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Polar Bear Winter Science Experiments!

The past few weeks in kindergarten we have been learning all about arctic animals, their habitats, and what they need to survive and grow. Last week our curious Kinders wanted to know how polar bears stay warm with the freezing temperatures, icy water, and relentless wind in the Arctic. We learned in one of our non-fiction books about how polar bears have thick fur and a thick layer of fat to keep them warm. What better way is there to learn than to fully immerse ourselves in the lesson? Our kindergarteners got to see how the blubber, or fat, on a polar bear really does keep them warm. We made a blubber glove for the children to feel the difference of what the freezing water feels like to us and to the polar bears. The kids loved this experiment and loved discussing how amazing it is that God created polar bears to have a thick layer of blubber because he knew they would need it to survive in their habitat.

Introducing our kindergartners to the scientific method has been so much fun, especially when we used gummy bears to grow our very own polar bears in the classroom. The students were asked, “What will happen when we put a gummy bear in these four different solutions: water, salt water, baking soda, and white vinegar?” They were very creative when making their hypothesis of what would happen to the “polar bears” in each of the solutions. We labeled each cup with the different solutions and placed one gummy bear in each cup. The kids thought it was so neat that they immediately started to see bubbles surrounding some of the bears. Patience was a big part of this science experiment because we had to wait overnight to see what would happen.

Excitement filled the kindergarten classrooms the following morning when they saw what happened to their polar bears! We learned that the gummy bear that soaked in water grew to be the biggest, the salt water shrunk the gummy bear, and white vinegar dissolved the gummy bear to where it lost its form, or even completely dissolved. 

These little scientists' eyes lit up with wonder and excitement at every turn of our science experiments last week!

New 8th Grade Course Explores Components Of Healthy Living

The Middle School years can be a challenging time for students everywhere as there is much to navigate both academically and socially. In an effort to come alongside our middle school students, this year PCA introduced a new Health & Wellness class taught by Shelly Kaiser. Not only does the course better equip students to make healthy choices for their bodies, it also addresses spiritual and relational health. In doing so, Kaiser hopes these 8th grade students will learn how to better navigate stress and support one another.

 “This is a class where students are learning about the 5 giants they are faced with in life: Relational, Spiritual, Physical, Financial and Vocational,” explained Kaiser. “I then help them break those giants down and learn how to face them and slay them. I also help them learn what it takes to live a full life with good health.”

Kaiser does this by spending the year concentrating on the four components of health: mental health, nutritional health, physical health, and most importantly, spiritual health. Students learn about living a healthy lifestyle and why it's important. “I help them realize they have been given this one body from God and are called to take care of it and steward it so we can love God and others well,” said Kaiser.

The Health & Wellness class is held on alternating Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s currently offered to 8th graders with plans to extend to additional grades next year.  

“I truly have a heart for people to take care of themselves by living healthy, fruitful lives,” said Kaiser. “It has been a gift to teach the 8th graders this year and to hopefully inspire them at a young age to grow spiritually, eat healthy, move some, create long lasting friendships and to know it's always okay to ask for help when feeling down and alone.”