How does it rain? Let’s experiment!

In school bus kids started a discussion about how does water gets included into the clouds and where does it come from?

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First, we noted on paper our thoughts and thought about the continuous circular movement of water. We talked about the global water cycle and wrote down the phrase, in Greek.

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Afterwards, we experimented over the phenomenon of condensation and found out that our breath is hot air. Blurring the windows of the school bus with our breaths, helped us realize how air changes into liquid.

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Then we played by creating patterns on the windows. Some children recognized the same happens in their bathroom.

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The experimentation thrilled children and their interest continued at home. So, Despina brought us a photo she took out of the experiment she made in home with a glass and ice cubes.

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We also studied the opposite phenomenon, evaporation, in which water is converted into air. We all remembered, from our daily life, when mom spreads out wet clothes to dry. At the same time we threw water on our trousers to see what happens and how quickly it dries.

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Back in class, school bus children continued to experiment on evaporation during cleaning the blackboard with a wet sponge. They wrote something on the board using the wet sponge and shortly after it was lost! Rest children of the class liked the experiment and asked to write with a wet sponge, too. As you can imagine, we ended having the cleanest blackboard in school!!

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(by Eleni Triantafyllopoulou, bus school teacher in Athens)

Creating a loose parts’ springboard!

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Andreas, a kindergarten kid, had the brilliant idea to create a springboard using loose parts, particularly old tires arranged in a pile and a pallet, serving as a ladder).

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First step was to collect all the items needed for his idea. Second one was setting up his construction and testing, while the final step was…. the actual game!

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In a few minutes, all pre-K and kindergarten class formed a long queue in order to jump off this makeshift springboard!

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Its one more time I see waste material (items with no practical use from an adult’s point of view) to become the center of children’s outdoor play. Kids only add imagination and ingenuity- so easy for them!

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(from Chrysa Vaitsi, cross-class projects’ coordinator in Athens school)

Ophthalmology class in school bus!

20130821_193831-1Children always laugh when they see my eyes like this!

One day,  kids asked me: “hey, what’s happening with your glasses and they can make your eyes so big? We want to know how you see”!

I told them eye-doctor says I have Hypermetropia. “And how does he know?” they further asked. So, I brought them printed papers with numbers and pictures, like the ones eye-doctors use.

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They started examining themselves

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and also asked to be examined by their friends.

IMG_20151204_083031Then, I gave them my glasses to understand “how I see”. Children tried them in many ways and said “Woooooow, everything looks bigger through your glasses!!!”.

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They got really excited by all this. Now, they may decide to construct an eye-clinic in class, examine other children and prescript the right glasses!!!

(by Spyridoula Patouna, teacher in pre-K class in Athens)

So many ideas!

During time of free play, I took a roll of toilet paper and cut it into pieces. Then, Anastasia came and asked me what I was trying to do.

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I told her “I’m trying to think what to do with this material, but I can not. Can you help me”?

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She said we can make a case for pencils using the whole roll. Katerina came at the table and constructed a perfect case!

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Then another idea came up. “We can make bracelets with the pieces you cut!”. So, Katerina, Artemis, Emily and Andriana made lots of beautiful bracelets.

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Katerina said “hey, my case can also be used as a hanger for the bracelets!

 

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Emily had another idea, and made a nice palm-tree!

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So many ideas, with just some pieces of recycling paper…

(by Spyridoula Patouna, teacher in pre-K class)