what is water made from? how do the clouds move?

 

We’re busy planning next term’s work at Dunkirk and questions about water have been flowing all around…

We’re part of an exciting Comenius project, linked with schools in Italy, Finland and Norway, where we’ll all investigate Big Questions with the children and share our work.   

 

All the schools are looking at issues around Why Is Water Precious? Which gives wonderful scope to explore many questions in depth. The children at Dunkirk have been asking wonderful questions – about many things, not just water – and its so exciting to explore the ways their questions link and cross-over.

 

 

 

 

They are interested in ice a lot at the moment – we’ve had lots around and their first-hand explorations lead to brilliant observations. They ask and notice really detailed things through all their work on the school allotment – they are curious about the creatures that love damp places, about the ways plants grow, about the pond - how do the creatures living there cope when their home is frozen they wanted to know…

How do plants drink?  How do you make wood?  Why do we need water? Where does the water in our taps come from and how does it get there? In fact – where does the water to flush our toilets come from and how does that get there?   We’re busy planning lots of experiments and hands-on investigations to look at these questions and more… 

does all ice sound the same? and other questions...

 

I've been incredibly inspired lately by questions the children are asking at Dunkirk School.  They ask questions all the time; and at the moment we are gathering ideas with them as we plan - with the children - what they would like to explore next term.   Water, in various forms, keeps cropping up.  The freezing weather has prompted some wonderful questions - they notice all the changes around them and are so eager for hands-on exploration.  Above is the pond we've made on the school allotment - and below is what it looks like at the moment, all frozen: 

 

 

 

                  This prompted wonderful questions and discussions - about ice but also about the creatures living in the pond and how they felt.  The children were really interested in the ball left on the water as a means of air getting into the pond.   It also led to some really important health and safety discussions about ice and venturing onto frozen water (or not).   Children need the first hand experiences to prompt questioning and thinking - and the discussions that arise are crucial in their learning.

They were really interested in the frost on the leaves and the different colours, patterns and shapes this brought out.  They were really amazed by leaves "glued" together by ice!  They also drew into the ice and frost everywhere they could find to do so...

 



 

 

We found this piece of ice (below) last year and built a sculpture with it;  and they've been recalling this and wondering if they'll be able to find similar pieces this year.

Many of the children adore making potions - they constantly experiment with different concoctions.  We have a set of potion / mud-pie making equipment on the allotment all the time and the children return to it over and over...

 

 So, the younger children were delighted to find a set of frozen mud cup cakes recently!  The older children had made them and left them to "cook", but when the younger children found them the next day, they were frozen solid - and popped out of the bun cases in a perfect ice circle!

So, they became the ingredient of a new ice-mud-water concoction made by a very focused group…

 

If ice breaks you notice further things about it…  and if you jangle frozen ice in your  hands, it makes amazing sounds…  But, does all ice sound the same the children wondered?

Water frozen in a bowl with leaves was deeply fascinating when they got the moulded ice out!   And, indeed, getting ice out of any and all containers became a huge focus...

 

 

 

Ice on hands with and without gloves prompted really good questions – they noticed how ice began to melt when you held it and were  so interested in how ice kept changing…

 

One of my favourite questions was asked by a year two boy as we got ready to go out exploring.  I was handing out equipment for the children to help carry to the allotment and this prompted one of the children to ask “why does the hot chocolate stay hot?” as he was carrying one of the metal flasks.  We’re planning lots of experiments with insulation and different materials to test this out later…  The best questions always come from the children; but it needs adults who can listen and help nurture the right kind of environment for questions to thrive…