With each new month comes a new topic of study for the Tugboats.  This month we are exploring Our Earth.  Considering that this wonderful planet is hosting our lives, we should know a thing or two about it!  We’ve spent the first week introducing the idea of Earth: that it is a planet among other planets and it has specific features that make it ideal for living (including land, water, and air.)

We spent the week becoming familiar with the shapes and colors of our planet, first by making our own individual Earths from blue and green play dough.  Next, we got to know the difference between the land and water features of our Earth using watercolor and sand applied to card stock.  We thought carefully about air: what it is, how we can see it, and what is has the power to do.  Bubbles were the perfect sensory materials to use for these experiments!  We rounded out the week by examining how Earth supplies the necessary things for life (food, air, water, and sunlight), while also sustaining non-living things as well.  This weeks experiments focused on exploring new sensory materials and finding interesting ways to use them.  Each of our activities provided fine motor practice across a spectrum of skill levels.  Most importantly, we spent a lot of time conducting scientific inquiry and encouraging our students to ask lots of questions and to continue seeking answers, even if they are difficult to find.

In the midst of all of this fun, we also had a visit from a wonderful local puppeteer named Nicola McEldowney (check out our Facebook update for photos!)  We held our weekly Chinese lesson with Zhi, Elisabeth’s mom, and conducted a review of all that we’ve learned so far.  The Tugboats are creating quite a vocabulary for Chinese words and characters!