Say NO to Water Pollution

Hello!

Water pollution is a serious concern in our world and we all know the consequences. 

When discussed as a topic in class with 7 year olds, I encourage them to share their knowledge or experiences with everybody. It not just allows them to speak their minds out loud but also creates awareness among them. 

We actually did a 'water polluting' activity in class to watch and understand how water changes once polluted and what could happen if all the water on our planet is polluted!

I kept a tub of water and a few other things like - wrappers, banana peel, straws, oil, rocks, some mud, that could be used to pollute the water.

I called the kids closer to where the water was kept and asked them to dump all the other things into the water. At first, they looked at me like I was out of mind but then they too wanted to understand what actually happens if water is polluted. 

The wrappers and straws started floating on the surface and they discussed and wondered that how difficult it must be for water animals to come to the surface and breathe. Sometimes these wrappers look like some sea creatures and they are swallowed by other big animals. Also, how fishing nets get entangled around the necks of many sea animals and results in their death.

The rocks and some mud changed the colour of the water, leaving the water dirty. The kids made a connection between how they like to take a shower with clean water, keep their home clean and so, sea creatures too would want clean water for themselves. Students also related to immersion of idols in India and it's impact on our seas and rivers.

Finally, when I asked them to pour some oil in that water they were shocked to see what happened. The oil was floating on the water surface and we could not see the water anymore.

The discussions were never ending. It was enlightening to see students participate actively in discussions. They felt sympathetic for the sea creatures and realised the amount of damage that is done to our planet Earth because of human actions. 

The activity also helped the students think about ways to protect water from getting polluted and what could be their roles in order to stop people from polluting the water. 

Kids understand their responsibilities more than we think they do. The session left us thinking the whole day about our actions and ignited a sense of duty towards saving water and the life in water.

Eat Healthy, Learn Plenty!!

Hello!

When introducing types of teeth, I ensure to have some eating activity in class. This not just activates young taste buds but also makes the whole session enjoyable.

My focus for the activity remains on:

• discussing new words or actions/verbs involved while using our teeth to eat (for example - biting, chewing, tearing, grinding, etc).
• the position at which the food was place first inside the mouth (front, side, back of the mouth).
• introducing the names of different types of teeth (incisors, canines, pre molars, molars).

The items needed for the activity are:

 

1. sliced carrots  
2. sliced cucumbers
3. coconut slices
4. cake slices
5. sour punk (in little amounts)

The quantity of each depends on the strength of your class. Now, the idea is to have all the 5 items cut/sliced on a plate ready before the class. So, you might have to prepare a little in advance. Everybody should be able to eat each food item and make a note of the action involved and the position or teeth used to eat that particular food item.

Prepare a worksheet or a recording sheet for the same. Something like this:

Food item	Position (front, side, back)	Action (bite, chew, grind, tear)
carrot
cucumber
cake
coconut
sour punk

  

Before beginning the activity, you could brainstorm a few vocabulary by asking them how they eat their food and what actions they do to make the food smaller in their mouth.

As they eat one at a time ask the students to observe which part of the teeth did they use to eat and what action did they do. It's important that they record in the sheet at that moment and then move on to eating the next item.   

The response sheet may look like this:

Food item	Position (front, side, back)	Action (bite, chew, grind, tear)
carrot	side	bite
cucumber	front	bite
cake	front	chew
coconut	back	grind
sour punk	side	tear

The answers may vary and all the answers are okay. The activity is more about the experiences of students and hence there are no wrong answers.

Once the activity is over, you could draw their attention to the different types of teeth. The front as incisors, sides as canines and the ones at the back as pre molars and molars. Gradually their functions and structure could also be discussed.

Overall, I really enjoy doing this activity in class as it makes it very simple for the kids to understand the different types of teeth and at the same time we get to eat in class before lunch time!! 😋