Living and Non Living things

For the love of Buildings.

pkalister

This is our final week of buildings and we will end it with a story about woodland friends who may loose their homes.  Materials from this book will be in the sensory table, along with bull dozers and sand.

We will also read a book called The Shape of Things and the students will be able to participate by adding shapes as the book is read to them.

Our letters for the week are G and H along with sorting for Math.  The students have really enjoyed this unit and playing in the sand and dramatic play area. The dramatic play area will have a large refrigerator box for the students to decorate like a building.

PM Class only:

The PM class will listen to Miss Debi Abela on Monday as she introduces the topic of living and non- living things. On Thursday we will be traveling to The Botanical Gardens to hear more about living and non living things.  Our library area will be filled with living and non living things for all the students to explore before we go on our field trip.

We will take a break from our curriculum for a few weeks as the Olympics will arrive at the EEC.  Each class in the building will be a country and help participate in this very exciting world event.

What is living and non living around us?

pkalister
What is Living and Non Living?
Learning about what is living and non living around us is so very exciting.  Last week we planted Zinnia’s in egg cartons and it will be interesting to see how much they have grown when we return to school.  We watched the video of the  The Caterpillar and the Polliwog by Jack Kent.    https://youtu.be/A3Wo15Sr4vA and wondered how caterpillars became butterflies.  We have caterpillar larva in the classroom to observe over the weeks to see how they turn into caterpillars and then become butterflies.  Did you know that moths sleep in cocoons and butterflies sleep within chrysalis’?

Life Stages

Although they have several differences, butterflies and moths go through the same life stages. The adult female lays eggs, which hatch into caterpillars. As caterpillars grow, they molt and shed their skin four to six times before transforming into pupae. The pupa is the final stage of development, during which metamorphosis takes place over a period of about two weeks, at the end of which an adult butterfly or moth emerges.

Chrysalis

The chrysalis is the pupal stage of butterfly development. Just before its final molt, a butterfly caterpillar spins a small disk of silk to attach itself to the underside of a leaf or twig. The caterpillar sheds its skin one last time as the pupa emerges. The outer surface of the pupa hardens into a protective shell, which often takes on a color and shape to help blend it into its surroundings.

Cocoon

Moth pupae don’t harden like butterfly pupae do, so to protect themselves during this final transformative stage, moth caterpillars spin cocoons of silk around themselves before the final molt. This silk hardens into a protective casing, allowing the pupa to go through metamorphosis relatively undisturbed. Some moth caterpillars, such as silkworms, spin cocoons entirely from silk, while others incorporate leaves, plant matter and even hair from their own bodies into the cocoons. Moths are not the only insects that build cocoons. Ants, fleas and wasps are a few of the other insect species whose development includes a pupal stage that must be protected by a cocoon.

This week we will be exploring things that are living and non living.  We will sort items in the sensory table, use clip cards to strengthen our fine motor and work on our art projects that will be on display during the ART SHOW on April 28th.

We will enjoy an Earth day Assembly on April 18th and honor our earth with an Earth Day Project.

The vocabulary for this week and next is living, habitat, grow, food and move.  Our math is patterning and the letter of the week is U.

Our final May field trip for the PM class through the University Circle Initiative is going back to the Music Settlement with a twist in what you think we may do.

May’s field trip is going to take place outside. Please encourage your students to wear boots and outerwear to be outside. There is a water pump included in the outdoor learning space so things may get a little wet.