To add a little fun and pizzazz to our curriculum my fellow PK teachers and I become “scientists” when we present science lessons to our students. Our “scientist alter-egos” currently on staff are Sally Science, who has a distinctive Southern draw and wears her graduation robe and glasses, Doctor Discovery, who has an Indiana Jones kind of look (complete with backpack) and is from the Outback of Australia, and me, Professor Peabody, who dons a white lab coat, wiggly heart headband (that I claim to be my brain) with my hair piled high on my head, gold metallic shoes, all topped off with a silly falsetto accent. We all claim to be cousins of the PK teachers who go missing when it is time for science. The children absolutely love our antics and completely buy into our bravado. We truly have them in the palms of our hands as soon as we walk into the classroom, and then the science begins!
Our lesson on volcanoes is simple and at the same time electrifying for these preschoolers. First we read the Step-Into-Reading book Pompeii… Buried Alive and then we bring out our teacher-made volcano model (see accompanying lesson plan to make your own). I place tiny blocks at the base of my Mount Vesuvius volcano to represent Pompeii and then the eruptions begin! All you need is baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring.
This year we will be able to simply segue from volcanoes to Alaska and the Iditarod. Mount Redoubt on the Kenai Peninsula, just 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, is ready to erupt (see my February 10th message for more information). The little scientists in my classroom will be keeping track of this volcano by the information given to us by the real scientists at the Alaska Volcanic Observatory. Please check the following lesson on volcanoes to make science “explode” in your classroom!