What have we been up to…

… it’s more like what have we NOT been up to! We just concluded our unit on Space and the Solar System and I must say it feels like we have done it all! And the best part is that the kiddos and I have enjoyed EVERY SINGLE minute… no kidding! We kicked off our unit by learning all about the Sun, Earth, and the moon. We even created these adorable models which you can grab for free simply by clicking here. We then used a paperclip to attach them to our science notebooks where the students wrote a short explanation about how the Earth orbits the Sun and the moon orbits the Earth. As part of our study of the moon, we learned all about the different phases of the moon. We even enjoyed creating the different phases using DELICIOUS OREO cookies. (Truth be told, I don’t like Oreos! As a matter of fact I think they’re disgusting… but shhhh my kiddos don’t know I feel that way.) This activity was great for also showing kids the difference between “waxing” and “waning” moons. By starting with the new moon phase and traveling to the left the students began noticing how the lit portion of the moon was increasing or “waxing”. As they continued around the Earth they began noticing that after the full moon phase the lit portion of the moon began getting smaller or “waning”. BINGO!!!! They finally “saw” it. We looked through a phases of the moon box I created to actually see the different phases. (These activities are all part of my Space Unit which you can find here.) The box has 8 separate holes around it where you can peak inside and see the moon, which is suspended from a string. The blue flashlight represents the Sun. So as you open each flap (where the yellow stars are) you can see how the moon changes. This was really neat!!! Take a look… Then we began our in depth study of each of the planets in the Solar System. We watched Discovery Education videos, read numerous books, (I must say my students loved the True Books series on the planets by Elaine Landau), we made  Solar System mini books where we recorded many of the facts we learned.   We also created our very own mini solar system using 9 DIFFERENT ART TECHNIQUES! This craft-ivity was a HUGE HIT! I cannot stress that enough. We painted with feathers, with marbles, with shaving cream, with plastic wrap… and so much more! Here’s a peak at our project. This is a picture of the first half of our solar system. The Sun was made with torn tissue paper and a paper plate, Mercury was created using embossing techniques, Venus was made with feathers, Earth was water colored, and for mars we used glitter. Jupiter was made with marbles, Saturn with plastic wrap, Uranus with coffee filters, and our favorite Neptune was made using SHAVING CREAM. Yes you read that right, we painted with shaving cream.  These are the materials we used to create Neptune. Doesn’t Neptune look AMAZING… and to think we made it using shaving cream. All we had left to do was to add the ring using aluminum foil. Who ever knew you could make such beautiful designs using shaving cream. I loved that fresh clean smell it also left in the classroom when we were done. :0) This is how Jupiter turned out after we painted with marbles. Did you notice the Great Red Spot. After reading about Jupiter’s spot the kiddos felt we just HAD to add it. I must admit it, I loved hearing them talking to each other and sharing what they had learned while completing this project. I sure was one proud teacher!  I can’t forget about the student simulations we conducted throughout our unit. This is how we recreated a Solar Eclipse. There’s nothing like recreating abstract science concepts to help you truly understand what you just read. Especially, if your science book is like ours where everything just seems to go over the kids heads. That’s why I love bringing in visual aids or create simulations whenever I can. It makes learning so much more concrete. Don’t you think so? So what have you been working on in your classroom lately? I’d love to hear from you! XOXO,