I REALLY like science.

Last post was a bit of a downer. It certainly wasn't a good week that week, but I am glad to say that the next week made up for it. It seems like, as a class, we have all come so far- almost overnight! One more reason to love kindergarten. One week you are at the bottom of the garbage can emotionally, and the next week BOOM! you are noticing all of the wonderful things that are going on all around you.

This past Thursday, I was privileged to be a part of a group of like-minded educators concerned with environmental education in our classrooms. The educators in this group ranged from early childhood all the way through university. There were ECE's, kindergarten teachers, student teachers, high school teachers, alternative education teachers, and a university professor. We ran the gamut for education, and it was exciting to be there.
At the beginning of the meeting we were asked to bring in one "environmental artifact". As I thought about this, I realized how important science is to me in my classroom. I probably put more effort into my science area than many other areas. I truly enjoy the look of concentration on the students faces when they are working and investigating in the science area. I love the feeling of accomplishment they have when they are able to create designs in the sandbox just like an Andy Goldsworthy. I also love that much of our literacy outcomes can be met through science, technology, 'engineering', math, art (STEM, or STEAM)- because, you know, all that matters is literacy, right? (she says sarcastically...)

I wanted to share a few pictures with you, I hope you enjoy!

It's not a huge area, and you can't see it, but the block area is right next to the science centre, and art is adjacent as well. My goal was to have it all seemlessly flow into each other (except the art shelf goes up against the sand box).  

I want the science area to be one of personal and individual discovery. It is small, because I want it to be intimate. Too many people and we tend to lose the discovery feeling.

Because we live on an island, I wanted my sandbox to reflect our local beaches, so I have added sand from the beach, driftwood, local sandstone, shells, starfish, etc. to the area. I wanted them to be able to create in the classroom what they could create on the beach. I put up pictures from Andy Goldsworthy, some Stonehenge pictures as inspiration, as well as some pictures of their own creations. 

I am looking forward to the rest of the year as we will be moving into an Earth day/Environment/Farm (because not only do we live on an island, but farming is a large part of our economy) investigation. 

Did I say I really like science?