oProperties of Matter and Measurement Activities
oBig Ideas from Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines
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Properties of Matter
■ uses senses to explore and sensory language to describe properties of natural and human‐made materials (wood, cotton, fur, wool, stone, magnetic, leather, plastic, Styrofoam, paper) to learn their characteristics and capabilities.
■ examines and describes the texture of materials (salt, flour, and sugar during cooking projects; roller, sponges, and feathers when painting using various tools; surfaces of foil, freezer paper, and sandpaper).
■ sorts, groups, or classifies objects in meaningful ways based on one or more properties (hard/soft or heavy/light; materials that are made of wood, plastic, rock, color).
■ predicts whether materials will sink or float; investigates the hypothesis and draws conclusions based on prior experiences. -
■ describes and compares the effects magnets have on other objects (attract to some things but not to others).
Tools and Measurement
■ investigates and discusses the mass of a variety of items (rocks, feathers, metal chain, etc.) using a balance or scale; categorizes weighted objects (heavy/light); and length of objects (long/short).
■ measures volume of water, sand, etc. using non‐standard measures (4 cups to fill 1 small bucket).
■ measures length using non‐standard units.
oAgenda
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Reviewing the Process Skills via activities:
Free Discovery (p. 19)
Focused observation:
Washing Rocks and Grouping Them
Observing to classify:
Washing Rocks and Grouping Them
Organizing and communicating observations:
My Rock Is (K p. 120), Kerplunk (K p. 130)
Measuring:
Nuts and Bolts (p. 60), Which Rock is Longest (K p. 110), Order of Mass (K p. 114)
Making guided inferences/Guided predictions:
Blindfolded Rock Swap (K p. 82)
Center based activities
Whole Group:
Sorting Squares by Feel
Discovery Center:
Magnets Attract (p. 58)
Small Group:
Senses Celebration (p. 62)
Outdoors: Collections
Collections
Assessment:
In the Circle or Out of the Circle (p. 70)