Every year the TCPS Kindergarten learns about the different animal groups. After studying the general characteristics of a group, we then focus our study on one or more particular representatives from the group. For example – this year after we finished studying what makes a mammal a mammal, we focused our research on the bushbaby, a small nocturnal mammal with huge eyes.
Each year we also focus on a particular environment. One year it was Hawaii… other years Antarctica… the Sahara Desert… the saguaro cactus…. a limestone cave…. the Brazil Nut Tree, and the Everglades. Each time the particular animals of focus all come from that environment. In this way students learn of the inter-relatedness of nature. Each environment also offers some interesting areas of study particular to that area. When we focused on Hawaii, we also learned about seamounts and volcanoes! When we learned about the hostile environment of the Sahara, we learned about the many ways creatures there adapt to survive the heat and lack of humidity.
This year we are learning about the baobab tree of Africa. With the study of each new animal group, we research and then create more inhabitants for our environment. First our massive baobab trunk and branches were formed with twisted paper bags… boomslang snakes wound their bodies on the limbs; their “scales” of tiny bubble paper shine over the fabric body… then the children’s little bushbabies (made out of socks with big jewel eyes) were added to the branches… now our yellow-billed hornbills have taken up residence in the tree, many feeding on the ground beneath it. These birds were formed of casting material over a plastic bottle body and a balled –up newspaper head. As each year goes by, our environment grows!
Enjoy these excerpts of what the Kindergarteners learned about insects from their research!
“All ants are blind” ~ Kenneth
“Some moths have camouflage so their prey can’t see them.” ~ Ali
“Beetles fight over the female. The strongest male wins her.” ~ Sam
“Bugs only see up to 3 colors, yellow, red and blue.” ~ Harry
“Butterflies have long tongues.” ~ Sahil
“Butterflies live in every part over the earth where plants grow, even in the cold of the far north.” ~ Ava
“When the ants abdomen gets full of liquid it blows up like a balloon.” ~ Fenna
“Ants are a special group of wasps.” ~ Alex
“After spending 17 years underground, the cicada climbs a tree to shed his skin.” ~ Zac
“Ant larva eat insects caught by hunter ants.” ~ Livvy