Sceince week – a word from…….Sandra!! Hi everyone! For those who don’t know me, my name is Sandra. You can find me working in both the Koala and Kangaroo rooms. Last term however I was able to run the “Mad Minions Science Club” for 2018 as part of our Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics or STEM program. This program was run for our older preschool children in the Echidna, Kangaroo and Turtle rooms on a Monday. During this program children were able to explore and create several different simple science experiments which looked at some of the different units of science including: biology, physics and chemistry. This is a fantastic way of introducing some basics concepts of science and mathematics as the children investigated and documented their science experiments and their results. One of our science experiments conducted was “How Does Ice Melt”. During this experiment the children looked at how the ice breaks down into water trialling different methods using heat, water and salt. These experiments were timed, measured and recorded to produce an end result. Some of our other experiments included: making volcanoes, let it rain, rocket launching, walking water and making slime just to name a few. As you can see I love science and believe in a practical, hands on approach to learning. Each child learns differently and our experiments were presented with visual, auditory, tactile and written aspects to appeal to each child. These experiments at times can become a little messy, but mess is good and it provides another sensory aspect to them. It was one of our science club rules that the children also wore protective equipment which may have included: lab coats, safety goggles and at times gloves. It was good to see on one occasion that the children reminded me to put on safety equipment too. This is just another example of safe risk taking behaviour and being prepared for accidents. This week at Jumbunna we will be celebrating SCIENCE WEEK. I would like to invite parents and children to come and join in the festivities. We will be revisiting some of our experiments previously conducted and trialling some new and exciting ones too. So come and join us “For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction” Newton’s Law (Sir Isaac Newton) Let’s find out what the reaction will be together
