Wind catchers and staying in touch (with each other and with nature)

Today, a fellow teacher and I pondered on the question
'how on earth did we plan our curriculum before the internet?'.

Now, with the use of Pinterest, Facebook, and Google Reader, I am inundated with daily curriculum inspiration.  Not to mention, the good old Google Search.

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So, where were we?

Oh yeah, the original topic. So I was thinking about all of this online curriculum stuff and realized that it's been months, maybe years, since I've used a curriculum book.

So I went old school and pulled out Mary Ann Kohl's Science Arts.

I had forgotten what precious gems her books could be!

Being a windy, rainy week, it's the perfect time to make "Wind Catchers" (p. 40).  We adapted them since we didn't have the materials needed, and they turned out just fine.  

The idea is that we'll hang them outside our classroom window so we can observe the wind.

I've been trying to point out some of the subtler aspects of our surroundings that have of late gone  unnoticed due to things like big kid sports and big events.

I want the children, no matter how old, to experience the many patches of clover in our yard, or the way the rain gathers on the corrugated patio roof and drains in a perfect stream into our little tire garden.

Or the giant palm tree that we just noticed in our neighbor's yard. As we pondered its magnitude (it was taller than the tallest evergreen tree visible from our yard), we observed a squirrel run all the way up to where the fronds begin to grow.

So we will notice the wind, and later, we will notice other, different things.

When we're done wind watching, we can engage in the universal way to have fun with something when you are in preschool by putting our wind catchers on our heads.