Orcas in Space!
10/19/2019
As children get older, they begin to think about things beyond their surroundings. They often wonder about the sky and what’s beyond it. This week, we had a blast learning about Outer Space! We talked about galaxies, planets, the moon, and stars. The children worked together to build rocket ships in our block center. They strengthened their gross motor and fine motor skills by building complex structures that required balance and hand-eye coordination. Special Guest NASA engineer Ms. Su Curley visited our EK class and showed us how spacesuits consists of several layers and pieces. This interactive experience allowed the students to feel the texture of a space suit. They also had a chance to try on a space helmet and gloves! The students were excited to see real moon rocks. Mr. Rich brought moon rocks, meteors, and moon soil to show the class. The children were thrilled to hold a piece of the moon! After talking about the Milky Way Galaxy, we made galaxy slime for our sensory table. The students worked together to measure exact ingredients to make slime. We learned about measuring units including a cup, a tablespoon and a teaspoon. The children added glitter to their slime which represented the stars in the galaxy. The final result was absolutely beautiful! Our little astronauts were curious to know why the moon looked rough and dented. To find answers, we set up a representation of the moon. I filled a tub with flour, baby oil and black glitter which represented the surface of the moon. We talked about how craters on the moon are caused by asteroids and meteors colliding with the lunar surface. The children took turns dropping various sizes of rocks from different heights. They observed the “craters” and concluded that the larger meteors left a larger mark on the surface. We also talked about how the moon is more susceptible to craters from space rocks than the Earth. This is because the Earth's atmosphere will burn most meteorites and asteroids before they come in contact with its surface. However, the moon does not have an atmosphere to protect it! We displayed our galaxy slime and moon sand tubs at the Night at the Space Museum Event on Thursday. The students also created a Rocket Ship display in Art Class which was showcased at the event. Thank you for attending our event and making Space Night a success! Comments are closed.
|
Anna RamseyArchives
April 2021
Categories |