Science – QUIEN CUENTA Y CANTA SUS MIEDOS ESPANTA

GROWING UP

Our garden has been constantly changing week by week over time, which is why we have had to stay attentive to our daily tasks of care and observation. Some plants, like the onion and broccoli, are the tallest in the entire garden, as they measure more than two hand spans in height.

To do this, we have created a calendar to note the events taking place in it. There, we record whether any plant has grown compared to the previous week, when it needs watering, when to apply fertilizer, or if any animal has eaten some of the broccoli leaves.

In addition, we are creating a field guide where we document everything that has happened throughout the weeks in much more detail.

We have also realized that the garden is not an easy task, as every day we find something to do. Among these tasks are: watering the plants, removing the pine needles, cleaning the garden area from plastics and papers, controlling the irrigation, and being very careful while working in it.

We have also found many animals living in it, such as worms, snails, lizards, earthworms, birds, ants, pill bugs… That’s why, in our Science sessions, we have also studied which animals live in the garden and which ones feed on it.

Now, our garden is looking more and more beautiful, and some even say it resembles an enchanted forest because of how green and lush it is. So, if you haven’t had the chance to see it yet… what are you waiting for?

5 years old

CIENTÍFIC PER UN DIA

Les granotes la passada setmana, varem visitar el Museu de les Ciències, a la Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències de València. En aquest museu varem realitzar un taller anomenat «Científic per un dia», on hi vam ficar en pràctica els nostres coneixements sobre la matèria i les seues propietats, a través de l’experimentació.

El taller començà amb diverses experiències les quals realitzen els divulgadors científics plantejant diferents hipòtesis: d’on venen les substàncies enganxoses, colors que viatgen pel paper, farines movedisses…

Per poder arribar a conclusions d’aquestes hipòtesis, varem realitzar a través de l’experimentació, diverses proves amb la matèria.

Un d’ells era comprovar d’on venen els colors. Sabem que existixen tres colors primaris, que són el groc, el blau i el roig, i que combinant-los es formen diferents colors. Però les tonalitats de retoladors que teníem sobre la taula, eren combinacions poc comunes (verda-aigua, blau cel, bordeus, etc.), les quals desconeixíem per què colors primaris es formaven. Per a comprovar-ho, pintarem amb eixos retoladors cercles sobre un paper i este paper el submergim en un poc d’alcohol. L’alcohol en ser absorbit pel paper i tocar els colors, produïa que els pigments dels colors es separen i per tant, hi vam poder descobrir els diferents colors que formaven eixa tonalitat de retolador.

Un altre dels experiments també es relacionava amb els colors i la seua transformació. En un recipient teníem un líquid de color morat per l’extracte de la llombarda, i depenent si li introduíem unes gotes de vinagre o alcohol, s’en posava de color verd o tornava a ser morat. Encara que… Aquest experiment ja l’haviem fet a l’escola amb la nostra mestra de Science Tamara!

D’altra banda, comprovarem que passsava amb els colorants en introduir-los en un recipient de llet. Amb molta cura es van introduir unes gotes de diferents colors de colorants sobre la primera capa de llet perquè no es mesclaren i en introduir posteriorment unes gotes de quitació grassa, descobrirem com les partícules dels pigments de color es separaven a causa de l’empenyiment que exercia el producte del lleva grassa sobre els pigments.

Posteriorment, realitzarem una altra prova anomenada «farines movedisses», on descobríem que ocorria en mesclar maizena (farina molt fina) amb aigua. Es formava una mescla espessa, similar a la massa de sal. Però quan deixàvem de manipular-la el seu estat tornava a ser líquid. De la mateixa manera, quan la vam posar dins d’una cubeta, en donar-li colps ràpid i forts, descobrirem que la maizena exercia pressió i ens impossibilitava traspassar el dit per la massa. Però quan ho féiem de manera suau, la textura deixava passar el volum del nostre dit, i semblava que la massa de tornava més blana.

Alumnes de 5 anys

EL HUERTO DE LA ESCUELA INFANTIL

Tras realizar la visita al huerto de Godella y conocer más de cerca las diversas plantas y hortalizas, en nuestro jardín hemos creado nuestro propio huerto de la escuela infantil.

El primer paso para ello, ha sido quitar todo lo que no es bueno y necesario para las plantas que van a vivir en él. Por ello, con la ayuda de los rastrillos, hemos quitado las piedras, palos y pinocha, que habían tapado toda la tierra que cubría nuestro huerto.

A continuación, con la ayuda de palas, hemos creado caballones para poder plantar las semillas y plantones que estudiaremos para ver cuales son las adecuadas para plantar en esta época del año, el invierno.

Todas estas herramientas, nos las han facilitado nuestras familias, y es por ello que queremos agradecerles enormemente la implicación de dichas en la actividad de la escuela. ¡Gracias papás y mamás!

Una vez preparados, hemos recibido la visita del papá de nuestra compañera Casandra. Con mucho entusiasmo, nos ha explicado cuales son las plantas adecuadas para plantar durante esta época del año, ya que no todas pueden sobrevivir a temperaturas tan bajas. Entre ellas eran: el brócoli, la col, la zanahoria, la cebolla, la espinaca, la lechuga, el rábano y la judía.

Nos trajo gran variedad de estos plantones y semillas y también nos dijo como debíamos hacerlo, puesto que algunas plantas beneficiaban a otras y por el contrario, otras impedían su crecimiento al estar juntas.

¡Gracias Carlos por compartir tu amor y experiencia sobre el trabajo de campo con todos nosotros!

Y nos pusimos… ¡Manos a la obra!

De esta forma, os invitamos a observar y participar en este nuevo proyecto de la escuela infantil. Poco a poco, nuestras plantas irán creciendo y con suerte, empezarán a dar sus frutos. ¡Estaremos encantados de compartirlo con todos vosotros!

Alumnos/as de 5 años

AGRICULTORS PER UN DIA!

La passada setmana, vam visitar l’hort del nostre amic Paco, situat a la localitat de Godella. Ens va rebre Mariquita, una dona ben simpàtica que ens va explicar el funcionament d’aquest lloc tan ple de vida: l’Hort. Ella, era l’encarregada de cuidar totes les plantes i arbres que hi havíen allà i amb molta atenció la vam escoltar.

A continuació vam veure una muntanya de compost. Aquest tipus de terra, es un magnífic fertilitzant resultat d’un procés biològic amb la finalitat d’estabilitzar e higienitzar els residus orgànics. An aquest cas, estava format per menjar, per fruites o verdures que estaven massa madures, pals, herbes… Així que el primer que vam fer va ser triar el compost de les sustàncies que no eren bones per a l’horta com eren els pals i les pedres, amb l’ajuda d’una «criba».

Una vegada vam arreplegar el «bon compost», anarem a l’hort. Allí hi havien uns encarregats de tirar el compost i altres d’arrancar les males herbes. També, amb l’ajuda de l’horca de doble mànec, vam moure la terra per a que la terra fora molt més fèrtil.

Per finalitzar vam realitzar una visita amb l’ajuda d’un mapa on varem reconèixer moltes fruites, hortalisses, arbres i plantes aromàtiques. Va ser molt divertit!

¡Y qué buena es la tierra de mi huerto!
Hace un olor a madre que enamora,
mientras la azada mía el aire dora
y el regazo le deja pechiabierto.

Fragmento del poema «Y que buena es la tierra de mi huerto» Miguel Hernández

Alumnos/as de 5 años

DOES IT FLOAT OR SINK?

This time, the frogs have conducted an experiment to observe which fruits float and which sink. To begin with, we have formulated a hypothesis based on the idea that heavier pieces would float and the lighter ones would sink.

Afterwards, we have prepared some containers full of water and we went outside with the baskets to test our hypothesis. Next, we have plunged the fruits one by one into the containers to see if we were right in our predictions. Immediately, we have observed that the pear sinks cashew, nut and plum whereas the apple, almond, banana, pipes and pinion float.

Afterwards, we wanted to test whether by peeling or cutting the pieces that previously had floated we could make them sink. After peeling the banana we were able to verify that they do sink, although when we cut the apple, the pear, and in half, they kept floating.

That is why we have found out that weight and volume are not determining factors in buoyancy, therefore we have concluded that if an object is denser than water, it sinks, and otherwise it floats.

Finally, back in the classroom we have shared our conclusions and we reflected them in our book of life.

5 years

THE JOURNEY OF WATER

In these last science sessions, the concept of matter and energy was studied; what is living and lifeless matter, the changes in the matter that surrounds us and why this happens.

We discovered the difference between living and lifeless matter, and water is a type of lifeless matter which not only undergoes different changes of state, but is also used to provide energy.

That’s the reason why we frogs wanted to observe and experiment directly with water and observe how it can transform into different textures.

First, we took three little containers where we introduced some ice, hot water and cold water in each of them, and we verbalized what it could happen if we put the ice in both waters with different temperatures. Our hypotheses were confirmed… the ice melted faster when we got it in hot water container! We observed how it changed from a solid to a liquid state.

In another way, we have also observed how the ice gradually changed colour, going from a more opaque tone to a more transparent one. We introduced a few drops of food colouring into the liquid water and then we put it in the freezer to check whether the colour tones would be the same in frozen or liquid state, as well as its evaporation process.

Secondly, we tested what happened with water if we mixed it with another type of matter: baking soda. A kind of dough was formed whose texture was similar to snow and we discovered that we could shape water!

Afterwards, we wanted to check what would happen if we joined two glasses of water with some paper. Is water able to move and defeat the law of gravity?

The answer was true!

We placed two glasses of water with a little dye in each one, and the paper acted as a bridge through wich the water passed, and when it joined, the two colours mixed, resulting in a new colour in the water.

Alumnos/as de 4 años.

ANIMAL INVENTORY

As many of you already know, this quarter our project is focused on knowing and exploring a little more about Eric Carle and his books, which most of them agree on one main aspect: many of their characters are animals.

Therefore, in science sessions we are learning about a few types of animals which can move not only through water, but also on land or in the sky. Previously we have observed some images of them and made clasification and imitation games according to their types of movement and their habitats.

As well, we have been able to discriminate some animals according to their physical characteristics, that is to say, if they are mammiferous or oviparous.

Finally, we have maken our own refrence book about some animals and some relevant data that characterizes them.

Alumnos/as de 4 años.

GENÇANA’S FOREST

Throughout our science sessions the actions of experimenting, researching and documenting acquire special relevance as they enable us to generate hypotheses. The immersion in this beautiful contexts encourages our curiosity and desire to be amazed, and by extension, helps us to interpret the world. It also provokes child’s interest in the project we are absorbed in this first term, «You, me and the others».

This project, as you all already know, merges all curricular areas and arises from the need to know and find oneself, to make oneself known to the others, to know the classmates and our social context. That is why, as a follow up to one of the trips we made to the botanical garden, we questioned ourselves how our school garden would be like; its trees, plants, elements that we can find… So, we decided to take a brief trip throughout Gençana’s forest, in order to generalize and relate what we have learned about our environment from other contexts.

During the exploration we were observing and collecting leaves, branches, flowers and fruits from different trees and plants that caught our attention and then, in the classroom, through other means such as magnifying glasses and the light table, we were able to observe that the tree leaves have nerves inside that are difficult to see with the naked eye.

Once our observation and manipulation tasks were finished, we classified all the leaves we had collected according to their origin and we made a recopilation of our favourite trees. Then, we carried out some art work. This collection consisted on choosing the Pine tree, the Carob tree, the Mimosa, the Bougainvillea, the Eucalyptus and the Acacia.

In our proposals we used different drawing techniques to test which results we liked the best. We had fun capturing the essence of the plants with the use of watercolor technique and the frottage method. And this was the result:

PINE TREE:

CAROB TREE:

MIMOSA:

BOUGAINVILLEA:

EUCALYPTUS:

ACACIA :

Alumnos/as de 4 años.

OUR TURTLE

During the school year, we have a new pet in our classroom. Its name is Manuela and it is a very big turtle, who loves to play and have fun with us.

Having it in the classroom, teaches us to develop a sense of responsibility and empathy for animals, in addition to establishing a bond of friendship and approach to nature.

We have learnt that our turtle lives in water, but there are also species of turtles that live on land. As well, we have discovered that Manuela is carnivorous, but she can also eat some fruits and vegetables, as well as, we could provide her in a complementary way, some aquatic insects, amphibian larvae, worms and earthworms, crustaceans and shellfish or small live fish.

Although as these animals get older, their diet changes so we feed her with fish. For us it is very important Science sessions because we need to learn how to take care of Manuela, her shell and aquarium.

Clean up! Clean up! It’s time to clean up!

Clean up! Clean up!It’s time to clean up!

Alumnos/as de 4 años.

DE SÓLIDO A LÍQUIDO

En estas últimas sesiones de science hemos estado aprendiendo a cerca de los cambios de la materia que nos rodea y por qué esto se produce. Es por ello que las ranitas hemos querido hacer un experimento en primera persona con el agua y ver como puede llegar a transformarse en distintas texturas.

Primero, hemos cogido tres recipientes: uno de hielo, otro de agua caliente y otro de agua fría, y hemos verbalizado lo que pensábamos que podía pasar si introducíamos un hielo en ambas aguas con distinta temperatura.

Las ranitas somos muy listas y hemos acertado…

¡El hielo se derretía más rápido cuando echábamos el agua caliente sobre el hielo!

Además, hemos podido observar como poco a poco el hielo cambiaba tanto en forma como en color, se iba haciendo más pequeñito y de un color más transparente.

El resto de hielos los dejamos al sol derritiéndose, y también quisimos hacer lo contrario y convertir el líquido en hielo. Así que para diferenciar los grupos pusimos unas gotitas de colorante de distinto color en cada bolsa, y todos juntos trasladamos las bolsitas al congelador de la escuela.

Al día siguiente para observar mejor el cambio de sólido a gas, las hemos colgado en la porchada, y hemos controlado cuánto tiempo tardaba en transformarse, y que color se derretía primero.

El naranja fue el primero en convertirse de estado sólido a líquido ya que estaba más expuesto al calor del sol.

¡Hemos disfrutado mucho!

Alumnos/as de 3 años.