Group items tagged

This is a lesson plan for a pre kindergarten classroom learning about recycling. They are not only learning about recycling, they are also learning social skills. Since they are working in groups and then they speak to the class as a whole. I like this website because there are many other lesson plans as well, and they are easy for teachers as well.

I'm going to argue with the categorization of this as Pre-K, even though that is what the website itself says. 3 & 4 year-olds do not know the reasoning behind recyclable/non-recyclable items. Older students could research this or design tests to find out about decomposition, etc.

This is an experiment in which students will compare three different solutions that have different levels of salt. Students will use food coloring in order to visually see which solution is the most dense and which is the least dense. They will also see how the density of a liquid affects the objects in it. I chose this experiment because while teaching about density, this will allow my students to receive a visual understanding. I also like this experiment's website because it offers questions to think about and has real life application as it talks about rivers, oceans, and the Dead Sea.

This activity requires students to go on a nature walk and collect helicopter seeds of various sizes. The students measure and examine the seeds in the classroom and then make predictions about which size will spin faster to the ground. Students then test their hypotheses by dropping the seeds from the same height and recording the flight patterns. This is a great activity because it teaches students various scientific ideas, plus it is fun! I would use it as an opportunity to get out of the classroom and also do some great learning!

This multimedia learning app teaches children about the water cycle. This app allows children to both learn about the water cycle, and test their knowledge. For each stage of the water cycle, the children learn about the process, fun facts about the stage, as well as how it can be seen in nature. Ie.: "Precipitation can be rain, snow, hail, etc." This app was the awarded the 2014 American Association of School Librarians Best Apps for Teaching & Learning in the STEM Category.

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 activity is a challenge to see if students can construct a bridge built out of toothpicks. The challenge revolves around certain guidelines and at the end, the bridges are tested to see how well they are able to hold weight. This is another activity I participated in during my schooling. It taught all of the participants planning skills, craftsmanship, and also the ability to compromise. I think this is a more applicable activity than the tissue paper hot air balloon activity because it is a less tedious object to construct. I believe my future students will find this activity a welcomed challenge.

I chose this as an activity resource. This would be a great activity to do with students near the end of the school year after they have gotten the hang of creating their own solutions and putting them to the test to see if they work out well. This particular activity treats a water balloon as a brain and students construct a "skull" made out of different objects to keep the brain safe and secure when it's dropped from a certain height. I would use this with many different materials for students to use so we could study the outcome of all of the materials and then complete some kind of chart or graph to show our findings.

I found this lesson and was immediately intrigued by the different activities. For a young group of students, I would set the different activities up in a stations format and let them explore the sounds and vibrations. This lesson also asks a lot of questions that encourage students to expand on their knowledge of sound. I chose this as a resource because I love the lab stations. I would use the lab stations in a lesson, but I would not follow the lesson exactly as it is written.

In this exploratory activity, the students will play around with different producers of sound to test what they see, feel, and hear. The students should figure out that vibrations make sound. I chose this activity because it is very hands on and gives the students the opportunity to discover things on their own. I would use this activity after already introducing the simple ideas about sound.

In this activity students will roll a toy car down a ramp and measure how long the car it takes to go down the ramp. This activity emphasizes gravity, friction, and velocity. The students will measure how long their car goes down the ramp and then have the cars roll down on sandpaper. They will see how friction has an effect on objects. I like that this activity is hands on and engaging. I would use this after an introduction to gravity and friction. After the initial test, I would allow the students to change the height of the ramp to see how this affects the velocity of the cars.

This website has 5 different experiments that students can do with plants. The experiments test the effects of light, water, food, talking to the plants, and soil content on the growth of plants. I selected this source because I think the experiments are good and will help students understand the best conditions of plants. It will help them understand that there are other components besides light and water that go into the growth of a plant. I would use this resource during a plant unit, likely in 3rd or 4th grade. This would be an ongoing project that could integrate measurement in math, graphing (with and without use of technology), and art (by drawing observations).  

I love this one! I really like plant experiments becuase these days, kids don't really get to appreicate and witness actual plant growth. I would any of these as ideas to use in my classroom.

This resource gives a lab (activity) that deal with vibrations. You need to have a large bowl and cover it with plastic wrap- a rubber band will hold the plastic wrap in place. You then place large sugar crystals on top of the plastic wrap and let students get close and talk into the bowl. The students will be able to watch the sugar crystals "jump" because of the vibrations. I chose this resource because it sounded very interesting and it makes me want to actually test it out to see if it works. I think that my students would enjoy doing this and it would help them understand that sound travels and bounces off objects creating vibrations. I would use this resource in correlation to a lesson about vibrations and sound; It would be a follow up activity for students to do.

Weather is a science game for students in grades 4-9 to learn how to calculate front movement, trace patterns, make observations, create weather maps using symbols, and predict weather three days into the future. _______________________________ This is a link to an interactive game for students studying weather. Students can play this game while they predict and report weather. This type of activity is important because students can learn about weather while using technology and having fun. If I used this game in my classroom, I would use it as a learning center. I would divide my class into groups, have about 4 hands on activities taking place, and give each group a certain time amount at each center. This learning center lesson would be used after the weather unit as a review day. I also like this website because it includes resources for teachers such as a list of vocabulary words and a pre/post test on the topic.

Looks good!

Holding your nose while tasting the potato and apple makes it hard to tell the difference between the two. Your nose and mouth are connected through the same airway which means that you taste and smell foods at the same time. Smell is often considered the least important of our five senses, and I'm sure many students would agree. I would start by taking a poll which hopefully results in a consensus that smell is the least important sense. The following activity involves giving students small pieces of apple and potato and having a partner mix up the pieces while the other student's eyes are closed. The students will then eat the pieces with their eyes closed and try to see if they can guess which food it was. The students should begin to see for themselves how important smell is for tasting foods. This activity involves very few supplies and has an easy clean up. Afterwards, I would have a class discussion about their findings.

This is a full lesson and activity provided by TeachersPayTeachers and it costs $3.00. The lesson and activity is aligned with NGSS-2-LS2-1. First the lesson will be taught to explain the importance of sunlight and water to plants. After the lesson is taught, the class will conduct an experiment to test what we just learned. I will have 3 plants. One will receive water and sun everyday. One will be in the closet and only receive water. The last one will just be in the window receiving sunlight. Since purchasing the lesson from TeachesPayTeachers you will also receive a lab journal for students to be able to write their predictions and record their observations. I chose lesson/activity because I thought it went well together. I like that is starts with the lesson then has a follow up activity for students to do. The science journal is something they can do throughout the week, also. I would use this lesson to introduce the topic of "Do plants need water and sunlight to grow" and have the activity has a follow up and something that could expand their knowledge throughout the week.

This is super cool! It is an interactive encyclopedia. Students can choose different categories in science as well as different sub categories. Once in a subcategory students will find: vocabulary words, a slide show, related topics and a test.This again is beneficial as a study tool as well as a research resource.

This is a game for the students or the class as a whole to do. It has many different options of food chains. I like this game because it is different each time you do it. It also has pictures and words. It then shows you what eats what after you get it correct.

This biology resource is an interactive tool for students to use while learning about the food chain. In the game, the student will be given pictures of 3-5 animals or plants to drag into boxes. The order of placement in the boxes is based on how high that plant or animal is in the food chain. This resource is a great way for students to be tested about different types of animals. There is a different mixture of animals and plants with each step so there is always a new selection of animals or plants to rank. This is the type of resource I can use after teaching the students about the food chain in order to assess their level of understanding.

Why are bowling lanes oiled with more oil placed at the start of the lane and less at the end? What is the advantage of throwing a "hook" ball? Students participate in activities to learn about the members of their team and how to work together in order to be successful. There are several reasons I like this idea for a field trip. For one, it's an unconventional type of science field trip. Most students wouldn't think there is a lot to consider when bowling; they just toss the ball down the lane. Before the field trip, I would spend a day or two allowing the students to formulate and hypothesize ideas for how to best knock down the pins with a bowling ball. They would have to consider things like speed, angle, bowling ball weight, where the ball should hit the pins, and whether the ball should be hooked or thrown straight. This field trip allows the students to not only question and hypothesize, but to actually test their predictions. After the field trip we could delve deeper into some of the physics concepts at play (which the webpage has links for) as well as watch a professional bowler bowl.

Creative "spin" on a science field-trip! :) Get it!?