Wood Sculptures

Recently as part of our Managed Independent Learning time, we have had the opportunity to create our very own sculptures out of wood samples.  Thanks to the generosity of a few kindergarten families who sent in wood glue, we were able to do this.

We would like to send out a special "THANK YOU" to Mr. Ryan Hauenstein for donating the wood scraps to all four of our kindergarten classrooms.  Mr. Hauenstein works at Dakota Hills Middle School and Eagan High School and teaches wood shop.  These scraps of wood were so awesome and gave us an opportunity to do something we may not have had the chance to do.  Thanks to everyone for helping with this project!

   

   

   

Making Particleboard

We were going to make particle board this morning.  Now this can be a messy process so we decided we needed to dress appropriately, like real scientists.  After all, we are scientists, so we need to look like it!  We started by putting on lab coats and safety glasses.

   

   

Once we were dressed, we gathered on the rug and got to work.  We started out by observing our particleboard samples one more time.

We talked about all the materials we would need to make our particleboard…a paper plate, some resin, a cup with wood shavings and sawdust and a wooden stick.  We got to work.

First, we had to work with the resin to get it soft, kind of like play dough.  It was sticky and kind of messy, but we did a great job!

Soon we were ready to add the wood shavings and sawdust to the resin.  

   

   

   

   

Once we had the resin, wood shavings and sawdust all mixed together, we made the mixture into a shape.  We put the particleboard on the plate and left it to dry overnight.

   

   

This was such a fun activity.  I hope you take some time to talk to your kindergartner about making particleboard!

Making Plywood

Plywood is a manmade wood, also called sandwich wood.  It is made by taking logs to a sawmill and cutting the log while it spins into very thin sheets.  This process is similar to taking paper towels off of a roll.  The layers of wood are glued together and pressed until the glue is dry.  We made our own plywood in class last week, by gluing three layers of thin wood together to simulate what it would be like to make plywood.

   

   

   

   

When we finished making our own version of plywood, we did what all good scientists do…recorded our observations.  We wrote about making plywood in our science journals!