Light Explorations
/This week we launched our exploration of light. We've been reading books, watching video clips, and doing science demonstrations to learn more about light and the ways in which light travels. We were excited to learn that light is the fastest thing in our universe. We've been discussing forms of natural and artificial light. We learned that light waves travel in straight lines until they change substances or interact with a material that causes the light to change direction. We've been learning some scientific vocabulary: photons, opaque, transparent, translucent, reflect, refract, waves. Many reading groups have been reading texts related to rainbows, light, and Thomas Edison. We did a coin trick and a pencil in water demonstration as we explored refraction. This week students worked on finishing stories and creating valentines for friends and family members. Several authors shared their stories at morning meetings. Professor Martha Almendarez Langland joined us as a guest speaker to teach us about El Salvador's flag. We learned what the colors and symbols on the flag represent. She also shared her experience of immigrating to the United States when she was a child. In our outdoor explorations we examined coneflower seeds from our pollinator garden under the microscope and will be planting them tomorrow. We also discovered several insects and spiders in our outdoor classroom this week. Student engineers also created a new obstacle course for us this week and Ms. Ren taught us some new outside games. This week several students learned how to play the board game Qwirkle during our small math groups. Friday afternoon we had a picnic outside and listened to several stories read aloud by Ms. Aja. We finished our Mrs. Piggle Wiggle read aloud this week too.
