Science

Return to your Sit Spot

• You can try some new things when you observe at your Sit Spot:

• SOUND MAPPING. Put a dot in the middle of your journal page to represent yourself. Draw two or three circles around the dot. Listen carefully to what you hear surrounding you. When you hear something (wind, bird, airplane, etc.) mark on the map approximately where you heard it. Use symbols to represent what you heard.

• BLIND CONTOUR DRAWING. When making a blind contour drawing, keep your eyes on what you are drawing without looking at your hand as it draws on the paper. Contour drawing trains your eye to draw what it sees rather than what it thinks it sees, thus challenging you to carefully observe the subject. You may be surprised at how accurate these drawings can be.

• FIRST PERSON OBJECT. Write as if you are the object or organism that you are observing, like a tree, frog, or rock. What do you see, feel, hear, sense? What is your personality like? Who are your friends? Who are your enemies? From where do you get your energy? What is your life cycle? Another related activity is to write a biography of a subject you are observing.

• SENSORY EXPLORATION. You can do a broad exploration of the senses. What do you see, smell, feel, hear, taste (can be figurative) around you? Or, you can focus on a subject and describe what it looks like, feels like, smells like, sounds like, and, perhaps, even tastes like.

• SKETCHING FROM MEMORY. Closely observe a subject and then walk away from it until it is out of sight. Sketch the subject from memory. Go back and look to see how you did. You may choose to modify the drawing. Continued practice sketching by memory will improve your observational skills.

• TIMELINE. Describe the place around you: the plants, wildlife signs, weather, light, etc. What do you think it will be like in five hours, five days, five months, five years, fifty years, or five hundred years? You can also go back in time.

Remember to record your observations in your moon journal.

Optional Read-Alouds: Scientists read and understand books about science.

• Talk about:

  • What do you know about (pillbugs or maple trees)?

  • What questions do you have?

• Watch and listen to author Emily Morgan read aloud from one of her books:

  • Next Time You See a Pillbug

  • Next Time You See a Maple Seed

• Talk about:

  • What new information did you learn?

  • What new questions do you have?