Science Learning Cycle Activities Sec 03 Fall 2013

Activity Title (author)

Kinder-heroes Changing Matter (Paige K) Let the Sun Shine In (Casey)
Grade Level

What students will be doing

Students will be using different materials including vinegar, and baking soda to observe reactions and make matter change. Students will be exploring weather. They will cover basic weather such as hot, cold, snowy, and windy and will explore the different types of weather and how that affects the clothing we wear, and what we do during different weather types. They will learn about temperature and review the seasons. Students will determine what types of weather happen over a one week timespan while they are in school. Students will be engaged in hands-on activities to discover and explore the basic needs of people, animals, and plants. Students will learn about recycling by first burying organic and man-made materials, some of which are polymers, to see if they decompose. They will observe the materials and record their results. After seeing that substances do not disintegrate after being buried, they will learn that some of these items can photodegrade. They will then design and perform an experiment to photo degrade the six-pack rings and record their results. Students will be exploring magnetism by conducting an experiment they can call a magic trick. Students will also be able to define the terms of magnetic attraction, repelling, north pole, and south pole. Students will be observing and learning about the life cycle of a butterfly by watching a caterpillar form into a butterfly. Students will be able to explore and explain the four stages of metamorphosis a caterpillar goes through to change into a butterfly. Through conducting an investigation where students will be experimenting with wands and the different shaped bubbles they create they will answer the question, Are free-floating bubbles always round? Students will also be reading non fiction text to support their finding in the investigation and then present their data, conclusions, and supporting evidence through a poster presentation. Students will explore daily and seasonal weather changes and will classify clothes for different weather conditions and temperatures. THey will conduct an experiment to test how the temperature changes throughout the day and will analyze the data to come to a conclusion about weather changes.

Are You an Animal or a Plant? (Shelby) Hey, Did You Recycle? (Amber S)

K-2

K-2

Magic Magnets (Emily P)

K-2

The Butterfly Life is the Life for Me (Kirsten)

K-2

Flying Bubbles (Madison)

K-2

Wacky Weather Reporters (Holly)

K-2

Watch It Grow! Life Cycles (Jessica G)

Students will be exploring life cycles of animals and determining what stage of life an animal is in by looking at visuals of the animals, and they will create a timeline of an animals life cycle. Students will be exploring and observing their skin sensitivity by testing different objects on different places on their skin. They will record their findings and create a graph of the similarities and differences between their classmates. Students will identify the planets in our solar system and their position in relation to the Sun. Students will be learning and researching different types of rocks. They will investigate the different characteristics of rocks and their minerals while taking on the role of a geologist. Students will be cycling through 10 centers to explore different ways you can experience sound, how sound is produced, what sound is made of, and what affects the pitch or volume of sound. The students will be developing and systematically testing hypotheses about sound and its makeup. Finally, the students, as a whole, will use their understanding of sound to create a serial-sound-glass-sand/water instrument. Students will be investing the solar system as a whole, pairing up with NASA to work on placing the new planet, Planet X, into the solar system. They will be given very little information about Planet X and it will be gradual. They will then be asked to illustrate the solar system whilst including Planet X into this drawing. At the end of this lesson, students should have a general knowledge of the planets within our solar system and learn how to tell the distance from the sun. Students will learn about adaptations that animals must have to survive in different environments through videos, designing a species, and using literacy. The students will be identifying different elements in our solar system. They will be able to recognize all eight planets and separate them into inner and outer planets. Students will also organize the planets according to their distances from the Sun while they discover a pattern of inner and outer planets Students will be investigating what objects sink or float in certain types of liquids. Students will also be creating their own combinations to test out densities of salt-water solutions. Students will be learning about static electricity working as individuals and in small groups to gather data how static electricity works. Students will test and explore different objects that are magnetic and nonmagnetic. Students will explore the magnetic relationship between various materials and objects.

Mysterious Epidermis (Brooke)

All Systems are Go (Laura G) Exploring Rocks (Jessica W)

3 3

Shake, Rattle and Roll! (Jen D)

Where in the World is Planet X? (Amanda)

Amazing Adaptations (Paige M)

3-5

Planet Exploration (Nicole)

3-5

Sinkers or Floaters: Can you Make the Call? (Chloe) Static: Why You so Clingy? (Jennifer)

3-5

3-5

What Attracts You? (Terry)

4-5

Raging Roller Coasters (Tarah)

Students will be constructing a roller coaster that includes one loop, one curve, one tunnel and a stopping point. Each roller coaster will assist them in learning about the meanings of the words kinetic and potential energy involved in physical science. Students will have to predict what factors affect weather and will use computer simulations in small groups to explore how warm, cold, occluded, and stationary fronts affect the weather. They will then discuss what happened to the weather after each of the fronts passed. Lastly, the students will also apply their knowledge of weather fronts and how these fronts change the weather on a daily basis by creating and presenting weather reports in small groups. Students will be observing and describing processes of erosion, transportation, and deposition by accurately creating a physical model. Student will learn about rock cycles through investigation of the three rock families to determine their name and place in a family tree followed by creating the three types of rocks using crayons and lastly, creating a comic strips about the rocks life cycle.

Wacky Weather Wizard (Taylor) 4

Loyal to the Soil (Becca)

Rock Around the World (Jenna)

6-8

Science Learning Cycle Activities Sec 06 Fall 2013

Activity Title (author)
Floaters & Sinkers (McKenzie Gman)
Grade Level

What students will be doing

Students will be testing various objects to see which are floaters and sinkers. We will make a class list of objects in each category as well as the characteristics they have. They students will create a carrier for a pencil based on the knowledge they learned and the experiments they conducted and present to the class what items they chose and why and will demonstrate how their carrier works. Students will be exploring smell, taste, feel, see, and hear. They will develop what it means to do this things and why they are important in their lives. Students will be making observations and asking questions about coral reefs and the animals that live in them. They will use this information to create and categorize the animals and once categorized, they will create an aquarium. Students will be working with different objects and experimenting changing them. They will determine

Smell, Hear, See, Feel & Taste: Hurray! (Holli B) Discover the Coral Reef (Shasta)

K-2

Everything Changes (Courtney)

K-2

what a physical change is and observe how their objects undergo changes. Students will analyze different parts of experimenting and learn to record results.

Flying Seeds (Laura T)

K-2

Students will learn about the concept of seed migration by being engaged in a variety of experiments and activities. Students will be collecting data in order to compare the similarities and differences with living and nonliving objects by observing videos of living animals compared to the stuffed animal equivalent. Students will be exploring the differences between living and non-living objects while learning about the characteristics of what a living object possesses. Students will be experiencing different ways sound travels through different objects. They will learn the different states of matter, as well as how sound travels through each one. Students will love his hands-on activity that will keep them guessing and wanting to try more things! Students will be using three different objects to pick up items in order to learn about the different types of beaks and how birds use them to fit to their specific diets. Students will create and explore ideas about properties of physical matter by testing whether or not different objects float in water. Students will test various objects in a tub of water and record whether they sink or float. Students will be conducting investigations and discovering which objects sink and float as they learn about the properties that make the objects sink and float. By the end of this activity, students should be able to predict whether an object sinks or float by observing the physical characteristics. Students will be learning about the seasons, while investigating the different temperatures and clothing choices of each of the seasons. The students will be writing, reading, and doing math with the activities provided. They will be looking at pictures as well as using different resources to learn about the different seasons. The students will be experimenting with materials that will sink or float. They will be making predictions, finding qualities objects need in order to sink or float, and creating an object that will sink

Is It Alive? (Ashley B)

K-2

Its Alive - Or is it? (Kyra)

K-2

Sound Mixer: Whickety, Whickety, Whack (McKenzie G-lach)

K-2

Unbeatable Beaks (Jessica R)

K-2

Who Sank the Boat: Sink or Float Exploration (Becki O)

K-2

Discovery Bottle (Alesha)

The Reasons for the Seasons (Nikole L)

Will It be a Floater or a Sinker (Emily)

or float by utilizing trial and error.

Animal Round-up (Amy)

Students will be using their observation skills to classify different types of animals into groups with like characteristics. In this learning cycle students explore and observe plant characteristics in their environment, learn new scientific terms about plants, and conduct an experiment using food dye and celery stalks to learn how nutrients are absorbed and used by plants for survival. Students will be classifying solids and liquids and forming definitions of each. After, they will apply that knowledge to determine whether they believe Oobleck is a solid or liquid. Students will have the opportunity to explore and experiment with a variety of substances. Students will use their experiments to categorize the substances as either solids, liquids, or gases. Students will be exploring different states of matter (solids, liquids, and gasses). They will experiment with materials to determine what makes water change from a solid to a liquid and how to slow down this process. Students will be using their inquiry skills to demonstrate how the water cycle works. They will be able to describe the different stages of the water cycle, and how the water cycle recycles the earths water supply. Students will discover what capillary action is and the process of capillary action. Students will apply their knowledge to conduct an experiment that will show the process of capillary action, make observations, and make conclusions based on the outcome. Students will design, build and test their own gravity powered car using experimentation and active investigation. They will model thinking processes that are similar to those applied by scientists. Students will explore the reflection of light off of mirrors. They will then decide if the angle of the laser and objects are important in being able to see objects. Student will experiment with whether or not the material the light points at affect the redirection of the light.

How Do Plants Survive? (Amber)

Seeping, Yet Squeezable Substance (Nicole S)

Whats Your Substance? (Mary)

Ice, Ice, Baby (Hanna)

3-5

The Voyages of H2O (Shelby N)

3-5

Walking Water (Kelsey)

3-5

Racing Gravity (Molly)

Get Your Shine On! (Kaylee)

4-5

Its Music to My Ears: Investigating Pitch and Sound (Brian)

4-5

Students explore the cause and effect of pitch and volume as it relates to self created musical instruments. They will discover that sound comes from vibrations and will create a musical instrument then decide on one factor to change, for an experiment to investigate pitch and volume. Students will be exploring interactions involving force and motion by creating Rube Goldberg machines. They will use a variety of miscellaneous objects, including simple machines, to create a complex system of interactions that will perform a simple task.

Bing, Bang Boom: Using Rube Goldberg Machines to Explore Motion & Forces (Taylor)

4-8