March Into Science and STEM ideas for Grades K-5

I feel so lucky to be able to teach science all day, everyday! I also feel lucky for my students because I can add STEM into our FOSS Science bins we have to use. So I thought I could share ways to have some special events or holiday fun, but also cover a science concept as your students engineer.

This is some projected March themes for my classroom and STEM Club and Science Room! I always try to make sure that we follow our FOSS road map, however there are lots of ways for me to add a little bit of the Science School Yard, too!

Kindergarten: Weather and Spring

Idea 1: predictions and graphing the weather
Idea 2: Oviparous Animals (Oviparous Animals Pack)
Idea 3: Seasons and The Earth and Sun (Seasons Science K-1 Pack)

Using our smartboard to show what we know about oviparous animals!

First Grade: Energy and Motion

We started our Motion portion of our lessons this week. As I started to create my road map, I noticed that St. Patrick's Day activities might be a perfect way to add some theme based motion ideas!

Idea 1: push and pull elevators (Motion Pack and STEM Velop St. Patrick's Day Pack)
Idea 2: push and pull cars
Idea 3: push and pull catapults

Milk Carton Cars with plastic wheels and straws...and a beanie baby along for a ride!

Wind Mazes...some blocks and pompoms!

2nd Grade: Weather and Air... In Like a Lion Out Like a Lamb

Idea 1: wind mazes (Wind Science Pack)
Idea 2: Wind Turbines/Wind Mills (Wind Science Pack)
Idea 3: Weather unit along with predictions

3rd Grade: Spring Is In The Air

Idea 1: STEM Egg Protectors (STEM Energy Pack)
Idea 2:  Energy: Hydro, Solar, and Wind (water wheels, Seasons and the sun, and Wind Powered cars)
Idea 3: Planting Seeds

4th grade: Human Body... March Madness

Idea 1: Prosthetic hand basketball game (Basketball STEM Pack)
Idea 2: Basketball Hoop and Catapult STEM and fraction connections by shooting hoops (Basketball STEM Pack)
Idea 3: March into Healthy Habits...reading food labels and learning about the digestive system (Heart Healthy Science Pack)

Prosthetic hand in use!

5th Grade: Mixtures and Solutions...Rainbows and Chemical Reactions

Idea 1: Food Coloring and Milk as well as Cranberry Juice with citric acid and baking soda...color changes and creating different colors in the rainbow
Idea 2: Chemical Reaction Boats...getting ready for spring (freebie alert)
Idea 3: Somewhere Over The Rainbow Catapult along with learning about concave and convex lenses and finding the colors of a rainbow  (STEM-Velop St. Patrick's Day Pack)

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Looking for Science ideas like these for March? Why not MARCH on over to the Science School Yard Store to find these packs and more!

Happy March, Friends! Sure hope it is out like a lamb!

STEM St. Patrick's Day Stations

It is finally March. I sure hope the snow starts to melt. We have over 30 inches of snow so spring can't come too soon! I am teaching an after school STEM class and one of my favorite times to teach this is right around ST. Patrick's Day where we can win with some hands-on pot-o-gold activities.

The first activity that we do is the Somewhere Over The Rainbow catapults! Giving my students the tongue depressors, rubber bands, and Yellow Pompoms along with rainbow patterns that they have to catapult over is a great "croquet" like game that becomes a fun competition.

The second activity that we love to do is the Pot-O-Gold Wall Maze. We give them toilet paper tubes, Paper towel tubes, and masking tape along with yellow pompoms and a cup with a pot-o-gold pattern / or pots of gold from the Dollar Store.

Pot-O-Gold Fun with Toilet paper tubes!

The fun part about this activity is that they get so excited to compete against other teams to see who can get to the pot of gold first. I always throw in they have to use the same amount of tubes as well as so many turns or changes of direction (usually 2-3) depending on the grade level.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow!

Up, Up Panda Away with pulleys!

With my older students I like to have them make pulley systems called Up Up Panda Way...our little St. Patrick's Day Panda's love the free ride...while the littles love to make Leprechaun hats to take home!

Shamrock Shakes in progress!

Ready to shake it up!

The finale...Shamrock Shakes! We make instruments and then play them along with a fun Irish jig! The kids love to dance along to it as well! Here is one of the jigs we play along to! Irish Jig found HERE!

Time for you to create some shenanigans with your students! Join the fun by developing STEM students with STEM-velops in envelopes, folders, packs, buckets...FIND the St. Patrick's Day Activities Today HERE!

Time For St. Patrick's Day Fun for everyone! Happy March, Friends! I hope you find your pot of gold!

Who Stole the Cookies Chromatography Lab

You know when you have a little extra time to fill in  your day? Okay...that rarely happens, however this week our fifth graders went on an overnight trip to what we call school forest leaving me with only one fifth grade class to teach this week instead of two. So I got to figure out a lesson that was not something I normally teach during our Mixtures and Solutions unit. I already taught my students the lesson on chemical reactions, so why not figure out a chromatography lesson to extend the excitement!

Chromatography is the separation of mixtures into their individual components so this is perfect for a mixtures and solutions unit!

Scientists use chromatography in many ways. They use it to test the level of alcohol in the body. They can figure out a crime by testing and analyzing blood and cloth samples. Arson verification is another way chromatography is used by identifying the chemicals responsible for a fire and to rule out foul play. It is even used to determine drugs and poisons in the body in the hospital.

To make it age appropriate and to help them learn about real world science through hands on investigations I made Who stole the cookies? This is a way for us to separate different markers, but in a story like way. I picked four co-workers, the janitor, librarian, art teacher, and music teacher who I asked if it would be okay to be a part of my story. With a yes from all...I set up the folders.

Time to give out the folders with a note inside that says "Thanks for the cookies!" The students use the evidence to prove who it might have been. This team cut the note and then wrote the same word to test if it would bleed out in the same way.


I wanted to pick four black markers , one for each person. The librarian got the VisaVi that she might use on the overhead, the janitor got the Sharpie because he labels boxes to leave the school, the music teacher got the Expo marker because she puts the notes on the board, and the art teacher got the Crayola markers for art projects. This evidence after testing the note eliminates two suspects because permanent markers do not bleed. Notice the difference in the markers below!

Expo and Sharpies don't bleed!

Crayola and Visa Vi markers do...this one points to...

This activity allows me to add another lesson or two to our Mixtures and Solutions unit we do with our FOSS kits! I use the rest of these lessons in an after school class as well as on line to get kids doing things at home!

The best part...I added a ton more activities based on color that I will be using right before ST. Patrick's Day..stay tuned for another post!

Interested in a fun and quick lesson on Chromatography and Color to get your kids excited about science? Grab the Chromatography Lab HERE!

       

Bird Beak Stations

Each year, I pull out my bird beak stations, and each year I love watching my first graders as they learn hands on how birds have different beaks that allow them to survive in the habitat they live in.

I love starting off this lesson by asking them to tell me what makes a bird a bird. We create an anchor chart that has a nest of great words including birds ... have 2 legs, have wings, have feathers, lay eggs, have beaks, fly, have two eyes.

I then share the book Beaks by Robin Brickman.

Beaks aren't just for eating...this book is great in showing other ways such as building, finding a mate, and digging to name a few!

I then take the first graders around from table to table to show them how they will be using their beaks to eat! I read the sheets to them, give them a check off list, but going in a circle from station to station is easy enough! I was able to get my supplies from the Dollar Store or from my classroom or home. There are seven stations in all! Here are just a few fun stations in action.

How fun to dig for worms! Wheat germ and gummy worms!

Time to crack open a sunflower seed!

Watch the woodpeckers as they dig for bugs! I use Mung beans because I had them, but rice or split peas work perfect, too! Grab the tweezers and a sponge and your all set!

My little hummingbirds love the nectar! Droppers, graduated cylinders and a little flower prop and we have a fast flying bird ready to eat!

When we are all done with the stations, because I only have an hour with my students, we finish up by having them create a bird that they saw in the book or they simulated in our stations. We add it to our anchor chart. If they get done nearly, I share with them a live eagle cam (yesterday we watched it eat a squirrel for lunch!) and compare it to a live bird cam from Cornell University!


Want to teach adaptations in a hands-on engaging way? Grab your set of Bird Beak Stations HERE!

After setting up all of the stations with supplies...I put them each in a baggie and they are all set for the next year!

Superbowl Football STEM

This weekend is the Superbowl, what a great time to add some "super" fun STEM to your school day! We have had indoor recess all week, and I don't see an end in sight. If your kids are getting cabin fever like mine, STEM activities are perfect additions to indoor recess! Not too cold where you're at...then adding these STEM challenges in a math or science station to teach measurement, graphing and statistics as well as controlled experiments might be just the thing!

The Super Bowl is a perfect opportunity to get the attention of your students while adding cross curricular activities. Here are my top five ways to add some theme based lessons this week:

1. Geography: Give your students a map and have them plot different super bowl locations.  Find out how far they would have to drive or how much a plane ticket would be to attend the Super Bowl.

2. Math: With the plotting of cities, have students plan a trip. Add the dollar amounts of what it would cost to travel, get lodging, buy a ticket, and purchase food or souvenirs. Younger students might like plotting the winners of the Super Bowl in a graph!

3. Language Arts: Time to design a logo for your favorite team. Write about your reasons for color choices, mascot, and why it is your favorite team! They could even write an advertisement for their favorite treat, beverage, or toy that might be featured in a commercial. They could create it on an iPad or video tape the commercial with a group.

4. History: The history of football is always fun to research. Epic books which is free for educators has some great non-fiction books. There are some great Football Themed fiction books as well, but here are a list of my free favorites!

I use EPIC books all the time to help me find access to books that I can project or share with my students. From A-Z to statistics...background of the game at multiple levels to books that can get them excited about a certain player, here are my favorites:

5. STEM and Science: Catapults are a great way to add some science of how a kicker makes a field goal or how angle affects how high or far a ball will go.

                                                 STEM Football Stations
My STEM Football challenges have three activities for your students. Creating a football kicker, a goal post, and a stadium help with a perfect little extra to add to your classroom. Each challenge includes a teacher-friendly direction and supply page that guides you and your students to know what to do to create each football themed challenge.

These activities were designed for my after school classes which range from students from grades 2nd-fifth grade. Perfect for after school, early finishers, indoor recess, homework, centers, family challenges, and gifted and talented resources for example.

I love the different ways that students are able to be creative with the supplies I give them!

Creativity, Teamwork, and Hands-on Learning are all perfect additions to the benefits of STEM!

When they add a how to or directions it is a great way to add a writing activity!

Are you ready for some STEM football? Find the STEM Football Challenge Pack HERE!

Constellations and Star Activities

I have always loved this activity and I wanted to share this quickly in a post! I love tasty science lessons and when you can get fourth graders excited about writing and science together it is a win/win! Can I just say POPCORN CONSTELLATIONS! Yes, popcorn constellations!

Here's how it goes...

I start with a quick discussion about some super stars we will be learning about today...the constellations! I share with them the video Crash Course Super Stars!

While I do that I set out a piece of black paper for each child, along with a white crayon (or chalk), a note card with lines, and a Dixie Cup of popcorn.

Once the video is done, I let them know that we

will be making Popcorn Constellations. I demonstrate, by tossing the popcorn onto the paper, too many pieces makes it harder for them to find a figure...I then pick up a piece and pop it into my mouth! I replace it with a white star mark to show where the popcorn once was. I continue to do that until I eat all the popcorn and have white stars on my paper. I then turn the paper in all directions until I see something. I then devise a story as to how the constellation got there in the sky.

I then send them back to do the same thing on their own papers. I love how they try to help each other figure out what they see. Some are easier than others, some may need a bit of help.

When they are through with their stories, we share the title or the story with each other. While we are waiting for the class, I let them figure out their zodiac sign and read a kid friendly horoscope. We compare it to a fortune cookie or the paper at a Chinese restaurant. 

I then complete my lesson by sharing an activity with flashlights comparing the closeness of stars and their brightness. We can all be super stars with this one!

Gobbling Up Thanksgiving Science and STEM Ideas!

It is hard to fit it all in during the school day, and with holidays approaching you might want to even add a bit of fun...why not do both! I have been playing with the idea of every new holiday I can connect Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math within the confines of my lesson and still cover NGSS Standards!

Holiday and Science Connection #1: Buoyancy/Sink and Float

What a great way to teach sink and float while sharing with the students the story of the Mayflower. I like the visuals of this video, but I will be posing a variety of questions as we watch and not listen...for older students it is perfect, but for littles it is too hard to understand. It ties in history, which you can do on your own.

1. What do you see?

2. How is a boat long ago, different and the same as a boat we see now?

3. What else is different in 1620?

4. What problems might have occurred on a ship if you were a Pilgrim?

5. Why does a big boat float?

6. What other things might float?

7. Why would someone want to write on a boat? 

8. When would you travel across the sea? They left in September. Was that a good idea or not?

9. They needed to write down rules. Why was important to have rules?

Find items around your classroom that you can place in a bucket or on a tray. Set out buckets of water. Have students test the items. Have each person draw on a sticky note something on the tray. Each pick a different item. Use an anchor chart to show and display the pictures.

Holiday and Science Connection #2: Living or Non-Living with Scarecrows!

Scarecrows are a perfect connection to living vs. non-living. Scarecrows are used to help farmers ward off birds that might eat the plants in a field. They look real so it scares the crows! 

This can be an easy lesson in what is living: 

You can find pictures in magazines to make posters to share. You can give word cards to each child to see if they can figure it out using the definition of living. Then, how fun to create a scarecrow after reading one of my favorites: The Little Scarecrow Boy.

I give my students construction paper, straws, cups, toilet paper tubes, and popsicle sticks. I give them glue, scissors, and tape...but not too much tape!

Holiday and Science Connections #3: Traditions

My students come from a wide range of ethnicities. That means that not all of my students celebrate holidays or at least the ones that I do. So approaching the Thanksgiving holiday doesn't mean that everyone in our classes will sit down and eat the same meal we do or even celebrate that at all.

There are two ways to go about an activity where students make a Thanksgiving table. . You can tie it into the history of the first Thanksgiving and share what was served then vs. what we might eat now. Or not even share what we eat now...or you can say at a holiday you might celebrate what do you eat...or you can plain out ask, those of you that celebrate with families on Thanksgiving what is your favorite food or what do you even serve. My Hmong students typically eat rice and chicken. 

We love making a special table for a meal we can eat with our families. We use toilet paper tubes, tongue depressors, unifix cubes, and cardstock/notecards. I love having the students make their favorite food that can then fit on the table. Here is the free lesson for you to use in your classroom!

Here is the Thanksgiving Table Activity Ready for you as a fun freebie!

Holiday and Science Connections #4: Camouflage

One of the NGSS concepts that I now need to cover with my littles in how animals survive, grow and meet their needs. This is for our first grade friends. What a great way to show how animals are able to survive...Thanksgiving style! Turkeys do a great job camouflaging. Many of the activities out there are for turkey to hide...how does a turkey survive without building a hideout or dress in a costume? This is a prefect way to show what camouflage means, but also do some of those fun activities to make those connections!

How can a turkey survive playing hide and seek for survival? They are shades of brown and it makes them harder to spot. Try taking a coloring sheet of a turkey, have students color it to blend into their classroom as they blend in. Have a predator (school personnel)  come in and see if they can find the hiding turkeys within view  in your room! Give them one minute on the clock to see how many they can hunt and find!

 Want to join the fun with  Holiday Science and STEM? Thanksgiving Science includes connecting social studies, math, science, games, and STEM engineering projects with a sprinkle of tradition all in one spot to make it easier for you to print and go!

This pack focuses on Buoyancy with sink and float activities, Camouflage with the concept of how animals survive and protect themselves, as well as Living and Non-Living as we add some scarecrow activities to the mix! What a perfect way to tie it all together with each concept having games, activity sheets, and a STEM engineering project using simple supplies!

Here is the Thanksgiving Science and STEM Pack...check it out!