Curated OER
9 Easy to Make Musical Instruments for Kids
Students create various musical instruments out of everyday and recycled items.
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Make a Rain Stick for Earth Day
Young scholars construct rain sticks. In this ecology multicultural lesson, students use recyclable items to construct a rainstick. Detailed instructions for making and decorating the rainstick are given.
Curated OER
Lesson 11 - Potable Water
Students investigate the meaning of potable water and water reuse. They define water quality and quantity problems. They complete worksheets, a quiz and design a poster.
Teaching Tolerance
Fairness Fair
How can we create a more fair world? Chances are, class members have some ideas! After reading a text about fairness, individuals create skits around the ideas of fairness. Extend the learning and make their presentations a...
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The Flat Stanley Project
Students read the book Flat Stanley. In this environmental stewardship lesson, students participate in earth-friendly activities based upon the book. This lesson includes ideas such as using recycled paper to make a "paper pal."
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Save the Earth: It's Everyone's Home
Students explore how recycling helps save trees and protect the environment. In this environmental concern lesson, students color a handout of animals that live in forests. Students discuss how recycling paper can save trees and set up...
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Glass Jar Sand Painting
Students make their own colored sand out of salt or sand and tempera paint. They create sand art in recycled babyfood jars, by arranging layers of the different colored sand. They also decorate the jars.
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Garden Tag
Students create mini "gardens" in recycled clothing boxes. They recycle old seed and flower catalogs and "plant" cut-out flowers in their gardens.
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Christmas Potpourri Hangers
Learners create a potpourri hanger. In this Christmas craft activity, students reuse materials to make a Christmas potpourri hangar for the tree or for a gift.
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Making Paper
Students make paper from recycled paper. The student estimates, counts, and measures he amount of paper consumed in a classroom daily. They discover that if we use too much paper, it fills up landfills. Some activities they are doing...
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Sorting
A lesson on classification and sorting is here for you. Elementary schoolers participate in an interactive computer game in which they sort books by theme. They take a trip to the library to observe and discuss how books are sorted, and...
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Puzzle Trees
Elementary artists use a collage and multi-media technique to create textured trees. They study the fall trees, discussing texture and what bare trees look like. They then use a variety of materials to create a textural piece.
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Leaf People
Kids create leaf people out of sticks, glue, and leaves. They use their imagination to construct leaf people and then glue them onto construction paper. Tip: Extend this craft by incorporating writing. Have learners write a short story...
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Bottle Dolls/Figurative Sculpture
Students use water bottles with sand in them (to give stability) They add heads made of crumpled newspaper with masking tape. They paper mache the entire figure and make them into people or animals. Students add paint and accessories...
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Talkin' Trash (All About Landfills)
Students investigate the types of waste created by people and identify various options for trash disposal. They read and discuss a handout about what a landfill is and the different types of trash, match types of trash with the proper...
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Invent an Invertebrate
Design a new organism with recyclable art materials! After learning about the coastal biome, learners brainstorm challenges that a plant or animal may face. They use their ideas to create a creature, complete with environmental...
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Face Study: Draw the Other Half
Build fine motor, spatial, and drawing skills by having the class complete the other half of a portrait. They choose an image of a face from a magazine, then attempt to draw the other half of the face as accurately as they can. Two book...
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Toothpick Sculpture
You'll be surprized at how much engineering, design, and creativity can go into a toothpick and a marshmallow. Learners make toothpick sculptures where they construct three-dimentional models by sticking marshmallows and toothpicks...
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Florida Blue Crab
Explore the extraordinary creatures of the ocean! Learners create Florida Blue Crabs (imitation of course) using blue paint and their hand prints. This is a cute supplementary project perfect for an ocean-themed unit or preschool...
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Mixing Colors with Corn Syrup and Food Coloring
Anyone who has worked with small children know that color identification and color mixing can be fun! This simple idea has a lot of potential. It suggests to mix food coloring with corn syrup to provide an opportunity for color mixing...
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Paper Plate Sunflowers
A great way to recall the parts of a flower is to make one. Little learners create sunflowers out of paint and paper plates. They also discuss and label the various parts of their flowers.
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Sculptures from the Skies
Fourth graders research the design of the aircraft used by the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk. They design a sculpture of aircraft using recycled materials.
California Academy of Science
Energy: A Day in My Life
If only we could harness the energy of fifth graders, our energy problems would be over! The class discusses where different forms of energy come from and how we use them. They complete a chart of the activities that they do daily...
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What's Organic?
Students discuss background information presented by the teacher and read dictionary definitions for the words "organic" and "synthetic." In this gardengin lesson, students complete a worksheet on the material. Students grow and compare...