This activity is great for giving children an awareness of the environment. They can make connections to the real world that they live in and can get them thinking about the nature of science by observation. They can see pollution in action.
Have students write what they found about one leaf and take or draw a picture of the leaf before the color change occurs. Then put all the artifacts in a scrap book for the class library.
Observing leaves as they change color. The filters are used to transfer the colors of the leaves. Tape off part of the leaf and watch as light makes it change color like they do in the fall.
This activity can be connected to other forms of weather such as temperature or rain fall. Students can also look up information about how people measure the weather using scientific tools. This activity can be connected to language arts by having students write about the weather.
Adaptions: You can adapt this activity for ELL and special needs by doing an into to the bufferfly lifecycle, you can include books, do drawings charting the life cycle. While you are doing this you can have the students make a vocabulary journal identifying vocabulary used in the butterfly life cycle.
Extensions: I think ALL grades would love this activity, you would want to add things to the activity depending on the grade level. For example, for 2nd graders you can have them journal and write stories about their butterflies, 3rd grade you can have them define different types of butterfies and then see which type they have from their habitats, 4th graders can identify different locations you may find different types of butterflies, and for kindergarten you can identify differences between butterflies and moths....etc!
1.3.4 Describe how animals' habitats, including plants, meet their needs for food, water, shelter and an environment in which they can live.
1.3.5 Observe and describe ways in which animals and plants depend on one another for survival.
1.3.2 Observe organisms closely over a period of time in different habitats such as terrariums, aquariums, lawns and trees. Draw and write about observations.
1.4.3 Construct a simple shelter for an animal with natural and human-made materials.
Students explore how different materials (sand, gravel,
lava rock) with different water contents on different slopes result in
landslides of different severity. They measure the severity by how far the
landslide debris extends into model houses placed in the flood plain.
This activity can be tied to social studies by having students create an essay, PowerPoint, or poster on how landslides have and do affect the world's population. This can be done in groups of students (with all ability levels).
This activity allows students to see the effects of a landslide on a small scale in the classroom. This is a neat experiment that looks easy to assemble and explain.
To connect this activity to writing, have children make up stories that go along with the fossils they create. They can write as if they found the fossil or write about the place and time the fossil is from.
SC.3.3 2000 - The Physical SettingStudents observe changes of the Earth and sky. They continue to explore the concepts of energy and motion.SC.3.3.1 2000Observe and describe the apparent motion of the sun and moon over a time span of one day.
This activity has the ability to show students why and how the phases of the moon really work. Not a lot of prep time and materials needed.Great for students to see a model of what is happening during the phases of the moon.
1.2.1 "Observe and compare properties of sand, clay, silt and organic matter. Look for evidence of sand, clay, silt and organic matter as components of soil samples."
This activity can be modified for gifted students by having them record their predictions about which particles will sink and which particles will float, rather than solely making the observations. This activity can also be modified for older grades by having them do the same thing. The older students can also be told to gather material that is sand, silt, and clay, and try to keep these in separate jars.
Students gather dirt samples from different outdoor areas and fill a jar with their dirt samples. The teacher will add water until the jar is two-thirds full and the students will take turns shaking their jar for two minutes. Each group will allow the contents in their jar to settle for fifteen to thirty minutes. Have the students make observations about how the dirt settled. The heaviest pieces of soil will settle first. Have the students identify the different-sized particles.
Adaption: goes along with the "fruit for phases" activity...as adaption for ELL and special needs students. It's a song to help them learn the phases of the moon.
Student who are ready can learn to read a thermometer or a barometer as well as a part of this activity. Make sure to encourage careful record keeping and not accurate predictions. Students should be made aware that one does not "win" science by making correct predictions.