Save the Arctic

December 20th, 2018

We started our last day of winter school with activities. There was a bucket and baking pan filled with water and ice floating  on top for sensory play. Inside were also various arctic animals we could play with. The ice is just like what the arctic is like it’s getting smaller and is a piece of floating ice. We looked at the polar bear and it doesn’t have much land to stand on anymore. On another station we worked on arctic jigsaw puzzles. The last activity that was setup for us was a poster with arctic and non-arctic written on it. By the poster there were a lot of pictures of different animals, scissors and glue. We sat down at that table and began to cut the animals out and glue them on the poster, if we think they’re arctic then it going on the left side and if they’re not they go on the right.

When we started our circle time we had a lot to share about our holiday or just general information.

Sa– Tomorrow I go to Movie. I will watch Grinch.

An– Today I’m not going to Movie.

Li– I have Grinch TV in my house.

Mo– Today is my last day of my house. My mom said I’m moving to robot park.

I– I’m almost go to Hawaii.

Ri– I like to go to Hawaii with my mom. Last time I went to beach with my grandma and my mother.

Em– I love playing with my mommy, daddy and baby.

A– I’m almost going to Hong Kong.

Now that we have everything that we wanted to say out we can start the circle time. Kai asked us what we did this morning. Ke explained that we cut out animals and glued them on different sides of the paper. Ta explained that one side is arctic and the other one is not. Then we looked at the animal to see which ones are and aren’t. Then Kai asked us what we needed in the arctic.

Tem- Ice

Em– Cold

Ri– Snow

That exactly right! Kai took out 3 blocks of ice with frozen animals in them. There were a whale, polar bear and a dog. He put them on a plate and asked us, “Which one do you think will melt faster if we put sugar, salt or hot water on them?” He also said we’re going to make a hypothesis, which is a guess of what we think will happened, and we’ll see. People who thought sugar was Mo and Lisa, salt only Hisami and hot water was Te, Ta, Na, Ri, An, I, Em, Ri, Sa, A, Ke. We set the experiment up and it’s time for nature to do it’s job. Then Kai asked us Why it’s important to have ice in the arctic and what would happen in all the ice melted. We answered, “The animals would die. He explained that the arctic bounces the sun rays back so in return it will keep the Earth cooler. If we don’t have all the ice the ocean absorbs the sun rays and becomes hot therefore melting the glaciers and ice caps. We watch a couple of short video about how to save the arctic and what happens if all the ice in the world melts. It was kind of depressing to learn that one day major cities that are by the ocean could be under water because of the raise in water level. But on a happier note there’s something we can do to help! We thought that we can have no plastic, reduce driving in a car, recycle and use less electricity.  We ended the circle time by watching a clip about 10 arctic animals! There were animals that we haven’t learnt about yet like the puffin, otter, ermine and wolverine. Then we talked about what are favorite arctic animal is and why.

Em– Narwhals because I like pointy horn.

Sa– Artic fox because I like the ears.

Ri– Seals because it is cute.

I– Polar bear because it is big.

Na- Orca because they eat sharks.

A– Rabbit because their ears are long

Mo– Rabbit because rabbit is so cute

Li– Rabbit because I like their ears.

Ta– Arctic polar bear because I like eyes.

Tem– Wolf because they can eat polar bears.

After the discussion, Kai asked us what we can play with in the snow. We answered, “SNOWBALL FIGHT!”and that’s exactly what we did! Of course we didn’t use real snow, we used newspaper instead.

Before we went to the park we looked at our experiment and guess what?! The salt one melted the most, then the hot water and last was the sugar. Who would of known.

  And of course we had park time today!

Em brought in a book she likes that has to do with Christmas. It was called Babushka, She knew the story so well she help read it to her friends. It was a wonderful way to end the last day of school for this year! Thank you Em for bringing in the book.

Hope you all had a wonderful week. We know we did learning about arctic animals and experiencing the cold. Have a wonderful holiday and see you next year!

Love and Peace,

Flowers Class Children