Central Idea: Observations lead to understandings.

Lines of Inquiry

• what inspires people
• the process of creating and expressing ideas
• how people respond to creative works

Key Concepts

• Form
• Causation
• Connection

• Thinkers
• Knowledgeable
• Inquires

Provocation

To connect with our Central Idea we took all of Kindergarten for a walk around the surrounding area. During this walk we tested our observation skills by experiencing the walk with all five senses. Our Kinders observed: We enjoyed going for a walk and going through tunnels, seeing magpies, running on the wet oval, walking over a fallen tree, seeing the community library and feeling the wind on my face. One kinder said: “We discovered we can make observations by smelling, hearing, feeling and hearing. We also discovered we can walk far!”.

Weather Observations

Building on our observation skills we learnt about weather patterns and how observations can lead to more accurate predictions. We also discovered that weather patterns fall into a predictable yearly cycle. Who knew? Kindergarten are now experts on all things Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn! We discussed how the weather changes and how this impacts our lives.

Some of our budding meteorologists said: We liked learning more topics to write about, drawing the pictures and showing the temperature by drawing a thermometer. They also noted that, We discovered that we observe weather each day, the weather is different everyday, the weather changes, there are different types of weather and we do different activities based in the weather.

Candle Experiment

Did you know that part of being an experimental scientist is making predictions or hypothesizing about something then conducting an experiment to observe the results. We did just that! One of the many experiments we conducted was to find out what would happen if a glass was placed over a lit candle. Some suggestions were very accurate “The flame will go out”, others were not “The glass will explode!” or “the glass will melt.”

Afterwards some reflections were: “We liked seeing the flame go out and learning what happens with fire and air.” And “We discovered when oxygen runs out the candle flame goes out and if you don’t cover the flame it won’t go out.”

Water Cycle Experiment

To further our understanding of the water cycle we conducted an experiment using shaving cream and blue water in a glass. We enjoyed watching Mrs McDevitt set up the experiment and using the shaving cream as the cloud. We discovered that our clouds could only hold about 20 drops of food dye. We also discovered that it rains because the clouds become too heavy with water.

Lifecycle Day

We explored all things lifecycles! Starting with an exploration of the lifecycle of a butterfly. We discovered that they start as an egg, hatching into a caterpillar, which builds a cocoon and becomes a butterfly.

We then had an opportunity to explore a range of other lifecycles through videos, books, specimens, craft and with a range of hands on resources. We discovered how plants grow from a seed, we make the lifecycle of a spider. We also painted a butterfly.

The children reported: We liked making spiders, learning about the lifecycle of a butterfly, looking at how animals grow inside an egg before they hatch, painting butterflies and looking at the insects.