Moon Phases and Movement

 This week, we focused on our closest neighbour in the solar system, our moon, as we looked at the different ways the moon changes in the night sky. We looked at how the different phases occur through scientific experiment using flashlights and a ball of play-doh to represent the sun and moon. This was a really fun activity for the students as they worked together with a partner to see if they could recreate the different phases and shapes of the moon. It took some time but eventually the students were able to recreate the different phases. 

We also began planning our ideas for next week’s STEM week. In grade two we are focusing on innovations related to space. Some of the students decided to make space tourism their focus. Another group of students decided they want to look at how we can terraform another planet to help it resemble the Earth. And a third group decided to focus on technological innovations related to space by making changes and improving different types of space equipment such as space drones, spacesuits, jetpacks, etc. 

Over the weekend the students have been asked to do some research on their chosen topics. For example, the students working on space tourism should research one or two planets in the solar system to be able to have some idea about the planet and what conditions would be like if they could go there as well as things they can see or do there. For those who chose terraforming as their topic they should research what ideas scientists currently have for making another planet similar to the Earth.

The third group should look at the current version of the different objects that they’ve chosen and research how they work and find out what limitations or problems that they might have. Some of the topics they have chosen to re-search are: base cars/ space buggy to explore the surface of a planet or moon, a space drone that can fly over the surface of a planet and explore, as well as space suits and how to make them more resistant to the extreme temperatures of things like the sun etc. Please check with your child to find out what they are researching and give them some time to read up on it before Monday so that they have some ideas before doing more research at school.

In math we began working on multiplication and division and during language the students continued working on their creative writing stories. They shared their stories with classmates to get some feedback and made some edits before they began typing them in. Many students made great progress as they kept adding more details to the stories. They also enjoyed quizzing each other before their spelling tests today.

In PE we continued working on rolling sliding and gliding using the roller boards for different types of movement races and also to play a pirate game stealing beanbag treasures from one pirate ship while other students tried to defend it.

We also had a special posture and movement lesson together with Mr. Didier Hartmann on Wednesday and the students demonstrated their ability to swing and do pushups and handstands and had a lot of fun dodging the stick in the stick game!