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News From the ESSK Lab: February 2019

From the ESSK Lab with Miss Tina

Hello Parents,

Although the weather has been frightfully cold this season, we have been managing to keep things heated up and exciting in the Science Lab.  

January started with our friends investigating our 5 senses. The children and I played catch with a beanbag. We all agreed it was pretty easy, but then we closed our eyes and tried again. Needless to say, we had very different results. We discussed the fact that we all knew when we missed the beanbag. With a little prompting most of the children realized that without their sight they were relying on their sense of hearing and touch.  We discussed Braille and how it benefited people who could not see. Our pre-k and kindergarten friends were amazed that the dots on the paper were actual letters. Our younger children explored a shaving cream table with their sense of touch, sight and smell.

We then moved on to our penguin unit. We learned how penguins stay warm, how they keep their eggs safe and then for fun we measured ourselves in comparison to an Emperor Penguin. Although most of us think of penguins as tiny, we were surprised to realize most of us were actually smaller than they are! We all enjoyed coating our penguins with a waxy crayon and sprinkled water on it, the paper stayed dry on the areas that were coated just like a penguins feathers do with their waxy coating!

While the classes were putting their bears to sleep, I figured it would be a good time to discuss hibernation. We all enjoyed an activity that showed us how our animal friends stay warm all winter long. Using our “blubber glove” we tested which hand stayed warmer when put in a glass of cold water. The children understood that the extra fat animals accumulate in the fall help to keep them warm throughout a long, winter’s sleep. I was as surprised as the children to learn that bears are not considered true hibernators, as they can and do wake throughout the winter.

Of course we could not start February without discussing the groundhog. We learned how shadows are made and how they change based on the position of the light. We discovered that anything transparent will not make a shadow. We also enjoyed making shadow shapes and making our shadows dance and do jumping jacks. Happily that little groundhog did not see his shadow, so an early Spring is in store for us (we hope). Based on the weather last week, he may be correct.  

Since February is considered to be National Children’s Dental Health Month, last week we investigated what soda does to our teeth and how we can keep our teeth healthy and strong. We also learned the proper technique for flossing and brushing.

As we move forward through February and into March we have many more activities planned. We will make salt crystal hearts and explore what happens to candy hearts in different situations. We will explore snowflakes and how they are formed. As always, we will celebrate the extraordinary Dr. Seuss with a special activity.

Until next month dear parents, stay warm!

Miss Tina

Extreme STEAM Science Kids Instructor

Park Shore News

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