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Wetlands Are Wonderful
Students study the characteristics of wetlands. They are introduced to terms and different examples of wetlands. The hands-on activity reinforces the different parts of the wetlands, and provides a working model of a wetland.
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Amazing Seeds
Three cute activities introduce youngsters to seeds and roots. In the first activity, various soaked seeds are placed in a glass so that the direction of root growth can be observed. In the second, a bag of seeds is filled with water and...
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Bird Airport Control
Students visit a local wetland and record observations of waterfowl on downloadable worksheets. They compile class data and list similarities and differences among species of birds observed.
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A Better Class of Journal-ists
Young academics create a current events journal by skimming newspapers for articles that fit defined guidelines for informational texts. After cutting out two articles each week to add to their journals, they write a brief description of...
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SCHOOLYARD SUNDIAL
Young scholars study the apparent motion of the Sun in the sky over the course of a day and a year, and analyze what causes seasons on Earth. They participate in a project that has both a science as well as an art component.
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Measurement: Finding Areas of Rectangles
Gardening geometers construct the formula for the area of a rectangle by viewing a video revolving around two young people, their lawn mowing business, and their need to charge by the square meter. A relevant real-life application activity!
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A Moving Experience - Forces and Inertia
Students consider the first part of Newton's First Law of Motion, the Law of Inertia of objects at rest, which states that every object remains at rest unless acted on by a force. They perform hands-on experiments which demonstrate this...
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The Amazing Ant
Students explain that ants are an important element of nature's balance. Ants eat many insects and are food to other animals. They watch a video and conduct hands-on activities that give them an excellent overview of the ants role in...
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Light, Colors, and Vision
Third graders experience optic illusions by creating flipbooks. For this optics lesson, 3rd graders view a demonstration of the workings of rods and cones using a camera. They are shown an optical illusion and work to create their own...
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Acids and Bases: Cabbage Juice Indicator
Fifth graders perform tests to identify acids and bases. In this chemistry lesson plan, 5th graders identify common household substances as acids or bases using cabbage juice indicator strips.
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Electricity and Food: From Glowing Pickles in Citrus Batteries
Fifth graders explore electrical concepts and host a guest speaker. This instructional activity sets up guidelines for students to follow when they have a guest speaker. Students are primed to become actively involved in a lecture or...
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Magnetic Levitation
A thorough investigation of magnetic levitation; this activity has four parts. First, physical scientists play with a wooden dowel and three disc magnets to review polarity and repelling action. Then they experiment with the strength of...
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Growing Penguins
A collection of photos and accompanying descriptions describing the life cycle of an Adelie penguin is the highlight of this resource. Working in groups, polar explorers match the descriptions to the pictures and create a timeline. An...
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Adaptation Investigation - Extreme Beaks
Find photos of bird beaks or show a prepared four slide PowerPoint, "Extreme Beaks" to introduce your class to this special animal adaptation. Provide them with a data table and supplies to try gathering food with tools that each...
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Build a Model Watershed
Collaborative earth science groups create a working model of a watershed. Once it has been developed, you come along and introduce a change in land use, impacting the quality of water throughout their watershed. Model making is an...
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Fault Features
Students discuss the different kinds of faults in the earth's crust and examine photos of the San Adreas Fault. Working in groups, they experiment with fault making by placing fabric in a pan and filling the inside with wet dirt. When...
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Soneka's Village
Students examine the culture of the Maasai pastoralist. They identify traditional aspects of their culture and describe how the roles of men and women vary in their society.
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One Step At a Time
Students examine cultures in Africa. They discover culture includes behaviors, customs and actions. They examine how different people interpret things differently and practice seeing a situation from two points of view.
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Enough To Make Your Head Spin
Students examine body language in the United States and Bulgaria. They also discover other forms of communication. They also examine a map of Bulgaria.
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You Be the Conservator: Looking at Objects Inside and Out
Students examine the Hispanic American tradition of making santos, painted woodcarvings of saints in the Catholic Church. In this lesson, student have the opportunity to create their own santos, make an 'x-ray' and create a story using...
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Signs of Change: Tree Rings
Students identify and experiment with dendrochronology (the study of tree rings to answer ecological questions about the recent past) and come up with conclusions as to what possible climatic conditions might affect tree growth in their...
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Exploring Height with Abe Lincoln
Young scholars examine a life-size count out of Abraham Lincoln to get a visual comparison of their height and Lincoln's. They work in pairs and trace each other's body and measure from head to toe in inches using a ruler. They then...
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Mapping Your State's Role in the Vietnam War
Learners recognize reasons to celebrate Memorial Day. Students create a map of victims of the VIetnam War. Using the internet, learners research information about soldiers from their state who were killd in action in Vietnam. Students...
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Fall Similes
Fall is like a beautiful painting come to life—or is it more like an overflowing cornucopia? Practice writing similes with a lesson on figurative language. As learners review simile structure, they come up with their favorite similes for...