daily Routine: Small Group x Large Group Outdoor/Indoor Transition Other Originating Idea: When working with marbles the previous day, we noticed when the marbles fell on the floor they didn t bounce. Standards/COR items: Observe, question, predict, and investigate materials, objects, and phenomena during classroom activities indoors and outdoors and during any longer-term investigations in progress. Seek answers to questions and test predictions using simple experiments or research media. S Sort, order, pattern, and classify objects by measurable attributes E.g., length, height, and width. M Use the internet to explore and investigate questions with a teacher s support. T Materials: A variety of balls, measuring tape, writing materials, computer, inclined plane, and yarn Beginning: After previously watching a video on which balls can bounce students will be observing, predicting, and investigating which ball will roll the furthest and bounce the highest. Students will each be given one ball to test and they will measure the length using a low inclined ramp, non-standard and standard measurement. Before beginning, ask students to predict which ball they think will go the furthest. Then say, I wonder what we are going to use to measure the balls? Does anyone know how we can measure how far or how high the balls will go? Middle: If students are unsure, say, Here are some materials we can use to measure how far the ball will roll. Show children the blocks, yarn, and tape measurer. After all the students took a turn rolling their ball, teacher will say I wonder how we are going to use these materials to measure the distance. Then ask, I wonder what ball rolled the furthest? What ball rolled the closest? Were our predictions right? How do you know? Now we are going to measure the ball in different way. We are going to test to see which ball bounces the highest. Students will gather around near the wall where there is a piece of measuring tape. Students will take turns dropping their ball on the ground and the teacher will put a piece of tape where the ball bounced at its highest point.

14 End: After all the students took turns dropping their ball. Ask, What ball bounced the highest? What ball bounced the lowest? That s right the balls that are made out of rubber tend to bounce higher than the balls that are hallow or made out of plastic. If you have a small ball please drop it in the basket. If you have a big ball you may now drop it in the basket. Higher Order Questions: I wonder what we are going to use to measure the balls. Does anyone know how we can measure how far or how high the balls will go? I wonder what ball rolled the furthest. What ball rolled the closest? Were our predictions right? How do you know? Scaffolding Technique: Teacher demonstrated the action and paired it with the word. Examples: Bounce (Teacher bounced the ball). Bounce high (Teacher bounced the ball really high) and Bounce low (Teacher gently bounced the ball.) Child Anecdotes: The bouncy ball bounced the highest. JV The golfball didn t bounce. AS Jospeh ball next to mine. -GL REFLECTIONS: When rolling the balls on the carpet the balls didn t roll as far so it was easier to measure the distance that each balled rolled. Bouncing the balls on the carpet made the balls bounce a lot lower than on the wood floors. New vocabulary: Bounce Low, high Far, close Measure Length, Height

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16 Activity 3: How to Make a ball This lesson addresses the area(s) of: (Please check one or more) Science x Technology Engineering x Art x_ Mathematics Daily Routine: Small Group x Large Group Outdoor/Indoor Transition Other Originating Idea: AC was working with playdough and she made several balls by molding the playdough into a ball. Standards/COR items: Bring a teacher-directed or self-initiated task, activity or project to completion. Approaches to Learning Investigate how and why things move S Materials: Playdough, aluminum, yarn, tape, ramp, basket Beginning: Use a variety of materials, such as aluminum, paper, felt, tape, or clay to create a ball. Teacher will say, Today we are going to use different materials to make a ball. I wonder how we are going to get the shape of a ball. Does anyone know how we have to use our hands to make the ball round? After showing the children the different materials they can use, model using one of the above materials. Middle: Encourage children to bring the project to a completion by saying, I know you can do it. If you need help you can ask a friend to show you how they did it again. After everyone has created a ball teacher will bring one long rectangular block and one short one to the table to create a ramp. Have children predict whether or not their ball will roll down the ramp. Children will investigate how and why their ball did or did not roll down the ramp. End: Ask, Why do you think your ball didn t roll down the ramp? What do you think you need to do to make your ball go down the ramp faster? Have children sort the materials and place them back where they belong.

17 Higher Order Questions: Why do you think your ball didn t roll down the ramp? What do you think you need to do to make your ball go down the ramp faster? Scaffolding Technique: To show the children what fast and slow meant teacher had students roll their arms fast and slow. Teacher showed various objects that were round (e.g. ball, circle, and button). Child Anecdotes: The playdough rolls! MC My ball bounces! DM I m going to see if my ball can roll. JV REFLECTIONS: Children added a basket at the end of the ramp to catch the balls from falling off the table. Students also tested to see if their ball bounced. Next time, we will try and make a ball of rubber bands instead of using yarn. The yarn was difficult for the children to put together and tape to create a ball. New vocabulary: Inclined plane Fast Slow Round Bumpy

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19 Activity 4: Circumference of a Ball This lesson addresses the area(s) of: (Please check one or more) Science x Technology Engineering Art Mathematics _x Daily Routine: Small Group x Large Group Outdoor/Indoor Transition Other Originating Idea: DM said to his peer, My ball is bigger. Standards/COR items: Observe, question, predict, and investigate materials, objects, and phenomena during classroom activities indoors and outdoors and during any longer-term investigations in progress. Seek answers to questions and test predictions using simple experiments or research media. S Materials: Measuring tape, pipe cleaners, yarn, variety of different sized balls Beginning: observing, predicting, and investigating the circumference of a ball. Students will each be given one ball to measure the circumference using nonstandard and standard measurement. Before beginning say we are going to measure the circumference of the balls. The circumference is the distance around the ball. Middle: Then ask students to predict which ball will have a short or long circumference. I wonder what we are going to use to measure the circumference of the balls. Does anyone know how we can measure the distance around the balls? If students are unsure say, Here are some materials we can use to measure the distance around the balls. Show children the yarn, different size pipe cleaners, and measuring tape. I wonder how we are going to use these materials to measure the distance of the balls. End: When the children have finished measuring their balls circumference, have them lay their measurement next to the ball and compare the distances with the other balls.

20 Higher Order Questions: How do we know which ball is the biggest? Smallest? What kind of materials can we use to measure the circumference of the ball? Scaffolding Technique: Teacher explained and demonstrated using various measuring tools E.g., measuring tape and ruler. After demonstrating how we measure objects teacher then showed students non-standard ways of measuring. E.g., yarn, pipe cleaners, paper strips. Child Anecdotes: The bouncy ball is the smallest. AS The soccer ball is big! MC My ball is the same as Alana. -JV REFLECTIONS: It was helpful to create a chart showing children the different measurements of the circumference of each ball. New vocabulary: Circumference Small Big Measure Distance

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22 Activity 5: Sink & Float This lesson addresses the area(s) of: (Please check one or more) Science x Technology Engineering Art Mathematics Daily Routine: Small Group _x Large Group Outdoor/Indoor Transition Other Originating Idea: New/unexplored materials Standards/COR items: Observe, question, predict, and investigate materials, objects, and phenomena during classroom activities indoors and outdoors and during any longer-term investigations in progress. Seek answers to questions and test predictions using simple experiments or research media. S Materials: Variety of balls, large container, water, sink & float chart, writing materials Beginning: Children will observe, question, and predict whether or not the balls will sink or float. Children will seek answers to questions and test predictions by putting a variety of balls in water to determine whether it sink or float. Teacher will ask, I wonder what will happen if we put a golf ball inside the water? What is the object made of? Middle:Students will test a soccer ball, whiffle ball, bouncy ball, golf ball, ping pong ball, tennis ball, and a basketball. Encourage student to make a mark on their papers before testing to graph whether they think the object is going to sink or float. After students have tested their predictions ask the students, Why they think the objects sunk vs. floated. End: Explain to them that objects filled with air float. There are tiny particles in objects and if they are loose, they will float. If they are packed tight, they will sink (e.g., Float- wood, boat, foam, sponge; Sink- penny, paperclip, rock, key).

23 Higher Order Questions: I wonder what will happen if we put a golf ball inside the water. What is the object made of? Why do you they think the objects sunk vs. floated? Scaffolding Technique: Teacher showed a variety of pictures before and during the lesson that showed objects that sunk and floated. Teacher encouraged children to identify the type of object (e.g., glass, plastic, or wood). For ELL students: teacher narrated what they were doing with each object (Say, You are going to test the glass marble? What happened to the plastic whiffle ball? Did the wooden ball sink?). Child Anecdotes: Floated! JR It went under. JV 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 balls float. AS More balls float. -MC REFLECTIONS: It definitely helped having previously done a sink & float experiment for children to have prior knowledge in order to make more accurate predictions. New vocabulary: Float Sink Glass Plastic Air

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25 Teacher s Helpful Hints Marble Painting What helped when we used marbles to paint was to thin out the paint before giving to the children otherwise the ball won t roll as well. Marble Maze What worked was pairing the children to work together in creating a marble maze. While one is holding down the materials (strips of paper and pipe cleaners) the other one is taping it to the plate. Next time, I will try using straws and encourage the children to work together to create one big marble maze on a thin cardboard box. How to make a ball? The children were engaged in creating their own ball. The playdough was the easiest way of creating a ball that can roll down the ramp. Aluminum was also an easy way to create a ball. Next time, we will try and make a ball of rubber bands instead of using yarn. The yarn was difficult for the children to put together and tape to create a ball. Although it was good for the ones who like a challenge!

26 Aha Moments! Moments of sudden insight, discovery, or realization! Students First Name Students Response 1. Jeylani My ball doesn t roll. It s not round. We had to then figure out how we can make the ball round enough to roll down the ramp. 2. Dante During the make a ball activity DM said, My ball bounces! Then we tested the balls we had created to see if they would bounce. 3.Max During the How high can a ball bounce activity MV bounced his ball on the carpet and noticed it didn t bounce as high. He said, It doesn t bounce high on the carpet. We then tested different surfaces to find out the outcome. 4. Robin When testing balls on the ramp the balls kept rolling off the table. RL put a small bin at the end of the ramp to prevent the balls from falling off the table. He said, I caught the balls! 5. Amanda She took different balls and tested them to see which one would roll the furthest by rolling them down the slide on the play shaper. 6. Joseph Joseph used the pom poms in another way. He used them to fill up the entire bottle. We predicted how many pom poms it took to fill up the entire bottle. JR predicted Taylor We can use the water bottles in the water beads table. 8. Josiah After forming a ball with the playdough and testing to see if it rolled Josiah shouted, It rolled! 9. Maxx The soccer ball is the biggest.

27 10. La Quan I can bounce the ball. 11. Gabriela Look Ms. Maggie. The ball floated! 12.Alana We need tape to keep the cardboard ramp from falling.

28 Documentation Panel/Bulletin Board Photos

29 Additional PHOTO OP JR A pelota. ( A ball)

30 "The ball rolls!" -DM "I did it!" -MA "I make lines." -RL

31 "Look. Ms. Maggie!" -AC "I want to look up how to make a ramp." -AS

32 "I have three baseballs. I play with my daddy and Kenny." -MV "I made a tunnel for the balls." -AS "The ball went through the tunnel." -JV