Group items tagged

Extensions: Connect Science & Tech with LA. Adaptations: Gifted students can write about their conclusions about natural vs. artificial sugar.  Which tastes better, and which is better for your health?  ESL and Special Ed students can draw pictures of their conclusions to indicate the same things.

Extensions: Math/History/Art (Leonardo of Pisa: Fibonacci) The Golden Mean Adaptations: ESL will be able to visualize Golden Ratio - proportions of art and architecture.  Special Ed will work in small groups paired with good math students. Teacher will provide completed sample of spiral and objects from nature that show this spiral.

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. 

Extensions:  This activity connects Natural Science to Art. Adaptations:  Gifted students can name the different objects and describe their texture.  ESL and Special Ed students can pair-share to find the objects outdoors.

This would be a great activity to cross with a science unit.  It might work better in groups because of the number of objects to manage and carry around.

Additionally making groups in a mindful way would allow for accommodation for children with exceptional needs.

Students ask questions about a variety of living things and everyday events that can be answered through shared observations.SC.K.4.1 2000Give examples of plants and animals.SC.K.4.2 2000Observe plants and animals, describing how they are alike and how they are different in the way they look and in the things they do.

Extensions: This activity connects Natural Science with English (LA).   Students read books about recycling, reusing and reducing waste.   They also read about birdhouses. Finally, they write an essay on how the house is earth friendly. Adaptations: Gifted students can make their own birdhouse and document type of bird and habitat it is designed for.  ESL and Special Ed students can work in small groups or pairs to design birdhouse and do research/reading together. 

K.1.1.

The Challenger Center also offers Special Needs missions. Lessons are differentiated as students will be assigned to different roles.  This is a very "challenging" endeavor, and requires completion of lessons prior to the visit.

Great for ESL.  Can easily be adapted for higher ability students as well.  Can also be adapted if no camera or computer is available 

Extensions: This math activity could be connected with art if the students used this shape to create a design and decorate image with color and texture. Adaptations: ELL & Special Ed students can benefit from small group instruction with this activity - help from peers for measuring.  The art aspect would help to engage learners with learning math concepts from nature by showing examples of spiral in shells, or other objects in nature.

Extensions: Natural Science connects with History (Colonial Herbs) Adaptations: Gifted students can research herbs from the Colonial time period in history.  Students will then select an herb to grow from seed and document sunlight requirements and results.  ESL & Special Ed students can keep a journal of drawings that depict findings in experiment.

SC.1.1.2 2000Investigate and make observations to seek answers to questions about the world, such as "In what ways do animals move?"

Nature of Science Standard: Make predictions and formulate testable questions; plan and carry out investigations-often over a period of several lessons-as a class, in small groups or independently; perform investigations using appropriate tools and technologies that will extend the senses; use measurement skills and apply appropriate units when collecting data; test predictions with multiple trials; keep accurate records in a notebook during investigations and communicate findings to others using graphs, charts, maps and models through oral and written reports; compare the results of an investigation with the prediction. This activity can be modified for ELL students by allowing those students to be the recorder for the group. This will allow those students to participate, without having the pressure of attempting to measure and use words they may not be comfortable with yet. Allowing these students to be the recorder keeps them involved with the group, while also allowing them to practice the English words for the numbers being recorded. This activity can also be used for younger ages by shortening the activity to throwing the ball five times, rather than ten. The act of throwing the ball make take longer for these students, as well as measuring an angle.

Nature of Science Standards: Plan and carry out investigations-often over a period of several lessons-as a class, in small groups or independently; use measurement skills and apply appropriate units when collecting data; keep accurate records in a notebook during investigations and communicate findings to others using graphs, charts, maps and models through oral and written reports. This activity can be adjusted for ELL students by giving them a picture chart on which to record their data. Rather than using all words on the chart, pictures of a cup, plate, cake pan, etc. can be place on the chart, and the students can fill in the results of the distance for each picture. This activity can also be used with younger age groups by having them use other objects, such as a small ping pong ball, to throw. A bigger object may be easier for younger children to throw.

Make sure to emphasize the need to keep careful records as that is what makes this activity appropriate for teaching the Nature of Science.  This activity is excellent for showing children the value of records as it utilizes information from 50 years ago.  Discovering patterns and trends is also very appropriate in this area of study.  Creating a presentation of the information would offer a chance to incorporate different multiple intelligences.