Get ready! It is time to discover the pollinating superheroes! I introduce to you Powerful Pollinators—part of my Summer Camp at Home Big Kid Edition! This is a fun, engaging science unit study that combines science and environmental education—perfect to get you outside and observe pollinators in action. This unit study, like all of our
Why don't oil and water mix? Learn why in this easy experiment using simple supplies. Explore how oil and water behaves plus colour mixing.
Kids can explore how the world works with these science games. These games cover natural science, social science & computer science.
Here’s a fun STEM project – make a paper horse that walks on its own! A few months ago, I saw this really interesting project on Pinterest where you can make a horse out of paper that really walks on its own down an incline, and I’ve been wanting to try it. Well, our mandatory […]
When I say science activities for middle school, do you groan or cheer? It's one of our favorite subjects. And why not? It's full of cool hands-on experiments that help kids explore their world.
This dancing corn science activity is incredibly fun! All you need is a few ingredients you can find around your house! Your kids will have so much fun with this fall science experiment! Dancing Corn Science Experiment
Tornadoes are incredibly destructive forces of nature that can cause catastrophic damage to communities and environments. They are capable of...
The immune system is such an important body system to teach your students. I love teaching the immune system lesson and other body systems!
Explore pollination in your elementary classroom with these activities, experiments, STEM challenges, and videos that help to explain why pollination is important! Dive into how pollination works with an art based challenge for second and third grade.
If you find yourself in Virginia's Dulles International Airport through November of this year, you might see the exhibition Life: Magnified on the walls.
Before I started teaching high school, I taught middle school science for 14 years and my absolute favorite topic to teach students is genetics. The “a-ha” moments when they learn about Punnett Squares, the ability to connect to their own lives, and the amount of creativity that I can add to my classroom add to […]
How can sound be waves? It is a hard concept for kids. Try these 7 science experiments for kids to SEE sound. Learn the 5 senses with STEM activities.
Kids love physics projects! Get them excited about this incredible branch of science through hands-on projects!
Magic Milk is a classic, simple science experiment kids love. Here we give it a space twist with a Galaxy theme that feels like space travel!
Not one time in my 4-year undergrad teaching program or my 2 years of graduate school did anyone ever teach me about parent communication. So naturally, I
These crystal stars made from pipe cleaners and a simple borax solution are SO COOL. And they're really easy to make! Leave them overnight and crystals magically form! Borax Crystal Star Ornaments OK you guys, I think I've fallen in love with another kids activity. These borax ornaments are so easy to make, and they look SO COOL when they're done! It takes a few hours to grow the crystals, but the actual work involved with putting them together is really fast. We whipped up our crystal stars in about half an hour before we left to visit my inlaws
Popsicle Stick Catapult! How to make a craft stick catapult STEM activity for kids. Simple fun science activity for all ages.
Word walls are really popular in elementary classrooms. I had a traditional word wall for a few years, like the one below. It's supposed to help with spelling, but I soon realized that nobody used it. So a few years ago I freed up that wall for something more useful. Traditional word wall Then, in November, I read an article in Science and Children called "Interactive Word Walls" by Julie Jackson and Rose Narvaez. It's not a great title, but it came with an awesome picture: I was inspired! An interactive word wall takes key terms and explores those terms through words, drawings, diagrams, and physical objects. It's interactive because the students are making all the decisions about what to write, draw, and put on the wall. They bring in all the items and help the teacher decide what to include and where it goes. Amazing! Logistics: The example in the photo above has the word wall on a dry erase board. Here's an example from the article that uses a bulletin board: I didn't have any free dry erase or bulletin boards, so I used the cabinet faces in my classroom. To create the surfaces, I opted to laminate white poster board. That way we can write on the board with wet-erase marker so the boards will be easy to clean and set-up for the next collection of words. How To Make It Happen in Your Classroom: 1. Determine key vocabulary for the chosen topic. The word wall above is for Ecosystems. The vocabulary words we used were: biotic, abiotic, producer, consumer, decomposer, aquatic, terrestrial, and food web 2. As you study each term's information, brainstorm ideas with the class for the wall. 3. Invite students to bring items to class. I usually use this as a homework assignment. The items might be actual things, drawings, print-outs, or photos. In the example below there is a bag of water, a stick, toy animals, a drawing of water plants, stickers, postcards, a drawing of the sun, and a student-made food web diagram. 4. Facilitate a whole-class discussion about each item, allowing the students to figure out where it goes and why. My students and I love our Interactive Word Wall. Now, we have something that is useful because it supports meaning more than just spelling. ~ Amanda
Watercolour paper, salt and watercolour paint come together to create some incredible results. What makes the best results? That's what you'll need to explore! My clever friend, Asia, from Fun at Home with Kids has been at it again and produced her 2nd fabulous children's book, "The Curious Kid's Science Book." We were thrilled to receive our copy and began pouring over it immediately. The book is set out beautifully with bright, bold imagery, just waiting to entice you and the kids into creating, exploring and experimenting. Whilst specific recipes and experiments will lay out all the step-by-step instructions that you need, I love that much of the book encourages you to actually do the experimenting and exploring yourself, which is so important! We were drawn to the beautiful salt and watercolour exploration and decided it would be our first activity from the book. With this style of activity, we had the material list and a basic idea of what to do. As for an exact method, well, that bit was up to us and required us to actually think about the different ways and amounts of water and salt, in order to achieve different results. It also allowed us to talk about and reflect upon our observations whilst creating and formulate our own conclusions. All very scientific and more interesting than being told exactly what to do to create an exact result. Here's what we came up with. Materials: Squares of watercolour paper, salt, watercolour paint (we used liquid watercolour here), brushes. "Where to start Mum?" "Just go for it! Use the materials, see what happens." Should you put the watercolour/water down first or the salt? My kids discovered the answer to that pretty quickly. What if you use barely any water? Why do you think it doesn't work? What is happening to the salt? My kids remembered the word "absorption" here! Yes, it is absorbing the liquid. Can you use the salt to draw certain colours across your pattern? What colour changes do you see occurring? What is happening? How will they look when they dry? Beautiful! Time to reflect on what gave our favourite results and what method we used to obtain them. The Curious Kid's Science Book. 100+ Creative Hands-on Activities for Ages 4-8, would make a fabulous gift (especially if you combine it with a few goodies required for creating and exploring some of the scientific concepts covered in the book). It's available worldwide and you can get it with free delivery here from the Book Depository. (Or look out quality bookshops near you). Check out the fun we had this awesome activity from Asia's first book, "150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids." Happy playing, Debs :) Disclosure: I was sent a complimentary copy of this book to review. All thoughts and opinions are, as always, my own. This post contains affiliate links. (Book Depository) Thanks for your support. Look where else we are. Are you following along? :)
Rugged cliffs, river-mouths, tidal rocks, powerful waves, farmland, age-old settlements, and newly born surf towns. Enough reasons to visit Aljezur.
God created the world in seven days. But, it won't take you that long to make a paper mache volcano model. The best thing about a paper mache volcano is watching 'the volcano eruption'!
Need an awesome bulletin board for the middle school science crew? Make a big impact with this inspirational science quote. Simply print on your favorite paper or cardstock, cut, hang and you'll have an impressive bulletin board in no time. Also included is a 8.5 X 11 printable poster and a "quote dissection" language arts activity in which students analyze the quote and research the author's major accomplishments and areas of study. This works great as a "Quote of the Month" activity and can be paired with my other "Famous Science Quotes" products. Included in this resource: - Instructions and Tips sheet - 8.5X11 quote poster with white background - 8.5X11 quote poster with black background - Printable bulletin board letters (See Preview) Related Resources: Famous Science Quotes 12 Poster Set Famous Science Quotes 12 Poster Set and Quote Analysis Activity Einstein "Imagination" Quote Bulletin Board Kit Bose "Laboratory" Quote Bulletin Board Kit 5E Science Bulletin Board Poster Kit and Lesson Plan Template Enjoy bringing the inspirational words of the wisest scientists to your classroom walls. Wishing you a class-full of curious minds, always! SCIENCEcerely, Me Terms of Use: All rights reserved. Purchase of this item entitles the purchaser the right to reproduce the pages for individual classroom use only. Duplication for an entire school, an entire school system or for commercial purposes is strictly forbidden without written permission from the author or additional license purchase. Copyright © 2018 SCIENCEcerely, Me by Erin Hansen Find my blog at www.SCIENCEcerelyme.com and follow SCIENCEcerely, Me on Pinterest,Facebook, and Instagram @SCIENCEcerely_me.
When I say science activities for middle school, do you groan or cheer? It's one of our favorite subjects. And why not? It's full of cool hands-on experiments that help kids explore their world.
Using strategies to make thinking visible can be incredibly powerful. Their power, however, hinges almost entirely on how willing teachers are to learn about their students. Far too often, I see vi…
[/caption] One of a number of seemingly implausible features of dark energy is that its density is assumed to be constant over time. So, even though the universe expands over time, dark energy does not become diluted, unlike the rest of the contents of the universe. As the universe expands, it seems that more dark … Continue reading "Astronomy Without A Telescope – Big Rips And Little Rips"
The first powered, controlled airplane to fly used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircrafts in the early years of aviation. This first aircraft was called the “Wright Flyer,” and it was built by the Wright Brothers. Today, this very airplane is exhibited in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. But you don’t have to travel hundreds of miles to see a biplane; build your own!
The often alien-like landscapes show some of our favourite - and least loved - foods from strawberries (pictured) and chocolate to broccoli and cauliflower.
Quick and easy science experiment that shows how shark fin shape helps sharks float! This science projects is fun for all ages: preschool, kindergarten, and older!
Ready for some playdough fun for all ages? This magic playdough recipe changes colours as you play. This heat sensitive playdough a hit!
Rainbow roses are absolutely gorgeous and quite simple to create yourself. This step-by-step guide will show you exactly how to dye flowers rainbow colors.
This summer has been an incredible journey into the world of art. It started with a family trip to the Harn museum that inspired explo...
British photographer Nick Veasey creates astonishing X-ray composite photos of everyday objects using an industrial X-ray machine.
