For the past week we have been tinkering with magnets in the tinkering lab. The goal was for students to discover key principles about magnets: magnetic force can travel through objects, magnets have polarity, and certain materials are attracted to magnets. After each tinkering session we shared and documented our learning.
This week we will be designing and creating a magnet game.

On Thursday, September 28th we participated in the annual school based Terry Fox Run. On Friday we wrote about our experience.

During the month of September the class has been working on deepening our understanding of repeating patterns. A grade 2 math outcome is to demonstrate an understanding of repeating patterns by describing, extending, comparing and creating patterns using manipulatives. The students used an app called Book Creator to document their learning. As they finish their projects I will post them under their name.

Our first unit of study in science is exploring liquids. This last week we have been investigating flow rates. On Tuesday I organized a Liquid Race. As a class we explored the ease of flow of five different liquids including water. We redid the experiment 3 times to make sure our results were fair.

The students were then asked to interpret the data by making a graph using their Lego plates. We discussed that water was the fastest to reach the finish line so water would reach from one end of the Lego plate to the other. Each student had to decide how far each column would reach for the other four liquids. Finally, using the Lego plate graphs they created a bar graph. This week we will be discussing their scientific thinking about the differing flow rates of liquids.

Subitizing is the ability to quickly identify a number of small sets without counting. In our grade 2 class we subitize to strengthen our number sense and addition skills by using dot cards and power of ten cards. Students use a variety of strategies to count the more challenging dot cards.

A learner outcome in the grade 2 math curriculum is for the students to be able to gather and record data as well as construct a graph. I love to use Lego plates to graph data. Working in pairs the students were asked to discover how many boys and girls were in our class. We recorded our data and constructed a graph. This math project was very teacher directed. The students become more independent as they understand the protocols. In our next graphing project students will be asked to interpret the data.

Here are some pictures from the first couple of weeks of grade 2.