I posed a problem for the kindergartners to solve by using their knowledge about pushes and pulls! A dad of another teacher was out west visiting the national parks. He went to see some bison close up at a zoo and his hat blew into the pen with the bison! How could he get the hat out of the pen (without going in and upsetting the bison)?
We used a rope to create the bison pen. Check out our bison actors and our problems solvers using a push or pull to retrieve the hat!
The kindergartners applied that they have been learning about forces (for ex. a push moves objects away; a pull moves objects toward; a strong push moves an object a long distance and a gentle push moves an object a shorter distance) by creating a game that included a push or pull! Check out these kindergartners hard at working planning and playing their games!
Shake it baby, shake it! Shake it in a can! Shake it like a milkshake and pass it to a friend!
The kindergartners made heavy cream into butter with a lot of shaking and enjoyed the butter on crackers for snack!
As part of our science unit about forces, the kindergartners have been learning about how animals use pushes and pulls. The kindergartners watched videos showing how weaver birds push and pull dried grasses and twigs to make nests and how dung beetles push dung balls. Then we used models to feel those forces in our bodies. The kindergartners used sewing cards like weaver birds weave nests. They also used a yoga ball as a model of a dung ball and tried pushing it like a dung beetle!
