As Fall's colors began to emerge, the oranges, yellow, reds, and browns, the kindergartners became intrigued with learning more about the season, or more specifically, the falling leaves. We began as scientists do, by asking questions, and created a We Wonder About Fall web on our wall. We used these wonderings to help guide as we studies leaves.
Their questions included:
Why do leaves change colors?
Why do leaves have sticks on them?
Why is it cold?
Why do sticks break off trees?
Why do leaves fall off trees?
Why are leaves so crumbly?
Why are leaves different shapes?
Why do the leaves of evergreen trees not fall off?
Why do worms eat leaves that are on the ground?
During rotation time, the students had the opportunity to explore leaves more closely--
They used their knowledge of color mixing to try to match the colors of the leaves,
Used magnifying glasses to look closer at leaves and then documented what they observed using Sharpies and watercolors,
(This student even noticed tiny black dots along the veins of this leaf so he made sure to document those as well! Such attention to detail!)
and could also document using pencils and crayons.
We used nonfiction books to help us learn about leaves--
Leaves make food for the tree. The tree soaks up the water through it's roots and it goes up its trunk to its branches. Then it goes through the stem (which is the name of the sticks that are attached to leaves about which they were wondering) to the leaf. The sun and the water and air helps the leaf make a chemical called chlorophyll, which makes the leaves green. In the Fall, the sun isn't out as long and it gets cold so the leaves can't make chlorophyll anymore. Then we start to see the beautiful colors that have been hiding underneath!
Our property is surrounded by so many beautiful trees that we decided to go outside to observe one and document it.
Here is the tree we chose!
We put down the blanket and the students got right to work. They noticed the parts of the tree we had read about--the trunk, branches, stems, and leaves (many noticed that not all of the leaves were changed yet so they were sure to include some green as well.)
This student even included the wind! Very accurate!
Here we are with our Fall tree!
In our classroom, we have a Look Closer table in which they look closer at things and document what they observe. Since beginning our leaf investigation, there hasn't been a day that at least a couple students didn't ask to bring in (or ask me to bring in) a handful of carefully selected leaves they found during recess for the Look Closer table.
Needless to say, we had a lot of leaves in our classroom. We wanted to sort them into categories and decided we would start with color. Silly Mrs. Komisarski didn't even think about the fact that our button rug was perfect for sorting by color! I love how much I learn from them :)
We looked at each leaf, determined which color it went to--dark green, light green, yellow, red, etc--and then put it on it's correct colored button. Until we got to brown--uh oh, there is no brown dot. They barely batted an eye and declared that we would just pretend the black button is brown. Onward!
The students took turns choosing and sorting three leaves.
And then, another problem arose. What about the leaf that has both orange and red? Or the leaf that is yellow with lots of brown spots on it? No need to worry, these problem solvers figured out that they could simply put the leaves that were two colors between the two corresponding buttons! And the leaves with three colors? They go in between all three colors! Wow!
I loved their collaboration, teamwork, and problem solving skills at work!
We also conducted some experiments with leaves. Each student chose a leaf and drew it, measured it with cubes, counted how many seconds it took to hit the ground after dropping it, and figured out how many pennies it took to cover it.
We also learned that many leaves have symmetry, which means both sides look exactly the same. We used a mirror and leaves that had been cut in half to see the symmetry. Then, they glued down half of the leaf and drew the other side. They did such a great job!
We also used tracing paper and crayons to do leaf rubbings. I was so impressed to how some students stepped up to 'man' this area by putting finished rubbings to the side and replacing them with new paper so it was ready for the next student. This is part of what I love about project-based learning--the students take ownership over their learning and their natural strengths shine through (leaders, collaborators, artists, creative thinkers, task completers, etc.)
As we came to the close of our leaf investigation, the students brainstormed what we should include in our Fall tree mural in the hallway in order to show people what we learned during our leaf investigation--trunk, roots, branches, leaves (with stems!), grass, dirt, worms (we learned that they eat rotting leaves and their castings are really good for the soil), bugs, moss, clouds, sun, and wind. They also tossed around ideas of what materials we could use to create each component.
I brought in some art supplies and the students chose which item they wanted to create--
sponge painting the dirt,
gluing strips of brown paper to the trunk and branches ("I noticed that if you crumple it and then uncrumple it, it looks even more like bark!")
drawing leaves (and stems!) using oil pastels,
cutting long strips of green paper for grass,
using sparkly watercolors for the wind (after looking in a non-fiction book to help figure out how other illustrators draw wind),
figuring out how to use tissue paper, construction paper, and strands of yellow plastic grass to create the sun,
working together to create puffy white clouds,
using our schema (information we already have in our brains) to figure out how to create moss on the tree since Mrs. K didn't have any books they could use for reference (By the way, they chose to cut up bits of green foam and drew small blue circles on paper and cut them out to achieve the blue-green moss effect. So creative!),
using information they learned about worms during our investigation as well as referencing a nonfiction book about ants and to create accurate ants and worms using pipe cleaners and beads,
utilizing a book about trees to draw roots for the tree using oil pastels (and they problem solved when they couldn't find a white oil pastel--a white crayon worked just as well!)
(and when they realized other students were creating ants for our mural, they created ant tunnels underground so they had a place to go!)
(check out the detail!)
In addition, we created labels to help people know what each thing is in our mural.
Everyone had a job and they worked together to create a work of art that is not beautiful but also a product of their collaboration, knowledge, and hard work. No doubt you are curious to see the final display...however, you will have to wait to see it in person this week at parent-teacher conferences. Its on the wall to the left as you are walking to the classroom. You can't miss it :)
(And for those not coming to parent-teacher conferences, do not worry because I will be posting pictures later this week with the big reveal so be sure to check back!)
One more thing, just in case you were wondering what the students did after they finished their portions of the mural:
They took it upon themselves to develop their own game using an environmental print activity from the literacy shelves. I wish you could've heard the laughter and engagement happening.
It was pure joy :)
By the way, here is a glimpse at our completed We Wonder wall. Be sure to take a closer look at it this week!
