MotherReader

There’s a new meme in town. STEM Friday focuses on books that promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. And the round-up of posts is hosted at, well, STEM Friday.

Over the year I’ll be sharing the preschool program I created for the library and that I’m presenting once a month. The concept behind the program is to introduce science topics by combining fiction and nonfiction, songs and mini-experiments, action rhymes and hands-on times. As a preschool program the information conveyed is basic, and intended to encourage a questioning, observational approach to scientific topics. At the end, I leave up the mini-experiments for the kids to explore with me or a parent, and I explain that experiments should be done with a grown-up.

Wind and Air
Early Arrival Book: One Windy Wednesday, by Phyllis Root

Book: Flora’s Very Windy Day, by Jeanne Birdsall

Experiment: Catch the Wind
Open a large plastic bag. Make sure there are no holes in it. Spin around so it puffs up. Twist it closed to trap the air you caught. Explain how air takes up the space in the bag.

Book: The Windy Day, by G. Brian Karas

Experiment: The Wind Blows
Create your own wind with an electric or paper fan. Which items will move more from your wind? Try things like light things like leaves, feathers, cotton balls, tissue paper. Compare with heavier objects, like marbles, cardboard, pencils.

Book: I Face the Wind, by Vicki Cobb

Experiment: Wind on the Water
Fill a tray with water. Blow air across the water’s surface. Blow gently then harder. Waves form on top of the water. The energy from the moving air is transferred to the surface of the water. Now blow the boats across the water. Can you do it? You are the wind force pushing the boats.

Action Story: The Sun and the Wind
Tell the fable of the wind and sun who tried to remove a person's coat having the children blow for the part of the wind and make sun's rays with this arms for the sun. The storyteller is the person with the coat.

Experiment: Make the Wind
Make your own paper fan by folding a piece of paper over and over and stapling the end. Try out your fan on you and things around you.

Alternate Craft: Wind Sock
A wind sock lets you “see” the wind blow. Take a piece of construction paper and glue on five or six streamers. Curve into a tube and staple the ends together. Staple a handle on top. Hold it up outside and watch it move with the force of the air.