Alpha

Alphas are prepared for anything! This week in Our Big Backyard… We started with ice. As ice melted we saw that it became liquid and as it got warmer it transformed into vapor! And presto! We learned the 3 states of water. We talked about how heat and cold affect the different states by speeding up or slowing down those tiny little water molecules. We created droplet art and left the drops on tables. When we came back the next morning the droplets were gone! Where did they go? Some of us thought that they had been absorbed into the […]

This week in Our Big Backyard… The questions we had this week were…What’s under the soil? What’s down deep? We went way back in time when our sun was newly formed and space dust and debris swirled around it which slowly gathered to make planets and our earth. We learned how all of those minerals and materials can still be traced to everything around us. A peach looks a bit like inner earth! We talked about how, although we don’t have the tools to travel down too deep (and it’s too hot!), scientists have created other ways to “see” what’s

A lovey can be a pumpkin! This week in Our Big Backyard… When your friends and family ask what you did at school all week you can honestly tell them you played in the dirt. Boy, did we EVER! Alphas LOVED seeing where all our friends live around Austin (and beyond). This place we live supports life of many people and creatures. We have a big river that gives us water, we have plenty of sunlight, and air so we wanted to explore the world below our feet that provided people with everything they needed to eat and use for

This week in Our Big Backyard… This week we expanded the circle of our community from Hyde Park to ALL of the neighborhoods in the Austin area. We explored maps that cartographers made to see where we all live. We all drew a portrait of our homes. Then we considered…what do neighbors do for one another? Some of our ideas and experiences are that neighbors help, protect and have barbecues. We thought about all of the jobs and helpers in our community…firefighters, trash collectors, police officers, mail carriers, doctors, nurses, teachers, bus drivers, etc. Then we made our Peeps! A