Northern Heights Kindergarten Science	Bellingham School District
What We do and Why | Activity Ideas | Kindergarten Home Page
What We Do and Why More than any other discipline, science provides us with tools to learn about the world. Science is much more than a listing of facts; it is the process of observing the world, asking questions, and puzzling over problems and solving them. Children are natural scientists. As they explore their environment and try to make sense of what they perceive, they are actively doing science. They are constructing their own understanding of the real world. By encouraging children to explore we are helping children to learn to think for themselves as they expand their understanding of the world around them. In kindergarten the focus of science is the observation and exploration of ideas and materials. Students are encouraged to use their 5 senses to look at the world around them. Parts of this are from the K-12 Science Curriculum Guide of the Bellingham School District. top Activity Ideas Seasonal Walks Take a walk in each season along the same route. Discuss what you see around you focusing on the trees and the colors you see. Follow each walk by drawing what was seen. Keep these pictures so you can look back at them and compare the differences and similarities. top Popcorn Observation Place a popcorn popper in the center of a clean sheet or other clean surface. Prepare popcorn popper just as would normally be done except take the lid off. Make sure children are far enough back from popper that they will not get burned. Make hypothesis about what might happen. What might be seen, heard, smelled and at the end what might be tasted. Start popcorn popper and observe what happens. Enjoy some popcorn and discuss what was seen, heard, smelled and tasted. top Bug Hunt Go on a hunt for bugs. Have your child use his/ her own words to describe how they would categorize or group their bugs. Keep the bugs in a cage for a couple of days so your child can observe what the bugs do and how they move. top Gas Balloon You will need: a balloon, vinegar, baking soda, 20 oz. pop bottle and a small funnel. Using the funnel pour some baking soda into the balloon. Next pour some vinegar into the pop bottle. Stretch the balloon over the top of the pop bottle and hold balloon up so the baking soda pours into the pop bottle. Watch as the gas that is formed blows the balloon up. Discuss your observations. top

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