This week the children have used their developing knowledge of natural and man-made/ built environments to observe changes occurring within the ELC. In doing so, they have made connections between they prior learning to transfer and adapt the relevant knowledge between a range of different experiences. The children have been encouraged to use play, reflection and investigation as authentic opportunities for making predictions, generalisations and applying reflective thinking to consider how and why things change.

The children have used the creative arts such as mark-making through drawing, painting and writing to express their ideas and make meaning of what is happening to their beans.

Some children shared their observations:

Daniel – “I put water in it. There is roots.”

Tesi – “Mine has roots and a stem and leaves on the top. And half of it is a bean. Half of it is green and the other one is lots of yellow. It has big beans and little beans.

Joel – “It has roots. I can see roots and beans.”

These responses show the children’s developing understanding of the parts of a plant as informed by our shared learning experiences and ongoing investigation.

Later in the week, some construction works have been undertaken in the ELC. This has included workers removing the large garden bed in the outdoor environment and are replacing it with pavers to increase the usability of the space for children’s play. The children were eager to observe the process.

Some children shared their observations:

Eva – “He is taking the bricks and digging.”

Leo – “He is digging the bricks.”

Avelyn – “I can see the tractor. He is building a house.”

Mishka – “That floor is slippery. It is dangerous. He is finding treasure.”

The children participated in a shared reflection during group time to sort and categorise certain things as natural or man-made:

Joel – “Natural is like nature with wood and leaves and seeds.”

Aria – “Man-made is when it is in a factory.”

Tesi – “Man-made means it is built by people.”

We are very impressed by the children’s learning over the course of this term!