December Newsletter

KINDERGARTEN

The children will continue their study of what animals do to prepare for winter during the month of December.  The children will explore the concepts of food gathering and storage, hibernation and migration by learning about different animals such as bats and arctic foxes!  The students will watch short video clips, view photographs and then finally act out the animal’s actions with paper puppets!  The children will also learn about the different threats that these animals are facing, such as White Nose Syndrome in bat populations of New York State. 

FIRST GRADE

First Grade entomologists will spend the month of December exploring the behavior of the different insect we have been studying.  The children will first form questions about the insects, such as “Do darkling beetles prefer dark or light?” or “What foods do the insects like best?”  The children will then act out experiments in order to test these questions.  Finally, the students will record what they find about the insects by drawing and writing in their science journals.

SECOND GRADE

Second Grade geologists will wrap up their study of Earth materials by learning about the rock cycle.  The children will act out the different ways that rocks are formed, by learning about erosion and deposition, as well as the Earth’s tectonic plates.  During this study, the children will become familiar with sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks and how each is formed.