an inquiry into

wheels
term 3 -2010 kensington gardens preschool

Transportold & new

Sports with wheels

Fun wheels
Other wheels

On the ground with engines

On the ground-no engine

In the air

Wheelchairs

People who work with wheels

In the sea

Beginning conversations and inquiry

What do you know about wheels? Observing wheels around our environment. History of the wheel. Are wheels everywhere? Could we use anything else instead of wheels? How can we make & create wheels? Can we make games with wheels? What if we had no wheels? Do you know any people that work with wheels? How do wheels help us? How do you get to kindy?

Developmental Learning Outcomes:

Children are confident and involved learners. Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating. Children resource their own learning through connecting with people, place, technologies and natural and processed materials Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity

Children are effective communicators. Children begin to understand how symbols and pattern systems work

What will you see children doing?

applying a wide variety of thinking strategies to engage with situations and solving problems, and adapting these strategies to new situations creating and using representation to organise, record and communicate mathematical ideas and concepts making predictions and generalisations about their daily activities, aspects of the natural world and environments, using patterns they generate or identify and communicating these using mathematical language and symbols exploring their environment with purpose manipulating objects and experimenting with cause and effect, trial and error, and motion contributing constructively to mathematical discussions and arguments using reflective thinking to consider why things happen and what can be learnt from these experiences using play to investigate, imagine and explore ideas following and extending their own interests with enthusiasm, energy and concentration

initiating and contributing to play experiences emerging from their own ideas participating in a variety of rich and meaningful inquiry-based experiences
persevering and experiencing the satisfaction of achievement persisting even when they find a task difficult

What will the staff be doing?

recognising and valuing childrens involvement in learning providing learning environments that are flexible and open-ended
responding to childrens displays of learning dispositions by commenting on them and providing encouragement and additional ideas

encouraging children to engage in both individual and collaborative explorative learning processes listening carefully to childrens ideas and discussing with them how these ideas might be developed
providing opportunities for children to revisit their ideas and extend their thinking modelling inquiry processes, including wonder, curiosity and imagination, trying new ideas and taking on challenges reflecting with children on what and how they have learned building on the knowledge, languages and understandings that children bring to their early childhood setting

What Learning experiences will we provide?

Resources (books, puzzles, materials) to support their learning around wheels. Wheel Day on the tennis courts bikes, scooters, skate boards, roller skates. A journey on the Obahn A journey to Glenelg on the Tram A journey on the train A Double Decker bus trip to the Bridgewater Mill and Botanic Gardens. Visit to local Nursing Home to see how wheels help us. Visit by Wheelienet (for children to see how wheelchairs work and what people in wheelchairs can do). Many opportunities to represent and express their ideas about wheels drawings, paintings, wood, collage materials, clay.
What can parents do to support their childs learning? Go on public transport anywhere! Next time you get your tyres checked or take your car to the mechanic, take your child with you and talk about what happens. Look at all the different things in your house that have wheels! Look at numbers in the environment houses, bus stops, signs discussion about what the numbers are for. Discussion with your child about numbers in your house and how you use numbers in your work.

Finding out what children know How do we get to kindy? Angelina- comes by bike, sometimes drive with mum. Sophia - With my mum and sisters in my black car. Henry-in a car, in a black one with Mum and Dad drives his car-a ford. Oliver-in a car, my Mum and Dad drive me, a silver one. Eloise-in a car, Mum and Dad have a black car. Zara-Mum did a green car for me, Scarlett-we drive, our Mummy drives a black car

Collecting Data
The Green group have been involved in collecting data on how children get to preschool. A small group helped me to set up a chart so that all children in the group could write their name and indicate how they get to preschool After brainstorming all the ways children could get to preschool, each child in the group drew a picture of one of these. We needed to do counting and measuring to set up the chart. When everyone filled in the chart, the children added up the numbers. Most children come by car!

Continuing to find out what children know

In addition to the question how do you get to kindy, we asked how does it move? Ben-the car moves from its engine Jordy-the car moves with the steering wheel Jack-the cars wheels Sofia-the car, we turn the wheels and press the button and then drive. Mia-Walking on your legs Fred-racing car, it has buttons, a key, afoot press, it goes fast. Phoebe.-the car moves from its wheels, they go round and round, thats how a car moves! Angelina-I rode my bike-my legsJames- With lots of power

Lucy-The Aliens use a list of power in Toy Story, they have a pizza car Anthony-When you get petrol, Our car gets lots of petrol at the petrol station Angelina-Use petrol Jamie- Only Petrol

Staff reflections: The children know quite a bit about cars and have shared their information. Ben talks about the engine and Sofiya mentions pressing a button to drive, Feruz knows about the accelerator. Petrol is mentioned by a few children along with power. There are some misconceptions about wheels and steering wheels. Maybe we could have a mechanic visit or go to a mechanic.

During the week we have been exploring childrens prior knowledge about wheels. The teachers shared their wheel stories with the children ie when I rode my bike..

Children get to use their choice of media to represent their wheel stories.
We then split up into small groups and asked the children to share their wheel stories with us. We documented their words then gave them the opportunity to either draw, paint, use clay or any media of their choice to represent their stories. We learnt a lot about the childrens schema (prior knowledge) and in so many cases, their stories involved time spent with family members, riding bikes and scooters.

Play Experiences
Can we make something that goes with the blocks?

Mr. Gumpys Motor Car Acting out well-known stories

Purposeful sociodramatic play relating to our topic.

The children set up a hospital on the platform and then they wanted an ambulance!

Many children contributed to the project, they referred to a picture of an ambulance and made lights, stickers on the side, one child wrote ambulance, and they all chose the wheels.

We had just finished the ambulance when one child announced he also wanted to build a train

The next day, it was raining so the children asked for a roof for the train! The children worked cooperatively to bring the gazebos over.

Story Tables to support our learning

Our first tram journey to Glenelg

Our first tram journey to Glenelg

Documentation

The OBahn and Bus Learning Journey

The children used their clipboards to observe shapes within the playground. Observation skills teach children to collect and organise information. Observation leads to questions and a search then for answers which in turn is the basis of inquiry.

What vehicles can we make?

Scooters

Trains

A car towing a boat

Our Train Journey to Belair

The tunnel

Music and song and Shadows! Using the overhead projector to provide shadows of trains, bikes and cars, the children were able to hop aboard to act out the songs and enjoy the rhythm of the music. Great fun!

An opportunity to learn fun songs related to our project and participate in shadow play The Push Bike Song Baby You can Drive My Car Train is a Comin

Planning and creating trains and buses

Sally took a small group of children out to the glue gun table and together they sat and reflected on their learning journey on the train to Belair. After some great remembering the children were asked if they would like to make a train or bus. Yes! was the reply. I asked them to firstly draw a plan of what they were going to make so that they could refer back to the plan throughout the making process. The children then chose the materials they would need and set to work. They achieved some really great results.

Our second journey on the tram

Journey to the Hills on a double decker bus

The children recall one of their journeys during the term. An Inquiry into Wheels ~ Our learning experiences this term have focussed on wheels and number. What can you tell me about your journey on the tram? I noticed the tracks, rocks, shells and a big rock at the beach. On the tram it feeled like I was on a boat that went over the waves. We went from kindy on a bus to the city and then a tram to Glenelg. I went in to look for some shells and rocks and I drew the tracks of course. At the Beach House I saw people going down the water slides I have been there 6 times.

An Inquiry into Wheels ~ Our learning experiences this term have focussed on wheels and number.

What can you tell me about your journey on the Double Decker Bus?
I really liked it when I sat next to mummy and really liked it when I went upstairs again because I didnt want to go down. I saw sheep but because the trees were in the way I couldnt see horseys. I saw the horsey but it was only a picture on the bus and I really liked that it was red. I saw the wheel it was big and it was like a giant. It was attached to the wall of the short house. I played at the playground on the slippery dip. I got to walk to the wheel with mummy.

I noticed there were big buildings in the city. When you got out of the city there were no big buildings.

This comment from one of the children during discussion time took our project in an unexpected direction

Planning a City
One of the key interest areas that has come out of our learning journeys and group conversations is the childrens interest in cities. When asked if they would like to plan and make a city a lot of the children were very keen. The starting point has been for the children to draw plans of what they would like to see in the city. This has ranged from skyscrapers (they scrape the sky) to hospitals, ambulances, fire engines, police stations, cranes, the list goes on.

We have organised for Eloises mother, who is a Town Planner, to come and talk to the children. (Drawing on the knowledge and skills in our community)This will support what the children have started and give more meaning to the planning of their own city.
The complex nature of creating a city means it is a work in progress so watch this space!

What is a city? Discussion with children at group time. (Again Prior Knowledge!)
A big, big tower. It has a big building. It has square windows. Thats when theres lots of tall buildings and theyve got lots of square windows. The city is tall, tall, tall buildings and they can nearly reach up to the sky. A city has lots of cars driving past buildings. Lots of people work there at the city. Theres lots of people buying things at shops. Lots of houses and buildings. Theres lots of cars and buses. Theres lots of trams. Lots of trucks. Need a Police Station. Reflections: The children were very enthusiastic in their responses. I like the way the ideas developed as children contributed their thoughts. They certainly have the idea of tall buildings and square windows in the city centre! Directions: I can see us developing a city. I would like to talk to Eloises mum as she is a Town Planner and maybe she could talk to the children about how to go about planning a city. We need to have discussions about where to build it and what materials to use.

Eloises mum is a town planner. She shared her expertise with the children. We learned that when planning a city different colours are used to denote residential areas, offices and shops and parklands.

She took children through the process of thinking about where they live (neighbourhoods where people work? where do we play? how do we get around?

The children set to work with Sallys help planning where the houses would go, where the city centre would be. One child wanted the city centre to be surrounded by parklands!

Next came the infrastructure!

Using plans they had previously drawn, children began constructing buildings.

This child made a ten floor building It doesnt have people in it because it is new!
This child made a tall skyscraper with lightening He made a storm cloud for the lightening to come out of. The lightening hits the point at the top of the skyscraper and then it falls to the ground and goes back up into the sky.

Ducks for the pond are made from clay

This child decided to make trees to line the road like they do in the plan! She showed others how to make them!

Working from a plan

Creating a digger from clay and wood and popsticks

One child created an entire playground

Building the crane that has been at the local shopping centre.

The tram with the connection to the overhead wire.

The finished city!

End of Project Celebration:

Opportunities for children to share their learning with family and friends. Family Night where children share their songs and families are able to view our terms work! Wheels Week Children bring something with wheels and we go riding on the tennis courts in the park!