This week we began our new Unit of Inquiry - How the World Works. For this unit, we will be exploring the Central Idea that 'light behaves in different ways.' To introduce the unit, we used the thinking routines Zoom In and See, Think, Wonder. A picture was hidden by squares and each square was removed one by one to reveal more of the picture. Each time a square was revealed, we recorded what the children saw, thought and wondered about the picture. This helped children to work on their thinking skills and to try and work out what we would be learning about during this unit.
After this, the children were told their classroom might look a bit different the next day. When they came to school on Wednesday, they experienced a dark classroom with different materials all around. They were encouraged to find ways to play and explore with the things that were left for them. The children quickly discovered the torches and used these to explore their new look classroom. It was exciting to listen to the conversations that the children were having, explaining that 'I've made a rainbow,' 'it looks like it's snowing!' and 'I made the stars glow!' Through this inquiry, the children were beginning to experience different ways that light behaves and how it is used, and we will use these observations as we work through the unit further, thinking about the form and function of light and how it changes.
On Friday, we spent some time reflecting about our 'dark days' and how they used the light to help them this week. We recorded our observations on a class collage and the children shared their reflections, explaining what they had done.
Ceyone said 'we went in the tent.'
Una, Advaith and Vivaan said 'we had torches to see because they have light.'
Anjali and Una said 'we put the coloured squares on the projector and it got on the screen.'
Zoe said 'we shined our torches on the big ball with shiny squares and the squares went on the wall, curtains and the floor and we had a dance party.'
Anjali and Vivaan said ' when we put the coloured circles on the torch, the light changes colour.'
Leya said 'when we shine our torches on the stars in the tent, they glow.'
Reika and Leya said 'when you shine the light on the fan it makes a rainbow because it is silver and bumpy.'
Ceyone said 'we went in the tent.'
Una, Advaith and Vivaan said 'we had torches to see because they have light.'
Anjali and Una said 'we put the coloured squares on the projector and it got on the screen.'
Zoe said 'we shined our torches on the big ball with shiny squares and the squares went on the wall, curtains and the floor and we had a dance party.'
Anjali and Vivaan said ' when we put the coloured circles on the torch, the light changes colour.'
Leya said 'when we shine our torches on the stars in the tent, they glow.'
Reika and Leya said 'when you shine the light on the fan it makes a rainbow because it is silver and bumpy.'