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This activity would be a great way to get the students more involved with being outside, and would be a fun way to study nature! Take a nature walk in your backyard or local park to find one object for every letter of the alphabet. Then put them together in this handy nature book. In the notebook, I would have the students tape or glue the object in their book, and research information about the object and write a description about it. When the nature book was due, I would have my students share with the class what they found. This lesson would work on their science, reading, communication, and writing skills.

The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL is filled with many hands on activities for all kinds of science. Why does a tornado spin? Why does a wave break? Why does a flame burn? Why does lightning strike? Our questions about the world begin almost as soon as we're aware of it. I have been to this museum but it has been a long time. After trying to think of an interesting place to go and looking at several, this museum seems to be filled with many hands on science experiences and that is why I chose this museum. Also, for field trips, chaperons and students get into the museum for free but there are small fees for the omnimax and certain special exhibits. I also loved that there were labs you could rent, online resources, and they also include worksheets for activities they do in the museum. For the labs they also include standards on their website, including the next generation standards! Many exhibits interest me but this one on Science Storms would be great to take your students after doing a lesson on weather in science. This would give students an insight to mother nature, it's strength in an up close view. There are so many more to include though. So you could even do an end of the year field trip, or maybe an 8th grade trip and include an educational engaging experience for the children.

When teaching a lesson about natural disasters, making a vinegar volcano is a great way to keep the students interested and active in the lesson. This experiment would be really great to try with all of my students after a science unit on volcanoes. Using baking soda and Vinegar, the students will also be learning about chemical reactions and how baking soda ( a base) and vinegar (an acid) react to each other and cause frizzing. This lesson would allow my students to get creative in making their own volcano, while learning about what a volcano is, and the cause and effects of the volcano.

remove "science" tag and add something more specific, such as "earth science." The grade level tag should be K-2, 3-5, 5-8, and/or 9-12 to be consistent with other tags. Specify whether this is a lesson, activity, field trip, etc. in the tags.

This lesson is used to teach young students the importance of nature. Many students don't realize many manufactured items come from nature. Bring in everyday items from home and ask the children where they think the item came from (paper and books from trees, glass from sand, etc). Have different colored dots and walk around the classroom and label items with colors from what the item might have came from (green=trees, red=animals), this requires the students to think critically. It's important for children to respect nature and understand most everything we interact with on a daily basis is from nature. As a teacher I can use this to teach children respect of nature and each other because everything must work together.

When teaching a lesson about the earth and its natural disasters the teacher can perform this activity to get younger students more involved in the lesson. Students will see the teacher mix the ingredients together in a clear container. When the material is mixed together the teacher can ask the students what they think will happen, referring to what they have been learning about. After explaining what the substance is supposed to be, quicksand, they can demonstrate that poking the substance slowly the substance is runny while poking it quickly makes the substance hard.

Remove "science" and "earth" tags and use " " around "earth science" to keep that phrase together in one tag. Same with natural disaster. Nice job on the grade level taggin!

This nature center is a great way to teach students about their local environment. The staff address issues like littering, pollution, life-cycles of plants, animals, and insects as well as coastal and forest environments. This trip isn't limited to science content but also touches on Oahu history/traditions and art. This nature center also has weekend activities for children to participate in with friends and family members. This could lead to great class discussions and show students that science is all around them.

This resource houses a view of the perfect meteorology field-trip for students. The location is The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL. The exhibit gives loads of visuals of and scientific background for a variety of storms. The link attached is about the whole exhibit, as you click on what you would more directly want to study the website shows you how students can explore. The exhibit doesn't just cover storms, it also covers atoms and ways to harness energy. If you explore the tornado section you will get to see and manipulate a giant tornado. You also get to make your own table top tornado to explore farther. Finally they have wind tunnels you can get inside to feel the force of the wind. In the lightning section they explore charge. Not only do they get to see and hear a lightning storm inside, but they also get to experiment with magnets and levitation! There is a ton of information on fires including how some fires in nature aren't so bad. Students even get to use reactions with fire to create a fireworks display. The list of fun goes on and on! In the sunlight section solar power is discussed. Students can even watch a tsunami in a tank, and an avalanche in a disk. The exhibit is completely educational and makes many connections to the real world. I would use this to close a year in science, probably right after a unit on weather where students have studied all of the aspects of weather for at least one month. The exhibit is an awesome way for them to see what changes in weather and climate can do, and how exactly they do it. Some parts of the exhibit put a student in they eye of the storm! I had never heard of this place before but I would love to go! .

This activity will allow students to produce a "marketable" product made from minerals in a product that many people use daily. Students will make their own toothpaste using the minerals, calcium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. Students get to test their product against the basic toothpaste that many people use. The activity and lesson familiarize students will the natural compounds that are used to make many everyday things. Students will see that the combination of these two minerals makes something profitable. Students can also compare the prices of toothpastes to integrate math and to learn about the economy. The activity can be used when we are learning about minerals and natural resources, geoscience, or how communities use science.

This resource is a recycling activity and learning guide for educators and students. The guide was created by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. It contains recycling and waste facts about Wisconsin and also lessons based on protecting the Earth's resources and environment. I chose this resource because it fits the standard to- obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth's resources and environment (5-ESS3-1). This standard will be the focus of my lesson in this course. The guide provides information for the fifth graders to learn how Wisconsin uses science ideas to protect the Earth's resources and environment. I could also use a lesson from this guide as an outline for my lesson in the course.

This guide contains a TON of information on a variety of environmental topics.

This is multiple lesson plans that are combined to make a unit all about the Sun. Within this unit, many different experiments and activities are combined to make students understand the sun and all of its jobs. One great activity I really enjoyed was the shadow sun. Students would draw shadows of partners at different times during the day. The students would then discuss the activity and hopefully understand the movement of the sun from the different shadows. Along with this activity many more are included to help the overall lesson of the sun become instilled in the students.

This is a link to the US Geological Service's website. The education portion is really neat. Since i have met my boyfriend, he is a miner, I have become more and more interested in rocks and the earth. This webpage makes it easy to find what you need. Their resources are broken down into categories (K-6, 7-12, and undergraduate). The best part about this is there is a place to look at 3-D pictures of major landmarks. You would need your own glasses, but I think if these were projected on a smartboard, it would be a great way to show students what Mother Nature can accomplish.

Let one of our knowledgeable Garden Guides be your class's guide to the Garden! Garden-guided school group tours are available weekday mornings from September through December, and February through May. Choose our popular 'Discover the Missouri Botanical Garden' tour to introduce your class to the Missouri Botanical Garden, learn its history and see our featured gardens and conservatories. ________ The Botanical Garden offers many field trip opportunities for students of all ages. Field trips include tours of the gardens which include, the Sensational Seed Hunt, Plants from Top to Bottom, Tropical Rain Forest, Foodology, Asian Gardens Tour, Discover the Botanical Garden, and Green is Here for Good. Each field trip is aligned to standards which explore concepts in botany, ecology and natural science. The field trip I am concentrating on is Tropical Rain Forest. During this tour, students are able to explore the rainforest which is named the Climatron at the Botanical Gardens. The tour allows students to view waterfalls, lush lowlands, approximately 1,500 different types of plants, and tropical birds. Since we don't have access to a real rainforest (and most students never will), I think it would be a great idea to allow my students to explore the Climatron. I would take my students to visit this location at the end of our unit on rain forests to make sure they are able to understand the tropics at their fullest! Taking students at the beginning of the unit would be a great way to introduce them to the topic, however, I feel they will have a better grasp and appreciation on the subject after they have already learned about it.

Learn More & Get Involved The Lower River Cam, located in Katmai National Park and Brooks Camp, Alaska, is where the Brooks River meets Naknek Lake. It is a favorite place of mothers and their young cubs, females and young adults until September when as many as 100 bears descend on the area to feast over a two month period. ______________________________________________________________________________ This is a GREAT website! This website allows viewers to observe animals in their natural habitats (my favorite are the elephants). Some of the animals include elephants, bears, sharks, penguins, and many more. These animals are found everywhere around the world, and cameras are put in their habitats (both in zoos and in the wild) so viewers can observe the way these animals act in their natural habitats. I chose this resource simply because I absolutely love it. I've heard nothing but good things about this website. My brother has used this website in his kindergarten classroom and his students really enjoyed observing the different animals. I also like how the website provides a wide range of animals, which helps peak every students' interest. This resource could be used during any science lesson about animals. If students are learning about animals and their habitats, this website would be very resourceful and would be a great visual to show the different habitats animals live in. Overall, I think this resource gets students interested in animals and can be used at any grade level to peak students' interest.

The San Angelo Nature Center is a collection of animals, along with related exhibits and information, that are native to the Southwest. Among the animals are bobcats, skunks, a porcupine, hissing cockroaches, tarantulas, scorpions, turtles, lizards and snakes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The SANC is an incredible place. There are many different types of mammals, reptiles, bugs, and insects for children to experience. Being a former volunteer of the SANC, I know first-hand all of the possibilities this place offers. One of my favorite things about this place is the up close and personal experience children get with the animals. Children can choose to hold various reptiles including snakes, box turtles, or the center's two bearded dragons, Bonnie and Clyde. If they desire, children may hold or touch a hissing cockroach, a cave cockroach, a tarantula, or my personal favorite creature, the vinegarroon! Children can also meet Opus and Juliet, two African spurred tortoises. This place contains many facts and trivia about the various animals and is an exciting place for adults and kids alike.

This is a great lesson on various visual illusions used to engage and intrigue students, all raising the question "Why is this an illusion?" With interest piqued, students are engaged to answer this question about the T-illusion, proposing hypotheses to explain what makes it an illusion, then designing simple experiments to test those hypotheses. This is extended to a look at natural illusions, and how science effectively reveals their reality.

This resource explains how to make a tornado in a plastic bottle using only water and dish soap. I selected this resource because I thought it would be a good way to introduce weather patterns that can produce natural disasters. It's fun and interactive and is sure to grab my student's attention. After creating the tornado, I would use it to talk about wind and other weather patterns that can create tornadoes.

This movie visually explains the how hurricanes form and their movement. The movie defines "low pressure systems" and "tropical depression" that a student would hear a meteorologist use in a forecast. This movie could be used to introduce a lesson on storm systems that occur. I chose this BrainPOP movie because it seems as though students love the visual and retain the information given from BrainPOP.

PBS's lesson on gravity is somewhat of a classic, dropping two objects of different weight from the same height. This lesson utilizes both hands-on experiments, videos, prediction, and a variety of other ways for students to stay engaged and involved in the lesson. Throughout the lesson students predict what may or may not happen to their own experiments, to those done on the moon, and comparatively between the two differing atmospheres. The resource is specifically valuable to me due to it's consistent student directed and inquiry-based nature, examples of higher order thinking questions can be found throughout the lesson. I can see this resource being used in the classroom during an introduction lesson to the concept of gravity, possibly taking place in multiple parts throughout a week or a unit.

A free animated video presentation to show students how dinosaur bones become fossils. I liked this video because it really enhances the teaching of how bones eventually become fossils and will help students gain a better understanding of the long process and natural forces at work. It would be a great resource to use in conjunction with teaching students biological evolution (3-LS4).

This is a free 5-minute animated video that explains how animals adapt to changes in their environment for survival.The video also touches on the topic of natural selection by explaining that the traits suited for survival are then passed on from one generation to the next. I like this video because it's fun and would appeal to third graders but it's still teaching them the concepts that are introduced when teaching about biological evolution (3-LS4). I would show the video before delving into the variation among species and survival of the fittest topics where introduced. I think it's helpful when teaching concepts to make them relevant to the students, and this video shows how animals that the students are familiar with, such as tigers, obtained and use their camouflage.