- digital camera and digital photographs or drawings and notes from Talk Together activity (Day 3)
- digital projector
- various building materials used during the unit, including blocks (wooden, grid, bristle, etc.), flattened pieces of cardboard, cardboard tubes, small pieces of wood, tin foil, duct tape, masking tape, scissors, pattern blocks, popsicle sticks, etc.
- build
- structure
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners during daily routines and play.
English Language Arts/Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.5 Create representations of experiences or stories (e.g., drawings, constructions with blocks or other materials, clay models) and explain them to others.
MA Draft Standards:
Physical Sciences/Matter and Its Interactions: Structure and Properties of Matter/PS1.A Describe, compare, sort and classify objects based on observable physical characteristics, uses, and whether it is manufactured as part of their classroom play and investigations of the natural and human-made world.
Physical Sciences/Motion and Stability; Forces and Interaction /PS2.C Explore the strength and stability of buildings as they build structures with different materials. [Cause and Effect, Stability and Change]
Head Start Outcomes:
Logic and Reasoning/Reasoning and Problem Solving Classifies, compares, and contrasts objects, events, and experiences.
Science Knowledge/Scientific Skills and Method Observes and discusses common properties, differences, and comparisons among objects.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
Science and Technology/Technology and Engineering 23 Explore and describe a wide variety of natural and man-made materials through sensory experiences.
Science and Technology/Inquiry Skills 1 Ask and seek out answers to questions about objects and events with the assistance of interested adults.
English Language Arts/Language 2 Participate actively in discussions, listen to the ideas of others, and ask and answer relevant questions.
Explore Together (indoors): Build a Representation
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: Different materials are useful for making different structures and different parts of structures
ELA Focus Skills: Listening and Speaking, Vocabulary
Educator Prep: If you have access to a digital projector, you may want to project the photograph of the structure children are building onto a screen so that all children can view the picture. If you do not have access to a projector, simply make the camera available so children can view the picture or have children use their drawings and your notes to recall the features of the structure they are building. Or, make pictures of buildings available from magazines and photographs and have children choose from them. Make sure to clear a space for children to build.
Invite children to build a representation of a building or structure they have seen. Display materials for children and make them easily available for their use. You may wish to talk about the materials and review with children ways they have used the materials in previous building explorations. Ask, How can you use these materials to build the <house you saw outdoors; the house in this picture>?
As children work, talk with them about what they are noticing. Talk about the features of the structure. Does it have a roof? Walls? Windows? A door? How many walls or windows does it have? What shape is the roof? How many floors does it have? How are children using the materials to build?
Reflect and Share
Invite children to share their discoveries with the group. Ask,
- Can you tell us why you chose the pattern blocks to make the roof and not the small pieces of wood?
- Can you show us how to bend the cardboard to help it stand?
- Tell us how you made the door open and shut!
Discuss with children their experiences building the representations of buildings and structures. Encourage them to talk about how they used the materials to recreate the shapes and features of the structure. Have them compare the pictures or drawings with their finished products.