The Waterfront Center in Oyster Bay Mrs. Goldner’s Kindergarten at Homestead School recently completed a thematic unit about water as a medium for sealife. Over several weeks, the children engaged in activities that integrated all areas of the curriculum. At storytime, they heard books, both fiction and non-fiction, about sea animals, and they interpreted these stories in their artwork. As a math exercise, the kindergartners counted the legs that lived on animals that live in the water.

The children particularly enjoyed a science experiment aimed at examining water pollution. They took clean water and “polluted” it with dirt, leaves, paper clips, rocks and oil. Then they tried to make the water clean again by filtering it through a strainer and a paper coffee filter. In this hands-on experiment, the youngsters used current knowledge to make predictions, and they tested their hypotheses using scientific methods of observation and evaluation. They learned that it’s not easy to clean up water once pollution occurs. They came up with ideas to help keep our oceans, earth and bodies clean. Each child drew a picture of his or her “pollution solution” for a bulletin board display.

Andrew Thompson and Patrick Boyle tried to make polluted water clean by filtering it through a strainer As a culminating activity, the children visited The Waterfront Center in Oyster Bay, where they learned about the many varieties of seashells. They studied and handled spider crabs, horseshoe crabs and seastars. Back in class they dictated a story and made a class book about their experiences on their trip. This was a fun and informative unit.