Investigating Our Surroundings

Arts and Aesthetics

constructing (LS26A1e)
- 3-dimensional constructions
- build with craft supplies, wire, pipe cleaner, modeling clay, cardboard and boxes & junk
- build with food
- construct machines made with boxes and junk
- construct with commercial made materials:
  - Legos
  - pattern blocks
  - Cuisinaire rods
  - place value blocks
  - wooden blocks
- problem solve
  - representation of the crane parts - crawler track, boom, pulley, hook
  - representation of the dump truck hydraulic
dramatizing (LS25A1b and LS26A1b)
- dramatize Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater after discussing pumpkin shell house
- practice play lines for story innovation of books, To Town and Sing, Sing, Sing a Song, etc.
- pantomime nursery rhymes and songs for charades
- plan practice, make costumes, and present a play based on Native American folk tale for parents at culminating event
- role play construction worker with blocks, hard hats and yellow safety construction tape
memory drawing (LS26B1d)
- draw construction and building pictures
- draw design for stained glass window
- draw pictures of what their question is about to help them remember their project questions (e.g., questions for site manager, expert visitors, etc.)
- draw predictions of what expert will say about construction maintenance
observational drawing
- draw an architect's model of the arch for the Football Practice Facility
- draw construction materials, different kinds of buildings, parts of buildings, construction machines, and construction field trip sites (Time 1 drawings)
- draw construction vehicle models (toys such as hot wheels, matchbox cars, etc.)
- draw tools experts brought into classroom
- revisit observational drawings and elaborate, edit, and revise to make Time 2 observational drawings of construction materials, different kinds of buildings, parts of buildings, construction machines, and construction field trip sites
painting (LS26A1e)
- paint building pictures
- revisit observational drawings to add detail or information and color with water colors,
- paint buildings made with boxes & junk
- paint posters for culminating display
- paint stained glass windows,
relating art to literature
- draw pictures and write responses to The Terrible Thing that Happened at Our House, Into the Sky, and Three Little Pigs
representations (LS26A1e)
- create buildings on the computer with Kid-Pix
- create "Me and My House" collage mural
- draw blue print plan making a model from photographs
- draw pictures to imitate artistic style of known artist
- make two-dimensional drawings of houses, buildings, construction sites, and a variety of pictures that they drew throughout the investigation
- make house collage with material, paper, 35 mm slides, cardboard, etc.
- represent top view, side view, back view and inside view of buildings
responding to music (LS25A1c, LS26A1c, and LS26B1c)
- listen to sounds at construction site and reproduce sounds with instruments
- write a poem with words to describe sounds
- move creating a simple creative dance and draw after listening to Pictures at an Exhibition, The Great Gate of Kiev and In the Hall of the Mountain King
- listen for fast/slow, high/low, soft/loud and musical patterns
singing, movement and dance (LS25A1a and LS26A1a)
- practice and sing the child composed Construction Song for culminating event to the tune of I've Been Working on the Railroad
- sing Johnny has one Hammer, Go In and out the Windows
- tap rhythm sticks to the beat
viewing visual art exemplars (LS25A1d)
- discuss art prints that feature buildings and analyze elements of art - line, shape, color and texture

Language and Literacy

analyzing (LS5B1a)
- analyze information gathered through field studies (video on field trip, expert interviews, photographs, etc.)
classifying
- classify drawings about what they know have learned
- classify questions that children asked to pursue study groups
- sort and classify ideas for Student Topic Web 1 and Student Topic Web 2.
comparing
- compare and articulate differences in definitions
  - buildings - apartment, house, office, skyscraper
  - bulldozers - back hoe, back hoe excavator
  - concrete and cement
  - cranes - tower cranes, and wrecking crane
  - hammers - ball - peen, claw, wooden, sledge
  - roofs - pointy, flat; building compare nail sizes
  - tools - screw driver, pliers, hammer
  - shovels - steam shovel, gasoline shovel, diesel shovel
  - trucks - dump truck, cement truck, garbage truck, pick- up truck
- compare different nail sizes
critical thinking (LS5A1a)
- decide on what to present for culminating event
- decide what to include in group song for culminating event
- predict, hypothesize, or theorize the answers to their questions
- support own opinions when responding to questions such as the following:
  - How do builders stay safe?
  - What can be called construction or constructing?
  - What happens to plants that are in the way of the building? (Do they move them or just kill them?)
  - Why is it important to build?
developing oral language (LS4A1a and LS4B1b)
- brainstorm what they remember about construction
- categorize and label to form a topic web or graph
- design survey questions and results of surveys - example - Are cranes the same as bulldozers?
- discuss in group meetings (whole class, small group, or one-to-one )
  - discuss construction project "opening event"
  - discuss question of the day
  - discuss responses to literature and art exemplars
- interview experts
- listen in large group discussions, small group, one to one, and to experts
- report progress on representations, experiments, research, etc.
formulating questions (LS4A1b and LS5A1a)
- develop researchable questions
- ponder questions at the end of the project
- write their own books
integrating new vocabulary
- brainstorm words they know about the topic before and after studying (Topic Web I and Topic Web II)
- use new vocabulary words in conversation
making lists
- make lists of questions, predictions and findings
- make lists of what they might do
- make lists of what they would need (for their representations, models, etc.)
- make lists of what they might see
- make lists of what they had learned
  - tools used in maintenance
- make lists of what they would like to research
  - safety equipment
  - kinds of buildings
  - construction machines
  - construction materials
  - maintenance jobs
- make a vocabulary list
planning
- draw a house design
- develop costume plans for the play
- follow phases of writing, and pre-write and discuss ideas for "home - adventure - home" stories
- make blue prints for model building
- prepare a speech for parents
presenting (LS4B1a)
- explain construction posters, models, experiments, representations and songs to the neighboring classroom and parents at the culminating event
- share personal construction or building story to the class
- share progress on representations to the class
- share stories, poems, plays written about construction to the class
reading (LS5A1b)
- choose construction, building or machine books for Independent Reading time
- dictate a project experience story (going on a field trip, talking with an expert)
- make a book out of experience story
- read about cranes from an Internet search
- read nursery rhymes booklets - Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater, Humpty Dumpty, Wee Willy Winkie, etc.
- read child authored stories
  - "home - adventure - home" stories
  - crane stories
  - adapt stories and plays
- use experience story for reading
reflecting
- brainstorm "What I Now Know"
- edit stories for publication
- respond to the literature through writing or discussion
- self - evaluate their progress and products
- think about and write or tell "what I learned" after field visits
using references and resources (LS5A1b)
writing (LS5C1a )
- Book Log entries of the title, author, date and comments about books read
- construction questions
- describe building materials as per the five senses
- label parts of a crane on poster, label pictures
- plan representations and presentations for culminating event
- record field trip and expert findings
- write invitations for culminating event
- write memory stories about buildings and construction
- write or dictate a self-evaluation of construction project
- write plays that integrate new knowledge about construction
- write poetry about construction
- write predict ions of what they will find out on field trip or from experts
- write reports on what they have learned
- write stories about various aspects of the topic
  - "home - adventure - home" stories
  - crane stories
  - adapt stories and plays
- write survey questions
- write thank you letters to the experts

Investigative Skills-Science

exploring (LS11B1c)
- build with blocks noting foundation and stacking for strength
- review blueprints
- build structures with food
- notice and discuss characteristics and design of buildings
- probe maintenance and care of tools
- use senses with different construction materials to explore their properties
experimenting (LS11A1c, LS11A1f, LS11B1b, and LS11B1d)
- answer questions such as the following:
  - How do incline planes and other simple machines work?
  - How do you make the strongest paper bridge?
  - What is the best lifting material- straw, wire, string, ropes, cable or knotted nylon?
  - Will different colors affect the strength?
  - Will different weight of paper effect the strength?
  - Will folded paper make the bridge stronger?
- compare observations of individual and group results
- design a device for the pulley
- use a scale to measure the weights of bricks and concrete blocks
predicting (LS11B1a)
- predict possible answers to questions formulated before talking to an expert
- predict results prior to conducting experiments
- predict the purpose of building materials and where are they used in a building before talking to an expert or doing research
observing (LS11A1a and LS11A1e)
- dissect and describe materials used in construction
- observe building parts
- observe colors of hats and clothing of workers, machines, buildings, roofs
- observe construction and accessories at a construction site
- observe and record types of trucks and machines on playground
investigating (LS11A1b)
- How does the truss, arch, and buttress hold up buildings?
- What are the names for all the kinds of cranes?
- What is the sequence for construction?
- What material is used to make the crane pulley?
- What materials are in houses, buildings, and roofs?
- What parts of constructions are magnetic?
reporting (LS11B1e)
- Report the test process and results of their experiments

Numeration and Problem Solving

counting (LS10B1b)
- count the following:
  - kinds of roofs
  - machines at a building site
  - nails brought to school by expert
  - number of cubes to make paper bridge collapse
  - number of people that work on construction site
  - parts of a building
  - safety equipment
  - side and points on three dimensional shapes
  - tallies what they see on their field trips
  - tools brought to classroom
estimating
- estimate the following:
  - how much a cement block would weigh
  - length and weight of materials children gathered at the field site
  - length of tools
  - number of construction vehicles at the construction site
  - number of people that work in the construction site
  - number of windows in the construction site building
measuring
- compare weight of bricks and concrete blocks
- measure building materials and tools
- measure temperature near shingles in the sun compared to shingles not in the sun
- problem solve converting nonstandard measurement to standard measurement by comparing Cuisinaire links, Cuisinaire rods, inches and centimeters
- use measurement to build representations
  - collage house
  - crane
  - dump truck
  - 3-dimensional house
organizing, analyzing, and communicating data (LS10A1a, LS10B1b, and LS10B1c)
- develop bar graphs representing data from field trips (e.g., number of roofs, parts of buildings, machines)
- make pie graph displaying the results of the survey about bulldozers and cranes
predicting answers to questions such as the following: (LS10A1b)
- How many buildings will be seen on a walk around school?
- How many parts of a building will be seen?
- What kinds and how many roofs will be seen on a walk around school?
surveying (LS10B1a)
- Did you see any construction on your way to school?
- Do you think cranes and bulldozers are the same?
- Do you think there are pipes under our classroom floor?
- What do you think this material is called and where is it used in a building?
using geometry
- analyze geometric relationships
  - 2-dimensional shapes to 3-dimensional shapes
  - square to cube
- analyze the geometric pattern of brick on building facade
- sort and describe criteria for congruent and non congruent triangles
- sort shapes by varying criteria and communicate results (attribute listing)
  - color
  - size
  - density
    - differing in 1 way
    - differing in 2 ways

Social, Emotional Growth and Dispositions

communicating
- engage in group discussion
- frame questions skillfully
- listen to others
- negotiate roles, turn-taking, problems to solve
- report progress of investigations at group meetings
- share research
- use new vocabulary
cooperating and collaborating while working with others
- prepare displays
- present final reports
- study collaboratively in teams
empathizing with others and their needs
- appreciate work of peers noting evidence of effort, care and originality
- share friends, materials, space and time
- share praise and appreciation of peers
enjoying
gaining confidence in abilities to do the following:
- investigate
- make presentations to an audience
- observe constructions closely
- remember experiences of constructions
- represent construction in drawings
- use a variety of mediums
helping peers
- clean up joint project
- discuss for better understanding
- problem solve
- represent
initiating
- choose appropriate materials
- experiment
- predict and manage time
- research to answer questions
persevering
persisting at a task
problem solving
risk taking
- state disagreements in conversations or at group meetings
- support own opinions
- verbalize estimations, predictions, and hypotheses