Transcript

Text on screen: Interactive STEAM Exhibits.

Logo: Count, play, explore—for early education.

Parent 1: One, two, three, four.

On screen: Families with young children place balls into tubes. 

Barbara Daniel, Program Manager: Our early math exhibits, we have four that we will have in our entry environment throughout the year. Our first was a huge success, which was our wind tunnel.

On screen: As Barbara speaks, families, an educator, and three children are shown interacting with a wind tube. The wind tube is an upward facing fan that has a large clear cylindrical plastic tube attached to its face. There is a small opening between the fan and the plastic that allows objects to be inserted into the tube. A child is seen placing an object into the tube, but it does not float up. The same child and educator are shown constructing a new object for the wind tube at a nearby table.

Barbara: And as a part of the wind tunnel, families had the opportunity to come in and construct different objects to see how high they float, how low, if there was something heavier or lighter, what happens?

Educator: Here, Jayden, that's a good idea. Here, Jayden, take your happy heart bear. See if it floats.

On screen: The educator gives the child a small stuffed animal to place into the tube.The stuffed animal lays flat on the fan. It does not float.

Educator: No. So what do you think that means? Let’s try the smaller ones. See how that works.

On screen: The children go back and forth from the table of materials to the wind tube. A child places a paper triangle into the wind tube and watches it quickly float up and out the top of the tube.

Parent 2: See, it’s floating. Oh, wow, there it went.

On screen: The first child tries to insert multiple smaller objects. The objects float about at the bottom of the tube.

Educator: See now look at those float a lot easier than the big one does, huh? You see that? That's pretty cool.That is totally what I did not expect. I did not expect that to happen.

Barbara: It really gave the parents the opportunity to say, oh, I can do something as simple as putting objects over a fan so that we can see how high it goes, how low.  We also had timers to see how long something may have stayed in the tunnel, and then there's also weighted objects that were available.

On screen: An educator creates a cube out of paper and pipe cleaners. Then, the cube is shown floating gracefully at the top of the wind tube.

Barbara: We had plastic, we had paper, and create this experience that is so meaningful to a child that they're learning and not even realizing that it's math and science.

Text on screen: A special thanks to the children, families, and staff of the Office of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools’ Lighthouse for Children Child Development Center, without whose help these videos would not have been possible.

Logo: Count, play, explore—for early education.