Early Learning Blog
Tomatoshere: Tomato Seed Investigation
The Early Learners participated in the Tomatosphere™ program. "It has engaged more than three million students since its inception in 2001. Each year, over 15,000 Kindergarten to Grade 12 classrooms across Canada use Tomatosphere™ as a way to investigate the effects of space on food to support human space travel. The results from Tomatosphere™ help Canadian scientists understand some of the issues related to long-term space exploration. In the spring, participating classrooms receive two packages of tomato seeds. One package contains seeds sent into space or treated in space-simulated conditions. The other contains untreated "control" seeds. Students plant the seeds and conduct experiments to explore the effects of the space environment on the germination of tomatoes. Through Tomatosphere™, students learn how to conduct a scientific experiment and compare the number of seeds that germinate for the two groups of seeds." (http://tomatosphere.letstalkscience.ca/About.aspx)
Here, A has successfully repotted some tomato plants that she will care for until they are sent home with her for the winter holidays.
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Mathematical Literacy
Here, H is exploring number using ant addition prompt cards. She is using manipulatives: coloured plastic ants and rocks with numbers to indicate the answer. Using hands-on manipulatives provides students with extremely important development of skills that move onto supporting understanding beyond the rote representation of number.
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Week Twenty-Eight: Student Bloggers in April
“AB and NM and K (grade 2) and K (grade 2) are looking at the Yellow Creek from behind the log and Tonja is looking too.” – AK
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