Pie chart and polymer goo preliminaries for munchkins

Came up with a couple of ways to start off the school year - gooey experiment and food-related. How good is THAT?

Thanks, Steve Spangler for his take on feeling comfortable in the classroom. This approach combines polymer science with 'New School Year' /leaving Mom and Dad nerves. Steve's stuff is endlessly variable and works well at all ages if you tweak t right. Who doesn't love that moment when you plunge your hands into the water to discover - EEUUUW! Jelly marbles!! it's all about being the best you can be in the right environment - drop the alka-seltzer (call it 'energy powder') into the oil and - no fizz ('energy'), but in the 'right' environment - water - zzzip go the bubbles! Now we've got the kid's attention where we want it!
OK. Now for an intro to pie charts:

• Give the class a big paper circle - the earth - (have a globe and a local map handy to have them relate to scale) - and divide it into 1/4s. 
• Color 3 of these blue for the oceans/waterways, divide the last 1/4 in half and put white on one of the 1/8s for uninhabitable land like mountains, ice etc. 
• Now you need to divide off 1/32nd for farms (green). The remainder gets to have lego houses, trees, playgrounds etc for inhabited land. 
• Now with the older kids they can see that tiny green bit has to provide food for all the people on the inhabited land. Not easy! Get them to build on the green part as well and they can see too many people compromise land for food.

Just a variation one of the great population activities from Population Connection. Maybe we have time to sing 'It's a Small World' to tie up the class.
So we have chemistry, math, geography, music and art in one simple lesson plan! Don't forget to 'grow' your jelly marbles BEFORE the class starts!

my philosophy - and who I am!

Hi! My name is Deirdre Batson and I am a pre-school science specialist who is passionate about getting kids to love science. My student's ages range from 2 to 5 so I try to select themes and techniques I can endlessly modify to suit all abilities and comprehension. I run 5 back-to-back half-hour lessons with up to 9 kids in each class. 2's, 3's and 4's follow each other in no particular sequence so I have to keep pretty much to the same classroom set-up as there is no time between one class leaving and the others waiting at the door!
Every year I try different modules and approaches although I have a pretty good 3-year program of weekly lesson plans already tried and tested - and rated by the kids as A-OK to judge by their enthusiastic responses and eagerness to share what they have learned with their regular teachers and their families. I also run a 45-minute  'enrichment' science class that runs after the regular nursery school day ends and concentrates more on ending up with a finished product like a slime (see image) , something mechanical or that ties in with a craft - paper airplanes for example, or food (which is all chemistry at work!).
I am going to be blogging each week about the lesson plans and classroom responses. Maybe something I try will be a dud, or maybe one of the kids will put a spin on one aspect and save it from sinking! Humor is a big part of the class, even with the 2's, and gets all of us through the day even if I am the only one who gets my own jokes! This year I am delving deeper into 'inquiry-based learning', inspired by the annual NSTA conference I attended in SF in March 2011. NSTA puts out some terrific journals for elementary, middle and high school classes and they have links to books, videos, webinars and materials you will want to check out, as well as their own NSTA blog! I bought Frugal Science' which has a waiting list of readers from my colleagues back home! Freebies are the thing - just like the neuroscience conferences I attended as a graduate and post-graduate scientist in my former life! Anyway the idea is to let the kids themselves lead the conversation and direction of the class whenever possible. This is not only better for their understanding but it means the teacher is not always 'on stage' which can be exhausting! First stop on the 2011-2012 science train is the Information Highway. Watch this space for my ideas about how to get that implemented, INCLUDING using internet resources IN the classroom to augment our experiences.