Experimenting with boats

Today Kate was interested in designing boats using the walnut shells. Getting herself organised with water and looking around for appropriate sails she demonstrated how she could make a sail by using her fingers to make a triangle and cutting around them. She experimented with the different weights of playdough and how they affected the sailing of it and even twirled her boat.
Kate continues to experiment with air pressure with balloons and wind. I explained that was like a boat caught in a whirlpool.

As can be seen here Kate has designed a unique way of creating a triangle shape. She tells me it is her own idea. "Thats a pretty good triangle Jo," Kate said. Kate validates and assesses her own skills as she goes. She is learning about self assessment.

Left alone to carry out her experiment Kate searched around for more containers she could experiment with. She is now using the correct terminology and loves to play around with words. Experiment has been added to her vocabulary. She even asked me to make a triangle and cut down a yogurt pot for another type of boat. This was bigger. Maybe she made a correlation between the size of her boat and the size of the sail she would need. I will check with her about her working theory for this. We went on to read 'Who Sank the Boat' for mat time and some interesting discussion followed. Tomorrow she wants to experiment more with boats and floating. Kate is setting her own goals and driving her own curriculum.

Jake has been working in the block area and wanted to take a load of blocks to China. After researching where China was and making the connection that there was a lot of water between New Zealand and China Jake decided to make a boat to carry his blocks. Jake has worked on his boat building over the last week with his sister Kyla and Claire our student teacher. Jake has shared his many ideas, asked questions and been engaged in some challenging play that has spurred confidence and enthusiasm. Written by Jo. 01.07.09