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Showing posts with label stations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stations. Show all posts

STEM Holiday Connections

Find the ELF Pack HERE!
One of my favorite things to do around the holidays is to find a way for all of the 400+ students K-5th grade be able to connect a fun seasonal book to a STEM activity.

Up until this point, we have been able to do some quick Halloween STEM activities, and a few NGSS STEM connections in a few of the classes, however using the FOSS road map that our district has developed is what often drives my theme or lessons. Lucky enough, I have been able to find ways to join some of those lessons together as well as integrate activities using our Ipads...so it allows me some flexibility to add NGSS...STEM...and extra activities that I create that go with our theme.



Find the GINGERBREAD STEM pack HERE!
Here are some tips to integrate any of the fun STEM packs that I have in my TPT store!

Tip 1: Pick a theme

This week's lessons  look like this...

K-weather connections using Three Cheers for Tacky, building a structure for the Penguin to keep him warm using toothpicks and marshmallows and a fun penguin pattern...they sure are Tacky!
1st Grade- How to Catch an Elf...we are learning about size and property words.
2nd Grade-FOSS Solids and Liquids and the Gingerbread Man
3rd Grade-FOSS Water...make a boat to float on water to keep the Gingerbread Man from having to rely on the fox to get across the river
4th Grade-FOSS Human Body and Elf on a Shelf... Mr. Bones style and Elf Traps
5th Grade-FOSS Mixtures and Solutions and Mr. and Mrs. Clause and separating mixtures

 Tip 2: Pick a Picture Book

With the opportunities to integrate some STEM lessons, I always try to find a fun picture book that will help set the tone. Here are some of the books I am using this week.

Tip 3: Find ways to integrate what you are already doing in your classroom...Look at the standards and find a way to incorporate them into a hands-on STEM project! I also challenged my older kiddos to finish something that was in our road map before they could work on a STEM project, and you should see how fast they start to work to get to be able to build!

Looking for some winter or New Year STEM or some Christmas alternatives? Check it out at my TPT STORE. Follow the link HERE.

Hang in there...just a few more days for those of us that have to teach right up until break! Happy Holidays!

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Science Rock and Roll

It was that time of year...time to finish our FOSS Earth Materials Stations...Moh's Hardness scale... Calcite Quest...Properties of a Rock...It isn't always the most exciting and at times it loses the kids. The kit can be loooonnnnggggg.

I know I am not alone. We all have units that make it hard for us to keep the kiddos attention. Units that we have to follow because of district initiatives. We follow the plans...we try to add a fun twist...we think "how can we shake it up a bit?"

To finish up on the Rock Cycle lessons that I added, I also mixed it up with a little "ROCK" and roll. QR codes are a great way to get kids actively engaged in concepts such as vocabulary, studying for a test, and reviewing concepts.

Sometimes my students scoot around the room....sometimes they have the cards at a station...other times like this we make it a competition.

Here is how it works...
1, Playing some rock instrumental music sets the mood. I just have it playing in the background lightly.
2. I share with the group that they are going to be rock stars today. Each time they pick a new card, that lead rocker will read the question, working as rock stars to try to figure out the answer.
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Rock Cycle Questions and Record Sheet...my students ROCKED IT!
In a group of 3-4 they take turns reading, having everyone record, checking the qr code for the correct answer, changing it if they are wrong,  and passing it to the number 2, then 3 rocker.... Each leader must also make sure that the same process is followed each time. Read, record, check, correct, pass to next rock star!


3. When each box is filled in with the correct answer, the band of rock stars must come up to me and show me that they rocked it out together. If they are all finished...first...I give them rock candy and a polished rock.
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The Rock Stars LOVED the candy rocks! 
4. We finish up by reviewing the Big Ideas of our FOSS unit and I continue to find other students that are "rockin' it" with sharing what they know about the scratch test...vinegar test, the difference between a rock and a mineral...

Here is a link to your own Rock Star Rock Cycle Review Freebie!
Rock On My Friends...we all can be rock star teachers and get our students to be excited about what we are teaching! Sometimes it's nice to get a little help from your back up band (with a freebie!)
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Marvelous Magnets...FOSS...NGSS... and More!

We just finished up our FOSS Magnet portion of the kit that we need to cover in fourth grade each year. I love the activities and supplies that FOSS offers, but at times the fun of magnets is lost in the FOSS lessons. Our science standards that we are using in our city are based on 1991 standards from our state. This seems a bit outdated even though many of these concepts are seen in the new NGSS standards. Because our state has not adopted these new standards I like to take what we already have to do and integrate the new NGSS standards where ever I can.

The great thing about magnets also is that the 3rd grade NGSS science standards of Forces and Interactions fit perfectly within the FOSS Magnet unit. 3-PS2-3 has students: ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other. So for example you could have students take two permanent magnets and see the relationship between steel paperclips with one magnet vs. the relationship between two magnets and those same steel paperclips. FOSS gives you the magnets, but how you use them to cover other standards is the key.

You can also use the FOSS lesson of the farther apart magnets are the weaker the force...by testing and using the NGSS standards to prove the cause and effect relationships and how they culd show that the distance between objects affects strength of the force and how they orientation of  magnets affects the direction of the magnetic force.

Using what they know about magnets can help you figure out how to take the curriculum that you have and how you can add the NGSS standards to existing lessons. Here is what I did...

As I focused on creating extensions of our magnet unit, I focused on 3-P S2-4. I created one of the activities that students can create a simple game design that can solve a problem as they apply scientific ideas about magnets. Maybe they could make a game that uses a latch to keep something shut or create a game that can keep two moving objects from touching each other... this then takes once again the FOSS Magnet section and extends it with activities that tie in NGSS standards.

There is only one real way to teach them effectively with whatever standards you are working with...hands-on. Loving the magnets of FOSS, but not loving the lack of fun interactive activities...I made my own! When the students were done exploring the different lessons I had to do... such as permanent magnet interactions with a bag of objects to discovering the forces of attraction and repulsion there is so much more you can do with these concepts they could work on stations that were set up around the room.

What I loved to see was how they worked hard to make sure that their FOSS sheets were done (requirement before they got to pick a station in the room...) You might also see in some of my activities that we did...we used the idea that FOSS had, but made it more kid friendly and connected it with their lives. This connections help them understand the WHY of why they are learning about magnets! Check out the activities and stations that were set out for my students to choose from!




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Need Science Ideas? Go Back to College...

Did I get you? Hope I did! Are you looking for some hands-on science fun? Look no further than your local universities! There are some amazing opportunities to use theme based science trunks filled with an array of amazing educational material and props! From puppets...to specimen...puppets...to lesson ideas your local university might be a great place to start.
Just a few fun and batty finds in the Bat Trunk!

Living here in Wisconsin I didn't realize that the UW-Stevens Point has some amazing environmental science trunks for teachers to check out to utilize in their classrooms...until this year!

When I received the trunk, I couldn't wait to dive in to see what my first grade bat lesson might be able to add to make it even more hands-on. My students love the "real" brown bat that they can get a closer look at. Is it a mammal? It has fur, it feeds its babies milk, it breathed air...but most importantly we can see it up close and personal!


The books that are included have found our way to a station in our room for students to enjoy them in the bat cave!

I even decided to use the lesson idea books to create a pack to include as my little gift for letting us borrow the kit for free! YES...my teacher friends these kids found at universities around the country are most often free to use if you are an educator!

Not only does our own UWSP have a bat trunk, but you can also check out the bear trunk, bird monitoring kit, energy trunk (that one is mine in May), Watershed (aiming for that when we do FOSS Water with 3rd grade), Fishing For Fun Backpack, and a ton of fun forestry kits that I can't wait to check out when our 5th graders go to our local school forest overnight!

If you are here in Wisconsin and want to check out these amazing tools to use in your classroom, go to UW-Stevens Point Educational Trunks and Kits or their direct site at http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/wcee/library/Pages/trunks_kits.aspx to book your trunk or kit today!
I also included in the trunk a free bat pack for teachers here in Wisconsin can use. Not able to utilize this fun BAT themed trunk...no worries pick up your  Science-Based Bat Unit here!
What can you do to go back to college to help teach science without even having to take a course? Check out your local universities by calling or searching in their library catalog for trunks for kids for educators. You might be pleasantly surprised!
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Mathletic Measurement Events

At the beginning of the year, as I welcome our new third graders into my science room, I start off with a metric measurement mini unit. This review is very important as we dive into our FOSS Earth Materials unit which has the students needing to measure circumference, width, height, weight, and more!

The Common Core State Standards for Math as well as the NGSS Science Standards both emphasize a need for our students to become proficient in measurement.

The fundamentals include:
-length
-mass
-volume
-time
-temperature
-perimeter and area
-graphing/reading a graph

This pack covers everyone of those key components except for temperature.

As we help them focus on SI or International System of Units (otherwise know as the metric system) as well as customary standard unit here in the US, we can find fun ways to add math into other areas of their day...such as science!

Take a look at my Mathletes as they participate in the metric measurement stations!

 Metric Measurement Mathletic Stations
Get your mathletes actively learning metrics...Find it HERE on TPT!



I love how the kiddos are measuring volume. They are measuring the water that they squeezed out of a sponge. Practicing how to measure in milliliters is a fun way to learn math!

The standing long jump has them working as a team as they measure distance in centimeters. Once they jump three times they average!

One of my favorite mathletic events is the weight lifting station! Grab those marbles kids! Then measure the weight in grams!


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What Did The Fox Say? Science!

How To Teach Students About Mammals

Each year, we start our first graders off by learning about animals with a vertebrate. I make a fun pack last year that I am using for my assessment. You can find it here: Animal Classifications Pack.

This year, I wanted to add a way for my students to walk around the room (now that I have a REAL classroom!!!!) to locate information that would help them remember what makes a mammal a mammal.

Every year I read the book Is A Cammal A Mammal?. This book gives a multitude of mammal expamples and it is in the Cat In The Hat's Learning Library. When we are finished, this year we reviewed with a smartboard review followed up by a quick circle the mammal activity! It got the students making the connections that they needed to make and it added a bit of an assessment. I will bu using those sheets to call up each student individually next week as they work on BAT Stations! Stay tuned!

With our littles, I love to add music, art, writing, reading, and science! What a great way to find time to add science into your day! Check out the What Does The Fox Say Stations in Action!

My firsties are moving from station to station on a Fox Hunt! They are looking for the missing word to fill in the blank.
They work alone or with partners...I even underline the magic word for them to match the number on the station to the number on the sheet!

What does the Fox say? I use the 5 characteristics that we learned about for their writing activity connection and the real fox helps them out! 

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When they are all through, they work on a simple art activity!
What does this fox say? I learned about what makes a mammal a mammal! 
You can find these mammal stations here: Mammal Stations: What Did the Fox Say?


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Cha...Cha...Cha...Changes: Life Cycles Freebie

Each year, in our FOSS Insects Unit, we raise butterflies in our science classroom. It is always an amazingly wonderful experience for the students to watch the Painted Lady Larva transform from larva...to pupa...and then to an adult butterfly!
This lesson helps students learn about life cycles as they observe a metamorphosis, bringing them closer to nature and the common standards that we must cover during a given school year. We tie picture books with writing activities...add in some science inquiry...and maybe a little math graphing. Whoa-la...we have integration!

At a recent conference, many of the teachers received a life cycle of a mosquito and life cycle of a worm freebie. I heard several winners say, "what am I going to do with that?"
Let's Take A Look...

Big Ideas:
  • Organisms reproduce, develop, have predictable life cycles, and pass on traits to their offspring
  • Organisms and their environment are interconnected
  • Changes (whether caused by nature or by humans) may effect the other parts of a system. 
Essential Questions:
  • How can we use models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles, but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death?
  • How can we analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variations of these traits exist in groups of similar organisms?
  • How does one's environment influence these traits? 
  • How do an animals traits help them survive, find a mate, and reproduce?
Thinking About Outcomes:
  • By bringing in worms or mosquito larvae can students learn about the needs of living things?
  • By starting a worm bin and learning about composting, or by looking outside for examples of stagnant water, can students learn about an animals' environment and how they survive?
  • Can students learn to observe, measure, chart, graph, and record with drawings, writing, and interpreting data though a life cycles lessons?
  • Can students learn about interdependence between animals and plants through worms and mosquitoes? (any animal for that matter)
  • Can students learn about the hazards facing us or an animal? 
Whether it be NGSS or TEKS...state standards or your district's standards, life cycles are the core ideas of each and every standards based curriculum at one point in K-5.

One of the latest classes that I took this summer to help me develop as a science educator was using the book Inquire Within. Inquiry based science is student-centered in approach. Set out the plastic life cycle pieces and see where the inquiry takes you. Let students lead the discussion. Bring in samples and show them what you have. Start with an I wonder...see where the process takes you!

We are always seeking to motivate students what better way than to use life cycles tools and real animals to get them excited and enhance learning for all different learning styles. Life cycles may be our students first experience with biology! By having students identify different species students are able to see the process that living things take and learn to appreciate different animals. In the spring, we study insects. You can take a look at my Insect pack HERE.  I mean all different insects and their life cycles...crickets...darkling beetles...ladybugs...butterflies...bees...I even get pond water with tadpole eggs to compare different animals. (Lenard the Frog was just released this week after taking him home and watching him through his changes!) From there my friends...bring out some seeds and grow! Another spring board to watching a life cycle, but this time plants!



For those of you checking out my blog this pack is free here! Enjoy!


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STEM-Tastic Ideas For Kinders


Teaching kindergartners STEM can be so much fun!  There are so many great picture books out there and simple STEM activities that can facilitate learning...why not give it a try! Here are some easy steps to follow:

1.Use a great picture book! I use Myon which our district has purchased a license for so that I can project my books and talk and walk. The students were learning their alphabets and they were on the letter Z. Why not read a book about the zoo and have them build a special place for an animal. Set up constraints. For example you can only use blocks, cardboard, tubes, and popsicle sticks. The enclosure must be like their natural habitat and fit on the piece of cardboard that you have each been given.

2. Use simple materials that are easy to gather and lay out! I use Jenga, popsicle sticks, cardboard, and wooden blocks a lot! There are easy to lay out and the kids find so many different ways to use them! The materials are endless. However, I like to see what I can recycle or reuse from our student breakfast program, or school recycling such as toilet paper rolls and milk cartons! The Dollar Store is great for inexpensive items as well!
Here the students are using blocks, cardboard and tubes! Easy...Peazy...Lemon Squeezy!
3. Ask a simple inquiry based question for them to solve!  Here are a few questions to consider...What do you think zoo keepers must think about when keeping an animal at the zoo? What is a habitat that a monkey might live in? How can a zoo create that environment for each animal? It is your job to create the perfect environment for a/n_____________. Before you start draw where this animal would live. Next to it, draw how you can create that habitat using just...

All it takes is a great book...simple materials...and great inquiry based questions. Leaving it up to the students to create...explore...and learn!
STEM-tastic learning by kindergartners when you give them a little time to be creative!
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STEM Summer Fun!

Summer is a time for slowing down, relaxing, and STEM! I was challenged by a dear science friend who is teaching summer school this year to find something for her kiddos to do when she needs a little pick me up or has a little time to fill during her summer school day!

Something that could take 10 minutes...could take 30 minutes...but as a science teacher during the school year she wanted to find something that could get her students excited about science during the summer time! I was up for the challenge!

I needed to make these activities affordable as well as the materials needed to be easily set up for her to use when the time came for her to fill it with STEM Summer Fun!

For each pack...I made a booklet that she can print back to back, a center card, and writing connections! I can't wait to see if the kiddos like them! Check them out at Science School Yard TPT Store under STEM Summer Fun!



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