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This would be a great field trip idea to the St Louis Science Center for students of all ages. The general admission is free but it is 4.00 per child to see the planetarium show. The planetarium includes the SBC Learning Center, that give visitors a glimpse of what it's like to live and work on the International Space Station. In the Crew Quarters, students can see how astronauts eat, exercise, sleep and dress in space, as well as how medical needs and the stations internal and external environments are maintained. The planetarium show features more than 9,000 stars onto an 80 foot dome and includes special effects such as eclipses, meteor showers. The show lasts roughly 25 minutes and each session is designated for certain age groups. I would love to someday take my class to this planetarium because I think it would be an amazing opportunity and a great learning experience.

summary, evaluation, potential use

I found this while I was looking for a suitable experiment that might involve snacks. This activity has students constructing a "solar oven" out of an old pizza box, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, and newspaper. The idea behind this is that students can harness the ultraviolet energy provided by the sun to make an oven that will cook food. The experiment had the students cook s'mores, but it is also possible to cook a hot dog. I selected this resource because I was looking for a fun but relevant activity that would include snacks; this way, students can learn a lesson about the sun and the energy it provides while staying engaged with the promise of a snack afterward. I would use this as part of a lesson on the sun and energy, and would probably use it closer to the end of the school year, as the weather warms up and students are looking forward to summer activities.

Ask students to look at a glass of water with a pencil in it and have them draw their observations. Tell them to look at the glass from all angles. Ask them to explain their observations and hypothesize the cause of this discrepant observation. This would be a good follow up lesson after the bending light lab/experiment. I would use this to introduce the lab and experiment. Then finish and summarize the lesson by adding the questions.

Grade Level: 2nd-4th; Type: Botany Objective: Test whether plants can grow without sunlight and water. How do plants make their own food? Plants contain a green pigment called chlorophyll, which can make food from water and energy from sunlight. But what happens when you deprive plants of water and sunlight? This would be a great classroom experiment completed by the entire class as a whole. It will show the students the real differences of a plant with or without food in the sunlight and in total darkness like a closet or cabinet. I would love to do this lesson in my classroom to demonstrate to the students what plants need to grow and survive just like we as people need certain things to grow and survive.

This was a fourth grade physical science experiment that can be used when studying electricity. Although it is not completely free it uses minimal household items so the cost is very low. The students are able to see what goes on inside a battery by completing a circuit. I would use this in my classroom because the students become actively involved in learning and it is something new and "shocking" for them to discover.

Grade level probably more like 4-8 than K-5

In this experiment students use a mixture of materials to make a "bubble bomb". I like this activity because it is exciting for students but it requires little materials. I would use this activity to encourage inquiry skills and class discussion. i.e "What made the bag pop?" " What if you used a bigger/smaller bag?" This would also be a great opportunity for students to practice documenting their findings.

This site gives tons of step-by-step experiments in different categories (air, animals, astronomy, chemistry, etc.) I like that they caution you on what could happen if you do a certain step wrong!!!

I found lots of dead ends when I clicked through the list...be aware of out-dated resources!

Apple Oobleck made With Apple Sauce This is a different way to approach introducing oobleck into the classroom. Students could participate in all parts of this activity. They could help make the oobleck, explore it, and, with teacher permission, possibly even taste their creation! This would also be a very cool way to explore the 5 senses with your students or just a fun activity to do during the fall. I think this could be used in kindergarten up through second grade.

This website is great. It was created by a meteorologist specifically with children in mind. She wanted them to be able to learn more about "the fascinating world of weather." I couldn't pick just one link, as I feel the entire website is incredible educational.

This website was designed by meteorologist Crystal Wicker. She designed it with kids in mind, but it's also an excellent resource for teachers. It answers questions about tornadoes, lightening, clouds, volcanoes, and much more. It also provides games, flashcards, jokes, photos, and experiments. I chose this site because I think it is a great, quick reference for early elementary teachers. It would also be and asset for a middle elementary student doing research. I would use this in my classroom as a resource to questions being asked by my students, or questions I need answered. I would also pull some of the weather experiments and use them when applicable.

This is a lesson plan all about DNA. The students will use a banana and extract DNA from it and observe it under a microscope. I think that this is a cool and fun, interactive way for students to obtain a better understanding of DNA.

DNA is so abstract that I think it would be better recommended for 6-12 than K-12.

In this activity, Students will try extracting DNA from a banana by following the simple instructions and can take the activity further with the use of a microscope. It is a fun, interactive way to get the students thinking about structure. I would consider incorporating this activity into my classroom because it involves very little cost (1 banana would provide enough DNA for a classroom-wide experiment). Also, the experiment is totally sanitary--you are not working with human/animal DNA, you're working with food. Finally, anytime you bring food into a classroom, healthy or not, the students are interested. It's a win-win-win-win. This is a great lesson because it can be easily modified and adapted based upon the grade level and needs of the students. I believe this lesson would provide a nice introduction of DNA to a Middle School science classroom. However, if the instructor would like to increase difficulty for an older grade, it is easy to do. The students could compare and contrast DNA from different fruits, research in-depth, etc.

This is a lesson plan that will provide students with an understanding of how light interacts with different objects. While experimenting with different objects, students will be able to see the relationships between light and the shadow that the objects casts. In addition to learning about shadows, students will be able to tell if objects are reflective, transparent, or opaque. I like this lesson plan because it breaks down the lesson into multiple days and offers ways for the students to further their connections by experimenting at home. I would use this lesson in the classroom while teaching about sources of light.

Join the Saint Louis Astronomical Society as the host public star parties at the Science Center on the first Friday of each Month! This resource is an excellent, not-to-mention free, field trip opportunity for students to get up close and personal with our solar system. This weather permitting event is open to the public and allows the student to visually explore the stars through telescopes while also having the opportunity to ask the St. Louis Astronomical Society any questions they may have. This field trip opportunity, if not allowed to travel as a class, is a great resource to share with parents to extend their students learning process. In addition, this website includes nightly sky updates that can be shown via a projector in class, as well as, Astronomy facts of the day.The Saint Louis Science Center would prove to be a great field trip experience during my planet or constellation lessons.

Take your students on an exciting adventure to the Saint Louis Science Center Planetarium to experience hands-on and visual learning. This resource allows students to take part in a self-guided or small group exploration of not only our galaxies stars, but also its many planets. I chose this website because of it wealth of factual knowledge and easily accesible tools. This field trip could take part during a planet lesson, and/or an astronomy lesson.

This is a link to the Missouri Botanical Garden website which makes for a great field trip. At the Missouri Botanical Garden, students explore plants from around the world and go into greenhouses. There is also a Children's Garden geared specifically toward younger students. I selected this resource because I have experience with the Missouri Botanical Garden. Kids really enjoy exploring and learning about the plants. A field trip to the gardens could be used to bolster units involving plant life, photosynthesis, and changing seasons.  I could use this resource at any grade level because the Garden does a good job at having activities for kids of various ages.

This activity shows how water is absorbed by plants. By placing a white carnation with stem into a tube or cup of colored water, the plant absorbs the water, changing the carnation the color of the water that was absorbed. I chose this activity because I feel like it would be a great way for children to see and understand what would be taught when learning about plants. I would introduce the lesson by explaining that plants need water. We would discuss where the children believe the water goes in the plant and I would let the children discuss what they think "might" happen. This would allow group discussion, the children would be making hypothesis, and applying knowledge all while introducing this lesson. I would explain that we will let the plants sit in the water throughout the week for the lesson. We could document daily results in a journal and then at the end discuss what we have learned and how it was different or the same then what we believed at the beginning.

This science experiment is a creative and fun way to show students how water moves through plants. Rain absorbs into the ground, then moves up the roots, through the flower, and to the pedals. What I love about using the food coloring, is it provides more of a clear picture of how the water moves through the flowers. By using the food coloring, the students can also note the time it takes for the water to hydrate the flower. I would use this in the classroom for the students to journal their own hypothesis or draw where the food coloring would be visible at. If I did this experiment before teaching the lesson, I would ask my kids to think about if the colored water would actually be visible or if we wouldn't have been able to tell a difference. This would be a quick and simple thing to demonstrate and discuss to help my students build ideas on their own, think reasonably, and even practice using the scientific method.

This resource describes how to make a rain gauge. This resource is valuable because it is a hands-on activity that will help students not only observe rain patterns, but will also help them to chart them. I would have my students make these in groups and we would then chart the rain fall over the course of the unit.

This is an experiment for students to make their own rain gauge. I would use this in my classroom by having each student make their own rain gauge and them placing them in their yards at home. I would try to do this during the spring and rainy season and have students record their measurements after each rain. Students would then compare their measurements with their classmates and determine where the most rain fell.

This website gives you the ingredients and amounts of different liquids and materials to poor into a clear cylinder to determine the different densities of materials. In their lab groups, the students will determine the order that the materials will layer in the cylinder before the materials are actually poured in. I selected this resource because it provides a way do demonstrate density in the classroom and it explains the reason for why each material settles differently. I would use this experiment as a way to introduce volume and density to my middle school students.

Electricity -- we depend on it every minute of every day. And yet to many of us, electricity seems a mysterious and even magical force. Before Ben Franklin did his famous and very dangerous kite flying experiment, electricity was thought to be a type of fire. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I think this is an excellent lesson to teach to grades 3-6. I am pleased with this lesson that it lists the lesson sequence, materials needed, and the objectives. I really like the variety that this lesson includes. It allows students to get up and move in acting out an electric circuit as well as get up close and personal with electricity and how it works with the activity. Not only does this lesson involve interactive components for students, it also provides many videos that correlate with the lesson. This lesson plan seems easy to follow with the instructional sequence and I think it would be easy to fit within the McKendree lesson plan template and add a bit of flair from the teacher candidate. I think this lesson also allows teachers to impose his or her own spin on the lesson and choose what parts to include or omit as well as what might need to be added to the lesson. A lesson like this with so much instructional variety helps to reach students that learn from hands-on activities, students who learn more visually, as well as students who learn best from discussion and instruction. I would follow the instructional sequence if I were to use this lesson in the classroom, but I would tailor it to fit my time allotment for teaching Science, thus it would be done in smaller segments. I would choose one or two videos to share with the class, but post the rest on our class website so the children could view them if the wanted to.