Waves, waves, everywhere!

Our 1st grade students have been learning about sound and light waves through stories, observation, and experiments.  During one lesson, the students stopped to think about the source of our planet’s light, the Sun.  Using the ‘Bubble of Darkness’, designed by Patricia Cooke, the students crawled into space.  The Bubble is two 12’x12’ tarps taped together with one corner open for a large fan and another corner open as an entrance.  Once inside, the students can lay on their back and watch the ‘stars’, small holes that were poked into the top tarp.  The students are asked to observe and call out any patterns they see.

The lesson was a perfect link between science and social studies as the students had just learned about the Drinking Gourd constellation that was used by the Underground Railroad to find the North Star.