Kindergarten Science
Hands-on, minds-on activities
Introduction to the science room...
Dear Kindergarten Parents,
The kindergarten students are so excited about coming to the science room. They eagerly check up on our many animals. First, they peek in on Cinnabon, the guinea pig and then they run over to Stinky’s pink swimming pool. They’re interest and enthusiasm is heartwarming.
They dictated to me what it means to be a scientist. I always chuckle when I do this activity. I attached their answers to pictures they drew acting like scientists. The are posted below as well.
After learning about safety in the science room, children began to learn about living and nonliving things. Living things need air, food and water. They grow and move. Living things die; I’m reinforcing the concept that “living” and “nonliving” in this instance are opposites. Rocks, plastics, glass, water are all nonliving.
We took our magnifying glasses outside in search of living and nonliving things. Students lifted rocks, scanned flowerbeds, and squealed when they found squirrels, rolie-polies, ants and centipedes. They completed a data sheet documenting the items they found.
We are also discovering that living things can be classified: mammals, reptiles, amphibians, etc. Children walked around the tables and placed plastic animals on the matching cards.
SUPER SCIENCE SATURDAY- OCTOBER 24th 9-12 Our high school students plan and teach lessons to our younger students. Don't let your child miss out on this annual highlight. Flyers went home earlier this week.
I look forward to an exciting year of science with kindergarteners.
Carpe Diem!
Diana Matthews
Elementary Science Educator
What is a scientist?
The kindergarten students dictated to me what it means to be a scientist. Their responses are below:
They find dinosaur bones. They check things out. They do experiments. They have pets. They find shells and you can look up close and see if there are tiny creatures you can find on the shell. They try new things. They use their imagination. They dig for stuff. They go somewhere and they get stuff from outside. They can make stuff. They can experiment dead animals that they find on the street and they can do experiments. They can make glass. They see what’s odd. They take frogs to the dentist. They look at potions and see what happens later. They figure out things that are not usual. They take care of all the animals. They like to do math and addition. They figure out things, make potions and work hard. Discovering new things and seeing what the world looks like. They help animals out and take care of them. They help them stay alive. They scoot dirt under buildings to see when they’re going to fall. A scientist is really adventurous and they like to find stuff. They explore. They do experiments- you get one thing and then you get another and you put them together and then you make an experiment. They have a lot of stuff to do stuff. They make things explode. It might explode if you do something wrong.