The Rocket Launch!

Thursday (25/08/2011)

a) The Insect Hunt
• This week is all about fun and play! Today, we visited Taman Rakyat in the morning. Reaching there, the kids were excited hunting for insects. They walked, ran and even climbed the hills. They brought various containers and also 2 nets. They found red ants, camouflaged spider, a red beetle, yellow beetles, butterflies, a cricket and a grasshopper landed on my t-shirt thinking that I’m a tree. The kids quickly caught it from my green t-shirt! Then, we adjourned to the huge that also has got foot reflexology path for us to walk and massage our feet. The kids walked on the path and “ouch…ouch…ouch”! but they still enjoyed it….:)

b) The Rocket Launch!
• Since 2 weeks ago, the kids and I had been busy making the bottled rockets. It really trained our motor skills. Some wings were umneven while some tops were quite slanting. I had to ensure that the rockets were at their best balancing level before launching.
• 20, 19, 18……..3, 2, 1 lifttop! Wow! It didn’t fly to the space but it flew high up towards the sky the highest probably being 2 storeys height. Some shot beautifully and vertically, some being nasty flying up and winding here and there……generally; all flew and the kids were amazed! So, was I….
• This is actually water rocket. We recycled a water bottle and then added 4 wings to add on balance. A cone top must be added so that it gives the momentum to shoot to the sky. First, we inserted some water. Then, the bottle mouth was locked to a small pump shooter. The kids and I pumped gas into the bottle for about 20 times. We could listened and see the bubbles from the water. The bottom part also bloated showing increased of pressure. Then, the kids released the bottle by pressing a handle and ….lifttop! The pump shooter was bought from an exhibition by the school a few years ago. This activity was actually requested by Weei Xiang when we first leant about “Sports and Games”. Xiang Wei said, “Real rockets have got big blast of fire” as what we watched from video clips last week.






c) The Angry Bird Mini Rehearsal.
• From the day we learnt dancing, the kids were already getting my permission to perform….but to whom is a question. Finally, the opportunity comes. We’re having a “Friendship Party” tomorrow and we have 1 hour. So, we decided to perform. The kids created their own dance patterns while we thought of the story together. I proposed this story as everyone is talking about “Angry Bird” everyday and everyone can dance the style they like. They chose to have Ribbon and Fan Dance, Ballet, Latin Dance and finally Hula Hoop Dance. Qian Joe volunteered as the “Angry Bird” who eventually changed as “Happy Bird”! ….:)
d) Video Clip: Our Body.
• We continued on this topic. We learnt about body parts, the skin and its importance. There is a skeleton that protects the organs within. The muscle moves the bones which enables us to work and move.
Kwong Yong: Why can the heart beat?
Yun Xin: Because it pumps blood.
• The heart is an important machine that pumps blood to all parts of body. Oxygen, Healthy food, exercise, enough sleep are among a few factors that contribute to a healthy heart and body.
• The brain is the boss of our body that tells us what to do. The red blood cells carries Oxygen while the white blood cells kills the bacteria. Our body is magical. Everyone can choose to have a healthy body.

e) Healthy Board Game.
• I drew a huge “S” and divided into boxes and wrote from 1 until 30. For a few boxes, the kids brainstormed on factors that make us healthy and otherwise. The positive factors can move forward a few steps. Example: 3 + 2 = 5. The negative factors will move backwards. Example: 25 – 2 = 23. We will learn more about it tomorrow.