Resources for Teaching Science

Help your students better understand how pollution gets in our rivers. Read and act out the story as a class. Follow up with a discussion about the pollutants left in the water. I picked this activity because it gives students an image of what happens to our water when we do not keep it clean. I think it is important to teach them early on the importance of keeping our earth clean. I would use this activity close to earth day when we are learning about the earth and pollution.

Students use potatoes to light an LED clock (or light bulb) as they learn how a battery works in a simple circuit and how chemical energy changes to electrical energy. As they learn more about electrical energy, they better understand the concepts of voltage, current and resistance. I chose this because I never did this in school! This really seems like an exciting and engaging lesson/activity. This lesson could be done in separate parts, with the first part being lecture based (learning about electricity) and the second part being the activity with the potato. I like how this resource has follow-up questions at the end of the lesson.

This activity uses skittles, warm water, and cold water. Skittles are dropped into warm water and cold water at the same time to see what dissolves first. I chose this lesson because I think it is a simple but great way to introduce the scientific method to students. Students tend to understand better with visuals and lecture. I would use this activity to introduce the scientific method to students. We would observe, make predictions, observe again, analyze, record our results. We would be able to use this with our science journals and record our observations and results in our journal.

For this activity you would need a glove, 5 cotton balls, and 5 different types of plant seeds. Label the fingers of the gloves, wet the cotton ball but rid the excess water, place one seed and one cotton ball in the correctly labeled finger of the glove and watch the seeds grow. You can plant cotton ball and seed in garden once they sprout. I chose this because I think that kids really enjoy growing their own plants. I have worked with children and done this before and they love to check on them daily and then be able to take home and grow. I also chose this because each individual child gets their own plants and individual participation for fairly inexpensive project. As we begin a lesson on plants, we would plant our own plants to watch them grown throughout the unit. We would also be able to journal about our plants and their changes over time.

This lesson involves watching plants grow from seeds. Students use a glove and place one seed in each of the fingers and thumb. A damp cotton ball is added to hydrate the seeds as they grow. Students can watch their seeds grow into seedlings and eventually transplant elsewhere to become full grown plants. I would add some things to this lesson (such as a daily or weekly journal to document the growth of the seeds). I chose this because during an observation I saw this lesson in action! The students (grade 1) loved it and were excited to see what their seeds were doing each day and excited to know that when the seedlings were big enough, they would be planting them outside their school. It's valuable to me because I think it's important for students to understand the plant cycle and to appreciate the act of growing things (not just trees or flowers, but we can grow our food too!) I would use this lesson with different books to get the students engaged; I would use journals to monitor and make predictions about our seedlings as well.

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 site gives lesson plan to make recycled paper. This is a two day lesson where students will be able to create their own paper by recycling old newspaper. I chose this because I think this would be a very neat experiment for the children to do, as I have never done something like this either. I also like that the website is very thorough, including standards, grade level, extension activity, and assessment ideas for this lesson. I believe this would be a great activity to do with the children around earth day and include in a lesson regarding the importance of taking care of our earth.

In Gro Flowers children learn about the important role bees play in the pollination of flowers and the production of honey. Through age-appropriate activities children will design flowers, manipulate bees in the pollination process, avoid pesticides and collect honey. I would have this app on the iPad in my room (in hopes that I have one). I chose this app because it fits perfectly with the previous lesson I posted about the importance of insects pollinating flowers. This would also be good to use before the field trip so students can visual what they need to observe. I would then use this app for centers. I would break my class down into 4 groups and have 4 different centers. I will first teach and review the lesson, then break my students down into the centers. Everyday the groups will switch so everyone has an opportunity at each center. Adding an app to my center is a great way to add technology into my teaching and what student does not love to play on an iPad.

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.

Journey North classrooms track bald eagle migration each season. This goes into details on things such as their territories, nest building, courtship, and babies! I love this site its so interesting going into more depth in a specific animals life. There are other animals on the site as well.

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.

This activity will be done at the end of our plant unit. For this activity, students will label the four different things that plants need to grow. Each need can be revealed by flipping up the leaf. I chose this resource because plant needs is a very important concept in first grade. We will spend a lot of time discussing the different needs, so this project will be a great review at the end of the unit. It is valuable to me because it allows me to see if the students understand the needs of a plant. While some of the components of this activity cost money, I will instead replicate it myself by copying the pattern. Once these projects are completed, I will display them in the classroom.

Good choice for the end of the unit, once students have learned through doing what plants need.

This activity is a great way to review what animals need to survive. We will do this project at the end of our animal lesson. Students will already know what animals need in order to survive. For this activity, students will fill in their foldable with the correct needs of animals and draw a picture to go along with each need. I chose this activity because foldables are very popular in elementary grades. Having the students write the needs on a foldable instead of a regular piece of paper makes the activity more fun for them. They also love to color, so they will be excited to draw pictures! These foldables would be very cute to display in the classroom, but are also easy for students to store in their desks and refer back to them later.

It is really easy to paste these kinds of foldables into science notebooks for long-term keeping, too!

This online activity will be done at the end of our science lesson on different environments. This game requires that students place the different animals, plants, and objects that would best survive in each given environment. Based on what the students have learned about different environments, they will be able to correctly place each object given. I selected this resource because animals and their environments is a huge content area in first grade. This online game will be available for students to play during centers. Whoever is at computer centers that day will be able to play this game. Having such a fun interactive game will allow them to be very engaged, but still learning at the same time.

This activity helps provide students with a simple understanding of why there are different types of soil. The students will be given a chewy chocolate chip cookie, and a regular crunchy one. They will examine each cookie and describe their characteristics and properties. Next, the students will smash the cookies with their hands to replicate the process of rocks weathering. Now that they have soil, they will compare the properties of both types of soil and form conclusions. Using a chewy chocolate chip cookie and a crunchy one represents the different minerals found in soils, and how it impacts its appearance, texture, and many other characteristics. Once the students have completed this activity, they will be able to enjoy a cookie! I selected this resource because I think it is a very straight forward way of learning about the different types of soils. Using these types of cookies really makes the concept easier to understand. This activity will not cost a lot of money, which makes it very valuable to me. We will do this activity at the end of our soil lesson in science.

This activity allows the students to get a better understanding of the water cycle while creating a fun art project. Students will color the printable water cycle stages and then paste them on the cloud template in order. The finished projects can be hung from the ceiling to display your class's work and make your classroom cute and colorful! Because the project is 3-D, it can be spun around which shows that the water cycle is constant and repeats itself. This activity will be done at the end of our water cycle unit in science. It will be one of the many activities done to make sure students understand the process of the cycle. I selected this resource because it is an exciting way to order the stages of the water cycle. Instead of just putting different pieces of paper in order, students can color, cut, and paste their stages on a giant cloud. The free downloadable printable also makes it valuable to me.

This activity will help students identify what is magnetic by testing different objects. Students will work in small groups for this activity, and be provided the necessary materials. They will use magnets to test each item to determine whether or not it is magnetic. Once they have made their decision, they will record it on their worksheet. I selected this resource because it is a great hands-on activity for the students to work together on. The free downloadable printable makes it valuable to me as a teacher because I do not have to take the time to create my own worksheet. I envision this resource being used for a science center. I will provide the objects to the students in a small bucket, and have them use their coloring materials to record their data.

I like the idea of the blank worksheet, so students could gather up their own collection of items to test, or you could provide some, and then have them select others they would like to try.

This zoo passport activity will not only be worked on in the classroom, but also during our fieldtrip to the zoo. Students will assemble their passports during class time, and I will assist them. While at the zoo, students will mark off what animals they see, and add any other animals by drawing them on the blank pages at the back of the book. I selected this resource because zoo fieldtrips are very popular in first grade, which is the grade I would like to teach. I think it is a great way to make the zoo fieldtrip even more exciting by having them search for certain animals. This is valuable to me because there is a free downloadable printable that I will use instead of having to create my own.

This activity allows students to work with genetics that effect human and animal traits. They will use the worksheets to determine which genes will pass on traits to offspring. Punnett squares are used in the activity to aid the students in finding the answers and understanding the difference between recessive and dominant genes. Students can easily work in groups to complete the science activity and use reasoning techniques to understand how their answers are formed. Along with learning about inheritance and genetics, the students will also be working with probability. This lesson can double as a science and mathematics lesson.

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.

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!