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This is a great website that has tons of free mini-lessons. I think this would be a great tool to use in the classroom if you did not have time for a complete science lesson that day. You could find one that applys to the topic that you are covering and present that mini-lesson to the class. The lessons cover many different topics. I looked through the lessons and many of them I believe would keep the students actively engaged. Even if you did not completely follow the mini-lessons, you could use them as a reference.

Some of these seem a bit advanced for k-5.

I will use this website to have my students make lightning using an aluminum pie plate, styrofoam, glue, ballpoint pen, thumbtack, and a wool sock. Manipulating these materials will create a harmless mini-lightning bolt. This website provides instructions and detailed explanations for this activity.

I will use this website to have my students make lightning using an aluminum pie plate, styrofoam, glue, ballpoint pen, thumbtack, and a wool sock. Manipulating these materials will create a harmless mini-lightning bolt. This website provides instructions and detailed explanations for this activity.

This website opens into a word document that has a TON of different lesson plans for K-1 grade level. The two lesson plans that I really liked were the Adventures in the Rain Forest, and What's the Point of That? The Adventures in the Rain Forrest talked about how living things are dependent on one another, and where they are at in relationship to their environment (the rain forest). The class will embark on a mini pretend field trip to a rain forest where they will discuss where certain things in a rain forest are located, and why it is important. This relates to the standard 12.B.1a really well! The other lesson plan that I really liked in this huge list was the one that was called, "What's the point?" In this lesson plan, the students learn different characteristics of living things and why it is important that they have them. (i.e. the importance of birds having feathers, etc.) I really like this lesson because students will really get a grasp on how all living things are different in a lot of ways, but the reasons behind why they are different. I'm all about celebrating our differences!

This website includes the instructions for a kinesthetic approach to teaching the layers of the earth. The project consist of layering different color Playdoughs on top of eachother to simulate the earths layers. After completing their mini earth sculptures, students will be able to cut the earth in half and visual see the different layers through the different color Playdough. This project is going to be a great addition to my "The Place I Call Home" lesson as it not only consists of a kinesthetic approach to learning, but it also includes the visual approach.

In this inquisitive and hands-on lesson the students get to learn about heredity visually. Mini "creatures" are made out of craft supplies of different colors, and on the first day students observe and take note of their characteristics. Upon opening the creatures (plastic eggs) up the students find seeds/babies. The next morning when class begins the students go to their creatures and notice the seeds have turned into mini monsters and resemble their parents in many ways. Day three even digs into survival characteristics. I love this lesson, and personally think it would be fun for many different ages. Heredity is often confusing for young students, and by giving them a visual representation that they can see and feel the class can become engaged. I like how this lesson can be easily spread over a three day period, and it would help enhance the heredity/genetics unit as a whole. I would go to the activity at the beginning of each period and let the children explore the new changes as an intro into science for the day.

I loved this 3 day lesson/unit on heredity. This lesson breaks down a complicated concept by using different colored easter eggs and google eyes to create a "species." Students notice similarities and differences over three generations of the species and are introduced to the idea of "traits." What I loved most about this source was that it linked this lesson to three different STEM standards. This way, students are having fun with science and you are still assessing them on the correct skills! -After reading some of the comments on the post, people did bring up the fact that some students could be adopted and not look like the rest of their family. If this is the case for one of my students, I would use that as an opportunity to talk about what makes us all different and special, and how that student is going to pass on a special set of traits.

This is an interactive video tour through space that gives the students basic details about each planet. The video also offers mini quizzes that tests the students knowledge over the material that has been presented in the video. This video could be used as an introduction to a solar system lesson to get the children familiar with the planets before diving deeper into solar system.

This activity steps out of the normal lesson in the classroom, but I think it would keep the students entertained because of the candy that is involved. Each student would have a paper plate and would glue different pieces of candy on the plate representing the sun, each of the planets, and the asteroid belt. I really like that this activity steps out of the comfort zone that most teachers have and allows the students to do such a hands on activity that involves something that they like!

This activity allows the students to make their own mini solar systems out of different sized/shaped pieces of candy. The class can discuss the planets size, their color, and even how far away they are from each other through this activity, and using candy will make it a hard lesson to forget.You can either draw your orbits on black construction paper or a paper plate. Sun- butterscotch, Mercury- orange jujube; Venus- Nestle's sno caps; Earth- blue Skittle; Mars- red Skittle; asteroid belt- candy sprinkles; Jupiter- peppermint with red hot stuck on top; Saturn- lemon drop with twizzler wrapped around; Uranus- green Jujube; Neptune- aqua Skittle; Pluto- tart n tiny. I chose this lesson because I think it would be a great activity to help the class remember this important topic. Often times it is hard to recall which planets are next to which and so on, but by the use of candy we can build representations that are sure to stick with the. All of the small candy pieces listed are also easy to find and inexpensive! I would use this activity after learning the basics of the solar system, maybe as a review a few days before an assessment.

This is a great experience for students to get a hands-on look into geology, speleology, topography, and even a little biology as well! At Meremac Caverns students get explore the underground caverns in an eighty-minute tour led by a trained guide and a FREE mini-workshop of the teacher's choice. i can say from experience this was one of the most fun field trips I ever went on!

This activity could be used at the end of a unit on rocks, minerals and the layers of the earth. Students build their own structures made out of mini marshmallows and toothpicks. The students then place their structure on top of the jello that's sitting in an aluminum pan. The students then shake the pan to see what structures survive the "earthquake". I chose this activity because I thought it would be a great hands on experiment for students to see the damaging effects of what can happen to buildings after an earthquake. Another plus to this activity, is possibly sparking the interest of future architects.

An engineering design challenge!

In this experiment, students will create their own terrarium. Creating a mini-habitat is a great way for the students to learn what it takes to make an ecosystem work. Not only do the students learn about ecosystems, they also get a sense of responsibility when it comes to keeping their ecosystem alive. I chose this resource because it was something that I did when I was in elementary school and I still remember what I learned from it to this day. I would use this experiment throughout a unit on ecosystems.