UNIT - WATER and LANDSCAPES

In this unit students learned about the different states of water. As part of our experiment, we grew sugar and salt crystals (see picture). Students learned about the three states of water, and that water evaporates with sunlight. Each group of students mixed their own salt and a sugar solutions. We let the solutions sit by the window until the water evaporated and only the crystals were left. Later, we showed students how water changes from a solid to a liquid using ice cubes. We went over both results as a class. Following the experiment, students learned that liquid water exists in the form of lakes, seas, and rivers and that we have different uses for it such as washing our hands, watering our plants, drinking, and washing the dishes.

Landscapes are part of our world, and in this unit students learned about the differences between rural and urban landscapes. We introduced this part of the unit with a video of "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse". The students really enjoyed the story and got to make their own country mouse paper puppet. They learned that urban landscapes have cars, streets, buildings, shops, highways, and bridges and that in contrast rural landscapes have farms, rivers, mountains, and forests. They distinguished various rural landscapes such as the forest, the jungle, the seaside, the savannah, the desert and the country by their principal characteristics (such as the desert is hot, the seaside has water) and which animals live in them.

Here are some neat links to online games and activities:

http://pbskids.org/rogers/buildANeighborhood.html This is a fun activity about elements of country and city landscapes. Students choose how many of each elements (such as streets, houses, trees etc) they put in their landscape.

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ey/science/animal_h/index.htm (This activity deals with animal habitats. Students either drag and drop animals in their proper habitats or choose which animals live in each habitat).