PS 58 Lower Grade Harvest Festival!

Maker Faire

Check out the link to the Maker Faire event happening in the city this upcoming weekend (September 25-26) at the New York Hall of Science!  Thanks Teri!

http://makerfaire.com/

Earthboxes!

Many of you may have noticed the Earthboxes in the small schoolyard on 1st Place!  The children in the lower grades planted herbs, lettuce, peppers and tomatoes in them at the end of the last school year, and were able to make and eat salad from the boxes before school ended.  The plants have been thriving all summer long and the produce is ready to be harvested!  Please stay tuned for a future post about a possible Harvest Festival in which the students will pick the produce for use in the school cafeteria!

First and Second Grade Journals

In First and Second Grade science, the students work on recording their findings during observations and experiments.  In order to do this, each child will need a Science Journal.  Please send in a standard sized, lined notebook for your child to use in science class.  Label the cover of the notebook with your child’s name and class number.  Please send the notebook to school with your child ASAP.  Thank you so much!

September Newsletter

Welcome back!  It has been another great start to the year at PS 58!  As I have my first classes with the children, I am blown away with the enthusiasm and knowledge about science that they have.  Below you will find a short description of the units that we will begin with this year.  The best way to reach me is by email at marshdiana730@gmail.com, but please feel free to visit me in room 301 as well!  Thanks!

Pre-K- ZUNDOS

Pre-K students will visit the science room once a week for a 45-minute session for a four week cycle.  The students will begin the year exploring what a scientist is and what they study.  The children will then participate in many hands-on activities in order to learn about their five senses.  They will smell and taste and describe different kinds of apples, go on a “listening walk,” and use their sense of touch to make slime!

Kindergarten

Kindergarten scientists will visit the science room once a week for 45-minute sessions.  Some of the general science skills that the children will work on throughout the school year are classifying, comparing and contrasting, observing and communicating ideas.    They will start the year exploring what a scientist is by examining many of the different tools scientists use, such as hand lenses and balance scales.  The students will then begin their first unit of study about trees.  The children will identify the different parts of trees and how they function.  

First Grade

First Grade scientists will visit the science room once a week for 45-minute sessions.  Some of the general science concepts that the students will work on throughout the year are questioning, predicting, comparing and contrasting and recording data.  The students will begin the year by exploring what a scientist does, as well as setting goals for what they would like to do this year in science.  The children will then begin their first unit of study on insects.  The children will make observations of many different kinds of insects, such as mealworms, and their lifecycles.

Second Grade

Second Grade scientists will visit the science room twice a week for 45-minute sessions.  Some of the general science concepts that the students will work on throughout he year are questioning, predicting, measuring, and recording and interpreting data.  The students will begin the year by looking at what a scientist does.  They will practice forming questions, making observations, acting out experiments and recording what they find.  The students will then use those skills in order to observe the differences between rocks and shells.