Dear all,
We brainstormed a list of machines we know. Last week we talked about simple machines, but now we closed our eyes and walked around our homes looking for other types of machines. The children named many. They added more outside the home. They did such a great job recalling
simple machines from last week it took a few minutes to think of more complicated machines.
We used a compound machine to whisk eggs, and cooked them using another machine. We asked what makes machines work? The children answered: humans, electricity, batteries, and fuel. We added the answers to our list of machines.
While half the class moved in movement class with Jerzey, the rest of us practiced tracing shapes and cutting them out using a simple machine. We traced and cut hexagons, triangles, circles, squares, zig-zag and straight lines. Some children returned from movement class with big smiles and reports of a game where they were each different animals running from a shark!
Thursday the children cut bananas to blend into our smoothies. They identified the knife we used as a wedge. They also found several simple machines on the NutriBullet blender: the blades are wedges, it turns on a wheel and axle, and closes with a screw.
We read In Our Home, and looked for more machines in the book to add to our list. Someone brought in a hand rake to show us a simple machine found at home.
We read a book about a train and wrote down train rules. We read a book about flying and wrote down airplane rules. We read a book about a boat and wrote down boat rules. We read about fire engines and wrote fire engine rules. We read I Am A Wrecking Ball, twice.
In the big room, we have been using our street signs and orange cones to direct traffic. Friday there were several forest fires on the road and tricycles had to go around them. While some drove, others made a tasty meal in the kitchen and had to be reminded to please only
pretend to eat the food. Several people worked cooperatively building an airport on the stage with our tools. One person worked the entire time on the building.
Next week we will talk about factories.
Have a mechanical weekend,
Therese