We Have Light!

We have been patiently waiting for the children to revisit the project of the light in the house!  For those of you who forgot, here is the link to the project we started last month.....

http://littlewondersschool-pre-k.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-do-we-turn-on-light.html

Children are ready to learn when the right, best, or most appropriate opportunity is offered.  They are more likely to be motivated to learn when they are interested, which is why we waited so long to provide the children with this science experiment.

The perfect opportunity arose when the children wanted to make the house, a "Haunted House"!  So we started making pumpkins, ghosts and witches for it.  Then, Alexnadre said, "But it is still dark inside!"

Bingo!!!!!  What the teachers have been waiting for!  We pulled back out a battery, light and a piece of foil.  We asked, "Well, we have the these things, how does the battery help the light turn on?"

Trevor said:  "Inside the battery is something good, it is good for lights.  We have energy, but a battery has energy too."  "This is a big battery so it has enough energy because this light is little."  "This battery has a lot of energy."

The teacher asked, "Well what do we use this (the foil) for?"

Alexandre said:  "Well, you can use it for a wire, like other wires.  It is kinda like plastic.  It is not really plastic, but it kind of feels like plastic"

Trevor said:  "Well, we can pretend it is a wire, because we are pretending the house is really a house, and it is just a box."

Ricky said:  "We can pretend the battery is at the end all the way to the light and the light turns on."

Trevor said:  "It does look like plastic, but it is so big, bigger than a wire.  It is so big it can move the energy to the light."

So, we placed the battery on the "plastic wire" (foil), put the light on it, and touched the "plastic wire" (foil) back onto the light and what do you know.......

WE HAVE LIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trevor jumped up and down and screamed with joy!  He yelled, "I was right, I was right!"  This is why it is so rewarding to allow the children to learn through investigation!  This discovery was lead by the children and it will really stick with them. 

Later, while we were having snack, Trevor stood up in front of everyone and described the whole process of how we turned on the light with the energy from the battery. 

Trevor's presentation of his idea and discovery helped reinforce his new knowledge, which in turn allows

for the formation of new questions and predictions.  (ex:  Is foil plastic? Will the same battery work for a larger light?  How do switches and buttons help to turn lights on and off?)

We asked the children who were involved in turning the light on do draw "How We Turned The Light On" and this also helped to reinforce their new knowledge and strengthen their ability to communicate it to others.

Look at their awesome work!.................

We will have our Haunted House on display at the Fall Festival, please feel free to have your child explain to you how it works and show you how to turn the light on!  And stay tuned for our future experiments on emerging this project!  We are so excited because this can continue in so many wonderful directions!