Evergreen Inquiry

We enjoyed an evergreen inquiry unit lsdt week. So many different types of evergreen trees; the needles, the pine cones. Some of the needles are sharp and pokey, while others are rather soft.

Painting with pine sprigs was so silly and a bit tricky too.

Creating trees using a familiar shape was also lots of fun.

The full-day kiddos dove right in and had a ball with our latest challenge...

These kids know how to think outside the box!!

  Each idea so original.

There is nothing more satisfying than watching young children approach a problem or challenge. They are not intimidated in the least and have amazing ideas!! We can all learn a thing or two from little people:) Enjoy a few of the finished evergreen trees!

We always enjoy doing floating/sinking exploration.

The pine cones offered us a few extra surprises.

The tiny pine cones floated, but the heavy, woody ones sunk.

When our play time came to an end we noticed the pine cones had all closed up tight!!

Hmmmmmm....

We did a bit of wondering about that and thought that the water must have had something to do with that.

But why?!?!

Several children wondered what would happen if they dried out again.

We thought of some quick ways to dry them out; hairdryer, fan, and classroom heater vent. We decided to place them on the vent.

The next morning... SURPRISE!!

We did a bit of research and we found out that when a pine cone gets wet, it closes up to protect the seeds that are inside the petals of the cone. Who knew?!?

Sorting and graphing different types of pine cones was lots of fun.

A few of the children tried their hand at drawing like a scientist too. This is becoming a bit more routine and the children really understand the difference between a creative artist vs. drawing like a scientist and only drawing what is seen.

Such intent faces.

We took a closer look at pinecones too. 

Impressive, wouldn't you say?!

We also decided to make another sensory bottle for our safe place.

We put in a few sprigs of evergreen.

Added some sparkles and water and POOF!!

So pretty.