Air and Weather
Second grade students experiment with air pressure using syringes and tubes. Students observe and record weather, noting cloud types as well as wind and temperature data. They construct their understanding of how air interacts with objects as they create pinwheels, gliders, windsocks, kites and propellers.
Growing Plants
When studying plants, the second grade students become familiar with flowering plants and explore ways to progegate new plants from plants they have grown. They plant from seed, rapid-cycling brassica, a relative of the mustard plant, and observe the entire life cycle of this plant. They also grow new plants from cuttings, bulbs, and roots and monitor growth. Students grow a single shoot of wheat in a straw and throughout the growth of the plants, they keep a scientific journal to note changes in the plants.
Solids and Liquids
Students learn about the properties of solids and liquids. Students investigate solids and liquids in hand-on learning experiences. Exciting experiments include: building "solids towers," floating/sinking foods, building foil boats that sink/float, and many more.
Forest Explorers
Second grade students compare our local temperate rain forest to the tropical rain forest of Costa Rica. We participate in the Woodland Park Zoo Forest Explorer Program and research a particular rain forest animal.
These students are acting out the layers of the rain forest during our trip to the zoo.