The Shard is a pyramid-shaped 72 story London skyscraper. Retail spaces, offices, the Shangri-La hotel, apartments, and restaurants were incorporated in the mixed-use design. There is also an observation deck on the 72nd floor. Construction began in 2009 and was completed in 2012. The Shard is the tallest building in the United Kingdom and the seventh-tallest building in Europe.
Go to the Shard’s website here. Go to the viewing gallery here.
Pumpkins can be studied through Thanksgiving, so it’s not too late to try some of these investigations.
There are many ways to integrate math standards with your study of pumpkins. Estimate the weight of your pumpkin(s), then weigh them on a scale. What is the circumference of the pumpkin? Wrap a piece of yarn around the middle and lay it beside a yard stick to find out. Of course, you can estimate and then count the seeds. Place them in groups of ten. How many ribs (lines) are on the rind? Do all pumpkins have the same number?
If you are not going to carve a small pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern, cut it in half, so you can easily observe the pulp, fibrous strands, and seeds inside.
After observing your pumpkins (carved or not), leave them outside in a natural area through the winter months to see what happens. Make predictions. Pumpkin Jack and Mousekin’s Golden House both explore this part of the life cycle.
Watch this descriptive woodland story full screen here.
Enjoy Too Many Pumpkins, a science inspired fiction book, full screen here. This story is a great springboard for cooking with pumpkins. I like making pumpkin pancakes with children. Watch the liquid batter become a solid and observe the solid butter on your pancakes melt into a liquid. So, heat turns one into a solid and the other a liquid. Why?
Related Posts These were two of my favorite labs-simple, fun, and filled with learning!
I like balance and order which is probably why I am drawn to symmetry. Use the study of symmetry to meaningfully integrate several disciplines, such as math, art, and science, as demonstrated in the related posts section below.
These photos are examples of bilateral (reflective) symmetry. Can you find the line of symmetry? Is it possible for objects to have more than one line of symmetry?
Snowflakes, starfish, and some flowers have rotational symmetry.
Go on a symmetry walk with your children or students. Take photos and make a book. You will find many examples of symmetry in architecture. I snapped these photos on our recent trip to Europe.
Check out a preview for the book, Seeking Symmetry. Watch full screen here.
I’ve encountered several animals in the middle of their meals. (I’ve shared before that stories seem to find me.) Use these photos to launch a discussion about food chains and food webs.
This subject has rich natural vocabulary: predator, prey, carnivore, producer, consumer, energy, herbivore, omnivore, scavenger, and decomposer.
Remember that every living thing is part of a food chain and that every link is critical to its survival. Food chains (webs) begin with the sun and end (or begin again) with decomposers.
Watch study jams about food chains and about food webs. Quizes are available too.
Add Who Eats Who by Teresa Heapy and Who Eats What by Patricia Lauber to your children’s library.
I used Beanie Babies in my lab in a variety of hands-on lessons. Classify them into habitats/ecosystems, such as polar, woodlands, jungle, or ocean, as well as into animal groups (reptiles, amphibians, mammals, birds, and fish) or into vertebrate and invertebrate groupings. My youngest scientists sorted the beanies by the number of legs on each. Tie in those math concepts – set, equal, more, less, greater than or less than. Use beanies or other stuffed animals to create food chains or webs too!
Another hands-on activity is to give each child a card or small dry erase board with the name of an animal written on it. Ask the participants to sequence themselves into a food chain.
I enjoy walking with an intention because I find my observation skills sharpen and consequently, I detect more in nature. After I encountered the flowers below, I started looking for other animals and plants in pairs. Challenge your family or students to search for something intentionally when you walk together, and they will think of it as a game or contest. As they notice the details of their surroundings, greater engagement and wonder will be byproducts.
ladybug larvae
As you reviewed these photos, did you notice that although they may be the same species, each is still unique? They are alike, but not quite.
On a recent post, I shared how I have been restoring linens and doilies. I also inherited my grandmother’s sewing box filled with all kinds of novelties, including buttons. They are little pieces of art, and I was curious about their history. Studying buttons is a multidisciplinary exploration, connecting history, art, math, and science (button material and construction.) What do you know about buttons?
Some Fun Facts
Buttons were originally used for decoration, not fastening. Until the 19th century, buttons were found primarily on men’s clothing. Women’s clothes were fastened with laces and hooks and eyes. Wearing decorative buttons was seen as a sign of prosperity.
Through history, buttons were made of fabric, bone, metal, glass, horn, painted enamel, wood, celluloid (the first plastic), ceramic, ivory, and shells!
Buttons remain the best-selling fastener and are preferred over zippers.
I am learning, but I think these are some of my oldest buttons. Buttons were so valuable that when a garment wore out, the owner would cut off the buttons and save them.
These buttons are twentieth century. Zoom in and look at the patterns! Note the colors and geometric designs.
For a deep dive into button history, check out this video from a button museum. Go here to view full screen.
Children will enjoy sorting and classifying buttons by attributes such as color, size, shape, and number of holes. Count your sets and compare using math terms like more and less. Add the sets of buttons together.
Teach your child how to sew a button onto a piece of fabric. Such a great life skill! For your youngest learners, place articles of clothing on a table with various sizes of buttons and task them with buttoning and unbuttoning them to develop fine motor and self-help skills.
Corduroy, a classic tale, recounts how a small toy bear loses a button off his overalls and searches for a new one. Use it as a mentor book for identifying story structure – characters, setting, problem, and resolution. Go here to view full screen.
I’ve been restoring antique linens that I inherited. Oh, how I wish I knew which hands crocheted each one. The beauty of these doilies is remarkable and what a fun way to learn math! The maker would also need excellent fine motor and focusing skills. They remind me of the intricate patterns in snowflakes. Many of the doilies I have are larger than these and in a variety of shapes.
Learn more about the history of the Doiley from Junkbox Treasures here and Wonderopolis here. I cleaned my vintage linens with Mama’s Miracle Linen Soak, an amazing product that has removed all the brown storage stains. What is the science?
The doilies were popular during the Victorian period. In one of the videos I watched, the antique dealer stated that doilies are making a comeback!
According to Britannica, “We know that seasons are caused by Earth having a slight tilt on its axis. As Earth wobbles around the Sun, different points of the earth receive more or less sunlight throughout the year. If Earth wasn’t tilted, the Sun would just shine directly on the Equator all year long, leaving us without seasons. But we also wouldn’t have solstices or equinoxes. Solstices designate the point where the Sun’s path in the sky is the farthest north or south from the Equator, which occurs around the 20th and 21st of June and the 21st and 22nd of December. The summer solstice marks the beginning of summer and is the longest day of the year, just as the winter solstice marks the beginning of winter and is the shortest day of the year. But which solstice happens on which day depends on the hemisphere you live in.” Click here for the entire article.
Around the world, many cultures celebrate this day with ancient traditions. Click here for Tinkergarten’s family winter solstice celebration suggestions.
To connect science with math and geography, check a weather app on a regular basis to discover when the sun rises and sets in your location. Record the data and graph your results. Determine how many hours of sunlight you experience each day. Many students find calculating elapsed time challenging.
Comparing when the sun rises and sets in several different cities is another relevant activity. Find the locations you check on a map and analyze results based on the city locations.
When we visited France, parquet floors covered the magnificent chateau rooms. Parquetry is created by using wooden slats in repeated geometric patterns. The first parquet floors were installed during the 17th century in the opulent Palace of Versailles. They were a sign of wealth and power, but this flooring was also functional and easier to maintain than marble floors. Artisans used lumber of contrasting colors and grains (oak, maple, walnut, cherry, mahogany, and pine). Go here and here to learn more about the history of this art form.
Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles
Use Parquetry to integrate engineering, art, math, and science in a meaningful and historic context. What an engaging way to incorporate angles, fractions, problem solving, and measurement!
Keva planks are a favorite building/engineering material of mine. Go to the official website here. Use painter’s tape to mark a square, and task students with creating a parquet floor in the provided space. Many school buildings have tiled floors, so students could cover a number of tiles to create a parquet floor. Teach and practice common patterns, such as basket weave or herringbone. As an alternative, students could use larger graph paper.
Basket Weave Design:
My original design: what should I name it?
Artisans who created parquet floors were knowledgeable of different types of wood and how they would respond to heat and moisture. Compare samples of wood here.
