Another Great '"Eggs"periment in Buoyancy!

As the students continue to experiment with objects and materials to see what will float and what will sink, this exercise will demonstrate whether an Egg will sink or float in both fresh water and salt water.

Materials:
- Table salt
- Two containers
- A Tablespoon
- Warm tap water
- 2 Eggs (courtesy of the Trevose Day School hens)

To begin, we will fill both containers with warm tap water. Our excited experimenters make a hypothesis on whether the Egg will sink or float.

The majority of the children had guessed right, the egg simply sunk to the bottom of the container filled with tap water. 

We decided to test the egg in the container that had the salt water next. This test had some of our class torn regarding what would actually happen. Many of the children thought that the egg would sink again, while some thought that there was a chance that the egg could float.

The children added two tablespoons of salt to the other container of water and stirred it until the salt had dissolved in the water. 

A child then carefully placed the other egg in the container.  To our surprise, the egg also sunk.

Can you believe it? We could not - the egg should have floated! The important lesson for the children was trial and error. Not all science experiments will go as anticipated. This is why many scientists continually test and retest to rule out and find out different factors that may affect the result. The students agreed that if we added more salt to the water we would have had a more successful experiment.

The children discovered through experimentation that salt water is heavier than plain tap water. The weight of the egg does not have to push away as much water to make space for itself, therefore it floats. This is a fabulous example of buoyancy!

The Orange Dilemma

The students in Mrs. McNally’s class worked together on an experiment about sinking and floating that incorporates values from STEAM curriculum. Sinking and floating are concepts that the Montessori children are already familiar with. To expand upon this lesson, our captivated class learned about the concept of buoyancy. This experiment requires a large glass vase, an orange, and water. 

Before beginning the exercise, Mrs. McNally surveyed the class to gauge their predictions about whether the orange would sink or float. The majority of our group predicted that the orange would sink in the water. We then filled the large glass vase with water to fill it about two-thirds. The curious children carefully placed the orange in the vase.

To their shock and surprise, the orange actually floated! To test the concept of buoyancy further each student participated in peeling the orange. Mrs. McNally asked them to make another prediction based on whether the removal of the peel would affect the orange.

Would it sink or float now?

Several children believed the orange would float again. They felt that the orange would be lighter since the peel had been removed. Surprisingly the orange sank swiftly to the bottom of the vase.  This absolutely mesmerized and shocked the children. They truly believed that the peeled orange would float!

Why wouldn’t it, you ask? A science lesson lies within the peel of the orange. If an orange can displace a volume of water that is greater than or equal to its weight, the orange will float. The peel of the orange helps to displace the water through pockets of air. Removing the peel causes the orange to no longer displace enough water to overcome gravitational force.

This lesson is a beautiful example of buoyancy and an entertaining display of gravitational pull. Gravitational force pulls the orange down while buoyant force pushes it upwards.  Gravity pulls the orange down with a force equal to the weight of the orange.

Children naturally love anything that is water-related, making this simple experiment the perfect opportunity to create an unforgettable interdisciplinary lesson integrating elements of STEAM curriculum and the Montessori environment. 

Would you like to try an experiment like this from home?

http://www.lovemyscience.com/floatingplaydough.html

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/floating-lemons-and-sinking-limes/.

http://www.lovemyscience.com/salt-water-egg.html

Spring-ing into Art and Action!

This week at Neshaminy Montessori we welcomed the return of Spring. The children were introduced to Peter Carl Fabergé who is known for his bejeweled eggs. They were shown images of his famous Fabergé eggs for inspiration. To prepare for our annual Spring Easter Egg hunt, our artsy group decorated an egg freshly picked from our Trevose Day School hens (hard-boiled, of course).

To decorate our eggs we used a technique called crayon resist. This effect occurs when incompatible mediums are used together: the crayon markings resist the ink from the paint. Our excited students decorated eggs using ornate patterns and designs such as flowers, swirls, zigzag's, hearts, stars, numbers, and letters.

The entire class created handcrafted baskets using colored foam and felt. They were adorned with flowers, grass, Easter eggs and an adorable bunny! The children were thrilled to peek into their baskets and see all of the sweet treats that the Easter Bunny had left for them.

Later we went on an Easter egg scavenger hunt and each student collected a plastic egg filled with a Peep! 

Practical Life: Making Irish Soda Bread

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, Mrs. McNally and her students created authentic Irish soda bread. This lesson truly represents Practical Life and working together taught our class wonderful life skills.

The children each had the opportunity to measure, pour, and stir as they take turns as with the dry and wet ingredients. Our budding bakers inhaled their bread and "raved" to each other about how delicious it turned out – try the recipe below from home!

Ingredients:

Original recipe makes 2 loaves

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons white sugar

1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup currants

2 teaspoons caraway seed (optional)

3/4 cup milk

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

PREP
15 mins

COOK
30 mins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease two baking sheets. Stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl until evenly blended. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender, or your hands, until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Stir in the raisins, currants, and caraway seeds, then make a well in the center and pour in the milk and vinegar. Stir with a spoon until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and knead gently 8 to 10 times. Divide the dough into two balls, and place onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and bake until the top of the bread is golden brown, about 15 minutes more.

Mrs. McNally's Montessori Class Adopts A Wolf

This week the students of Mrs. McNally's class learned about the history of the Eurasian wolf. It is also known as the common wolf or Middle Russian forest wolf. This wolf is native to Europe and the forest and steppe zones of the former Soviet Union. Our unit of study has been in Europe. The wolf has been our main animal of study.

We are very excited about studying the Eurasian wolf as our class will be adopting a wolf from Wolf Sanctuary of Pennsylvania. The children will receive a photo of their adopted wolf, an Adopt a Wolf Adoption Certificate, and a fact sheet about their adopted wolf. Lastly they will receive a Wolf Information sheet packed with information on wolf communication and wolf facts. While practicing our sounds all of the children know wolf makes a "w" sound.

The students have created beautiful wolves out of colored construction paper. They all carefully traced, cut, pasted and assembled their wolf.

We are all very excited about a special visitor coming to visit us next week! 

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, The Trevose Day School Leprechaun will grace us with his presence. All of the children will witness his mischievous deeds, for our room will be jumbled up and their will be glitter galore. All of the children will be left a pouch of chocolate coins!

Our Salute to Dr. Suess

This week we are honoring and showcasing the great literary talent of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as the legendary Dr. Seuss!

Geisel's birthday, March 2, has been adopted as the annual date for National Read Across America Day! Several fun and educational activities were planned that focus on the art of language. The children were exposed to rhyming, poetry, reading, word searches, Seuss counting/math and replicating or drawing their favorite Seuss character!

Practical Life is an integral part of our Montessori environment. Practical Life is an area of the Montessori philosophy that promotes care of oneself, cleaning and caring of the environment, handling and preparation of food. It also promotes independence while strengthening and developing fine motor skills.

To tie in Practical Life and honor the famous Dr. Seuss and his infamous, mischievous character “The Cat in the Hat”, the children made an edible version of the cat's hat. The children helped prepare the fruit by carefully cutting up pieces of strawberry and banana.

All of the children meticulously assembled pieces of strawberry and banana in a stacking pattern to replicate "The Cat in the Hat" hat.

Our students thoroughly enjoyed being read "The Cat in the Hat". The rhythmic flow of Seuss's rhymes had the children anticipating each word, aware and observant of the rhyming words and the patterns that they create.

Manners To Go at Trevose Day School and Neshaminy Montessori

Courtesy, consideration, and the ability to keep others comfortable in any circumstance are the cornerstone of nice manners. Mastered early in life, these skills help strengthen a child’s interactions and well-being while nurturing happy young citizens and healthy communities.

On January 29, Trevose Day School and Neshaminy Montessori were thrilled to have a visit from Lisa Richey, the renowned etiquette expert who founded the famous and fun Manners To Go program! 

“Our world today is changing rapidly, and as casual as we have become in our lives, good manners are still essential,” says Ms. Richey, whose programs are regularly used by universities such as Temple and Drexel and have been featured in The New York Timesand on CBS's “Eye on Philadelphia.”  “Technology has liberated us in so many ways, but teaching manners to children and teens remains crucial to our success as individuals and as a society.”

This engaging session included an introduction to the use of "magic words" please, thank you, you’re welcome, hello and good morning. The students then learned about the importance of eye contact, posture, respectful behavior, kind actions, how to shake hands and how to introduce others.

“It was nice because we learned manners and good posture,” says third grader Irina. “It was good to learn because it shows people that you are interested in what they are saying and doing,”

The wonderful experience concluded with a hands-on exercise in the art of writing thank-you notes.

Cultivating strong, compassionate youngsters who navigate the world with respect is an essential part of the culture at Trevose Day School and Neshaminy Montessori. In an earlier blog post about the power of compliments, we explored ways our classrooms encourage students to appreciate each other.

Our Head of School, Gwynne Frischmann, feels that at the heart of good manners is respect for oneself and for others. “When we treat students and adults with respect, they're much more likely to do the same to others,” says Frischmann. “Learning and reinforcing the importance of manners throughout the school is crucial to a positive and healthy school climate. Both students and teachers feel valued and appreciated by one another and this creates a respectful, happy and healthy environment.” 

We look forward to many more community building events in the months to come!

Back to School Night

On a recent autumn evening, Trevose Day School and Neshaminy Montessori opened its classrooms to a group of unexpected students — parents!

Our “Back To School Night” was a wonderful mixer in which parents got a glimpse of what a day of learning is like for their children. During the first part of the event, teachers provided classroom tours, lesson overviews and interactive experiences that highlighted our innovative programs.

“I am always excited to attend back to school night,” says Nina Mingioni, whose son is a fourth grader in Ms. Williams class. “This year, I had an opportunity to meet Alex's new teacher and it was great to see her use classroom technology and discuss the curriculum for the year. In addition, it was exciting to see the projects the class already accomplished proudly displayed on classroom walls.”

In addition to learning about lesson plans and fun activities, our teachers also described their philosophical approach to teaching and how they establish a nurturing community through learning, socializing and collaboration.

“Back to school night was enlightening,” says Nikki Shifren, whose three year old daughter is a student in Mrs. Hines’ Montessori class. “Mrs Hines explained her methods and their origins very thoroughly. She also handed out articles and other vital information about the teachings of Maria Montessori. I found it fascinating, and am utterly thrilled that my daughter will get to experience this type of educational process, and hopefully continue to thrive, as she has done since she started in Mrs. Hines class last year.” 

After parents concluded their “lessons” for the night (and everyone got an A+, by the way!), we all gathered in The Barn to enjoy refreshments and a slideshow of the past school year and our fantastic summer program.

Head of School Gwynne Frischmann provided an overview of school policy, then shared a poignant written piece called “Memo from a Child.” This list of twenty bullet points are told from the point of view of a child and offer honest reminders to adults on how encourage and empower a growing soul.

Some highlights include:

● Don’t spoil me. I know quite well that I ought not to have all I ask for – I’m only testing you.
● Don’t forget that I cannot explain myself as well as I should like. That is why I am not always accurate.
● Don’t put me off when I ask questions. If you do, you will find out that I stop asking and seek my information elsewhere.
● Please keep yourself fit and healthy. I need you.

“Parents and teachers are partners in education,” says Mrs. Frischmann. “When parents and teachers work together, students perform better, attend classes more regularly, and improve their attitudes towards school. I hope that parents left Back to School Night with the feeling that everyone shares the goals of helping their children learn and feel successful and that their children are in a safe, happy and caring environment!”

Thank you to all the parents who helped make Back to School Night such a wonderful success.

We look forward to continued partnership with parents and invite you to join us on October 29 at 7pm in The Barn for a meeting about our PTA and Parent Volunteer program. We hope to see you there!