Over the past couple of weeks we have been investigating the idea of force. We started out thinking about the movement words, “push” and “pull”.  We used some drama skills to dig a small hole and then we dug a whole pool!

Next, we used the idea of push and pull to create some artwork with finger paint.

Today we thought about pushing and pulling with a little bit of strength and a lot of strength. We set up a crane and wrecking ball, a couple of houses and a wall of cups.

The goal was to use the wrecking ball to knock down the wall without hitting the houses. Students talked as they experimented and came up with ideas about pulling the ball further back, pulling to the side and pushing the ball.

It was a fun inquiry! Thank-you Mystery Science  for the inspiration!

Our apple inquiry is in full swing!

First we started with a schema map.  We talked about what we already know, or think we know, about apples.

Then we began reading.  We have been reading lots of books about apples, both fiction and non-fiction. As we discover new information we are adding it to our schema map. If we discover that something we thought we knew is a misconception we’ll “let that apple fall out of the tree”!

A fun experiment was started as well.  We cut an apple in half to look inside and see the parts of an apple.  Students talked about seeds, flesh, core, skin, and stem.  The apple was left overnight and students observed the changes in colour and texture.  We’ll keep the observation going and make note of the changes we observe.

Other apple activities have been going on throughout the day. Students learned about a stamping art technique by making apple stamp paintings. We have also begun to build an apple tree in our classroom.  There has been a lot of cutting and pasting as apples are added to the tree.

Our apple adventure will continue next week as we discover more interesting facts, create pieces of art, and conduct more experiments!