Allie's+RL-Connection+page

10/22 The other day in school, we did apple pressing as a special activity. While I was watching my students turn the crank to press the apples, I started thinking about whether the same method would work for other fruits. One possible activity could be to experiment with different fruit to see which produce the most fruit juice from the press. Students could hypothesize about which fruits they think would produce the most, and there are several different ways in which we could document our findings, one being a bar graph of amount of juice produced.

Domain: Science, Experiments (CC: This is a very good idea. Measurement and graphs are easily incorporated into this activity, as well as categorizing different fruits and describing other properties of different fruits.)

11/18 I was cleaning out some of our kitchen cabinets with my roommate, and we found a box of coffee filters that we have never used, since none of us drink coffee. Rather than throw them out, I thought about using them to show my students all of the colors that are "hidden" within black ink. This is a good chance to make predictions and follow through with the experimental method. We could then try different colors of ink to see if what we already know about colors and color mixing holds true when it comes to ink.

Domain: Science, Experiments (CC: There are a lot we can do with coffee filters. Definitely, using different types of black markers or ink can show how black can be made different mixtures of colors! In fact, you can try the same with other color markers as well. Have children figure out, what if they reverse the process. Do we get the same color when we mix together the various colors that we see on the filter?) I kind of want to try that just so I know, because now I'm really curious...

We have four cockroaches in our class that we have not done much with, and I was thinking that an interesting activity could be for students to observe each one separately, writing detailed records of each cockroach's appearance and behavior. During the observation process, I would like everyone to make note of the similarities and differences among the four, with this central question in mind: Do all of our cockroaches look/act the same?

Domain: Science, Observations and Comparisons

On a similar note, another possible activity could be to provide some kind of uncommon "mystery" plant or other specimen for which children can record observations, using their senses and descriptive vocabulary. They could also predict what they think the mystery specimen is called. I thought of this while I was listening to Molly's presentation, because it is sort of a reversed version of what she did with the kumquat.

Domain: Science, Observations and Predictions

It's snowing! I was thinking about how to make snow, since not all young children (e.g. preschool) know that snow is "frozen rain," aka ice. I could use a blender to grind up a lot of ice until it's the same fine consistency of snow (or at least of slush), so that children can observe what snow is like, even when there is none on the ground. That's probably how snow cones are made? In any case, I would definitely show my class the process of how to use the blender to grind up the ice, since it is a useful technology.

Domain: both Science and Technology

This is a modified recipe idea that I had while I was eating Chex Mix. I was thinking that instead of measuring out however many cups of each of the ingredients, I could have children count one hundred of each for the Chex, pretzels, etc. and see if that's enough for the class. If I have four small groups at tables, each group counts 100 of something. This would especially be appropriate for first graders, who are learning decade rules.

Domain: Mathematics, one-to-one correspondence, cardinal principle

With all of the number line work that we do in the classroom, I think it would be really fun to make a human number line! Using tape and/or dry erase markers on the floor, I would be able to create a number line on which kids can physically do the jumps between numbers. This would be a good way to introduce number lines to younger children. It would also help children who do not yet understand how to "count on" in addition.

Domain: Mathematics, stable order rule, arithmatics

One thing that I have thought about doing with my preschoolers before is a "shape treasure hunt" to see if they know their shapes and can identify them in and out of doors. I could either make an actual map where my students have to follow the shape clues in order to get to a treasure, or I could just have them look for various shapes in the classroom.

Domain: Mathematics, Geometry

I am always looking for ways to incorporate the arts into everyday instruction, and I was inspired when I knocked into my water glass to identify a way to incorporate music and science (although I know music is also very mathematical). One way to teach children about pitch and reverberation is to do the old demonstration with water glasses filled up to different volumes to show how sound changes. In particular, it would be exciting to predict what it would sound like to tap a large glass vase or pitcher while filling it up... and then try it out, of course.

Domain: Science, Experimentation

Kids in my class spill their water a lot, and cleaning it up with paper towels gave me an idea for an experiment. If I brought in several different types of porous and non-porous materials, would my class be able to predict which materials could best soak up the water from a spill? They would definitely know how it would work with sponges, but they may not know what to expect from materials like copy paper, cotton, leather, cardboard, etc. It would be an interesting exploration to explain why some materials absorb water and others do not.

Domain: Science, Experimentation