How Wheels Came To Be
2/22/2019
This week we explored the history of wheels. We talked about what the world would be like without wheels and how ancient peoples didn't always have wheels. We looked though non-fiction books to find pictures of people moving things with horses, sleighs, and on their backs. We learned that before wheels when people wanted to move really really heavy things, like building stones, they used special types of sleds called sledges to drag the rock. Over the week we followed the development of wheels from sledges to the addition of rollers to help move the sledges more easily, and then the transition of making rollers into wheels. We explored this history in many ways, but most excitedly we experienced and compared each of these methods with a laundry basket and our friends as weights. What the Explores told me they learned was that dragging the sled took the most pullers (6 students) and was the slowest. Using rollers was much easier (only 2 student pullers), but not any faster since you had to move the rollers. Wheels were the fastest and took the least amount of effort (1 student could pull 2 kids). Physically exploring the history of wheels with our own selves was engaging and a meaningful way to teach social studies, physics, and history to children who many would think too young to understand these concepts. Fixing a Flat Tire
2/15/2019
In our wheel study we have learned a lot about wheels, but we hadn't yet seen what was inside a wheel. This week we had a bike commuter visit our class to talk about how he uses wheels to get to work. He also showed us what was inside a bike wheel and demonstrated how to fix a flat tire. Our Explores were excited to see the different type of bikes, road and fat tire. As our guest speaker took apart a bike wheel he helped the students name the parts, tire, tube, rim/wheel, and axel. They loved touching each of these parts and were enthusiastic to help take a bike wheel apart and see all the components. The students had good questions informed by what we had already learned about wheels, as well as their own experiences with bikes. We love having guest speakers come to our class. Guest speakers allow us to connect to our community, interact with experts on the topics we are studying, provide us with hands-on learning, and apply our studies to practical real world situations. We are not just learning about wheels because they are cool toys, we are studying wheels because they are the simple machines that allow so much of our world to function. Guest speakers are also an important part of Project Based Learning. Elevating our students' study through PBL allows us as teachers to provide as many resources as possible to help our students learn. Adding conversations with experts to our learning enhances what we already do in the classroom with fiction and nonfiction books, experiments, collections, art projects, making models, and dramatic play allowing for deeper investigations and more memorable learning. Valentine's Day Celebrating friendship and learning the value of written language. Family Breakfast
Thank you to everyone who came and helped us complete our car project. I know it isn't always easy to attend, but it is validating and empowering to our students to be able to demonstrate and share their learning with you! Wheel Day!
2/8/2019
Earlier in our Wheel Study, while discussing the parts of a wheel and looking at skateboard and unicycle axles, the Explorers came up with the idea of having a Wheel Day. They talked excitedly about bringing in bikes and scooters. As a teacher I was thrilled to see their interest. I was also excited because I knew that we could make Wheel Day a reality. It was a perfect opportunity for student led learning and a perfect way for preschoolers to explore and learn about wheels. And explore we did. Wheel Day was a wonderful experience. The students were able to try out many different types of wheels. Wheels you made go by pushing with your feet, wheels that went because of pedals, wheels that lit up, wheels that went fast, and wheels that went slow. They rode on two wheels, three wheels, and four wheels. Everyone tried a new type of wheels that they hadn't ridden before and learned that some wheels are harder to balance on than others! The 100th Day of School! This week we also celebrated the 100th day of school and all the learning we have been doing. We made hats, counted 100 steps down the hall, shared our 100 things collections, and dressed up like we were 100 years old. We also joined the beginners, kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade for special 100's Day activities in the gym. It was great to get to interact with students from different grades, learning new ways to stack tall 100 cup towers and make 100's art projects. Our Explorers cherish these experiences where they get to learn with the "big kids." More Highlights from the Week ~using ramps to race and learn about friction ~painting our pinewood derby cars ~exploring water wheels ~counting and patterning with wheels Finding and investigating wheels in the parking lot! Wheels Everywhere
2/1/2019
In our Wheel Study this week we focused on what objects have wheels. We started an ongoing list of "Things That Have Wheels and Axles." We looked at what powers wheels and sorted our wheel cards based on what makes them go: gas/engines, pedals, or pushing. Our Wheel show-and-tell was a big hit and allowed us to see even more examples of wheels. For our show-and-tell we had a climbing pulley, a gyro toy, a remote control car, a wheel gear, and a variety of toy vehicles with wheels. This week we also looked at things that have wheels but are not vehicles. We explored gears in music boxes, wind up toys, clocks, and each made our own pinwheels. On Friday after reading "If I Built a Car" by Chris van Dunsen, we made blueprints of the type of cars we would like to design. We designed monster trucks, shark cars, unicorn cars, spike cars, and more. I then brought out pinewood racing blocks for making cars. Our Explorers worked hard sanding down the blocks to get them ready for painting on Monday. Hopefully we will be able to bring our designs to life! We took a romp through the snow to our back field to explore a large flat bed trailer and it's wheels. This was a wonderful way to see and touch real vehicle wheels, to find all the parts of wheels, and investigate with our whole bodies.
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April 2021
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