Group items tagged

In the book Dirt Boy, Fister Farnello loved dirt so much that he ate it, played in it and refused get rid of it. He finally takes a bath. Children will design, build a water filter and use it to clean muddy water.

Very cool movie to explain the design process.  I am not counting this for an"activity"... but wanted to share.

5.DP.2-4: Brainstorm potential solutions. Document the design throughout the entire design process. Select a solution to the need or problem. Omit the scoring, extend the time frame so that each group gets 15 minutes to brainstorm their solution and 20 minutes to build/test their structure Sticky Note: This could be used for graphing if students had to test their structures multiple times, create a graph and find the average. Then could create a class graph of each group's averages. Could also be manipulated for younger students by changing the amount of materials.

Students will help create a fake classroom garden out of craft materials to help them understand the design of a plant. They will have to understand the different parts a plant and how to put the parts together to create a plant. Post-It (diigo would not let me place a post-it on this pdf page): Students can work in pairs to construct their plants (high ability with a low ability student). Advanced students could put labels on thier plants' parts. Students in higher grades could construct certain species of plants and descibe what makes their plant unique.

Paper airplane models to test distance and how design affects the flight. Record results and graph.

This activity is unique because it combines science with a practical application that provides a solution to a problem. In this activity, students will be put a small bowl of hot oatmeal into a plastic baggie, test the temperature, and seal it.  Then students will place three sheets of aluminum foil or three sheets of newspaper over the baggie.  After 15 minutes the students will re-test the temperature using a thermometer and discover which material saved heat!

Students will discuss and understand how to apply potential or kinetic energy to power a simple device (in this case, a yoyo.)   Standard 6.4.1 Working in groups, allow students to experiment with yoyos, a marble rollercoaster, etc.  Follow activity guidelines. Gifted students could design an amusement park (to be used in school.)   ELL's pair with a gifted student who can assist them with this project.  

This site doesn't provide specific activities; however, I would design earth science activities to assist kids in researching this park, and the surround area.  We would discuss how and why the area has these deposits, the history of the area, and how to go about finding diamonds and other cool rocks.   Extension activity:  Order bags of dirt from Crater of Diamonds park and have the kids sift through to find and identify various rocks and minerals.   Standards: 3.2.1:  Examine the physical properties of rock samples and sort them into categories based on size using simple tools such as sieves. 3.2.2:  Observe the detailed characteristics of rocks and minerals.  Identify rocks as being composed of different combinations of minerals. 3.2.3:  Classify and identify minerals by their physical properties of hardness, color, luster, and streak.  

Excellent activity for grades five and up.  "Students work as teams in mission control and aboard a spacecraft as they test their decision making skills and solve problems during this innovative, inquiry based, space-themed science and math simulation." This activity could meet MANY science standards and math standards including the Design Process, The Nature of Science, and Reading for Literacy in Science.  For the purpose of this assignment, I am assigning it to: 6.2.4  With regard to their size, composition, distance from the sun, surface features and ability to support life, compare and contrast the planets of the solar system with one another and with asteroids and comets.  6-8.RS.1:  Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science texts.   6-8 RS.3:  Follow precisely a multi-step procedure when carrying out experiments or taking measurements.

Roughly every other year, the Challenger Center in Brownsburg gets a grant and invites us to visit for free. Unfortunately for your cohort, we went last year, but I'll invite you back next year if they get another grant. We usually go on a Saturday morning and IT IS AWESOME! I love being in Indianapolis with these fabulous resources available.

Students work in pairs for this game. Each pair has a printed 100 chart. The students designate one color marker for the prime numbers, and another color marker for the composite numbers. Students take turns crossing out a composite number (1 point), circling a prime number (3 points), or passing. The player with the most points when all of the numbers are found, wins!

In this activity, students play a game of war using multiplication facts. Each player flips over two cards, and says the math sentence for those two cards. For example, if one student flipped over a 4 and a 5, he or she would say, "4 x 5 = 20". Using a timer, the teacher can set a designated amount of time. When the time is up, each player counts their cards. The person with the most cards wins!

This is a good project for engaging students in learning about the planets, the order of the planets, and the way the planets orbit. This is also a great project for understanding design process

Be sure to point out that it's hard to get the right ratio for the size and distance, but this model might capture some of the planets' coloring and special features.

Core Standard: Provide evidence that heat and electricity are forms of energy. (4.1.1, 4.1.2) Core Standard: Design and assemble electric circuits that provide a means of transferring energy from one form or place to another. (4.1.3, 4.1.4, 4.1.5)

Students work to design a rubberband race car.

In this activity, students will make a mini biome in the bottom of a one liter bottle.  Students will be able to plant a seed and give it certain nutrients to watch it grow, adapt, and change to its environment. 

state standard: 1.3.2 Great way to keep kids interested over a long period of time. The kids are excited to see what their biome is doing/ how things are frowing. You can explain that everything the plant needs to grow is in the biome. A enrichment idea off this activity would be to try and simulate the different conditions in each biome to an enviornment that is in our world (desert vs rainforest) and see how that affects each biome.

Children are formed into groups to 'invent' a pretend machine that smashes marshmallows. Each child plays the role of a cog or part of the machine to move the marshmallow along. Children then read the story Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, a machine that digs its way to a happy ending, and recognize how technological devices affect our lives.

This website shows you how to explore different structures and answer the question, which supports the most weight, trauma, wind? and what purpose do they all serve.

This sounds very interesting! I enjoy hearing about projects that keep the students' interest year after year.

Here is a list of science projects that require students to design a fair test.