River model

Friday (11/03/2011)

a) Vocabulary recap.
• We recapped the pictures of decorations In the classroom by reading the labels. Eg: streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, seas and oceans.
• We also recapped on names of animals living in the Freshwater.

b) The tadpoles.
• As it was raining in the afternoon, I saw lots of tadpoles on the pond surface. Thus, I scooped 4 up and placed in the aquarium to show to the kids. We compared to the Frog Lifecycle chart in the classrroom. Then, I asked if I could frelease the tadpoles into the pond. Half of the kids said No. I told them that someone need to take good care of them especially at the weekend. Chun Kit said I should bring home and take care of them. I said I have o intention and will be busy at the weekends. (My intention was to see if kids could be responsible enough to breed them). Finally a few kids said they wanted to volunteer taking tadpoles home. However, they need to have filter water and get mum’s permission. Finally, Wee Hong was the best candidate.

c) Boat origami.
• Qian Joe taught the class how to fold a boat origami.
Zheng Yuan: His boat looks more like a sailboat.
• I agreed. Then, each kid was given a rectangle paper to fold along. 5 year-old kids sat around me so that I could guide them better. Then, they decorated their boats.
• I showed them my different boat origami which was slightly easier. Then, they made their second boat.

d) River model.
• As it was still raining, we can’t really sail our boats on the pond. Thus, I showed them my idea of river model made using recycled bottle. First, I cut the bottle into long half. Then, I pasted them to be long. When, the kids put in their boat, it slided down and then flew off.
• Kids brainstormed of many ideas.
Zhe Qing: Paste cellophane tape around the open mouth.
Kwong Yong: Use paper to cover the open area.
Soon Yu: Use paper to cover the opened area.
• Thus, we decided to use the whole bottle rather than cutting it into half. I then pasted it to the first river model. This time, the boat slided and then into the river tunnel and finally into the water basin. It was fun! It was like having boat race.
• The bottles were rivers while the basin was the sea.