Apple harvest studies with STEM

The first integrated studies subject the kindergarten students are studying is harvest. Within harvest there are many sub-categories and our first one is apples. Early fall is the time that apples are harvested. In this engineering experiment students had two pieces of paper to try to make an apple trapper to pick up the paper apples without letting their hands touch the apples.

Some students made the paper into tubes to try to scoop or suck the apples in.

Or used one tube to scoop the apple into another tube.

Some students folded the paper to make it stiffer when lifting the apples.

And some folded their paper in a way that worked like tongs. Although not every try was successful, everyone eventually found a way to grab those apples. They were excited to take them home and show their families. I was proud of their grit and determination when their tries didn't work. No one complained or quit. Great work, Bumblebees!
 

Meet the Bumblebees

Here are some of the new Bumblebee friends for 2021 -22. This first week they have begun to make friends, discover school rules, learn the schedule, attend specialist classes and experience classes, lunch and snack outside. They are off to a great start. Fly high, Bumblebees!

 

One last post for the Seabury kindergarten year of 2020-21. A wild ride of a year, sometimes at home, sometimes at school with hybrid classes and kids still at home. Lots of Zoom. But in the joy of beach day we found relaxation, play, science and friends. Students enjoyed seeing all stages of sand dollars lives, the very cool skeleton of a dog fish, and all the sand, salt water and seaweed they could enjoy. Such a lovely class. I will miss them so much. Hopefully, their first grade year will be a little more normal but I know they will have success in all they do. Happy Summer, Bumblebees! 

 

 The Bumblebees learned about Memorial Day and made poppies in remembrance of the soldiers who have given their lives for our country. Each student took the assignment and made it their own. I was particularly amazed by the number of 3 dimensional work that was done. 

The Bumblebees worked hard last week to create math board games to take home and play with their families. They built these games from scratch. Every idea was their own. Some had shapes, some counting, some adding and subtracting, multiplying and dividing. Their games were esthetically pleasing and, from all I hear, very successful and fun to play.

 

The Bumblebees won't be in kindergarten anymore when it is really flag day so we did a little early learning about the American flag. They saw the different designs our flag has gone through during its history. They learned what the stripes represent and that there is a star for every state. Afterward, they made windsocks inspired by the stars and stripes. I love all their unique designs. 

 

The Bumblebees started with 6 triangles, they chose the colors. They formed the triangles into a hexagon and then painted a picture using the hexagon as the top of the umbrella. When their paintings were dry they outlined whatever part they wanted outlined. I think their finished work is wonderful and it is hanging in our classroom art gallery.