Wonderful Water June Day 1
We started the week off with a game of Eagle Eye, Group Shapes and The Name Game. We had a gratitude circle that included wonderful answers like "family", "trees" and "being together at camp". We discussed how much of the Earth is water vs land, drinkable vs salt water and how our bodies like the Earth are made of mostly water (60-65%). Our eyes are 95% water! We looked at the different Ocean Zones (Sunlight, Twilight, Midnight, Abyssal and Hadal Zones). We also learned about some of the sea creatures that live in each zone and made a flip book to record the zones and each creature we talked about. I think they turned out really great (see pics below)! After snack, we went to the woods to play an Overfishing Tag Game. I explained what overfishing is and how it can devastate populations of fish. Three kids were fisherman with spray bottles and "catching" fish or squid (they didn't know which they would catch). I would yell freeze and if the fishermen had left more fish than squid in the ocean to repopulate they won.
Then we did a science experiment to demonstrate temperature difference in the oceans. We were talking about Deep Ocean Currents and how part of the reason they occur is due to the difference in water temperature. So I had a cup with ice blue water and cup with hot red water and placed them in a larger container of room temperature water. Each cup had a hole that was plugged up. I asked them what they thought would happen to the red hot water vs the blue cold water. Most were unsure but we had some good hypotheses. Then I released the water and we watched the cold water fall and the warm water rise. Thermohaline circulation is how the Global Conveyor Belt is able to move water around our world. You can learn more about Ocean Currents here: (https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/currents/06conveyor2.html)
After the demonstration, we took a short hike to collect sticks to make mini rafts. Then we assembled them, made a paper man to sit on the raft, took them to the creek to test out and race.