Jersey City Public Schools Early Childhood Department 2016-2017 “Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I'll understand.” STEAM: INQUIRY BASED LEARNING Unit of Study Title: Balls Name: Margaret Da Costa Pereira School/Center: Jersey City Day Care 100 Index It all started when… Teacher Preparation Resource Hunt Study Web K-W-L Chart Activities “Aha!” Moments Photo Opportunity Teachers Helpful Hints Documentation Panel
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“Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may remember ...jcpsnj.jcboe.org/boe2015/images/Curriculum__Instruction/EC/Ball-ST… · Originating Idea: After adding balls to the block
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Jersey City Public Schools
Early Childhood Department
2016-2017
“Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I'll understand.”
STEAM: INQUIRY BASED LEARNING
Unit of Study
Title: Balls
Name: Margaret Da Costa Pereira
School/Center: Jersey City Day Care 100
Index It all started when…
Teacher Preparation
Resource Hunt
Study Web
K-W-L Chart
Activities
“Aha!” Moments
Photo Opportunity
Teachers Helpful Hints
Documentation Panel
It all started when…
In the box below, please state the originating idea for your study.
We had an open discussion during Greeting Time about balls. We then
created a KWL chart as the children were gathering information about
what they knew about balls and what they wanted to learn about balls.
Some of the things the children shared with the group were: MV “I
have a Spiderman ball. JV “My ball bounces really high.” DM “My ball is
broken.” Then I asked DM, “How did your ball break?” DM said, “It’s
flat.” T-“Why do you think your ball became flat?” DM “I don’t know.” T
“Would you like to find out?” DM “Yes!”
After a few back and forth exchanges, we decided to further
investigate what makes a ball bounce, what’s inside of a ball, and how to
Beginning: Use a variety of materials, such as aluminum, paper, felt, tape, or clay to
create a ball. Teacher will say, “Today we are going to use different materials to make
a ball. I wonder how we are going to get the shape of a ball. Does anyone know how we
have to use our hands to make the ball round?” After showing the children the
different materials they can use, model using one of the above materials. Middle: Encourage children to bring the project to a completion by saying, “I know you
can do it. If you need help you can ask a friend to show you how they did it again.
After everyone has created a ball teacher will bring one long rectangular block and
one short one to the table to create a ramp. Have children predict whether or not
their ball will roll down the ramp. Children will investigate how and why their ball did
or did not roll down the ramp.
End: Ask, “Why do you think your ball didn’t roll down the ramp? What do you think
you need to do to make your ball go down the ramp faster? Have children sort the
materials and place them back where they belong.
Child Anecdotes: “The playdough rolls!” –MC
“My ball bounces!” –DM
“I’m going to see if my ball can roll.” –JV
REFLECTIONS:
Children added a basket at
the end of the ramp to
catch the balls from falling
off the table.
Students also tested to see
if their ball bounced.
Next time, we will try and
make a ball of rubber bands
instead of using yarn. The
yarn was difficult for the
children to put together and
tape to create a ball.
Higher Order Questions: Why do you think your ball didn’t roll down the ramp?
What do you think you need to do to make your ball go down the ramp faster?
New vocabulary:
Inclined plane
Fast
Slow
Round
Bumpy
Scaffolding Technique: To show the children what fast and slow meant teacher had students roll their
arms fast and slow. Teacher showed various objects that were round (e.g. ball,
circle, and button).
PHOTO OP
Activity 4: Circumference of a Ball
This lesson addresses the area(s) of: (Please check one or more) Science x Technology Engineering Art ____ Mathematics _x__
Daily Routine:
Small Group __x__ Large Group ____ Outdoor/Indoor ____ Transition ____
Other ________________
Originating Idea: DM said to his peer, “My ball is bigger.”
Standards/COR items: Observe, question, predict, and investigate materials, objects, and phenomena
during classroom activities indoors and outdoors and during any longer-term
investigations in progress. Seek answers to questions and test predictions using
simple experiments or research media. S 5.1.2
Sort, order, pattern, and classify objects by measurable attributes E.g., length,
height, and width. M 4.3.1.
Materials: Measuring tape, pipe cleaners, yarn, variety of different sized balls
Beginning: observing, predicting, and investigating the circumference of a ball.
Students will each be given one ball to measure the circumference using non-
standard and standard measurement. Before beginning say we are going to
measure the circumference of the balls. The circumference is the distance
around the ball. Middle: Then ask students to predict which ball will have a short or long
circumference. “I wonder what we are going to use to measure the
circumference of the balls. Does anyone know how we can measure the
distance around the balls? If students are unsure say, “Here are some
materials we can use to measure the distance around the balls.” Show children
the yarn, different size pipe cleaners, and measuring tape. “I wonder how we
are going to use these materials to measure the distance of the balls.
End: When the children have finished measuring their balls circumference,
have them lay their measurement next to the ball and compare the distances
with the other balls.
Child Anecdotes: “The bouncy ball is the smallest.” –AS
“The soccer ball is big!” –MC
“My ball is the same as Alana.” -JV
REFLECTIONS:
It was helpful to create a
chart showing children the
different measurements of
the circumference of each
ball.
Higher Order Questions: How do we know which ball is the biggest? Smallest?
What kind of materials can we use to measure the circumference of the
ball?
New vocabulary:
Circumference
Small
Big
Measure
Distance
Scaffolding Technique: Teacher explained and demonstrated using various measuring tools E.g.,
measuring tape and ruler. After demonstrating how we measure objects
teacher then showed students non-standard ways of measuring. E.g., yarn,
pipe cleaners, paper strips.
PHOTO OP
Activity 5: Sink & Float
This lesson addresses the area(s) of: (Please check one or more) Science x Technology Engineering Art ____ Mathematics ____
Daily Routine:
Small Group _x___ Large Group ____ Outdoor/Indoor ____ Transition ____
Other ________________
Originating Idea: New/unexplored materials
Standards/COR items:
Observe, question, predict, and investigate materials, objects, and
phenomena during classroom activities indoors and outdoors and during any
longer-term investigations in progress. Seek answers to questions and test
predictions using simple experiments or research media. S 5.1.2
Materials: Variety of balls, large container, water, sink & float chart, writing materials
Beginning: Children will observe, question, and predict whether or not the
balls will sink or float. Children will seek answers to questions and test
predictions by putting a variety of balls in water to determine whether it sink
or float. Teacher will ask, “I wonder what will happen if we put a golf ball
inside the water? What is the object made of?
Middle:Students will test a soccer ball, whiffle ball, bouncy ball, golf ball, ping
pong ball, tennis ball, and a basketball. Encourage student to make a mark on
their papers before testing to graph whether they think the object is going
to sink or float. After students have tested their predictions ask the
students, ”Why they think the objects sunk vs. floated.
End: Explain to them that objects filled with air float. There are tiny
particles in objects and if they are loose, they will float. If they are packed
tight, they will sink (e.g., Float- wood, boat, foam, sponge; Sink- penny,
paperclip, rock, key).
Child Anecdotes: “Floated!” –JR
“It went under.” –JV
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 balls float.” –AS
“More balls float.” -MC
REFLECTIONS:
It definitely helped having
previously done a sink &
float experiment for
children to have prior
knowledge in order to make
more accurate predictions.
Higher Order Questions: I wonder what will happen if we put a golf ball inside the water.
What is the object made of?
Why do you they think the objects sunk vs. floated?
New vocabulary:
Float
Sink
Glass
Plastic
Air
Scaffolding Technique: Teacher showed a variety of pictures before and during the lesson
that showed objects that sunk and floated. Teacher encouraged
children to identify the type of object (e.g., glass, plastic, or wood).
For ELL students: teacher narrated what they were doing with each
object (Say, You are going to test the glass marble? What happened to
the plastic whiffle ball? Did the wooden ball sink?).
PHOTO OP
Teacher’s Helpful Hints
Marble Painting What helped when we used marbles to paint was to thin out the paint before giving to the children otherwise the ball won’t roll as well. Marble Maze What worked was pairing the children to work together in creating a marble maze. While one is holding down the materials (strips of paper and pipe cleaners) the other one is taping it to the plate. Next time, I will try using straws and encourage the children to work together to create one big marble maze on a thin cardboard box. How to make a ball? The children were engaged in creating their own ball. The playdough was the easiest way of creating a ball that can roll down the ramp. Aluminum was also an easy way to create a ball. Next time, we will try and make a ball of rubber bands instead of using yarn. The yarn was difficult for the children to put together and tape to create a ball. Although it was good for the ones who like a challenge!
“Aha” Moments!
Moments of sudden insight, discovery, or realization!
Students First Name Students Response
1. Jeylani “My ball doesn’t roll. It’s not round.” We had to then
figure out how we can make the ball round enough to
roll down the ramp.
2. Dante During the make a ball activity DM said, “My ball
bounces!” Then we tested the balls we had created to
see if they would bounce.
3.Max During the How high can a ball bounce activity MV
bounced his ball on the carpet and noticed it didn’t
bounce as high. He said, “It doesn’t bounce high on the
carpet.” We then tested different surfaces to find out
the outcome.
4. Robin When testing balls on the ramp the balls kept rolling
off the table. RL put a small bin at the end of the ramp
to prevent the balls from falling off the table. He said,
“I caught the balls!”
5. Amanda She took different balls and tested them to see which
one would roll the furthest by rolling them down the
slide on the play shaper.
6. Joseph Joseph used the pom poms in another way. He used
them to fill up the entire bottle. We predicted how
many pom poms it took to fill up the entire bottle. JR
predicted 10.
7. Taylor “We can use the water bottles in the water beads
table.”
8. Josiah After forming a ball with the playdough and testing to
see if it rolled Josiah shouted, “It rolled!”
9. Maxx “The soccer ball is the biggest.”
10. La Quan “I can bounce the ball.”
11. Gabriela “Look Ms. Maggie. The ball floated!”
12.Alana “We need tape to keep the cardboard ramp from