When designing our first unit of inquiry of the year, I mindfully chose to start with observations. I wanted to start the year off with something all children could do and feel successful at. Thus, we began this year with a study of rocks.
The children collected rocks, brought them to school and displayed them in "rock homes," which we made from egg cartons. We taught them how to make scientific illustrations, capturing detail in their drawings and using labels to explain their observations. Magnifying glasses gave the kids a new perspective on their rocks, allowing them to see and record even more details.
At the heart of this unit is the concept that there are different kinds of rocks, and they can be categorized by their common traits. Inspired by the book Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop, the Magical Minds worked on sorting and categorizing their rocks. Max, Amiya and Dylan chose to weigh their rocks with a scale, grouping their rocks by how many bears the rocks weighed.
Luci, Ben and Zara carefully categorized their rocks by color. During our "Gallery Walk" around the room, they shared their thoughtful process of examining and comparing the colors and then mindfully choosing which pile to place it in.
Jaden, Max, Ellora and Isa also use the scale to measure the weight of their stones. They used more of a process of elimination to determine which rock was the lightest and then on up to the heaviest.