Kindergarten, Science, Week 4

This week we started our unit on light. "God said, "Let there be light." I got these ideas from the Science Experiences... book.

• Monday we discovered that we need light to see.
• I took a small box that didn't have gaps at the corners or seams and taped a picture of a smiley face inside. On the side facing the smiley face I made a small hole, just big enough for one eye to peek in. Then I cut a flap on the top that could be left closed or opened to let light in.
• First, I had K. look in with the flap closed. "What can you see?" Nothing it is just dark.
• Then I opened the flap and had her look. "What can you see?" The smiley face.
• We did this a few times and discussed how light was needed to see the smiley face and without light, we can't see anything.

• Tuesday we learned that light travels in a straight line.

• I folded 3 sheets of paper in 4ths so they would stand. Then I used a large star shaped punch to punch a star in each paper. You can just cut a circle in the papers. The punch is something I already had and thought it would be easy and fun to use. I used a blanket to block the light on 2 sides of our bed (a dark place) and set up the folded papers under the bed. Next I took a flashlight and set it on some books so it would be the right height to shine through the stars without my having to hold it. Then I lined up the stars so the light would shine through all 3 and show a star on the wall.
• K. and I laid down and talked about the light shining through the stars. Then I had her put her hand between two of the papers, blocking the light, and we discussed how her hand stopped the light -- no star showed up on the wall. The light did not travel around her hand to the next paper.
• Wednesday we learned that light has color.
• You will need a prism, or something that will bend the light, a flashlight, and magazine or book with a soft cover.
• First, I left the magazine flat and we talked about how the edge looked like one line. Then I curved the magazine so she could see all the different pages.
• We talked about how light coming through the window is just clear, but it has a surprise when we bend it.
• I darkened a room (you can drape a blanket over a table and get under the table) and set our prism on the table and shined the flashlight through the prism. Rainbow on the wall! We talked about the colors (ROY G. BIV) and that those colors are in light. We also talked about Noah and the rainbow.
• Thursday we didn't have science scheduled.
• Friday we found pictures of light (sunny sky without showing the sun) and dark (K. wanted to use black construction paper) and glued them on our number 1. Now the 1 is finished.