“I Hear Something”
An investigation from a 3-year-old class
Initial Provocation
The mystery item was set out as the next day’s provocation along with a magnifying glass.
The children explored with all of their senses and began to theorize. They listened to the sound.
Michelle: “I think M&Ms are inside.”
Richard found a hole on top and looked inside. He turned it upside down and began to shake it. Brown specks started to sprinkle out onto the table.
Alexandra: “It’s dirt!”
Richard: “It’s chocolate sugar.”
The Introduction of Tools
The children decided they to find a way inside.
“WE COULD CRACK IT OPEN!”
"Maybe we can use a knife.”
“Maybe a spoon!”
“What about a screwdriver?”
“Look, a crack!”
Elio: Let me help you crack it! Be careful with my hands.
Winnie: Oh, my grandpa hurt his hand. Can I crack it first?
Cooper: Let me help! Winnie: First me, then Elio, then you.
Elio: Is it cracked? Shake it!
Winnie: I hear something! Elio: Here’s another one I can crack! I can hear something.
Winnie: Here you try this one and I’ll try that one.
Reflection
Many children worked together to try and open up the “egg.” Elio eventually cracked it open the first one with a wooden block and a lot of friends thought the inside looked like a coconut. There was an air of accomplishment as they passed it around at morning meeting to talk about it further and explore with their senses. Michelle said that the inside felt sticky and pokey. It turned into a discussion with the children sharing continued theories about what exactly the inside looked like and what could be inside of it. Another journey to the inside seems to have emerged. “Maybe there are ants inside,” Winnie guessed. “Or flies,” Elio said. “A lot of bugs,” Lucy added. Nora agreed with Lucy. Some children also guessed another “coconut” could be inside the “coconut.” Since then they’ve cracked open others with different methods such as tapping it against the table and Cooper using his fingers as tools to peel away the “shell.” We still don’t know exactly what the “egg” is or where it came from but it has been an unending source of cooperative problem-solving and peer learning. Since they’ve cracked open a few, their confidence as a group has increased. Just recently, Fransisco found a stuck flashlight in a perforated plastic ball. He immediately announced, “I can bring this to Room 7 and we can get it out with
Learnings
Let’s wrap up the project: what was learned, what was discovered. Why is this a good example of 2’s project?