Geology

Activity #2 (Kindergarten)

“Sorting Rocks”

Materials:

Teacher:
1. Let's Go Rock Collecting, by Roma Gans
2. Large piece of butcher paper for word web
3. Markers
4. Paper Plates
Students:
1. Three rock samples collected as homework the night before.

Description:
1.Gather students for a group discussion about how the rocks they collected are alike and how they are different. This discussion should lead you into the making of your word web.
2.Web can be broken down by size, shape, color, texture, and where found.
3.After completing the word web, have students break into groups of four students. Give four paper plates to each group.
4.Each student will sort the rocks that they collected the night before. They will sort the rocks by the categories in the rock word web, i.e., smooth or rough, shiny or dull, etc. Suggestion: Take the Word Web topics, e.g., size, shape, texture, etc., and put each of these words on a piece of construction paper. Place the first word on the chalkboard and discuss it. You can even demonstrate at a table how to sort according to that attribute. You might want to have the students sort by each attribute together and then when everyone is finished, move on to the next attribute.
5. Students should explain their decisions about how they classified their rocks to the rest of the group, for example, "I put this rock in this circle because it is smooth."

Astronomy

Activity #2 (1st Grade)

“Be a Planet”

Materials:

For each student:
1. drawing paper
2. crayons or markers
For lesson:
1. book with planet pictures
2. flashlight (not necessary)

Description:

1. Choose a child to be the Sun. Have them come to the front of the class and hold a flashlight to show she provides light and heat.

2. Another student is chosen to be the planet Mercury, perhaps one whose name begins with "M" to help the children remember the name "Mercury." (If no first names are available, a student may be used whose name contains that letter or one who is wearing a color with the same beginning sound, such a violet for Venus.)

3.Continue choosing one child per planet. Have all the students say the new planet name each time a new student goes to the front of the room. You should end up with a line of 10 students: the Sun and the nine planets, from Mercury through Pluto. See if each of the 10 standing students can remember their planet name.

4.They can sit down. Show the students pictures of the planets. You may want to tell a little about each planet, such as Jupiter is the largest, have many moons and a Red Spot that is three times the size of the Earth. The children can each draw a picture of a planet. Emphasize that they are round. Many have moons and several have rings.

Plants

Activity #2 (Kindergarten)

“Parts of a Flower”

Materials:
1. Real flower plant
2. Picture of flower plant
3. Markers
4. Paper

Description:
1. Introduce different parts of a flower
· Root - holds the plant in the ground and absorbs water and nutrients from the soil.
· Stem - carries the water and nutrients to the rest of the plant. It also helps support it and direct the leaves towards the sunlight for them to produce the food source for the plant.
· Leaves - make food for the plant
· Flowers - make the seeds to make new flowers

2. Have the students draw their own flower with all four parts.

Physics

Activity # 2 (Pre-K)

“The Expanding Balloon”

Materials:
1. Balloon
2. Water (optional)

Description:
1. Explain the terms “expand” and “contract”.

2. Show students how the balloons accomplish both.

3. Blow up a balloon and show the students how a balloon can “fly” when let go. Make music with the balloon by holding the mouth of the balloon between your fingers and let small amounts of air out.

4. You might also fill a balloon with water.

Animals

Activity #2 (Kindergarten)

“Animals and their Offspring”

Description:
1. Students will be shown a video on animals and their offspring.

2. Students will look through informational books on animals and their offspring.

3. Students will get in groups. Each group will be assigned an animal and its offspring. The group will draw a picture of the animals and have several characteristics of the animal visible. Then groups will present them to the class.

Meteorology

Activity #2 (Pre-K)

“Weather Graphing”

Materials:
1. Butcher block paper
2. Markers

Description:
1. Chart the weather everyday.
2. Ask one student to tell me the weather and he/she puts the arrow on the correct place on the weather chart. After that decide on the weather, and then graph the weather. Make a graph on butcher block paper with four columns- sunny, windy, rainy, and snowy. Instead of writing the words, draw a sun, a windy tree, an umbrella, and a snowman, so that a 4 year old will know where the correct column is. Then draw a picture in the correct column.

Ecology

Activity #2 (Kindergarten)

“Making Paper”

Materials:
1. Scrap paper
2. Water
3. Blender,
4. Large mixing bowl
5. Screen

Description:
1. Save classroom paper scraps for several days.

2. Set up blender (or can use a food processor)

3. Explain blender safety: a. only an adult can use the blender because of sharp blades.

4. Save students begin to add a few small scraps of paper into the blender pitcher.

5. Add just enough water to thoroughly soak paper.

6. Place lid on the pitcher and begin blending.

7. After a few seconds, check the mixture. Add water and paper as needed.

8. Empty the pulpy mixture into a bowl.

9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 until bowl is nearly full or until each student has had a turn helping create the mixture.

10. Outside, or over a large basin (a water table is ideal!)pour and spread the pulp in the bowl over the screen.

11. Place the screen outside or in a warm, dry area for several hours. (Overnight is best!)

12. After several hours, touch the screen to see if the pulp is dry.

13. When pulp is dry, slowly peel the paper off the screen.

14. Cut the paper into small squares for each student.

Humans (Anatomy)

Activity # 2 (1st Grade)

“Connecting Body Parts”

Materials:
1. Copies of body parts
2. Markers
3. Scissors
4. Glue
5. Construction paper

Description:
1. Distribute a piece of construction paper and the copies of the body parts to the students.

2. Write the names of the body parts (not face parts) on the board and have them label their pictures. Let them color the eyes, hair, and clothing and then carefully cut them out, placing them on their construction paper as they do so.

3. Place the transparency pieces of the body and face parts on the overhead and ask two students to come up and assemble them. Leave the overhead projector light off as they do this and have the students assemble their body and face parts on their construction paper. Once all students have put their bodies together, turn on the overhead projector so they can see if they agree with the arrangement.

Chemistry

“Growing Mold”

Materials:
1. Plastic food containers with lids
2. Duct tape
3. Scrap of bread, cheese, lemon or lime (and other food items that the group may want to observe)
4. Chart paper and drawing paper
5. Markers, colored pencils
6. Camera

Description:
1. Invite children to share what they know about mold or what they think mold is.

2. Divide them into small groups. Give each group two different types of food items to prepare. Ask them to place one dampened food item (like a piece of bread) in one container and the same food item, not dampened, into another container. Ask children to tape the container lids so that they are airtight, and label the containers to identify the damp and dry food items.

3. Bring the groups together and ask them to predict what will happen to the different food items. Which items do they think will get moldy the fastest? Will wet items develop mold faster than dry items? How many days will it take for the mold to begin to appear on each food item? Record their predictions.

4. Provide time for groups to observe the different foods each day. Assist children in recording their observations by using their calendars, creating observational drawings and photographing the development of mold

Animals

Activity #1 (1st Grade)

“What’s that Mammal?”

Description:
1. Ask students to look at pictures and tell what the same about all the animals is.
2. Lead discussion to identify that Mammals have fur and 2 or 4 legs. Review each picture to discuss animal names, type of fur and number of legs.
3. Encourage students to find or draw more Mammal pictures to post on the bulletin board.

Geology

Activity # 1 (2nd Grade)

"Metamorphic Rock Pancakes”

Materials:
1. Griddle or frying pan
2. Spatula
3. Oil
4. Pancake batter
5. Plates and napkins
6. Walnuts,
7. Chocolate chips
8. Marshmallows
9. Raisins

Description: (Teacher will make the pancakes for this age group but students may assisst)
1. Pour the pancake batter on the griddle and be sure to add some raisins.
2. Chocolate chips, walnuts, or marshmallows to the batter.
3. By doing this, the children will get to see how heat is a factor in the metamorphic process. They will get to see how different "materials" melt or do not melt from the heat.

Plants

Plants

Activity #1 (2nd Grade)

“How seeds grow”

Materials:
1. Jelly beans
2. Twist ties
3. Paper leaves

Description:
1. Each student gets four jelly beans.
2. The first jelly bean has a small twist tie coming out of it. The twist ties represent the roots.
3. Show the students a diagram of the step of how a seed splits open, roots grow and then leaves start to form.
4. The student has to copy each of the diagrams with their own jelly beans!

Astronomy

Activity # 1 (Kindergarten)

“Day and Night”

Monday- Have children Put Glow-n-Dark stars on walls.

Tuesday- Introduce the color yellow and paint the sun and talk about how we cant live on earth without the sun and what it does to help us on Earth.

Wednesday- Have the children bring their flashlights and turn out the lights in your room. Have them make stars and moons on the ceiling.... This is a great time to view your "Glow-n-Dark" stars.

Thursday-Put up a tent in your room and have a pretend camp fire under those "Glow-n-Dark" stars.

Friday- Show and Tell..... Have the children bring something to do with the Stars, Moon, and Sun and have the Science Center set up with many of your Science books and a sensory of powdered sugar to let them feel what the clouds feel like or maybe the Galaxy...and a sensory with some rocks and sand to let the children feel what the moon may feel like.

Physics

Activity #1 (2nd Grade)

“Fun with Magnets”

Materials:
1. Ring magnets (2 per student)
2. Pencils (1 per student)
3. Clay ( keeps each pencil upright)

Description:
1. Ask the question: "What would happen if you put two ring magnets on an upright pencil?”
2. Now provide time for students to try different ways of stacking two magnets on each pencil.
3. Allow students to use all their magnets to fill up their pencils with floating magnets and discuss what they see.

Chemistry

Activity #1 (1st Grade)

“Reaction with Milk”

Materials:
1. Toothpicks
2. Food coloring
3. Pie pan
4. Whole milk
5. Dish detergent

Description:
1. Pour a small amount of milk into the pie pan.
2. Now put a few drops of food coloring in the milk.
3. Then put a small amount of dish detergent on the end of the toothpick and then insert it in the milk. If you put the toothpick in the middle of one of the drops of food coloring the dish detergent will react to the fat in the milk. It will start to disperse the food coloring all over the pan. Try to have the students figure out why the dish detergent makes the milk react. (Because of the fat in the milk. It makes it separate out of the milk.

suzy's ideas

Humans:Activity #1: Exploring the 5 senses-Having the children explore a specific type of sensory every day of the week. (sight, smell, hearing, touching, and taste)
For each day the students will be focusing on one specific sense and do multiple activities that will engage the usage of the different types of senses. For sight, the teacher could prepare an activity that involves searching for an object around the room, or playing animal lotto where the students will have to find on their lotto board the animal picture the teacher holds up. For smell, the teacher could prepare different flavors of kool aid and by smelling, the students will guess what flavor it is. For hearing, the teacher will prepare a variety of different types of noises, and with the children facing away the teacher will ask the children to guess what the noise was and document it. For touch, the teacher could prepare couple of objects that are smaller, and let the students feel what it is through a feely box. The students will use their sense of touch to guess what the object will be. And finally, the taste, the teacher will prepare a series of crackers, lemonade, and a cookie; the teacher will let each student eat or drink the three different foods and have them vote which one they liked best. The trick is, the types of foods up there are different types of tastes like sour, salty, and sweet.
Activity #2: Taking care of your body- Incorporate a book around germs.
(the importance of washing out hands, eating well, sleeping well, and covering our mouths when we are coughing and sneezing.)
It is important for the students to know how to help their bodies be healthy and strong. This theme and activity will help the students to wash their hands, eat well, and get a good night sleep. We have a book that our teacher wrote called, The Germ, This book is all about why germs are not good for our bodies and how to can keep the Germ from making our bodies sick. This activity will really encourage students to take care of their bodies and to be healthy.

Chemistry:
Activity #1: Milk explosion
-Have a small group of students to help do each step of the project. -Ask to see what will happen-Watch what happens
This activity will help students to do step by step procedures. Asking questions about how the experiments will help build good observation and hypotheses skills. The experiment is very clean, and the end result the milk will swirl around all the colors.
- Need a pie pan
- Milk
- Food coloring
- Dish washing soap
- Pour the milk in the pan and have four drops of any color food coloring around the edge of the pan. Finally, put two drops of the soap in the middle and see what happens.

Activity#2: Gloop
-have a small group of students to help do each step of the project
-ask to see what will happen
-Watch what will happen
This activity will help students to do step by step procedures. Asking questions about how the experiments will help build good observation and hypotheses skills. This project will get messy so make sure to be wearing a smock.
- Cup of White school glue
- Cup of liquid starch
- Food coloring (optional)
Just mix the ingredients together and the children could play with them or take them home in zip lock bags.
This is a fun way for the students to be engaged in a project and have an end product to take home to show their family.

Physics:
Activity#1: Compass project
-using magnets to make compasses
My school has a science discovery night every year, and we made a homemade compass.
This activity will help students to do step by step procedures. Asking questions about how the experiments will help build good observation and hypotheses skills. There is a magnetic pull in the earth and so if we magnetize the needle, the need will point north.
- Sewing needle
- Cork top
- Magnets
- Bowl
- Water

Activity #2: Balloon race
- Straw
- String
- Balloons
- Tape
This activity will help explain about what causes speed. The students will have a hard time learning about pressure or force at this age, so the teacher could start of by asking the students what could cause a balloon to go faster. The teacher will demonstrate, by having two lines of string across the room with a straw through it. The students will blow up the balloon and while pinching the end, they will tape the balloon onto the straw. The students will estimate how much air to put in the balloon and release the pinch to see which balloon will cross the finish line first.

Plants:
Activity #1: Family Friendship garden day
-families come in and plant with the children in the front of the school
-teachers will take pictures and document it in a book
Activity #2: Plant a flower
-Plant a flower
-do activities that promote how to take care of plants and how to keep it alive.

Animals
Activity #1: Senses of different animals textures
-Fur, rough, feathers, smooth, and etc.)
Activity #2: identify what sounds animals make
-sound out animal sounds and let the students identify them.
-for clues, describe the animal to the children to help them out.

Astronomy
Activity #1: the shapes we can find in space
-Display a picture of space and let the children find shapes
-A teacher could draw a picture of outer space and put stars, circles, and ovals, and etc.
-The children can use their prior knowledge to figure out shapes in their environment.
Activity #2: What do you think you will see in space?
-Ask questions about what they could see in space and let the children use their imagination
-document and dictate what the students say and make it into a class book

Meteorology
Activity #1: weather bear
-create a weather bear on the board. This bear will be bare, and depending on the weather, the students will dress the bear to the appropriate weather and temperature. This will help the students use their prior knowledge of why it is important to dress according to the weather. For example, the students will not wear a bathing suit in the winter time because they will freeze to death.

Activity #2: counting weathers
-four clear jars
- need four signs of the season
- need a lot of marbles that will last your throughout the year.
This is a fun activity for the whole year. The students during rug time will decided what kind of weather condition it is outside. For example, the weather being rainy, snowy, sunny, and gloomy. At the end, it will be fun for the students to count and graph how many marbles were found in each weather condition.

Ecology:
Activity #1: recycling
-Read a book about taking care of your environment, renew, reuse, and recycle. Teach the students why we should reuse some of our materials because paper and pencils are made from our beautiful trees. Also, the teacher should talk about picking up litter that we find in our neighborhood or the streets to keep Mother Nature clean and healthy.
Activity #2: talking about weather changes
-Talking about the different seasons and talking about why it snows or rains and why we need the sun. The sun is important because the sun gives food and energy to the plants.

Meteorology

Activity #1 (Kindergarten)

“Rainbows”

Materials:
1. Clear Pitchers
2. Spoons
3. Water
4. Food Coloring
5. Ice Trays

Description:
1. For each color of the rainbow, have a clear pitcher of water ready and available.
2. Have the children take turns adding drops of coloring to the water.
3. Pour water into ice cube trays. Place in freezer.
4. Talk about how the water was a liquid. What do they think will happen to the water?
5. After the cubes are frozen, pop them out. The children can play and observe them melting. Watch some melt together and see what happens.

Ecology (Environment)

Activity # 1 (Kindergarten)

“Clean Water”

Materials:
1. Clear jars
2. Soil
3. Sand
4. Cotton cloth
5. Rubber band

Description:
1. Pour water into a clear jar. Add some soil. Stir.
2. Spread the cotton cloth over the opening of another jar and hold it in place with a rubber band. Pour sand onto the cloth.
3. Slowly pour the water with soil through the sand on the cloth and into the clean jar.
4. The water poured through the sand should be cleaner than the water in the original jar.

Humans (Anatomy)

Activity # 1 (2nd grade)

“Getting to know our bones”

Materials:
1. Pictures of bones
2. Examples of bones
3. Clay

Description:
1. Show students the picture of bones and label their names.
2. Have students do a replica of the bones using the clay.
3. Using the examples of the bones to show students how they move.

Astronomy

Activity #1

Be a Planet

Learn what planets are, as well as their names and what order they are in. Planet attributes can also be learned. Some students will "become" a planet so the names and order can be introduced. The teacher may wish to show pictures of the planets and name a few of the planets' attributes.

Materials:

drawing paper
crayons or markers
book with planet pictures
flashlight (not necessary)

Plan:

1. Choose a child to be the Sun. Have her come to the front of the class and hold a flashlight to show she provides light and heat.
2. Another student is chosen to be the planet Mercury, perhaps one whose name begins with "M" to help the children remember the name "Mercury." (If no first names are available, a student may be used whose name contains that letter or one who is wearing a color with the same beginning sound, such a violet for Venus.)
3. Continue choosing one child per planet. Have all the students say the new planet name each time a new student goes to the front of the room. You should end up with a line of 10 students: the Sun and the nine planets, from Mercury through Pluto.
4. See if each of the 10 standing students can remember their planet name. They can sit down.
5. Show the students pictures of the planets. You may want to tell a little about each planet, such as Jupiter is the largest, has many moons and a Red Spot that is three times the size of the Earth.
6. The children can each draw a picture of a planet. Emphasize that they are round. Many have moons and several have rings.


Activity #2

Building a Planetarium
Students will learn how to create a planetarium, interest them in space and inform them that stars and planets look alike from Earth.

Materials:

A medium-sized plastic funnel
Black construction paper
A pushpin
A pencil or pen
Tape
A small flashlight
A kitchen or dining room table
One or two blankets

Plan:

1. Take your funnel and tape your piece of black construction paper over the bigger hole of the funnel.
2. Take a small pin and pencil and poke holes in the black construction paper. Tell your students the small holes are stars while the bigger holes are the planets.
3. Set your student up under a table with a blanket covering the sides. The idea is to make the area under the table as dark as possible.
4. Shine your flashlight through the smallest part of the funnel and your student will have their own planetarium.

Preschool Humans

5 Senses Painting

Materials: Tempera paint in a variety of colors, sand, coffee grounds, spices, crumbled natural items, epson salt, baking soda, liquid starch, salt, corn meal, etc.

Description: Offer painting experiences with paint to which one of the above ingredients has been added to different colors of paint (maybe one thing in each color). Encourage children to use words to describe what they see, feel, and smell.

Measure Me!

Split the children into pairs. Give each child string and scissors. Have one child lie down and let the other measure how tall he is and then cut the string. Latter the children can compare their strings and show them to their families. They can also measure the parts of their body with the string.

When they are finished they can glue it to big paper and measure how long it is. I will label each string as "Joey's Body" Joey's Arm" etc... and we can compare as a class.

Preschool PLANTS!

The Sun Block Experiment:

supplies:
Sun
Grass
Nice weather :)

1.place a can or lid on top of a green patch of grass outside your school (to keep the can steady put a rock or other heavy object on top).
2.In a few days go with child and lift the can, you will see the patch is losing color.
3.in a week it will be very pale

Ask the children why? This is because it could not make food in the dark. It needed sunlight.

* Take away the can and the grass will soon recover.

Act 2

Nature Book

Supplies:
Leaves and flowers
A phone book or another heavy book
Tissue paper or parchment paper
Construction paper
Glue
Sheet protectors
3 - ring binder

1.Go for a walk with your class and have them collect attractive leaves and flowers. As your they collect the flowers, point out the different parts—the petals, the anthers (the inside fuzzy looking bits,) the stigma (the vase shaped inside), the stem and any pollen. Point out that flowers start off as buds and over time gradually open into flowers. Teach them that flowers contain the tiny seeds that will grow new plants.
2. After you and your preschooler have collected enough leaves and flowers, you’ll want to press them between two pieces of tissue paper or parchment paper. You can put several leaves and flowers together to use the same piece of tissue paper, but try not to let the flowers and leaves touch.
3. Put your tissue paper between the pages of your heavy book. Leave your book alone for a week to ten days.
4. After a week or ten days, take your tissue paper out of the book. Your flowers and leaves should be perfectly dried out and ready for your greeting cards.
5. Have your preschooler glue the flowers and leaves onto your construction paper. Write down the common names of the plants beneath the pressed flowers and leaves
6. Slide the pages into sheet protectors
7.Arrange the sheet protectors in a 3-ring binder your preschooler has decorated.
8. Have your preschooler continue to add to it.

Recycled Wheel Barrow Flower Pot

What You Need:
Laundry Detergent Scoop
Cardboard
Dirt
Seeds
Paint

What You Do:
Have children cut out and paint wheels from cardboard. Have them attach these to the laundry detergent scoop. They can now add dirt and seeds and grow flowers in their miniature wheelbarrow.

Activity 2

SONG!

I Put Litter In The Garbage
Sung to: "The Wheels on the Bus"

Oh, I put litter in the garbage can,Garbage can, garbage can.I put the litter in the garbage can,I'm not a litter bug.

Let's all put litter where it belongs,It belongs, it belongs.
Let's all put litter where it belongs,Don't be a litter bug.

Kindergarten/1st grade Geology

Salt Crystal Garden

Supplies

Salt
liquid bluing
water
ammonia

Step 1: mix together:
4 tablespoons salt (one recipe recommended un-iodized salt.)
4 tablespoons liquid bluing (available in the laundry department of grocery stores)
4 tablespoons water
4 tablespoon ammonia

2. Pour the mixture over small pieces of porous rock, charcoal or pieces of broken clay flowerpots in a shallow glass or plastic bowl or plate. (Some recipes suggest soaking the charcoal, etc. in water for 15 minutes then placing it in the bowl with the growing solution.) Crystals will begin to grow in six hours and continue for three days, depending on the humidity, temperature, and how much airflow is present. To concentrate crystal growth on the charcoal and avoid them forming on the edge of the plate, coat the plate with Vaseline.
*Most recipes suggest sprinkling two more tablespoons of salt over the charcoal and on the first or second day to get the crystal growth off to a faster start.
3. Add more of the salt-bluing-ammonia-water mix starting on the third day to keep the crystals growing. Be careful to avoid dripping any of the new solution on the growing crystals or they will be damaged. In time the crystals may grow over the sides of the bowl.

*plastic or glass bowls can be used, crystals will not stain them and should wash off easily.
* add food coloring to therock in order to grow colored crystals!!

**although only household chemicals are used, some are toxic so this project should only be done under adult supervision.

How it works:
The porous material draws the solution up using capillary action. Water evaporates on the surface and the solid chemicals are left behind forming crystals. Because the evaporation is a fast process compared to the rate of crystallization and there are many rough spots for nucleation (places where crystal growth begins) the crystals grown are small and may look like small grains or even powder.
Because evaporation drives this project, place it where it has free air circulation, but no hard drafts or the delicate crystals may be blow over. Warm dry areas will have faster growth than cool moist areas. Avoid direct sunlight because this causes the liquid to evaporate faster than the growing structure can draw it up so the crystals form on the plate instead of where they are supposed to. A gentle breeze from a small fan set on its lowest setting can increase the speed at which the crystals grow by a factor of ten.

These crystals are very small and held together by the binding action of water, like fine mud. They are extremely fragile and a slight bump can cause them to collapse. Touch them and they smush (technical term for digital compression of soft, hydrated structures) to shapeless mush. So be sure to let the children know this so they are careful around them. Have the childrennote the growth of the crystals each day by drawing a picture of how it looks.

Rock and Roll!

Supplies
Rocks
A board of some sort

What to do:

The students are shown an inclined plane, made with a 2 X 6, long enough to lean against the top of a chair, reaching the floor. The students are told they will go outside and pick a rock that they think might roll down the inclined plane. Have the students predict the type of rock that they think might roll best. Write down their predictions. After the students return with their rock, each one will try thier rock. After everyone has had a turn, discuss the predictions. Circle the correct predictions. Introduce the word gravity and discuss the reason the rock moved down hill. Ask these questions "Which rocks rolled well? Which ones do not? "

Preschool Astronomy

The Phases of the Moon

The first thing preschoolers see in the night sky is the moon. Many preschoolers are fascinated with the moon; not only the shapes of the moon and but that the moon seems to follow them during long car rides. With this fun preschool science activity, you can teach your preschoolers the shapes or phases of the moon and how the moon changes over the course of a month.

What your Preschoolers will Learn:
That the shape of the moon changes over the course of a 28 day cycle
What a circle is
What a crescent is
What you will Need to Teach the Phases of the Moon:
A sheet of paper
Pens

Steps:
1. Start this science activity by creating a chart with twenty-eight boxes on it. Put a title on it, such as 'Shapes or Phases of the Moon'. You can even print out pictures of the moon and glue them on as a border.
2. Check your calender for when a full moon is.
3. Take your preschooler outside on a full moon and have them find the moon. Point out that it’s in a full circle, called a full moon. Point out the 'Man in the Moon'. If you don’t know what this is, stare at a full moon. You’ll quickly see how the shadows on the moon's surface seem to form a 'face'.
4. Draw a picture of it on your chart. It doesn't have to be perfect, so don't stress about this part. 5.For the next twenty-eight days, for homework have your preschoolers go outside and find the moon. Every day have them draw a new picture of the moon on the chart. Over time, your preschoolers will notice that the moon is changing in shape. It shrinks away to nothing, and then comes back to its full moon shape.
**You don't have to have them go outside every day. Every other day or every third day should be enough for them to understand how the shape of the moon keeps changing.

Activity 2
Mr. Golden Sun

Sing "Mr. Sun, sun Mr. Golden Sun" then have fun making him as a craft!!

Supplies needed:
A paper plate
Yellow construction paper
Scissors
Glue (or a stapler)
Crayons, paint or markers
Googly eyes (optional)

Steps

1.Paint/color the back side of a paper plate yellow.
2.Trace a child's hand on yellow construction paper about 7 times.
3.Cut out the tracings.
4.Glue or staple the handprint tracings to the paper plate - the fingers are the sun's rays.
5.Color in the sun, drawing a mouth and a nose. Either draw the eyes or glue on googly eyes.

Put them up in the classroom to brighten it up!

Geology

Activity #1

Instant Volcano

Words to discuss:

volcano, chemical reaction, carbon dioxide, gas, vinegar, baking soda, erupt, combine, mix, build, play, make believe, dormant, quiet, lava

Materials:

soup cans
vinegar
water
baking soda
teaspoon
food coloring (red)
sand,
soil or leaves
clay (to be used to build a mound around the volcano)

Plan:

1. Place the can on the ground outside or on a paper plate or tray, if inside.
2. Have children build a mound around the can using soil, sand, leaves, clay, or paper to create their own image of a small mountain.
3. Fill the can 1/2 to 3/4 full with vinegar. Add a few drops of red food coloring, then a spoonful of baking soda.
4. Watch the lava flow down the sides of the volcano as the chemical reaction between the acid and the baking soda occurs.
5. Repeat as long as the vinegar, baking soda, and interest remains.

Activity #2

Why is the Sea Salty?

The student will be able to explain why the sea is salty.

Materials:

Rock salt
Water
Containers
Strainers
Oceans, Instructional Fair, Inc., Grand Rapids, MI

Plan:

1. Students pour water over the rock salt which is contained in a strainer. The water plus dissolved salt will be collected in a plastic cup. Students will taste the water sample.
2. Students will allow the water to evaporate, observing that the salt remains.
3. The above procedure is repeated over a 3 or 4 day period. The students will observe that the salt increases each time new water is added.

Chemistry

Activity #1

The Big Meltdown

Words to discuss:

salt, solution, temperature, freeze, melt, melt more, faster, color, blue, red

Materials:

1 paper cup per child
food coloring (red and blue)
very cold water
salt
ice on the sidewalk or ground

This activity is best on a sunny day after a snow or ice storm.

Plan:

1. Let children work in pairs. (Give each child one paper cup.)
2. Have them prepare a salt water solution in one cup - 2 tablespoons of salt to 1 cup. Then fill with water and stir. Add one drop of red food coloring to designate that this cup contains the salt solution.
3. Now fill the second cup with water. Add one drop of blue food coloring.
4. Have children dress warmly, then go outside with one child carrying the salt (red) solution and the other carrying the plain (blue) water.
5. Now they pour their cups onto the ice. We want to find out which one melts the most ice. Which one do you think will make the biggest hole? They can now return to the room and go back to check on this experiment later during the day.
6. After returning to their designated spot, they will observe that the salt solution has melted the ice. This is because salt water freezes at a lower temperature than ordinary water. In other words, it has to get colder than 32° F (0° C) before salt water will freeze.

Activity #2

Hot Bubble Fliers

Words to discuss:

bubbles, warm, air, temperature, high, quickly, fast, lighter, cold, moves, replaces, float, rising, currents, breath

Materials:

bubble mixture (1/3 cup Dawn dish soap, 1 cup water and 1 teaspoon of sugar)
container for mixture
bubble blowers

Plan:

1. Let children mix bubble mixture indoors.
2. Go outside on a cold winter day and let them blow bubbles.
3. Observe the bubbles as they float upward.
4. Explain that the child's warm breath makes the bubbles very light and that cold air is heavier than warm air.
5. Why do the bubbles fly up so quickly? How high will they fly? Watch and see.

Ecology

Activity #1

Dirt, What Is It?

Look at, touch, and smell a sample of real soil and notice that it is a mixture of different-sized particles to see the tiny animals that live in dirt.

Plan:

Put plastic jars or bags filled with soil samples from different locations (by the sandbox, from the teacher's yard, from the woods, and so on) on the Science Table. Having a variety of samples will give the children the chance to notice differences in soil composition. Maybe they would like to bring in some dirt from near their home. Also display two jars of soil samples mixed with water. The longer the sample sits still the more it will separate, so make one sample immobile by taping it to the table, and leave the other free for additional shaking. Keep these out for a few weeks, or as long as you are exploring this experience with the children.

More to do:

With the children, dig for worms and look for other tiny creatures in the dirt (soil) around the school. Such animals are more likely to live where there are dead leaves or wood for them to eat and hide under. Ask the children how many words they know that mean the same as "soil."

Activity #2

Eating Sunlight

Make the connection between the sun's energy and life on Earth.

Materials:
large tray
potting soil
grass seeds
small plastic farm animals

Plan:

1. Fill a 9" x 13" (or larger) tray with potting soil.
2. Plant grass seeds and water them.
3. When the grass has grown, ask the children to set it up as they imagine a farm would look.
4. Provide small toy animals and people, twigs from outside for building, and a small jar lid for a pond. Add other small plants to represent crops and trees.
5. Put this on the Science Table and keep it out for a few weeks, or as long as you are exploring this experience with the children.

Plants

Activity #1

Fingerpaint Leaf Prints

Materials:

a wide assortment of leaves
fingerpaint
newspapers
white paper

Goal:

Children will observe the different shapes, sizes, and vein patterns of leaves as they make fingerpaint leaf prints.

In Advance:

Take a walk outside with the children to collect leaves that have recently fallen. Upon returning to your classroom, talk about how they look and feel. Invite children to compare the leaves and sort them by size, shape, and color.

Plan:

1. Ask each child to find the bumpy side of a leaf -- the side with the raised veins.
2. Show the children how they can use their fingers to spread a thin layer of fingerpaint on the bumpy side of their leaves. Talk about how this side of the leaf feels.
3. Ask children to put their leaves, paint-side down, on white paper, place newspaper pages over them, and press to make prints. Children can then remove the newspaper, peel off the leaves (with clean fingers), and marvel at their colorful leaf prints. Compare the physical characteristics of the children’s leaf prints.
4. Place the prints on a large piece of craft paper to make a fall class mural.

Remember:

Fingerpainting is an exciting sensory experience. Before the children make their prints, they might enjoy an extended period of time to freely explore the slippery texture of fingerpaint.

More to do:

If possible, take a neighborhood walk or look outside your window to watch leaves falling from the trees. Notice how they glide, spin, or quickly drop down. Then put on some soft music and invite children to pretend that they're the falling leaves. Point out all the different kinds of "falling leaf" dances children are doing.

Activity #2

Color Garden

In this activity, children will learn about some of the different colors flowers can be.

Materials:
colored construction paper
books containing pictures of various flowers

Plan:

1. Ask children to name the different flowers that they know. Then ask them to tell what colors those flowers can be. (Point out that flowers can come in many different colors. A rose, for example, could be red, pink, or white.) On a board, record the names of flowers and the colors they can be.
2. Tell children that they are going to make a paper flower garden on the board. The goal will be to include as many different colors of flowers as they can. Explain that the flowers they make have to be a color that real flowers can be (for instance, a red rose, a blue morning glory, a white daisy, an orange tiger lily, a purple pansy, or a yellow marigold).
3. Distribute the books containing pictures of flowers and have children search through the books to find different colored flowers. Add new flowers to the list you started earlier. Then help children draw and cut out construction-paper flowers for the board.

More to do:

1. Cut out and mount (on the board) the stems and leaves for the flowers yourself. This way, children can focus on the flowers.
2. Have children group the flowers in the garden according to color. Encourage them to continue to search for flowers to add to each group.
3. Discuss with children the things that a flower needs to grow: soil (nutrients), water, light, and warmth. Make a list of these necessities to post alongside the paper garden.

Physics

Activity #1

Measurement-How Heavy Is It?

Materials:

Items of varying weights, such as books, boxes, bricks, feathers, pencils, Styrofoam, wood blocks

Plan:

1. Put out two items at a time. Without letting the children pick up the items, ask them which of the two they think is the heaviest.
2. After the children have made a guess, let them pick up the items to see if they are right.
3. Repeat the game with the other items.
4. If you want to make this more difficult, add a third item.

More to do:
Math: Chart the childrens’ answers to see how many times they guessed correctly and incorrectly.

Activity #2

Crystal Pops

Words to Discuss:
freeze, frozen, crystals, popsicle, liquid, solid, handle, melt, dissolve, cold, colder, hardEncourage the children to think of their own words that tell what is happening to the popsicles.

Materials:
paper cups
popsicle sticks
water
fruit juice
a freezer

Plan:

1. Have the children mix water with a can of frozen juice. Pour the mixture into small paper cups (3 oz). Place the filled cups on a tray and put them in the freezer. Also freeze a cup of water.
2. Look at the mixture every 15 minutes. Talk with the children. Encourage them to describe what they see.
3. When the mixture starts to harden, remove the cups from the freezer and have the children place a popsicle stick handle into each cup.
4. Put the cups back into the freezer. Be sure to let the children see the crystals that are starting to form. Continue to check on the progress, talking about the changes that are occurring.
5. When the juice has frozen, remove the cups and give one to each child. Have the children peel the paper cup away from the popsicle. Observe the frozen crystals. Talk about the designs you see. Have a bite. As the children enjoy the treat, show them the water popsicle and talk with them about differences and similarities they notice. How did the water change when juice was added? What do you think will happen to your crystal popsicle if you don't eat it?

More to do:

Try freezing other edible liquids. Compare the different crystal patterns. Freeze bananas and grapes. Talk about similarities and differences. What happens when popsicles or fruit thaw? Are they the same or have they changed?

Meteorology

Activity #1

Blowing Wind

Materials:
fan
file folder
set of objects that can be blown around such as a small pieces of paper, feathers, pieces of a styrofoam cup, small rubber ball, leaves

Plan:

1. Choose a very windy day to do this activity.
2. Discuss the effects of wind. Wind is moving air. The only way we know about air is when wind is blowing and we can see things move or feel the wind.
3. Demonstrate wind by blowing a piece of paper across the table. "Wind is moving air."
4. Now it is time to test wind.
5. Set up 4 tests (or fewer if you feel it is too much for the children).
A. A fan
B. The wind outside on a clear spot you have selected where the wind blows strong
C. The table (for children to practice blowing)
D. Another table to test home-made wind machines
6. Demonstrate each area. Put things in front of the fan; put some things that can be blown and others that will not be blown. Show how to wave a file folder to make wind. Blow on some things that will blow and not be blown.
7. Have each child select 4-6 objects that she thinks the wind can blow.
8. Take the objects to each station and see if the wind blows them.
9. Compare the wind sources. Which is the strongest? Does strong mean blow long or blow hard?

Activity #2

Weather - Weather Forecaster

Materials:

Drawing Paper
Classroom calendar
Weather Forecasting by Gail Gibbons
What Will the Weather Be Like? by Linda DeWitt
Crayons, Markers

Plan:

1. Discuss weather words, such as thunderstorm, rain shower, wind, sun, rainbow, tornado, hurricane, etc. Invite the children to pick one word and draw a picture of it.
2. Then, during circle time, read books.
3. Tell the children that each day you will choose one child to be the weather forecaster for the class.
4. Have the first forecaster look out of a classroom window for a few minutes. When the child rejoins the group, ask what the weather looks like today. Is it rainy, sunny, cloudy, etc?
5. Have the child put the appropriate weather symbol on the calendar for that day.

More to do:

Math: Set out a coffee can to catch the rain. Bring it in at the end of the day. Let the children measure the amount of water collected. Write down the result. Continue this experiment for several rainy days. Make a graph showing the amount of rain for each day.

Humans

Activity #1

Exploring Odors

Almost everything has an odor that can be detected through our sense of smell.

Materials:
variety of objects usually found in the classroom

Words to Discuss:
classify
different
odor
smell

Plan:
1. Divide the children into pairs and let them take an "odor walk" around the room.
2. Encourage them to smell objects they wouldn't expect to smell, such as leather, blocks, paint, tables, rugs, pet cages, painted objects, and sinks.
3. Talk about what they have smelled. Classify objects into categories such as "smells good," "smells bad," "doesn't smell much," or "smells like…"
4. Talk about how different things smell different and why they smell different.

Explanation:
Odors are made of little particles called odor particles that noses can smell. Animals and plants, and products made from them have the strongest odors. For example, the glass in the window has very little odor, whereas a peanut butter and jelly sandwich has a strong smell. Even books, made from trees, have a unique odor.

Activity #2

Tasting

Taste is one of our senses. We can distinguish between substances with this sense.

Materials:
foods that are salty, sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and bland
carrots
pickle slices
cheese cubes
radishes
raisins
grapefruit juice
milk: whole or chocolate

Words to Discuss:

bitter
bland
crispy
hard
salty
shape
soft
sour
spicy
sweet
taste

Plan:

1. Have a tasting party to acquaint the children with different tastes.
2.Talk about how the food tastes, and about the texture, appearance, and other features of the food. "How is each food different?" "Do they feel different?" "How are they alike?"

Explanation:

People can tell which foods are good and which are bad with their sense of taste. The tongue is covered with little taste buds that sense how things taste: sour, sweet, salty, or bitter.

Animals

Activity #1

Animals That Fly or Do Not Fly

Children classify animals according to if they can or cannot fly.

Materials:
Two large sheets of white blank chart paper
Title one “Animals That Can Fly” and the other “Animals That Cannot Fly”
Markers
Index cards with names of animals printed on them
Pictures of animals from magazines

Plan:

1. Take the two pieces of blank chart paper and hang them up on a wall.
2. Discuss with the children how some animals fly and some do not.
3. Ask children what they think the animals use to fly? Are animals that fly very large animals? Why or why not?
4. Have students start to give examples of animals that fly and animals that do not fly.
5. Start writing down their examples on the chart paper.
6. After all the children are done giving some examples, have the teacher or aid point to every answer on the chart paper and say what that word is. For example, hummingbird. They should point to the word and then say hummingbird.
7. The teacher might also have the students tell her what the first letter in the name of the animal is.
After the students are all done, try to find pictures of some of the animals in National Geographic 8. magazines and glue them on the chart paper.
9. Keep the chart up and talk to the children about the fact that they organized animals into two different categories: animals that fly and animals that do not fly.
10. Explain to the children that this is called classification.

Activity #2

Spiders-Spiders Don't Get Stuck

Materials:

Paper,
Markers, two colors
Colored chalk, two colors

Plan:

1. Ask the children if they know why spiders don't get stuck in their own webs. Explain that not all of the treads in a web are sticky. Spiders first spin vertical threads, which are not sticky, and then horizontal threads, which are. Insects get caught when they touch the sticky threads, but spiders "tiptoe" over them.
2. Give the children paper and have them draw the vertical lines of a spider web in one color and the horizontal lines in another.
3. Go outside and draw a large web with chalk on the playground. Draw the vertical lines in one color and horizontal lines in another. Have children pretend they are bugs and try to walk across the web without stepping on the "sticky lines.

Ecology

Discuss The Three R's:  Recycle, Reuse and Reduce.

Let's practice the letter R and learn what the three R's of Earth Day mean:
These are some simple examples that can be discussed:

Recycle:  We should not throw cans, bottles and newspapers into landfills.  These items can be recycled. Don't throw those shoe boxes away -- they can become toy dioramas or doll houses.  Discuss how these items get recycled.

Reuse:  We don't always need a new piece of paper or a new t-shirt.  We can try to reuse what we already have.  We can help keep trash out of the landfills.  How can a piece of paper be reused?  Example:  We can use the comics to use as wrapping paper, print the templates in this web site on the blank/clean side of junk mail or other discarded paper material.  How can a T-shirt be reused - many pieces of fabric from T-shirts can make a great quilt! 

Reduce - Every home can reduce the amount of waste/garbage it produces and the landfills would last years longer.  Composting is one way of reducing -- explain how you can help and/or are helping to reduce.  

Ecology

Creation:

• Students will create a paper bag kite using mostly recycled material

• What You Need:
• • Large brown paper grocery bag (one per kinderartist)
  • Strong string
  • Scissors
  • Hole punch
  • A number of paper ring reinforcement (the kind you use on paper in binders -- from any office supply. You could also substitute masking tape).
  • School glue or paste
  • Paint (tempera, acrylic -- whatever you have)
  • Crayons, markers, pencil crayons
  • Paper streamers or crepe paper that you can cut into strips
  • A few found objects (bits of paper, glitter, buttons -- nothing too heavy)

  What You Do:

  1. Begin by taking the hole punch and making four (4) holes in the top of the paper bag - one in each of the corners. Add paper ring reinforcements to the holes, or put a small piece of masking tape over the hole and poke through with a pencil. This will ensure that your holes don't tear through.

  2. Next, cut two (2) lengths of string.

  3. Tie each end of the strings through a hole in the bag. The goal is to create two loops.

  4. Next, cut another piece of string. Loop this new piece of string through the two loops you created and tie in a knot. This piece of string will become the handle of your kite.

  5. You are now ready to decorate the paper bag kite using paint, markers or whatever else you desire. You can paint designs on the kite or turn the kite into a fish by adding eyes, gills and fins. You can glue different items to the kite but be sure not to load the kite down with heavy items -- or it will have a hard time staying up in the air.

  6. Use paper streamers as kite tails and glue them to the bottom of the paper bag. You can make your own streamers by cutting crepe paper into strips. Another nifty streamer idea is to take plastic bags and cut them into strips.

  7. Once the glue and paint is dry, the kite can fly. Hold on tightly to the string handle and run so that the wind catches the kite. When the bag fills with air it will float and flutter behind you.

  8. As a variation, you can add a longer handle string to the kite so it will fly higher in the air.

  
  

Plants

Classroom Flower Garden

Head shot photos of children can be taken. They would be cut and centered in the middle of the flower petal.  The stem and leaves would be added to make a classroom flower garden.

Astronomy

Sun Paper Plate Craft This is a simple craft made from a paper plate and a child handprint cutouts.

Supplies needed:

A paper plate Yellow construction paper Scissors Glue (or a stapler) Crayons, paint or markers Googly eyes (optional)

Paint the back side of a paper plate yellow.

Trace a child's hand on yellow construction paper about 7 times.

Cut out the tracings.

Glue or staple the handprint tracings to the paper plate - the fingers are the sun's rays.

Color in the sun, drawing a mouth and a nose. Either draw the eyes or glue on googly eyes

Astronomy

Constellations

Objective:

To introduce the concept of constellations

Activities:

• Class or group discussion about what a constellation is
• Showing drawings of a few constellations
• Having each child complete a dot-to-dot paper of two constellations

Materials:

For each student:

• worksheets (one copy of each included in this packet)
• Dot-to-dot worksheet
• Make Your Own Constellation worksheet
• pencil, crayon or marker

For lesson:

• pictures of constellations 

Procedure:

1. Explain that constellations are groups of stars that can be seen in the night sky. People draw imaginary lines between the stars to make pictures of animals, people or things. Each picture is a constellation. Some of the more famous constellations are The Big Dipper and Orion, the Hunter (or name the constellations you have pictures of). Show the children pictures or drawings of constellations.

2. You can continue by saying that there are many constellations in the sky, but you can't see all of them at once. Which constellations you will see depends on the time of year, time of night and where you are on the Earth.

3. The students can complete the dot-to-dot worksheet of The Little Dipper and Draco the Dragon, two constellations that can be found in our sky.

4. The students can complete the Make Your Own Constellation worksheet.

Geology

Objective: Students will make sandstone

Materials:

• paper cup
• cementing solution (2 parts water to one part Epsom salt)
• sand
• hand lens

Activity:

1. Fill the paper cup half full of sand. Pack the sand with your hand.

2. Slowly add cementing solution until all of the sand is wet.

3. Put the cup in a warm place until the sand dries completely.

4. Carefully tear away the paper cup.

5. Observe the sand with the hand lens.

6. Have students write a paper or describe what they observed.

Physics

Magnet Painting

You Will Need:

• Wooden blocks
• Sturdy piece of cardboard
• Strong magnet
• Metal (iron) objects such as washers, nuts and bolts
• Thread
• Liquid tempera paint in more than one color
• Tape
• Blank paper
• Small bowls or shallow pans for the paint

What to Do:

1. Tape a blank piece of paper to the piece of cardboard.  Then use the blocks to make a raised platform to hold the piece of cardboard. Make sure to leave enough room under the cardboard for your child to move her hands.
2. Place a washer (or other metal object) on top of the piece of paper.  Give your child the magnet and tell her to place the magnet underneath the piece of cardboard.  Allow her to move the magnet around underneath the cardboard to make the washer move.
3. Tell your child that the magnet is attracted to (sticks to) the metal washer and the force is strong enough to work through the cardboard. Show your child the paint and thread and tell her that she is going to use the magnet and the metal objects to create a painting.
4. Allow your child to select 2 -3 metal objects to use for her project. Help your child tie a length of thread to the metal objects and dip the objects in the tempera paint.
5. Next have your child place the metal objects on the piece of paper and hold the magnet underneath the cardboard (the magnet should touch the cardboard) and move it around. The magnet will “paint” with the metal objects as they move over the paper.
6. For some fun, let your child move the metal objects, dip them in paint again, and continue painting to make an art piece. Try using a variety of paint colors to make this a unique and memorable experience!

Meteorology

Mud Pies

We would mix two packages of instant chocolate pudding. The children add the "dirt" (pudding mix) and "rain" (milk) to make "mud." To make this part extra fun,  punch holes in a styrofoam bowl and when the children poured the milk into the bowl it would drip like rain into the mixing bowl. The children help mix the mud with a spoon. They can crushed Oreos to make some extra dirt. Each child placed a gummi worm in a cup, added the pudding "mud" and the crushed "dirt

Meteorology

The Seasons

Science Activity

In this activity students develop an understanding of the seasons by naming the seasons of the year, considering physical change over time, and analyzing environmental changes.

What You Need

• large paper
• magazines
• scissors
• glue

What to Do

1. Draw a big circle on a large piece of paper.
2. Write Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter on the circle.
3. Cut out pictures showing things that happen in a season.
4. Match each picture to a season. Some clues are:
   • kinds of clothes
   • games
   • holidays
5. Glue the pictures on the circle.

Share Your Poster with Others!

• Describe the clues that match each picture to a season.
• Tell a story about your favorite season.

Humans

Classifying the Five Senses

Health/Body Systems and Senses

Description:

In this lesson students are given index cards labeled with the five senses and picture cards with pictures that represent the five senses. The students will sort the picture cards to gain an understanding of the five senses and classifying.

Goal:

Students will understand the five senses.

Objectives:

1.  Student will be able list the five senses.

2.  Students will correctly match pictures with the senses to which they belong.

Background Information:

This activity is done after previous lessons about the five senses. It can be used as a review of the senses and to introduce classifying.

Materials:

20 index cards labeled with the senses: See, Hear, Smell, Taste and Touch

4 sets of sense picture cards that are laminated:

Carton of milk	Cookies
A book	Crayon box
Brown lunch sack	Backpack
Pencil	Orange
Sandwich	Notebook

Procedure:

1. Have students tell you what each bag is for.

2. Tell the class you want them to classify the items. State: Classifying is putting things together that go together.

3. Call on students to tell you which item goes in which bag.

4. When done, take the items out of the each bag, and ask if the item and the bag go together.

5. Review the senses by having students describe how each item looks, and how it might sound, smell, taste and feel.

6. Divide the class into groups.

7. Tell the students to sort picture cards by putting them by the index card with the sense they represent.

Assessment:

1. Check to see if picture cards are under correct sense.

2. Ask students to draw their own pictures that would belong to the senses.

Animals

TWO KINDS OF DINOSAURS

Purpose: Students will compare two kinds of dinosaurs based upon the structure of the pelvis: bird-hipped and reptile-hipped

Skills: communicating, comparing, classifying

Standards:
— Clear communication is an important part of science
— Living things can be sorted into groups by features
— Different features allow animals to adapt different lifestyles

Background: Morris was an Apatosaurus. Scientists classify dinosaurs into two major groups: those with reptile-like hips and those with bird-like hips.

MATERIALS

— Dinosaur classification chart
— Art supplies
— Dinosaur journal sheet
— Models of dinosaurs.

PROCEDURES

There are three bones in the hip area: ilium, ischium, and pubis. The following finger play will help students visualize the arrangement of these bones.

Hold your hand as shown in the diagram. The top of the hand represents the broad hip bone at the top side of the pelvis (ilium). The index finger represents the bone in the front (pubis), while the thumb represents the back hip bone (ischium). Hold both hands together, back to back, so that the index fingers and thumbs are touching. This forms the pelvic girdle. The reptile-hipped dinosaurs are represented with the thumb and index finger (ischium and pubis) pointing in the opposite directions.

The bird-hipped dinosaurs are represented with the index finger (pubis) pointing in the same direction as the thumb (ischium), which is toward the tail.

After the students have modeled both kinds of dinosaurs with their hands, have them locate both kinds of dinosaurs on the classification chart. Have them show you with their hands whether the following are reptile-hipped or bird-hipped: Apatosaurus, Hadrosaurus, T. rex, and Triceratops. To make it easy, all of the meat eaters and the sauropods (long necks) were reptile-hipped. The rest of the plant eaters were bird-hipped.

Set dinosaur models on the tables. Let the students use them to draw a reptile-hipped and a bird hipped dinosaur on their activity sheets.

Draw a bird-hipped dinosaur and a reptile-hipped dinosaur.

Tell why each fits in that group.

Chemistry

What do Salt Trucks Do?

Materials 3 Ice Cubes 2 Containers Iodized salt What to do Note: This is a good activity for a snowy morning when children are likely to have noticed salt trucks on their street spreading salt. Pass one ice cube around the group ask children to tell somthing they know about it. Discuss its temperature, color, slipperiness, melting properties, ect. Mention some of the problems peoplehave when there is ice on the ground (e.g. it's too slippery to walk or drive safely). Ask if the children have noticed salt trucks on the road. Explain that they spread salt to help melt the iceand make the roads safer for cars. Place two ramaining ice cubes in separate comtainers. Pour a generous amount of salt on one, but not the other. Ask children to perdict what might happen. Ask children to check the two containers periodically. After an hour or so (the rate of melting depends on many things, including the amount of salt used), reconvene the group. Ask them what hashappened to the ice and if the dalt made a difference.

Geology

Making a Rock Collection, Lesson 1 - Rocks Unit

To present the concept, Rocks Can Be Different Sizes. Materials: egg cartons masking tape black marking pen construction paper rocks - assorted colors and sizes prepared worksheet with different sized rocks drawn on it Plan: Make a chart of what we know about rocks, what we would like to know about rocks, and lastly, what we learned about rocks. This last will be the last lesson in the lesson. Each child should have an egg carton. They put one rock in each hole. The children will sort the rocks by size. The children then cut apart their worksheet and paste these rocks onto a sheet of construction paper, smallest to largest. Go to next lesson: Rocks Are Many Different Colors.

Physics

Water Flows Downhill Children will experiment with different containers to see if water flows up or down. Materials: Containers of water plastic wash tubs (rectangular) large wooden blocks sponges and towels (for spills) blue crayons Plan: Discussion: Where? Which way was the water going? Can you get water to move uphill? Will it stay there? Let's see what happens when we pour our water. Experiment: Have children work in small groups. Use wooden blocks to raise one end of the wash tub. Pour water into the tub at the high end. Observe how it flows. Have the children try to figure out how to get the water to move uphill. On a prepared worksheet, have the children show the movement of water by tracing the flow with a blue crayon. My worksheet has a hand drawn picture of an inclined wash tub, a water faucet, a sprinkler, and a stream running through mountains, very simply drawn. Results: Which way did your water move? Did anyone find a way to get their water to move uphill? Did the water stay up? Why do you think water always moves downward?