Friday, October 21, 2016
09:00 - 10:00; 60 min.
Science Enrichment:
pollution -
Gracyn and I played a game that showed how plastics end up in the ocean environment. We used the keyboard to make a dolphin jump and spin, and the mouse to capture trash items as they fall into the deep water. Then we moved different items from a pile of trash, into the correct recycle bin. Gracyn was then tasked with coloring in dolphins, as she learned the correct terms for the dorsal fin, flukes and ‘pec’ fin.
Friday, October 14, 2016
09:00 - 10:00; 60 min.
Science Enrichment:
Wonder whales -
Gracyn and I read a book called ‘ how to draw sea creatures’. Using the book, we followed the directions to draw dolphins, turtles and sea shells. I showed her how to use circles and ovals to represent the different body parts, and erase where they overlap. Then we read a book called ‘ wonder whales go on an adventure’. The story was not that great, but I did use the premise to introduce Gracyn to a few types of whales (humpback, sperm, beluga, orca, and narwhal). We talked about the differences between fish and dolphins.
Friday, September 23, 2016
09:00 - 10:00; 60 min.
Science:
Plants and cetaceans -
Gracyn and I examined the beans we placed in the window, and discovered that some had sprouted roots. We planted one in a paper cup, and placed the others on a new wet paper towel in the window. We will plant them with soil soon. We then changed subjects and had a talk about dolphins. We explored the sounds that dolphins make, and I explained that some of the sounds they make are clicks, which they use in place of eyesight, to see. The other sounds are whistles, which they use to communicate with each other. We watch a short video of dolphin making sounds. We also explored who were better surfers, people or dolphins.
Today I subbed for Diana for Astronomy with Gwendolyn. We looked at the moon from a more literal perspective. We reviewed the different phases of the moon. We discussed how we can use each of these phases to set and follow through with goals and projects i.e., new moon is for planning and setting intentions, waxing crescent is for building on the idea, (etc). We also talked about haikus and worked together to write a haiku about the moon. Gwendolyn did a great job!
Bobby is so curious about so many things that stimulate his thinking, that I thought it would be fun to swing a few optical illusions by hIm, and discuss the principle of perspective. We then scrolled through the Astronomy Picture of the Day archive so as to bring our year full circle (this is how Bobby and I started our classes together). Since we were in the library, and there were other students and teachers, when Bobby came across an image of the transit of Mercury he spontaneously explained this event to one of the teachers present. Bobby also found a video of the transit to illustrate his point better.
Seeing as this is one of my last classes with Bobby, I thought it might be beneficial to review the material that we have studied this year. I quizzed Bobby on topics ranging from the different types of nebulae to the classification of galaxies to the two main types of black hole. I started by asking Bobby what might be the one thing he'll take away from our time together, and after a moment's thought, he smiled and answered 'Nebulae'. He was also very proud that his galaxy poster has been displayed at the school for all this time. That was a lot of hard work he did!
Session Minutes
60
Minutes Student Attended
60
Lesson Comments
Bobby did so well on focusing, even though I could tell it was really difficult for him - he was quite distracted by ongoings in the rooms around him. But he tried so hard! Bobby answered my questions very well, and when he didn't remember something exactly, he was quite OK listening to me explaining it again and participated in the discussion.
