Unit of Inquiry
Floating Boats – Boat Experiment Pt.1
This week we started our series of boat creation experiments. This week we would make boats the float. In the coming weeks we’ll start introducing the concepts of wind powered and motor powered boats, but for this introductory experiment we introduced the concepts/vocabulary of, “float, tilt, capsize, and sink” as well as the difference between “light” and “heavy”. For now, our goal is to learn what needs to be done to create a boat that can float.
We began by creating two different types of boats from sponges and from empty juice box cartons. We used materials we had in our Tinkering Box. We let everyone freely choose what they wanted to make their sails and masts from.
After we created our boats, we took the boats out into the pool to test them out. We put the boats into the water to see what would happen. All of the boats did not float in the beginning. Many of them capsized and sunk. Some of us originally made boats that were meant to be vertical, but after seeing the boats capsize and seeing the teacher show and explain why the boat doesn’t stand up vertically, they began to adjust their boats to how they thought the boat would float. Others had issues with their masts and/or sails being too heavy and/or unbalanced, so we all gathered together to think about, “what should I do to make my boat float?” After some trial and error, most of us figured out that we should remove the top heavy parts of the boats.
Art
Air, Land, and Water
We were introduced to a variety of different transportation. We then took turns sorting them into the appropriate environment-air, land, or water.
After that we created our own land, water, and air diorama! We colored an A4 sheet of paper blue and then started adding the paper collage details; road lines, sun/clouds, and waves. We finally added our boat, car, and plane! It was a 3D experience as our vehicles glided along a string. It was fun to play with.
Play
Tumbling
We tried tumbling for the first time! We decided to take it in stages; rolling, kicking, and then attempting a front roll. Everyone could roll, but it was difficult to roll in a straight line. We eventually were able to focus and control our rolling. Then when we were ready, we practiced kicking into the air while keeping our hands firmly planted on the mat. This was an important step so that we could understand how much power we needed to push our bodies forward for a front roll. Once we could do that we tried a front roll. Everyone was excited and no one hesitated to go. Some of us even tried to do it by ourself.
We end the activity ended with a classic flexibility and strength exercise, the bridge! Most learners needed a little help with proper hand placement and to push up into the bridge, but we all put in lots of effort to push our bodies up into a bridge.
Rainy Days
We had quite a few rainy days this week, but nothing kept us down. We suited up in our rain gear and rain boots before heading over to the park. We had lots of interesting plays at the park ranging from feeding the “baby” swing muddy milk, to creating a long canal from one puddle to another. Rainy days are fun!
Outing Day – Hiking Mt. Takao
This week we hiked up Mt. Takao for the firs time! We took it slow and made sure to take lots of water breaks. There were some hikers that were feeling discouraged as we started the long journey, but they were still motivated to get to the top. We got lots of encouragement from not only our teacher and classmates, but also from the many friendly hikers we met along the way. It took us a while, but we never gave up and made it to the top! We were probably the youngest group of hikers on the mountain. With the excitement from reaching the top, on the way down we made sure to give a little extra encouragement to the other hikers around us.
On the way down, our hikers used all their power to go to the top, so we took it pretty slow. However, we actually ended up making it back on schedule to the cable car and had extra time to enjoy and savor our dango treats for the long way home. Our teachers are so proud of us for not giving up until we reached the top. Great Job!