We Notice, We Wonder, We Explore

Luka and Anthony demonstrate care and gentleness while handling and observing the mealworms. They remind one another to be careful and show excitement when we discover something new. 

During one of our observations, Luka notices something unusual inside the container. He points out the black mold that has begun to grow and expresses concern about the mealworms. Together, we carefully examine the container and talk about what may be happening. We are eager to help and make a thoughtful effort to rescue some of the mealworms that are trapped inside. Their actions show empathy, responsibility, and genuine care for living things.

We have shown a growing interest in observing and learning about mealworms. During our explorations, we are curious to look closely at the mealworms, noticing how they move, wiggle, and respond to their surroundings. Leanna eagerly uses a magnifying glass to examine their bodies, while others carefully watch as the mealworms move through the soil and food material.

We share observations and questions such as, "What do they eat?" "How do they move?" Our curiosity leads to conversations about the mealworm life cycle and how living things grow and change.

We participate in the song "I Am a Music Man" as an opportunity to develop our listening and comprehension skills. As we sing the song together, we listen carefully to the lyrics and follow the sequence of the different instruments introduced in the song.

We demonstrate our understanding by listening for key words, identifying the instruments mentioned, and responding with the appropriate sounds and actions. We begin to connect what we hear with meaning, showing that we are not only hearing the words but also understanding and remembering the information presented in the song.

We are encouraged to listen to the song more than once and anticipate what will come next. We participate by singing familiar parts, imitating instrument sounds, and answering simple questions about the song. This helps strengthen our ability to listen, understand, recall, and respond to information.

Through this musical experience, we develop confidence in using our listening skills to comprehend spoken and sung language. The song provides an engaging and enjoyable way for us to practice paying attention, following direction, remembering details, and making meaning from what we hear.

After observing and learning about the life cycle of the darkling beetle, we are invited to draw the different stages of its life cycle. Through our drawings, we have an opportunity to revisit what we have experienced and made meaning of our learning. We recall the different stages - egg, mealworm, pupa, and adult beetle - and represent what we remember through our own drawings. As we draw, we talk about the changes we have noticed and shared our ideas with our peers and educators. 

Our drawings show how we are developing an understanding that living things grow and change over time. Each one of us represents our ideas in our own unique way, using lines, shapes, colours, and symbols communicate our understanding. This experience encourages us to reflect, recall, represent, and communicate our learning. It also supports our creativity, fine-motor development, language, observation skills, and growing understanding of the natural world. Through drawing, we are simply recoding what we see; we are making meaning from our experiences and expressing our developing theories about how a darkling beetle grows and changes.

Rebecca shows care and curiosity as she observes the mealworms and thinks about what they may need. While caring for them, she carefully places apple slices in their habitat and explains, "I put so many apple slices as blankets for the mealworms."

Rebecca's comment shows how she is using her imagination to make sense of her experience while developing an understanding of how to care for living things. Through this hands-on experience, she is building empathy, curiosity, and a sense of responsibility towards the mealworms.

Luka demonstrates his understanding of the mealworms through movement. He wiggles his body like a mealworm, using his whole body to imitate the way the mealworms move. Through this playful experience, Luka is making connections between what he observes and his own body. He uses movement and imaginative play to represent his learning, showing curiosity and engagement as he explores the characteristics of living things.

As we are learning about the life cycle of mealworm, we understand that they transform to beetles at the end. Our understanding of beetles is deepen with a factual book called Native Pollinators Beetles. First, we talk about the body parts of the beetles. We have so many questions such as, "Where is their head?" "Do they have eyes?" "How many legs do they have?" and so on. Rebecca points their eyes on the picture, and says, "The eyes are on the side." which we learn they are on their head. Anthony adds, "They have antennae." putting his two fingers on his head. Later on when he creates his beetle with a pinecone, he makes sure it has antennae.  We count how many legs they have, and we learn they have six legs. 

As extending our understanding of the beetles' body parts, we create our own beetles with loose parts. We collect some materials from nature, and each of us is picking the ones can be parts of beetles. Rebecca creates a 'Mama beetle'. She expresses her beetle has wings which are leaves on top of the body and its head has antennae. She explains why it looks big is because the Mama beetle has a baby underneath her body. Anthony tries to remember the name of body parts such as thorax and abdomen. He uses a pinecone as a beetle's body and expresses his beetle's thorax with the circle ring. Luka picks a leaf saying, "I'm going to use this." He expresses his beetle has a head which is a pinecone and two sticks as antennae. And he chooses some leaves of fir tree to create its legs.​

In addition to observing our mealworms, we have been encouraged to slow down, look closely, and notice the natural world around us. We look up at the beautiful blue sky and fluffy white clouds, taking time to observe the colours, shapes, and movement above us. Rebecca and Luka share their thoughts and wonderings about what they could see. Rebecca notices how the clouds change and move across the sky, while others are curious about why the sky appears blue.

These everyday moments of noticing helps us to connect our experiences with the wider natural environment. By observing the world around us, Leanna, Aarohi, and Fia are developing curiosity, awareness, and a growing understanding of living things and our surroundings. Through these experiences, we are learning that nature is all around us and there is always something to notice, wonder about, and explore.

When Aarohi notices Luka climbing up the slide, she watches him closely. It takes only an instant before she follows his lead and climbs up the slide too. Aarohi's quick response shows how we learn through watching, imitating, and responding to one another. By observing Luka's actions, Aarohi is making meaning from what she sees and confidently trying it for herself. These moments of shared play create opportunities for us to learn from our peers, build confidence, and explore new possibilities together. Aarohi and Luka are developing our social awareness, communication, physical coordination, and sense of agency as we influence and learn from each other through play.

Throughout the shared experiences, we are learning to coordinate our movements with one another. As we watch, imitate, and respond to our friends, we begin to notice their movements and adjust our own bodies accordingly. Whether we are wiggling like mealworms, climbing, following a friend's lead, or moving together in play, we are developing body awareness, balance, coordination, and spatial awareness. These experiences also invite us to connect with one another, building confidence and a sense of belonging as we learn and move together.

Kindest,
Children & Friends.