Leaves Hunting

Wednesday ( 14/04/2010)

a) The Rainforest
* We sang "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and the kids got better at it. They are curious between a sheep and a goat which I explained in more details. The thick fur explains why sheep cannot be found in hot climate in Malaysia. Sheep live in a cooler climate and they are actually very thin after being skinned off the fur. However, the fur would grow again. The fur is used to made clothes and yarns.
* The kids recapped what we learnt yesterday. They remembered that trees need sunlight and water. I explain that the sunlight is needed as the grren leaves can make their own food or nutrition as marked by Shi Jie.
Teacher: Are trees important?
Yun Xin: Yes! We need them to make into paper.
Yun Wen: We can find shade under them.
Qian Joe: Trees made the surrounding cooler.
* I got them to breathe in and out deeply. Then, they covered their nose and hardly could breathe.
Teacher: Why?
Devin: We need air. Teacher: They are called Oxygen or O2.
* The kids learnt that during photosynthesis, trees will breathe out O2 for people and the animals. Wow! Trees are magical. We would breathe in polluted air with fewer trees in the world.

b) Leaves Hunting.
* As the kids wanted to make a mini rainforest in the class, thus; we had to analyse the various leaves available. We went to the garden and pluacked some leaves. We even picked some withered leaves which were already dried and brown in colour. Along the way, we saw a baby snail which caught the kids' attention immediately. Thus, I picked it up and made a small container home for it. The kids were so excited.
Yan Shan: Animals do not pass motion.
Yun Xin: They do!
Yan Shan: They don't!
Yun Xin: Teacher, do animals pass motion.
Teacher: Take a look at the snail.
* They could see the waste and Yan Shan agreed that animals do pass motion because they eat and grow! :) They observed the snail but we would learn it thgoroughly tomorrow.

c) Our mini rainforest.
* The kids chose what they wanted to do. Some coloured the tree trunk, some drew flowers, some drew leaves. First they drew small sizes but it was difficult to cut them. So, they drew bigger in size after noticing the easier ways.
* Woh! They even requested to make a mobile animal route (similar to Safari) in the classroom. Well, let's see if they are enthusiastic of what they suggested. One step at at time!