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This website provides teachers with a way to integrate bug collections into a lesson about observation, questioning, and critical thinking. Students are able to identify and find bugs around the school yard and learn at the same time.

This is an activity for the first day or as an introduction to the scientific method or to just allow students to work in groups so that you can get to know them better. I usually do all instructions verbally and don't require any written documents for turning in. __________________________ This is a cute activity to use for smaller aged students to introduce them to the scientific method with little prep work from the instructor. All the teacher needs is gummy worms, life savors, paper clips, and plastic cups. Sam (the worm) is stuck on a boat (the cup) and the life jacket (life savor) is under the cup. The students will use paper clips to retrieve the life jacket and put it on Sam to save him. While doing this, students will work with a partner to explore ways to save Sam. I would use the link below as it goes along with the lesson and gives questions for the students to answer and record during their exploration to save Sam. The worksheet can be tailored to match the appropriate age group conducting the experiment. https://docs.google.com/document/d/15ahlJ9CSEB31IPgJOFO2LW62K5PoxbN6hosNneO2tRc/edit?hl=en_US I think this would be a fun activity that would allow the instructor to see how the students work together and who is taking the lead role. At the same time, the students are being introduced to creating an hypothesis, recording their observations, and coming to conclusions. I would probably use questions from the above link for higher grades such as 2nd - 5th. If I did this activity with K and 1st grade, I probably would just discuss vocabulary terms as well as their thoughts and observations during group discussion versus having them document on paper.

Geocaching is a great way to get kids outside and observing the world around them. Geocaching give you a set of coordinates and your job is to find the hidden object. It is usually a small box containing small trinkets like children's toys, CDs, coins from around the world, etc. When you find the box, you take something and leave something and you can track where your items go across the globe. They are literally all over the world. They can be found in oceans, on mountains, at gas stations, in the woods, etc. It would be a great field trip to take the kids out to a local bike trail (there can be more than 15 Geocaches on 1 trail) and take some time to be outside, talk about nature and try to find something cool! As a teacher, you can even make a Geocache for your class and check out who is finding it online. My husband and I have a Geocache of our own and go out geocaching often. It helps keep you active and allows you to enjoy the outdoors. Older students can also benefit from learning about coordinates.

This is the St. Louis Zoo's website. It contains all the events it holds along with information about some of the animals. I chose this website as a source for a field trip. It is a good place to take students to because it is fun, but they are also learning about animals. I would take my students to the zoo after the lesson on food chains. They would have knowledge about what animals eat in terms of other animals. I would have them create their own food chains on the animals they saw at the zoo.

This is a resource for a field trip to the St. Louis Zoo. I selected this resource because it fit right in to my standard, 2-LS4-1 because the students will be able to make observations about the plants and animals that they see at the zoo as well as make observations about the types of habitats that the animals are in. I would use this resource to take my students on a field trip to the zoo to show them all of the different types of animals and most of the different types of plants.

Salt water is denser than ordinary tap water, the denser the liquid the easier it is for an object to float in it. When you lower the egg into the liquid it drops through the normal tap water until it reaches the salty water, at this point the water is dense enough for the egg to float. I think this is a neat activity that kids would enjoy, and yet it requires very few supplies and clean up. I would first group students, giving each group a glass of freshwater and an egg. They would first put the egg in the freshwater only to see it sink to the bottom. They would record what they observed and possible reasons for why it sank. I would then give them another glass that is about half full along with a salt shaker. The students would be told to mix a lot of salt into the half cup and then slowly pour some of the freshwater into it. The egg is expected to float in this solution. The students would record their observations and possible explanations. This is a good way to start a lesson about density.

This website provides procedures for creating static electricity using a variety of materials. The lesson also provides objectives and suggestions for "gearing up." The procedures are geared towards 6th and 8th graders but I can do the challenging demonstrations and just have my students observe. I like this lesson because it provides a variety of activities to show students how static electricity is made. There are activities provided in this lesson that would be appropriate for elementary students, and I will modify this lesson for my elementary students accordingly.

This site provides everything from objectives to assessment strategies and also lists related books and links for more information.

This website offers information on the major topics in Chemistry. It explains the key components and terminology and offers examples to use in class. Worksheets and answer keys are also available for each topic. One of the teachers I observed last year used these worksheets with her class often to supplement the problems in the book. The students seemed to welcome the extra practice and change of pace. I think it is a helpful website, but depending on the level of students you end up working with, the worksheets may need to be edited. Some of the problems seemed a little too advanced for a first year Chemistry class.

By creating a beach in a pan, students are able to make observations about how erosion occurs in nature. Place rock and damp sand at one end of the pan. Place a brick under the pan on the end with the sand so that the pan is tilting. Pour water into the opposite end of the pan. With a sponge in the water, press down on the sponge to create waves that hit the beach. The students will then be able to observe what happens to the sand and gravel after the waves continue to crash into the sand. I chose this resource because it allows the students to have a hands on activity and watch erosion take place systematically.

For this activity, ask the students what they think will happen if you heat a bar of ivory soap in the microwave. Make a graph of their predictions on the smartboard. Then heat the bar of ivory soap in the microwave for one minute. After you show the students what happened to the soap. Allow them to hold pieces of the "cloud" and make observations about texture and why they think the soap formed into a cloud. I chose this activity because this teacher also has a unit on weather connected to this activity that includes daily weather observations, non-fiction passages and writing organizers.

Who knew!? Very cool and surprising outcome. I am a little concerned that this activity might lead students away from true understanding of the formation of clouds, though. What do you think?

I love the Science Court video series! I saw them once while in an observation and really enjoyed the humor and interactive aspects of each video. This particular video is on living things and could go well in conjunction with a field trip or exploration of the human body. I selected the resource because of my prior knowledge and experience with it, and believe that when used correctly it could be beneficial in introducing broad concepts and getting students engaged and questioning the world around them. I envision this particular resource being used simultaneously with a series of hands on and instructional activities. I think with this sort of video series it can be easy to fall into a sort of pattern where there is little moving around and discussion, but this video series in particular has the potential to be used in much more full and enjoyable ways.

This is a very interactive smartboard activity that goes through different characteristics of living things (i.e. crocodiles have scales, etc), and also requires the students to sort the different living things. They have categories such as animals with fur, animals that swim, etc. This aligns very nicely with the standard 12.A.1b- Categorize living things using a variety of observable features.

From our small world we have gazed upon the cosmic ocean for thousands of years. Ancient astronomers observed points of light that appeared to move among the stars. They called these objects "planets," meaning wanderers, and named them after Roman deities-Jupiter, king of the gods; Mars, the god of war; Mercury, messenger of the gods; Venus, the goddes of love and beauty, and Saturn, father of Jupiter and god of agriculture. This activity assists students with facts and knowledge on how the solar system works. By providing a diagram that assists the student in the order and distance of each planet, this activity provides the student with a realistic vision of what outer space looks like. I believe that this resource can be used to help students memorize as well as find interested in how the solar system works and how each planet is arranged, what their made of, their distance from the sun, ect.

Edit your tag to be "solar system" so it is in one place. Remove "science" tag, as these are all science. Use teh grade level tags k-2, 3-5, 6-8, and/or 6-8 rather than broader ones like k-5.

A. This resource contains educational games which focus on biology (plants and animal habitats). The link will take you to a particular game where students must find plants and animals in the local environment. Once students complete this game, they move onto others regarding growing plants and specific habitats. B. I chose this resource because it is an excellent introduction for a unit/lesson regarding plants and animals in their habitats, as well as showing students that plants and animals can be found in all types of environments. This resource fits well with my standard which is 2-LS4-1; Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. C. I would use this resource in my future classroom as an introduction for students to make the connection that animals and plants can be found in all types of environments. I would also use these interactive games to assess my students prior knowledge about plants/ animals habitat diversity in order to see which material can simply be a review.

This resource is a Bill Nye video which talks about biodiversity dealing with both plants and animals. The video is 22 minutes and 58 seconds long. Bill Nye investigates and discovers many different plant and animal habitats. He even connects plant and animal habitats and relates them back to one another, showing correlations. I chose this resource because I feel that Bill Nye is perfect for getting students interested and I found the video to be very entertaining, as well as informational. This video would also be a great introduction to a learning segment about observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats (2-LS4). This video does not have a specific age level that it is "meant" for but I felt like it would be great for all ages k-5. You could also just show certain clips to students rather than watching the entire video.

This video shows about how all organisms interact with each other and how they affect each other. He explores different environments and ecosystems. Bill Nye introduces science in a fun way, and he has different experiments that are easy for students to do.

This could be a wrap up activity on space, where you allow students to create their own rockets using straws and a rocket cut out image. Students can cut out the rockets and tape them together, trying to figure out the best placements for it, and also figure out where the rocket needs to fit on the straw, for a perfect take off. This would allow everyone to make observations and gather information (K-2 ETS 1-1) from one another to decide what is the perfect way to make the best rocket launch.

This is an awesome lesson plan that can connect most students to something that they enjoy watching on TV and playing with - robots! This lesson allows children to understand the basics of robots and how they work, but also give them the chance to make their own robots. In giving them a chance to build their own robots, they would have to ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool. (K-2-ETS1-1) I would use this whole lesson plan as a fun way to understand what team work actually is and engineering at a younger level.

This website is a little project that the students can do while at home. I selected this website because it shows the students that even in their own backyard there is still plant and animal biodiversity going on. I would use this as part of my lesson segment to get the students thinking that plant and animal biodiversity is all around us.

This resource gives everything you need to know about the Sun, Earth, Moon and other familiar objects in the solar system. There are links to each individual planet, the sun, the moon, stars, comets etc... I would use this website to give more information for the students on the solar system. This could also help students who are more advanced to "dig in" to more detail about the solar system. There are photographs, games, detailed information on everything in the universe. There is even a glossary I can use as a teacher so that students know what each word in the solar system means. I can use a graphic organizer with the glossary,start constellations, or information on each of the planets. This website can be used in multiple ways for teaching the solar system.

This activity allows students to work hands-on to observe and to collect data. It would be a fun activity that could engage students. This is also uses materials that would be accessible to students at home. Therefore, they could always show others.

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.