Roller Coaster STEM Unit

The thing is...my daughter had a car accident over winter break, and now it is time to get a "new" used one. Propane in WI is over $5 a gallon and yikes that bill was over $1000. So, mama has to get another job. We have an after school program that gets our kiddos another 2 hours of school. Our focus is to design activities that provide them with CORE lessons: reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. I created a three week unit based on KNEX kits we have based on roller coasters. I can't wait until it starts next week. We have an engineer coming to start the unit off, having our kiddos see their potential and know that they can do anything if they put that extra effort into it. I also am working on the next sessions unit...cardboard arcade. Stay tuned. 

Check out the roller coaster unit on TPT. You can use this great STEM unit for your classroom, too.

 Keeping it rolling as my son is home today.

Valentine's In Science

We are learning about the human body, so what better time then the present to include some heart healthy learning. Here is what I made for my classroom teachers to use next week... Find it on my TPT site...Valentine Heart Healthy Stations

It's Currently February!

February has already been very busy! We started off at a 5th grade boys' basketball tournament, followed by driving our son to a birthday party, going out on a date with my husband out to eat (alone), then coming home to a messy house, my girls were in hot water...followed by my attempt to "catch up" on blog life. So currently... is hosting a currently February! That Farley rocks!

LISTENING... to a quiet house is sure nice after a day of boys' basketball.

LOVING... that my lessons that I started on Friday...my day of of my five day week... went so well. The kinders love shadows and puppets! Firsties love Mirette and their try at a tight rope...2nds loved the What's the Matter With Frosty activities....3rds loved the water cycle lesson with songs, demos, and games...4ths showed me they really understood ligaments and tendons and playing a game of indoor soccer with leg models helped after a week of indoor recess (and counting!)...fifths are preparing to make George's Marvelous Medicine (homemade lemonade, a great mixtures and solutions activity, taste testing and all!)

THINKING...we had an in-service this past Friday and Monday. We are looking at the new way to be assessed, SLO's and SMART goals...yikes. A lot to take in. I have been teaching 22 years and am soooo lucky to be teaching science...I love it, but to set a goal with a percent when I only see my kiddos once a week for an hour makes me nervous. Has anyone created any for science yet?

WANTING AND NEEDING... my almost 19 year old to come home next weekend for her birthday...however, my husband and I are also celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary out of town, before she arrives home. I can't wait to have all 6 of our family members around the table! What a gift for dear ole' mom!

My truths, I am not certified to teach kindergarten, however I "facilitate" their lessons. I actually love those little buggers! They are sponges! I also am nervous for the future of my children and for the kiddos I teach. Education is a bit scary right now. However...my fib...I love science and with all of the testing right now, I don't really want to go back to a regular ed classroom. I love that my students can't wait for science each week and they fight for the PBIS extra science class with me! It is good to be loved by so many wonderful students k-5!

Happy Super Bowl Day!

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY SALE

I am throwing a SUPER BOWL SALE on my TPT site! All of my products are 20% off today! So take a little time out from watching the game and stop on by to see the great items you can get on sale!

FOSS Friday

This week has been a short week. We had an inservice day to discuss SLO’s for everyone. It is hard to write a SMART goal for me when I only see my kiddos once a week for an hour…so if anyone has any ideas, wow…send them my way. We have 8 teachers in our district in the same boat. The question is…do we write a math goal to go with the classroom teachers, a writing goal to go with along with the classroom teachers, or do a separate science goal? This is also hard because right now we do not have a common assessment. Maybe, that is what we need to do first.

What does your district do for smart goals for science? 

As for FOSS next week, kindergartners are learning about weather and what a perfect time to learn about shadows due to Ground Hog’s Day next week. Here is what we did… We started off by checking the weather...it is snowing again. Five inches projected. We then talked about how fun  it is to walk into Mrs. H's room and put their hands in front of the projector. I asked them what they see when they do that? I projected a blank screen and put my hand in front of the light. We discussed shadows.  We experimented with how to makes a shadow bigger and smaller and what makes our shadow disappear. We need light! Bigger is when it is closer to the light and smaller when it is farther away. I then showed them the shadow video...they loved it and wanted to do that too!

We also made shadow puppets in front of the projector with our ground hog picture. The students wrote a sentence to show what the ground hog was going to do. We read Gregory’s Shadow to help them find a shadow in the room. I used the TPT free download for inspiration. I showed them several lessons on how to change the size of the shadow and what happens when there isn’t light.

  Our own shadow puppets...

For first grade, we are continuing to work on balance. I started with our vocabulary words: staple, unstable, counterweights, and balance point. I asked them to look at a picture of a high wire walker to use the vocabulary words. Pierre Petit has a great collection of you tube videos. We started with the pictures. Then we read Mirette on the High Wire.  

I then gave them a chance to work with Mirette and Bellini. I gave them the arch (Bellini) and the triangle (Mirette). I asked if they could get them to balance on their own. Then I asked them if counter weights would help keep them more stable. We gave them the popsicle stick for the table and asked them to use the clips to stabilize Mirette and Bellini. I then gave them the stable balance sheet to work on as the learned balance point and where the weights are. We did a few together and learned to predict the outcome as we learned what “top heavy” was. I made connections and shared times that things can be top heavy. Carrying a too heavy load of groceries, a muscle man, a pregnant lady, the game jenga. To finish up on the balance lesson we watched a video of the tight rope walker Phillipe Petit as he crosses two buildings.

 The triangle is Mirette, and the arch is Bellini. The connection really makes sense to them. Do you see the lines on the ground? Our tiles are build in high wires. As they walk out...the too are balancing on the tight rope! Those cuties trying not to fall...

 Our dear second graders are continuing to learn about liquids and solutions so I made a cute three part activity for TPT called What's the Matter? (solids and liquids) Science Stations. Check it out. I am using the What's the Matter, Frosty? part. Within one hour we:

1. filled snow in our bottles

2.  we gave our snowman/woman a name

3.  we measured how big and wide our snowman/woman was

4. we listed things snowmen should never do...hot tubbing, smore making, sleepovers...

5. we then read the book Snowmen All Year from the site We Give Books. It is a free site to join...and great books I might add!

6. we then listed what we could do if snowmen could be around all year... go on a picnic, rollerskating, swimming to name a few.

7. then we measured again...melting away after 30 minutes...half the size and getting skinnier!

8. We even wrote a snowman sequence story with cards I found on line. 

9. We even made predictions as to what was going to happen over the weekend. We also asked questions: why no water at the bottom? Why condensed? Why so compact after it being full?

10. Next week, we will share the stories and the outcome. 

Our third graders are working on the water cycle for the next two weeks. We started with the book Cleopatra's Tears. We watched a quick video on the water cycle, next.

We followed it up with the Water Cycle Hoe Down I found on TPT by Jenna Rupp. Kids love it! We then moved on to a water cycle demonstration...also found on TPT by Laura Candler. We also worked on two sheets that I bought from TPT Science Penguin. I love TPT!

As for my fourth graders...I am still working on ligaments and bones. We created the leg model and played soccer with the legs and marbles. I also tried ticket out the door in a new way...I gave them each an index card for them to show what they know about ligaments and tendons after watching the video from last week's FOSS Friday. I checked them and put them in piles of understands and doesn't. I will meet with my doesn't understand group next week. I was impressed with their understanding overall.

I can't wait until my first group of fifth graders on Monday. We are making George's Marvelous Medicine! Stay tuned... this week was a long one. I hope this helped make FOSS fun!

Peek At My Week

Oh, my dear...with two days of inservice my days one-five are all mixed up. Tuesday will be a day 4 and then I start with new lessons on Thursday. Yikes. Hard to keep that straight. So, thanks to Mrs. Laffin's Laughings  (it is her birthday weekend!!!) I can systematically plan what I am going to do next week...even if my week doesn't start until Thursday this next week.

Our circus act in first grade will start off with...



This book gives an idea of what kinds of acts are at the circus. We will then review how we balanced our crayfish on our finger by demonstrating using a little circus music.

I then want to take a little assessment of where they are at. Can they show where they would place the counterweights?

                       Crayfish sheet

In second grade, I want to make sure I use some common core writing ideas to assess what they remember about separating soup mix. I had the kids create factories of workers to process the separation of the mix. They had to work as a team to see what company could separate more mix faster, cleaner, and safer. Here is the sheet I am using to see if they remember...

                     soup mix writing

Now onto the Water Unit. We finished up last week with ice in water. We are going to do the ice cubes in water activity for a review of hot water rises and cold water sinks. One of my science coworkers presented a question of the day on the board: You are in a pool and you notice a big temperature difference from the top of the water to the bottom of the water. Why would the water at the bottom be cooler and the top be warmer? What a great connection! Here is the sheet...

                     Ice In Water Review
As for the bigs... 4th grade is all set for the week, with the ligaments and tendons lesson from last. They are my day four and five. So with inservice I didn't get to see them yet. But my fifth graders are doing an activity with George's Marvelous Medicine. I read the chapter Grandma's Medicine and then we make marvelous medicine. I give them lemon juice, water, and sugar. They have to measure exactly and make a recipe unlike George. Then, they have to test someones...it could be there own. I have them pick numbers and label everything.

Snatch a free copy of my Marvelous Medicine...Mixtures and Solutions Lemonade Lesson here:)

FOSS Friday

Here we are again, another Friday. Today, we had inservice and our science teachers met to discuss our units in FOSS and to try to find ways to amp it up. If anyone has some great ideas to add STEM to FOSS lessons please pass it on. It would be great to share ideas. Our district will not be adopting the NGSS science standards at this time, but we are trying to figure out ways to add project based learning and STEM activities. Here is what we discussed in different groups:

Kindergarten... we created lessons that are tailored to the new standards, but with friction someone shared the idea of using the fabrics in the kindergarten kit to test different surfaces. Great idea!

First graders... when we do our motion lesson that has the kiddos working on the noodles and marbles, let's have the kids make a "waterpark ride". I set my blue trays up at the base last year and we pretended the marble was the person. Safety first. This was a great way to incorporate STEM.

Second graders...working with solids and liquids, can we watch a little Frosty the snowman clip, I put it on a previous lesson, and have the kids create a way to protect Frosty from the heat. This would be a great insulation lesson on how to keep an ice cube frozen longest.  This is the lesson I am working on next for our group.

Third graders...Water unit...hmmmmm...what to do for STEM? Here is a great link for that on the WATER CYCLE. This unit has some great math ideas. I am going to have to figure something out...later.

Fourth graders...Human Body... I found a great idea about extracting DNA from another science blog...The Jr. Mad Scientist. This site has a great DNA activity that you do with strawberries. This could be a fun tie in to DNA of the human body, but I did find a fun interactive site that helps review all of the different body systems. You can find it here.

Fifth graders...We are finishing our mixtures and solutions unit and then we will have a few weeks before spring break in March. I am looking to create an ecosystems unit using the new NGSS standards or even a fun roller coaster unit that we could use a way to get them moving. There are also some great kitchen chemistry activities that you could do that has them doing a fun make and take.

Our 8 science teachers in our district would love to hear what our FOSS friends are doing out there. What would you like to see from us as well?

Happy Friday!