Thursday, April 18, 2013

Science Lessons

Here are some lessons I would like to share!
In order to go to the lesson plan click on the lesson titles. 


In this lesson, children will experiment with magnets, what magnets will attract, and what magnets will not attract. The first activity involves having several stations around the room with various small items. The assortment of items include those that will and those that will not attract magnets. The children will make predictions and then experiment! This gives children a hands-on activity in which they get to direct their learning.


This lesson focuses on bubbles and how bubbles work. The lesson begins by asking questions and then leads into creating your very own bubble solution. Children are able to make their own bubbles and witness how the bubble "skin" stretches. 


This lesson focuses on animals and children will create their own mini-farm. This lesson allows students to brainstorm their farm and decide what types of animals are found on a farm. They will also think about what animals need to survive. They can work in small groups to design and build a farm. The students can walk around and look at others' work once the farms are completed. Children get the opportunity to work and then showcase that work. This lesson gets students thinking and using their creativity to show what they know.


This is a fun lesson in which kids get to learn the basic properties of glue. In this chemistry lesson children will make their own glue and then test it to see if they were successful in making their glue. This lesson is beneficial because students get to be scientists and see if their creation works. 


In this lesson, children will explore one of their five senses; their sense of touch. Scientists use their senses all the time while making observations. Children get an opportunity to be a scientist using their sense of touch in this fun activity. This activity is an enjoyable way for children to explore this sense and to make observations using this sense. Children will describe what they feel while sticking their hand in a brown bag, feeling something mysterious to them. This can intrigue the children and really get them thinking about what they could be feeling.


Children will explore the concept of absorption. "How can we make the colored water travel from one glass to another, without touching it?" In this lesson for younger children, children will use paper towels to transfer water. The water will travel up the paper towel, which is absorbing the water, and then back down into the other glass. The activity is also introducing basic color mixing. Two different colors are being transferred into a central glass.


In this lesson, students are learning the different parts of plants and what plants need to live. Children will create a flower and a picture. They will use this picture to label the parts of the flower and what it needs to live. This lesson also provides a few books that fit perfectly with the lesson and provide more information on plants.


What motivates children more than yummy cookies? This lesson focuses on the phases of the moon and matching each phase name to the phase appearance. Students will use oreo cookies to create the appearance of each moon phase. The cookie diagram will then be labeled with the phase name. This activity is cute and is a great visual for children. This lesson goes well with The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons. You can find information about his book on my blog.


In this lesson for youngsters, children will predict and experiment which items will float and which will sink. Children will think of ideas of what items to put into the eggs, which will be put into a tub of water. The best part about this lesson is that it can be child-directed. It also gives children the opportunity to make their own discoveries and learn on their own.


Most children love to pretend and engage in dramatic play. For this lesson, children can pretend to be detectives solving a mystery. They will figure out what kind of fingerprints they, or other classmates, have. An interesting way to expand this lesson would be to create some sort of "crime" and use fingerprints to help children solve the mystery. This will keep children engaged and it will give them an opportunity to practice their knowledge on fingerprints.

"Good Reads" Science Books for Children

Here are some exciting science children's books!

From Seed to Sunflower by: Gerald Legg
This book presents the life cycle of a sunflower from a seed to a flower and back to a seed. It includes facts on sunflowers and has colorful illustrations. This book is great for teaching children about the life cycle of plants.

What Is the World Made Of? All About Solids, Liquids, and Gases by: Kathleen Weidner
This book is part of the "Let's-Read-and-Find-Our-Science" series and it introduces the science concept of solids, liquids, and gases. This text deals with simple and familiar objects for kids, like blocks, milk, and socks. Children can explore the different states of matter in a playful manner.

The Moon Book by: Gail Gibbons
This popular book displays the moon and its movement and phases. It talks about how the moon has been observed and explored. This book would go great with the moon phases oreo cookie activity in this blog. It would be a good reference for children while completing the activity. 

I Get Wet by: Vicki Cobb
This book makes science very easy for children. It shows the discovery of water and includes fun hands-on activities. It is a cute children's book to introduce basic science concepts.

The Cloud Book by: Tomie dePaola
This book is perfect for introducing clouds and learning about clouds. It introduces and shows the most common types of clouds. It discusses myths inspired by the clouds' shapes and what clouds can tell about the weather. This book can go along with many different cloud activities.

Germs Are Not for Sharing by: Elizabeth Verdick
This book talks about germs and how not to spread them. Child-friendly words will help kiddos learn to cover their coughs and sneezes and to wash their hands. It also includes a few tips for parents or caregivers in regards to germs. This is a cute way to teach children to be aware of germs and to keep them to themselves.

Measuring Penny by: Loreen Leedy
In this book, the idea of measuring is explored. Units, like inches, and nonstandard units are introduced and used to measure height, width, length, weight, volume, temperature, and time. This book will engage young children and get them thinking about ways to measure.

Planting a Rainbow by: Lois Ehlert
This book will help children understand plants and how they grow. It will develop their understanding of how to plant seed and nurture the plant's growth. Children will be able to see different types of flowers as well. 

Where's the Poop? by: Julie Markes
This book shows children that all animals poop. It specifically discusses where creatures poop and also shows children that even they have a certain place to poop, too. This book gives children confidence with the idea of using the bathroom and can be used as a toilet training book. All animals poop!

The Three R's: Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle by: Nuria Roca
This book provides children with information on ways their families can avoid waste and help the environment. There are a few pages of activities for children and a few pages of tips for parents. This book is part of a four "What do you know about?" book series. Encourage children to save the environment!

** All books can be found HERE

Science Blogs/Websites

Here is a list of some educational resources that teachers and parents can look at with their students or children. There are lots of activities and experiments to try!
In order to visit each site, click on the site title.



This is a mother's blog that shows her family's creative adventures with science. It has different fun experiments to do with kids along with projects. The experiments can be done at home or in a classroom to allow children an exciting opportunity to explore their thinking.


Science Kids - Fun Science & Technology for Kids!
This website is "the home of science and technology on the Internet for children around the world." It has many games, experiments, facts, quizzes, and lesson on a range of topics. There are endless possibilities from children to explore science.



This is a blog of a mother with many creative ideas that encourage parents to create science experiments in their kitchen. 
Fizzy Balloon:
This experiment is one of the many ideas on this blog. A list of materials are included as well as the directions. It is easy for parents to do with their children. In this experiment there is a chemical reaction that causes the balloon to inflate on its own. Have fun and be safe while trying this project!


A former teacher and a few mothers teamed up to create this blog that provides fun activities for children. They provide many recommendations for activities. Parents and teachers are able to explore this website to find science activities to do at home or in the classroom. 
Sink or Float?
This is one of the experiments featured on the blog. This is a simple activity for children to do and it involves sinking and floating objects in water. There is a printable chart included for children to use while completing the activity. 


This second grade teacher's blog provides a variety of scientific activities to do in the classroom. She has provided the cover of her students' "Mad Scientist" notebooks. The blog encourages others to contribute to their awesome ideas as well. This is a great resource to get some ideas as a teacher. 


This blog is excellent for elementary school teachers to get ideas for science experiments and activities for their classroom. The blog provides lots of resources for lessons and projects. There are numerous activities and trivia for children to learn more about science.


This is a blog that provides lots of science activities for kids. It shares a lot of messy and fun experiments for children to experience. The blog belongs to a woman who is a mother and a science teacher. She focuses on safe learning that children can direct.
Ooblek:
This is one of her posted activities. This is appropriate for "kid scientists" of all ages and it allows them to explore a gooey substance. Children can make observations about this "mysterious" substance.


Mandy Moore is a kindergarten teacher in Texas and she has created this blog to share fun science activities that she has used in her classroom. She has shared her weather unit and other things her class has worked on. The activities that she has posted range from an anchor chart to making tornadoes in bottles. Her blog provides creative ideas to make science a fun experience for children.


Funology is a website designed for children to explore. There is an interesting section on science that includes numerous experiments for children to try. The website invites children to discover and question the world around them in an enjoyable way.


I remember watching countless "Bill Nye The Science Guy" videos as an elementary student. He always kept me interested in science. This website has lots of fun resources that children and adults can explore. There are episode guides that are a collection of lessons and there are home demos that are experiments to try at home.

5 Senses Investigation Box

Exploring My 5 Senses!

In this investigation box, children will learn about the 5 senses and will explore each sense.

SENSE-sational Stations
Students will explore their five senses within these stations.
There are a variety of objects to feel, see, hear, taste, and smell. 

Feeling Station: This station will include sandpaper, rocks, small stuffed animals, play-doh, and cotton balls.
    

Seeing Station: This station will include paint swatches of various colors, magnifying glasses, and sunglasses.
  

Hearing Station: This station will include whistles, and an ipod with headphones with different musical instruments on a playlist.
 

Tasting Station: This station will include small sandwich bags, or bowls, with snacks. The snacks will be animal crackers, goldfish, and pretzels.
  

Smelling Station: This station will include scented candles and hand lotions.
 
** This idea was found on THIS blog.

Label Your Senses
Students will use THIS template to label their five senses. They will choose either the boy or the girl, cut out the senses labels, and will glue the labels next to the corresponding body parts. 
*The templates can be printed ahead of time and put into the investigation box.
** This idea was found on THIS blog.

5 Senses Rolling Race
In this GAME  students will create a graph that shows the data they collect by rolling the senses cube. They will cut out their cube and glue it together. Next, they will make a prediction of which sense will "win" and then they can begin rolling the cube. After each roll, they will color in the appropriate box above the sense that the cube lands on. They will continue this process until they have a "winner."
*The templates can be printed out ahead of time and put into the investigation box.
**This idea was found on THIS blog.

Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head
This activity allows children to create their own Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head by giving him/her different body parts that he/she will need in order to see, hear, taste, smell, and feel. Students can work in small groups to put Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head together. They can build him/her on their own, or play a game in which they will use the cube they have previously created. The children will roll their cube and add the appropriate body part to Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head. Once all the body parts corresponding to a sense are on him/her, they can add other silly parts to him/her.
PLAYSKOOL MR. POTATO HEAD SILLY SUITCASE PLAYSKOOL MRS. POTATO HEAD SILLY SUITCASE
Make sure to also include:
scissors, glue sticks, and crayons

  


Books!

My Five Senses by: Aliki
This book will help children explore and learn their senses. They will learn what each sense allows them to do and what they can learn through each sense. This would be great to begin this theme. It will introduce each sense. 

Chew, Chew, Gulp! by: Lauren Thompson
This book on the sense of taste shows children how exciting it can be to eat! They will learn different vocabulary for eating, like munching, gobbling, and crunching. This bright book is perfect for youngsters to explore the idea of taste. 

The Listening Walk by: Paul Showers
This book is great for learning about the sense of sound. Children will be able to think about hearing the different sounds described throughout the story. It will get them thinking about the many sounds around them.

**Books were found here.

Other Books and Resources:
Dragon Fun 5 Senses Lesson Plan
Come To Your Senses
Preschool Senses Activities
My Five Senses by: Margaret Miller
The Five Senses (It's Science!) by: Sally Hewitt
Look, Listen, Taste, Touch, and Smell: Learning About Your Five Senses by: Hill Nettleton