2012 Phase III
Culminating events
Questions Answered- Children expressed a desire to write about what they had learned. The questions they had come up with at the beginning of the study were reviewed. Each child was able to answer their question from the field experiences, experts or books that had been in the classroom. With different writing abilities, the mixed age group of campers wrote the answers to their questions, shared them with the group and then they were displayed on the bulletin board for all to see.
Model- At one meeting, children talked about creating a model of a pond. Using clay, pipe cleaners and natural materials each child created a replica of pond life to go on a display for parents and the CYC community to see.
A "Can you find...." sign was made that gave a list of items made with the child's name. For instance "Can you find the catfish made by Anna."
Boat Trip- During the final week of summer camp, a pontoon boat trip on a local river was planned. Children were asked what they might expect to see on the river, which was explained as a wide stream. Two of the children had already experienced the pontoon boat and were able to come up with life they had seen previously. The others guessed the same animals that they had seen in the smaller streams. Several parents joined us and the occasion ended with a picnic.
Reflections
Pond and stream life proved to be a wonderful summer camp study due to the abundance of field trips, visitors and hands on activities. The warm summer temperatures allowed for children to get into the water for exploration. Even though the group of children were diverse and from different backgrounds, it was nice to see that they all enjoyed the topic. Such a basic study seems to be of universal interest to the preschool child.
Although all of the children's initial questions were answered, it would have been good to have had a few more weeks to explore this topic. A subtopic of turtles sprouted from the original study and children talked about writing a book to reflect what they had learned. Some of the photographs the children had taken of the stream were never used and it was thought that they could have written or dictated captions for these to eventually compile as a book or Powerpoint presentation.
It would have been great to revisit the pond or stream for a more in depth investigation and to generate a new list of questions with new found knowledge guiding their interests. One of the initial desires of the study from one of the teachers, was to build a pond. There was a space in the garden just outside of the classroom that could have been used for the children to dig a hole and some plastic was found to line it with. There were even rocks in the garden leftover from a rock study that would have enhanced the process. Unfortunately, with the time allowed this proved impossible.
Words like life cycle, habitat, prey and predators could have been explored in more depth. Activities using animal tracks and signs of life could have been initiated such as casting animal tracks or comparing the children's own tracks. Dr. Bely brought up using the five senses to explore the world around them and this too could have been expanded on. A game of what is alive and what is not could have reinforced this idea too.
Parent Comments
Coming soon
