No Two Alike



Many of our "tangents" seem to stem from experiences, song and literature. This one is no different. I shared a story ordered through a recent Scholastic book order, titled: No Two Alike, written by Keith Baker.

It follows the path of two birds through a winter landscape and touches on the similarities that we see in nature, and the differences that make each natural thing unique. Though there are more snowflakes than we can count (we tried :), no two are alike.

Images of snowflakes were then studied - what beautiful crystals!

                                   "Thank you"                                       "Imagine" (John Lennon)

Images of ice crystals by Masaru Emoto

We also created patterns with foam snowflakes.

In lieu of a light table, we used an "old-school" 

overhead projector and traced their outlines.

But we kept coming back to the images, and we found it hard to believe that no two could be exactly alike.

Love & Gratitude, Masaru Emoto

Then we got crafty. It was time to make our own crystals. 

With our supplies ready, we became little scientists.

We manipulated pipe cleaners to make a design with 6 points. Remembering that the star in the centre of our apples had 5 points ~ our snowflakes would have six. It was a tricky task manipulating and bending those pipe cleaners!  Make an X, bend one end over, etc...

Borax was added to warm water and we watched the Borax dissolve in the water.

 Then, we suspended our pipe cleaner snowflakes in the solution overnight.

(4 tbsp. borax per cup of water)

              A six-pointed "snowflake"                                         Borax crystals have formed 

              in a solution of Borax                                                    on the pipe cleaner

             and water.                                                                            overnight.

When we studied the crystals up-close we all agreed that no two were alike.

An individual "snowflake", covered in borax crystals. 

Borax crystals on display with our collaborative

painting, "Snowy Day" as a backdrop.

Thank you for visiting us at our atelier.

The Story of Water

 

 

The extremely cold temperatures have put a damper on our outdoor play, much to everyones' dismay. The children have had indoor "recess" a lot in past few weeks, but it has not prevented us from playing with the snow!

 

The sensory bin was filled with snow each morning, and begged for

warm fingers to take the plunge and explore. Aiy-yi-yaiy!

 

 

As the morning progressed, and many pairs of hands passed through the bin, the snow started to change. They discovered that the snow became more malleable. And later still, "Hmmm. There is water." 

 

  



"Hey!  Now we have two water tables!"

 

Our study of water has been multi-faceted. Thank you for sending in your interesting and shaped containers for "show & share". We gather around the water table and explore capacity, and predict which containers will hold more or less water. The children have also been predicting how many caps of water it will take to fill the containers.

 

So as we studied the states of water (liquid and solid), the children also noted the streaks of water left behind on the table when wiping up after snack.

 

Writing our names in the water on tabletops.

 

But then they wanted to know why the table didn't stay wet. I heard the critical thinking and grabbed a pencil and paper.

 

               "Where did the water go?"

              "It's drying. That's what happens." 

              "I think its in the table."

 

 Our follow-up discussion related to the steam we saw rising from the kettle when making our Borax crystal snowflakes, and the fog we see when we talk on a cold day. (No shortage of those lately:)

 

The take-home lesson for the day:

Water can be found in 3 states ~ liquid, solid or a gas (water vapour).

The water didn't soak into the table - it evaporated into the air. We can't see it, but it's there.

 

FUN APPLICATION TIME ~ what happens when you combine water, food colouring and an ice cube tray?

 

 

With the help of my friends, we coloured some water and

poured it into the ice cube tray.

 

 

The tray made it's way to the freezer in the staff room and

clothes pegs were added once the water started to turn into a solid.

 

 

And our provocation was ready for the next day...

 

 

 

To play.

To explore.

To observe.

To create.

  

The children "working" on their individual "paintings"

using the ice cubes (water as a solid) that they created.

 

 

 

The children "working" on their collaborative mural

using their ice cubes.

 

 

And what happened to those pools of "paint"? They were there yesterday.

 

That's right - if its not a liquid, and it's not a solid, it must be a gas.

 

EVAPORATION was the word of the day, and continues to be, as we explore with more of our "wet on wet" water colour paintings.

 

 

 

Thanks for dropping by our atelier.

 



Sky Spirits

Happy New Year to all! I am quickly writing this little update to fill you in on some adventures we had this week. In eager anticipation of the northern lights, science experiments linked to states of water were put on hold. We watched a video and gazed in awe of the colours that danced in the sky. We also read a beautiful personal experience narrative titled: Sky Sisters, written by Jan Bourdeau Waboose and illustrated by Brian Deines.

This Ojibway story tells the tale of two sisters who journey up a hill to get a view of the Sky Spirits (northern lights). The magical experience of lying in wait and seeing the light show connects them to their mother and auntie who made the trek before them, and to the Sky Spirits who seemed to wave to them from above. In the words of their Nokomis, "Wisdom comes on silent wings," and while quietly taking in the lights, the sisters make another connection in the stillness and call the Sky Spirits "Sky Sisters".

We responded by grasping ribbons and dancing around the room, as we waved, and twirled and rhythmically let our ribbons flow through the air.

Thinking that northern lights would truly be visible to us, we prepared a backdrop to paint a collaborative mural.

And while it was a disappointment to many (me especially!), we continued with the mural as planned, and used the art from the book, and the video we watched to inspire our mural. First, a chalk line was made in waves to replicate the flow of light. Then pastel paint was created by mixing colour with white tempera. The children traced over the chalk line, leaving a good amount of paint on the paper. Another child followed behind the wet paint with the "dry brush" and swept the paint in an upward motion. This process was repeated for each ribbon of colour.

While many of the children have yet to truly experience the wonder and magic of the northern lights, I know that it will stay with them a lifetime when they do. And for a fleeting moment, maybe we did experience them here in the classroom - at play with our paint brushes and our ribbons.

Thank you for visiting our atelier.