1.1.2 Characterize materials as solid or liquid, investigate their properties, record observations and explain the choices to others based on evidence (i.e., physical properties)
1.1.3 Experiment with simple methods for separating solids and liquids based on their physical properties.
Differentiation:
For gifted students, have them melt a solid in different ways (microwave, oven, stovetop, heat from sun). Ask them to predict which will melt the fastest and then record their observations
Using a chocolate bar or chocolate chips students will experiment with melting the chocolate in a microwave or over a stove. Students will make predictions and will make observations about the solid turning into a liquid. After they have made these observations they will put the chocolate back into the freezer and make predictions and observations about what happens next.
K.2.3 "Describe in words and pictures the changes in weather from month to month and season to season."
This activity can be adjusted for ELL students by allowing them to use only pictures for recording their observations. If the students are feeling somewhat comfortable with the new language, they can be paired with English speaking students to work together to spell and sound out words for their notebooks. This activity can be modified for older age groups by having the students make predictions about what is going to happen with the weather conditions. These students can also make predictions about why they think the seasons change.
Students can participate in this long-term activity by observing and recording the weather each week of the school term, or the school year. The students can do various activities within this long-term activity, such as measuring the amount of rain or snow, recording weather conditions, making observations in a notebook, etc. This is a great way to observe and learn the seasons!
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.
Adaption: SEE "MOON PHASES ACTIVITY-PHRASES FOR PHASES: A MOON TUNE.
Extensions: You can extend this activity for 6th grade my having them creat a model of the moon and it's phases and demonstrating their understanding through a presentations. ( I would group them and have each person write about their part of the demonstration and that it what they present)
You can extend it you younger grades by having them draw the phases of the moon and with parents (as homework) go outside at night and dermine which phase the moon is in and drawing a picture of that phase on the claendar.
5.2.4 Use a calendar to record observations of the shape of the moon and the rising and setting times over the course of a month. Based on the observations, describe patterns in the moon cycle.
5.2.1 Recognize that our earth is part of the solar system in which the sun, an average star, is the central and largest body. Observe that our solar system includes the sun, moon, seven other planets and their moons, and many other smaller objects like asteroids and comets.
Students will use a camera to investigate and collect data on living and non-living things. They will compare living things to non-living things, and keep a record of their findings. (scrapbook).
Extension: Easy to extend for higher ability students by having them write their observations along with the pictures. (i.e. compare why they categorize something as "living or non-living."
ESL: Easy activity for students with a language barrier as it is a picture driven lesson. Students will learn through their own observations and the pictures they keep.
Adaptation: Could easily be adapted to be an internet research project or magazine research project (students cut out pictures to keep.)
Life Science K.3.1 "Observe and draw physical features of common plants and animals."
This activity can be adjusted for gifted students by allowing them to label their picture with the appropriate words for a plant. Using words such as "roots" or "xylem" would be excellent! This activity can be used for older grades by having the students compare two different celery stalks - one with water, and one without water. The students can then make a table or chart to compare and contrast the two different celery stalks.
Students observe a stalk of celery over one to two days. The celery is placed into water (food coloring is added to the water). The students then record their observations about the water moving up the celery stalk. This is a great way for students to understand how plants transport water from their roots to their leaves!
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.
2.2.1 "Observe, describe and measure ways in which the properties of a sample of water (including volume) change or stay the same as the water is heated and cooled and then transformed into different states."
This activity can be modified for ELL students by having them record drawings during each observation, rather than writing the words for their observations. This would be a great activity for drawing, because each state looks so much different than the others (solid, liquid, and gas). This activity can be adjusted for older grades by having the students do the same activity with predictions at the beginning of the experiment about what they believe will happen. These students could also make other predictions about other types of matter that would react in the same way the juice ice did. For further exploration, these students could then test their hypothesis regarding other objects and their state of matter.
Students place "juice ice" into baggies and observe the state of the ice at various points in the day. The students then compare the beginning state of the ice with the ending state of the ice. This is a great lesson on solids, liquids, and gasses!
The Design ProcessAs citizens of the constructed world, students will participate in the design process. Students will learn to use materials and tools safely and employ the basic principles of the engineering design process in order to find solutions to problems.3.4.2
Students will be able to benefit from making the helicopters by observing the design process. Observing the motion of the object, and learning what contributes to its flight/spinning motion is the main basis of the activity.
2 standards are included in this lesson and noted on the sticky note.
When having students record their observations prepare two rubrics that have different requirements for students. One that challenges students in their writing and another that challenges them to draw and write less about their observations
2.2.9: Investigate how the shape of the moon changes from day to day in a repeating cycle that lasts about a month.
This activity can be adapted for gifted students by having them identify specific words that describe the phases of the moon they're observing. For example, under "Day 1," the student could write words such as "waxing," "waning," "full moon," or "new moon." This activity could also be used for younger age groups by having the students observe the moon for one week, rather than one month.
My only concern is that the students may think the moon actually does get "a bite" taken out of it and changes shape instead of realizing that it always remains circular, but it just appears to be different shapes based on the position of the moon in relation to the sun and the Earth. If you use this activity, be sure to make it perfectly clear that the moon is always round.
Have students keep track of the phases of the moon by using marshmallows glued to construction paper. The students observe the moon each night, and bite the marshmallow into a replica of what they observed.
Extensions: Connect Life Science with LA - Write predictions and observations in an Ant Observation Journal.
Adaptations: ESL & Special Ed Students can draw pictures in their journal to show their knowledge. A movie on the topic could be provided to extend knowledge after journals are complete to assess accuracy of predictions. Gifted students can predict what the ants will need for their habitat/survival.
Make Your Own Ant Farm: - Life Science
After completion of ant farm, spend days or weeks observing these amazing insects.
Supplies: Small glass bowl or jar, glass fishbowl, sand, loose soil, sugar, water, 20 ants (from the same colony), rubber band, cheesecloth, black construction paper, bread crumbs, masking tape, and spiral notebook.
K-3 could do this project, but require more research, writing, or drawings of the project about habitat, colony structure, body-parts and function, etc.
1.3.3 "Observe and explain that plants and animals have basic needs for growth and survival: plants need to take in water and need light, and animals need to take in water and food and have a way to dispose of waste."
This activity can be modified for ELL students by having them strictly draw pictures of their observations, rather than writing words to describe their observations. This can also be adjusted for older grades, by having them grow several different types of flowers, or by using different fertilizers to help the flowers grow. The students can then compare their effects of the different fertilizers on the same flowers.
Students can grow narcissus bulbs in the classroom, or at home! The students can then make observations or draw pictures about how the flower looks each day. Draw conclusions once the flowers are fully bloomed about how they grew!
2.2.1
Construct and use tools to observe and measure weather phenomena like precipitation, changes in temperature, wind speed and direction.2.2.2
Experience and describe wind as the motion of the air.
Differentiation:
Allow gifted students to record the direction of wind for a week or even a few weeks. With this information discuss with the class the effects of wind direction and how it correlates to weather.
Using a container lid, scissors, a marker, a straw, and a pin students will create their own weather vanes that they can use to go outside and observe the act and direction of wind.
Extensions: Connect Earth Science with Math and Art. Also includes Natural Sciences.
Adaptations: Gifted students can record daily weather observations in a notebook and create a graph or tally chart of the different types of weather that they examined. ESL & Special Ed students can draw daily weather patterns in notebook or create pictograph charts of weather with tally marks to indicate frequency.
Construct a Weather Spinner: - Earth Science
Intro to Natural Sciences - your child will learn to see details and patterns in atmospheric conditions. A simple weather spinner provides an accessible tool for your child to improve her observation and analysis ability, important scientific skills she will use for the rest of her life.
Supplies: White tag board or poster board, pencil, crayons, markers, or colored pencils, and a metal brad.
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.
More advanced students can make a detailed book with observations of what they see happening everyday with the worms. Students who are farther behind can create a book with pictures of what they see happening.
This activity could be connected to language arts by having students write an essay about the steps of the metamorphosis process.
There's no better way to learn about metamorphosis than to observe the life cycle of a living creature up close. This activity allows students to see the life cycle of mealworms.
2.3.1
Observe closely over a period of time and then record in pictures and words the changes in plants and animals throughout their life cycles-including details of their body plan, structure and timing of growth, reproduction and death.
Differentiation:
Have ELL students keep a picture journal of drawings of their compost 2 times a week. Observe the changes over time.
This activity is an awesome life science experiment that students can use for the rest of their lives- making compost!
Compost is a great way to deal with waste that often ends up in landfills. In this activity students will watch different kinds of vegetation decompose and turn into rich, useful soil!
This could even be used for a class or school garden!
Prior to this experiment students need to learn about erosion and weathering. It would be a good idea for the students to work in pairs for the research. Then during the experiment have them draw a picture to represent what happens, if able also write their observations in complete sentences
This project can have an art component by allowing the students time to draw what the crystals look like. Students can also write or draw a hypothesis about what they will see before the growth begins.
Students in older grades can do this experiment and then investigate how the crystals were formed through research and class discussion.
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