What a fun week it's been! Our engineering/bridge building week commenced and the children were beyond excited to create their own bridges. Take a peek into the classroom and you will see a sea of bridges across the cubby tops!
Before the construction began, the children were introduced to some great vocabulary words including span, footings, deck, arch and anchors to name a few. All of these words came in handy when the children began to construct their bridges. We also discussed several different types of bridges including simple bridges, continuous bridges and cantilever bridges. The children quickly ran off to the block area to begin using the blocks to build bridges and roadways.
The bridge construction project began with the question, "If there is a river in our path, how can we construct a sturdy bridge that will help people/cars/trains/animals to get to the other side without getting wet? We presented the children with a variety of wooden pieces including colorful toothpicks, coffee stirrers, picks and small popsicle sticks plus marshmallows that acted as connectors. After a few trial and error bridges, we found that it was a good idea to begin with a set of four triangles made of marshmallow connectors and toothpicks. After the triangles were constructed, the children found it easier to build their bridges, the triangles made a great foundation! It was so amazing to hear the children apply their new knowledge of bridge vocabulary while constructing their bridges!
As the week progressed, we read a few great stories about bridges including one of my all time favorites, "Iggy Peck, Architect" by Andrea Beaty, "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" by Paul Galdone and "Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing" by April Jones Prince. The book, "Bridges are to Cross" by Philomen Sturges and Giles Laroche gave the children great inspiration for their bridges!
Mary Beth also had several bridge demonstrations to further our bridge explorations:
Load and Force: The question we investigated was, where should we place the supports to hold the most weight - sponge and block experiment
Arch Support: How can we make this piece of printer paper strong enough to hold lots of blocks? The children were amazed!
Suspension: A string was gently tied to a child's wrist and elbows. The string ran up across the top of the child's head to show how cables (the string) can hold up a bridge.
Bridge studies will continue into next week and we will introduce a springtime unit discussing the equinox and how it relates to the seasons. Did you know the equinox occurs twice a year (March and September) and on these two days, daytime and nighttime are of equal duration?! I learn something new everyday thanks to our wonderful preschool teachers!
Bridge studies will continue into next week and we will introduce a springtime unit discussing the equinox and how it relates to the seasons. Did you know the equinox occurs twice a year (March and September) and on these two days, daytime and nighttime are of equal duration?! I learn something new everyday thanks to our wonderful preschool teachers!
Important Dates and Reminders:
April 1: April tuition due
April 18-22: SEE closed for Spring Break
April 24: April gathering at Rising Storm Training Academy
April 24: April gathering at Rising Storm Training Academy
May 11-12: Picture Day! More info to come soon!
May 21: May gathering at the Stone Zoo
May 21: May gathering at the Stone Zoo
Check out the pictures from this week!
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| A chain of simple and continuous bridges in the block area! |
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| Check out these fancy bridges that also have arches! |
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| Beginning bridge construction |
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| Creating a deck! |
Completed bridge pictures coming soon!
Have a great spring weekend everyone!
Joanna
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