Our Sea - frozen water bodies

Theme: Frozen water bodies, coastal area (outdoor learning)

Children age: 6-7 years

Objectives: The child knows that river flows into the sea. The child knows that water bodies freeze in winter. The child knows the dangers of thin ice on water bodies. The child enjoys and knows how to make outdoor art from snow and with snow.

Tools: Warm and comfortable clothes. Branch, measuring tape-ruler.

Preparation: We have examined pictures of frozen rivers and sea. Investigated how the river and sea freezes, what are the similarities and differences. We have explained the dangers, what might happen if you go on thin ice. In outdoor activity the children experience and feel everything themselves.

Activity:

Oh what a joy when snow comes. The children want to play with the snow and go crazy in the snow.

We went to investigate - are the river and sea frozen? Can we go on the ice?

When we went closer it turned out that the river ice was not strong or thick enough to go on it. You can sink through it and you can drown. Water is very cold and from that cold seizures occur in humans.

The children investigated and saw that river flows into the sea and they become one. River is long and sinuous fast flow water body, sea is more bigger water body and the waves are big and foamier. In winter the sea can also partly freeze, especially in coastal area. In our observation day the sea was not froze.

We notices the rescue car afar. It was exciting to observe. The rescue workers went on ice to measure the river ice thickness. The river was frozen but not enough. 

Our observation concluded that the river ice was not thick enough to walk on.

We practiced throwing of snowballs onto ice. Whose ball flew the farthest and whose ball sank or floated? Some of the snowballs remained on surface and some sank where the ice was too watery.

We drew with our feet ragged trees. For children was it a challenge to think out how to make this kind of art so, that the result is also beautiful.

We made snow art onto the trees. The children made image of ducks, swans, fishes and one winter white rabbit.

We made an experiment: How deep is the snow in forest? You stick the branch so deep that you feel 
the earth. You mark the upper snow limit on the branch. Then you measure the part of branch what 
was in the snow. The result of our experiment was that the snow was 15,6 cm deep in the costal forest.

And in the end we made snow butterflies fly....