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Lesson Idea: A Box Full of Science
Students analyze and study a shoe box of simple objects. They experience a homemade alternative to a company box of commercial kits for science. Each student creates their own shoe box of simple objects to share with their classmates.
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Science Discovery Lesson: Air is All Around Us
Students explore the concept that air is everywhere. They assess that it can't be seen, but is all around us. Each student becomes aware that air takes up space and listen to the book, "Air is All Around You," by Franklin M. Branley.
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Invent an Insect
Explore biology by researching adaptation. First, learners research and define a list of insect vocabulary terms and discuss the benefits of each insect characteristic. They then utilize a worksheet to create their own insect and share...
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Fossil Fuels: Facing the Issues
Students explore energy by researching fuel usage on Earth. In this fossil fuel lesson, students define fossil fuels, the energy created by burning them, and the impact on the environment when using them. Students conduct pollution...
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Mmm, Mmm, M&M's
Here is another version of the classic M&M math lesson. In this one, upper graders utilize the ClarisWorks Spreadsheet program in order to document the data they come up with from their bags of M&M's. After making their initial...
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Should Soil Be Sterile?
Students determine if the sterilization of topsoil is beneficial to seed germination and plant growth. They grow plants alongside control groups, make and record observations of plant growth and measure plant biomass.
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Classroom Potlatch
Elementary schoolers study the history and purpose of potlatches. The listen to two stories about potlatches, then design a potlatch that they will host for their family members. They must come up with the gifts they would give, the...
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Seashore Explorers
There are three separate lessons within this resource that can be used together, or that can each stand alone. In the first, five simple activities allow junior scientists to examine the amazing properties of water. In the second, they...
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Making Paper: Recycled Art
The advent of paper has made a huge impact on society and we wouldn't be the same without it. This project allows learners to explore and create paper of their own using recycled materials. The how-to is all laid out, just follow the...
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Leaf Prints
Creating art from nature teaches learners how to appreciate the world around them while allowing them to practice artistic techniques. After observing and choosing fall leaves from outside, they create leaf prints. They press the painted...
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The Art of Flying: Insects
Students study insects. They examine how insect wings operate and make a model airplane that mimics the way insect wings operate as the insect is flying. They compare and contrast different kinds of insect wings and color a page of...
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No Foot, No Horse
Why do horses wear shoes? Why do people wear shoes? Using worksheets, which are embedded in the plan, learners write descriptive paragraphs about their own shoes, classify a pile of shoes, and also engage in math games about the variety...
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Using "Kindness"
Students discover the benefits of kind acts by dissecting the word itself. Â In this vocabulary instructional activity, students utilize the letters in the word "kindness" to create other words which they record. Â Students figure out what...
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Pipe Cleaner Sculpture
Learners of any age can make the most out of their pipe cleaners. This art project idea is very simple and yet, it could result in some amazing works of art. They use pipe cleaners, flat styrofoam, straws, pasta, and beads to create...
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All Ears for Adaptation
Students discuss different characteristics that enable animals to adapt to their environments. They work in pairs with one partner standing about one foot behind the other partner and cup their hands around their ears with palms forward....
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Benham's Disk
Seeing is believing! Or is it? With this simple experiment, young scientists can explore the concept of visual perception. Attach Benham's disk to a rotating appliance such as a hand drill; As it spins, the black lines appear to be...
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Environment: Water & Air
The introduction to the lesson mentions a sailor's limited capacity to store drinking water on his ship. Pupils then set up an overnight experiment to remove freshwater from salt water by distillation. There is a math and map activity to...
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Mini Coil Pots: Ceramics Lesson
Art is a wonderful way to teach historical or cultural concepts. Here, learners view a series of coil pots that have been created throughout history by a variety of civilizations. They then create and decorate a pot of their own that...
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Prefixes
Learners explore prefixes, and how they help us decipher unknown words. Decode and define the meaning of boldface words with prefixes used in context on a classroom chart. Writers complete a worksheet practicing the same skill.
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The Alphabet Garden
Third graders transplant, tend and observe a plant for each letter of the alphabet in a school garden. They work individually to research and select a plant that will grow in their local climate. Students then care for and observe the...
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Phases of Matter
Students are introduced to the basic states of matter: solids, liquids and gases. Through experimentation, students determine that liquids and solids have definite volume, that gases do not have definite volume, and that solids have a...
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Plaque Busters
Students work with the scientific method; observation, hypothesis, and experimentation. They observe the effects of decay and the need of good oral hygiene during an experiment with an apple.
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Reality Store: How to Plan a Budget, Pay Bills, and Manage Your Money
Pupils plan a budget and pay bills when they visit the "Reality Store," a series of classroom studying stations. The use of paying bills and running a class store is used to help students grasp the concept of business.
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Marine Debris
Now is the time to educate tomorrow's citizens to care for the planet, and here is a instructional activity to help facilitate the process. Collect some marine debris and bring it into class. Have your class separate it into types and...