September 2014

It has been a wonderfully busy start to the school year. We are excited about all we have planned in the STEAM Lab and around campus. The students are happy and ready!

It has been a pleasant and drier than normal summer here in CT, but the TCS Children's garden has done just fine. Here, a Kindergartener, proudly displays some of the harvest from the "pizza bed" that she and her PreK classmates planted last spring.

Here, our PreKers meet Yoko, the STEAM lab guinea pig, and learn about measurement tools that scientists might use in their observations and data collecting.

As part of their bee studies, the 1st graders have been studying pollination. Here they use their model bees to help pollinate the TCS flower beds.

3rd graders experienced a "hands-on" science lesson on population sampling on their Grass Island field trip recently. They counted and recorded the numbers of different living things in a 50cm diameter circle. They collected lots of interesting data. Stay tuned for their reports!

Which materials will bees prefer to nest in - wood blocks, bamboo or bark? The 1st graders have been busy building and hypothesizing. Their hive will be installed in the children's garden as part of this long term experiment. Come see for yourselves!

3rd graders have been hard at work collecting images of their Grass Island finds. Here, they are using the MyStory app on the iPad to photograph, research and catalogue shells.

Serious math work in science class - here the 3rd graders tally the data on the species of Grass Island. Early results show that periwinkle snails and asian shore crabs are thriving!

Change is an overarching theme of 2nd grade science. Lately, the students have been differentiating between physical and chemical changes. Here, a solid and a liquid combine in an exciting way to make gas! What kind of change is this?