Animals Around the World

    Throughout the month of January, SMART START studied Animals Around the World. 

🐘Read below to follow along with our young learners on this wild science and geography unit🐘

🦊 Forest ranger friends constructed habitats using recycled materials, a woodland creature, paint and glue. Creativity and imagination magnified as egg cartons became mountains, cellophane embodied ice, toilet paper rolls turned into tunnels and Styrofoam symbolized snowbanks. Binoculars were used to appreciate all angles of these masterpieces. 

🐧 Wednesday, January 20th was National Penguin Awareness Day. Our school recognized this time by dressing in black and white and placing a focus on endangered species. Peers played the game "Penguin Tower" and completed worksheets. Both activities challenged hand to eye coordination, cognitive skills, group cooperation, counting and more. The need to preserve wildlife worldwide was discussed. 

Here are "everyday efforts" the class comprised:

• Recycle 
• Do not litter/pick up litter
• Connect with and respect nature 
• Turn our yards/outdoor classrooms into an animal friendly space
• Learn about different species
• Share information with others

🧼 SMART START Zoologists eagerly anticipated a visit from Animal Adventures Rescue Zoo. The class collected food and cleaning donations to support the organization located in Bolton, MA. 

🐍 Ed, the owner of the outreach program, arrived with an abundance of animals ranging from native to exotic. Students were introduced to an armadillo, chinchilla, boa constrictor, porcupine, alligator, bearded dragon and more! This hands-on, engaging experience provided the opportunity for pupils to interact with the subject matter up close. In addition, all were fascinated by Ed's expertise on animal behaviors, diets, habitats and shared rescue stories. 

🌍 Regions and ecosystems inhabiting various animal types were explained during outdoor circle time. SMART START recently partnered with an educational company, "Fly Little Dragon" and we incorporated aspects of their Learn & Play Program into our curriculum.

Here are a few facts we learned: 

• Arctic: contains the Artic Ocean, and multiple countries (USA, Canada, Russia) animals include walrus, seal, arctic hare, snowy owl, polar bear and puffin.

• Rainforests: located in numerous countries (Africa, Asia, Australia) animals include: toucan, anteater, sloth, leopard, monkeys, tree frog and snakes. 

• Savannah: hot and dry environment, animals include: elephant, lion, giraffe, cheetah, hippopotamus, zebra and gorilla. 

    Afterwards, activity pages from "Fly Little Dragon" were used to reinforce our lessons. 

🕮 An assortment of themed centers were enjoyed: Monkey Barrell (connect and hang as many monkeys as you can), research display (observe and locate habitats using books and a globe), Hoot Owl Hoot (group effort board game) and a Jungle Puzzle (100 pieces/Kindergarten level). 

🧩 A language arts lesson was integrated into our unit review. Prekindergartners and Kindergartners completed puzzles to sound out, spell and rhyme animal types (Ex: B-A-T & R-A-T, D-O-G & H-O-G). Preschoolers practiced differentiating uppercase versus lowercase letters and their corresponding sounds using jumbo alphabet flashcards. 

🐒We hope you enjoyed reading about Animals Around the World studies🐒

🐅SMART START🐅