Chip Bee Science Play Dates
滴水成河 Small drops can create a river
Water Wonderland: Our Precious Oceans
Week 4 is all about water, and exploring the ocean ecosystems. We will include music, song, dance, and games to make it easier for the children to focus, and explore some exciting water activities to bring the lesson to life!
Our lesson will start with 10 minutes of free play at pre-set stations, then diving into our book of the week; 小水母的原望! (You Wish, Jellyfish!) We follow the story of the jellyfish and the mollusk, and their discovery of what makes each of them each unique. In addition to the book, we have planned a puppet play, starring 鲨鱼 (shark) and 章鱼 (octopus). Who will win the Ocean Emperor’s big race? Finally, we all come together to dance the beloved Baby Shark song before ending with our send-off play with bubbles.
Create an Ocean World
We introduce our ocean friends with a jellyfish song and tentacle dance with tentacle costumes. Then we work together to build a little ocean environment. Children scoop in different elements that make up an ocean environment, from water, to sand, to plants, rocks shells and marine creatures .
Learning outcomes: sensory awareness of different textures in the ocean, sink versus float, social interaction working together, ocean-related vocabulary.
Mandarin Words: 水母 (shuǐ mǔ) – jellyfish, 魚 (yú) – fish, 漂浮 (piāofú) – float, 沉 (chén) – sink, 海洋 (hǎiyáng) – ocean, 海底 (hǎidǐ) – seafloor
Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deShX9BMuRE
Rubber Ducks are Counting on You!
Time for the classic rubber duckies! We talk about big and small, then count the mother duck and her five ducklings. We will sing the song 五隻小鴨子 (Five Little Ducks) with piano accompaniment. After playing with the ducks on our ocean pond, we head over to the sandpit to practice the numbers from last week (一 and 二) and introduce 大 and 小 (big and small)
Mandarin Words: 一 (yī) – one, 二 (èr) – two, 三 (sān) – three, 四 (sì) – four, 五 (wǔ) – five, 小 (xiǎo) – small, 大 (dà) – big, 鴨 (yā) – duck
Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QuDlk7Zjvc
Castles in the Sand
Each child will have the chance to build their own sandcastle, complete with decorations such as seashells, leaves and rocks. We will offer moulds or the children can create their own designs. We learn about what kind of shapes will stand, and what might not, and have fun with safe sand.
Mandarin Words: 石 (shí) – rock, 玩 (wán) – play, 沙 (shā) – sand, 家” (jiā) – home, 做 (zuò) – to make/do
Song: 一起玩沙子, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_zimbesEiQ
Visit a Live Pond Ecosystem
What lives in our ponds? We revisit our little ocean so the children can scoop out their favourite fish. This encourages motor control and helps us understand volumes and explore different types of creatures that live in the ocean! We then explore a live pond with real fish, turtles, and plants.
Mandarin Words: (numerous repeated) 鱼 (yú) – fish, 鸟 (niǎo) – bird 草 (cǎo) – grass 树 (shù) – tree, 叶 (yè) – leaf 石 (shí) – stone or rock 水 (shuǐ) – water 泥 (ní) – mud, 花 (huā) – flower
Song: 小池, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQuO7vR-3J8
Ways of Water
Water is a liquid, which means it can change shape, just like when we scooped the water from the mini ocean into the cup. What happens when we spin water around? What happens to the things floating in the water when it moves? Today we look at whirlpools and vortexes, and discover the exciting world of fluid dynamics!
Mandarin Words: 河 (hé) – river, 风 (fēng) – wind, 中间 (zhōngjiān) – middle, center, 快 (kuài) – fast, 不游 (yóu) – do not swim