Globes and Maps

Happy Wednesday! It’s been another great day in Flowers class!

MORNING ACTIVITY

This morning we made a map of our home, Ohana, and the surrounding neighborhood. We thought about all the things that we see on our daily journey from home to school. We drew the route and how by what means we travel, such as by car, bicycle, or walking. We wonder if someone could use the map to find our school.

CIRCLE TIME

There were a few friends who missed our Monday circle time due to the holiday, so we didn’t get a chance to hear about their winter vacation. We started there…

Ri: Playing toys with Ke.

Ky: I make omochi with a hammer. The omochi says, “ouchie!” I do by myself and with everybody. You’re going to have nori, shoyu, then you can eat.

Ar: Mochitsuki!

Ky: My daddy’s friend come to Chiba and we do a party. I buy something with my money. My mommy’s friend and daddy’s friend give me money. I buy……. secret!

We took turns guessing what Ky bought with his money…

Ri: Gummy?

Re: Gum and chocolate?

Ky told us that he did buy gummies, but his secret is not a type of food…

Ky: Something can stand up. Small but a little bit big. It’s super hero. Not like Superman or Batman. He uses a beam. Color is blue and orange.

Au: Super Rangers?

Re: Princess Hero?

After a few rounds of guessing, Ky admitted that he actually forgot what the characters name was, but it was someone from Dragonball. Unfortunately, no one else knew much about Dragonball so we could figure out who it was. Ky told us that he’ll tell us the name tomorrow!

QUESTION OF THE DAY ( Can you read a map? )

First, we reviewed what we talked about yesterday…

Ky: Country

Be: Continents

We reviewed what we learned about the 7 continents, including the song to help us remember, and about the different countries on the map. Yesterday Vieda asked us how many countries we thought there were, and today we learned that there are 195 countries! That’s a lot!

Today, we looked at the names of two of the continents; North America and South America. Why is one North and the other South?

Cameron pointed towards the top of the map and asked if we traveled in that direction what would we call it?

Be: North!

And if we traveled back down towards the bottom of the map?

Be: South!

We guessed that North America and South America and named that way because of the location on the map. North America is closer to the North which is where Ky said the north pole is, and South America is closer to the south, which is where the south pole and Antarctica are.

What about the other directions on the map?

Sh: Right and Left

Be: East and West.

Ky: East is Japan.

Ar: Japan is where I live.

We looked at the map and answered questions about which direction we would need to travel in order to arrive at a destination from different points on the map.

Then Cameron brought out a different kind of map…

Ka: Globe!

Ka: My grandpa has this at home. It has light and it’s bigger.

Be: I have that at my home too!

Ky: I have a big one, small one.

Are these two maps the same?

Ky: No! It’s not a circle. This one (globe) is circle.

Sh: Because it’s a ball.

Be: The earth is a ball.

Ka: Like this one (globe) float in space.

Be: It goes around the sun and spinning all the time.

We knew that the globe was a better representation of our earth. We thought that we have a paper map, because it’s easier to see and we can fold it. Sh thought that the paper map might “rip, then there’s no treasure.” We saw benefits in having both a paper map and a globe.

We also learned that one of the reasons maps are useful is that they show us how to get to places we haven’t beet to before. There are many places that we go everyday like school and home when we don’t need to look at a map. The information is in our brain. But when we go somewhere new, we need a way to know that we’re headed in the right direction.

We wondered if we could get to school by ourselves without using a map. Some of us said yes, but others where not so sure.

Co: Small kids can go by bicycle. If the kids is too small, they cannot go. If they have a bicycle, they can go kids bicycle.

Ky: My helper can drive car; I can go because my helper. My helper is Ke.

Sh: I saw a small car for kids in the shop. Then I can be in that car and ride if by myself.

Ka: I have a small car that mommy pushes me. There’s a steering wheel, but not break. My mommy stops it.  

We learned that even though people still use paper maps today, new technology has made it more convenient.

Ky: Phone!

Cameron showed us a map on the iPad that is a globe and a flat map at the same time. You can zoom out and see the earth floating in space and you can zoom in all the way to see continents, countries, cities, streets, and even buildings, including Ohana.

It was interesting to see the differences between all the maps, and we have a better idea about our place on them.

We hope you all have a wonderful evening and make it to your destinations safely, whether you use a map or not!

Love, Flowers

XOXO