Science and Kids

Students work cooperatively to assemble an ancient creature from its bones (made from paper). The fossil bones are of the same size as the real S. Crassiostris discovered in a limestone quarry. Students act as paleontologists to then infer the food this creature might eat, how it moved and its environment. This is lesson 6 in a series that explores dinosaurs and fossils at the primary level. This lesson includes teacher notes, rubric for scoring, background content, student r page, a writing pa

Students explore bird beaks and feet in a series of activities to learn about adaptations that help birds survive in their environments. In the first activity, students brainstorm about bird characteristics in order to assess students' prior knowledge and build background knowledge. Then students conduct an investigation to determine which bird "beak" works best for collecting specific types of "food." Students reflect on the activity by writing a bird report, "Birds Around Us." Pictures of a wi

Turn your students into an active ecosystem. This activity is similar to the classic Oh Deer simulation with a roadrunner and coyote twist. This sequence of NGSS aligned activities/assessments includes two simulation activities in which students are in the roles of a population of roadrunners, a predator (coyote), and resources (food, water, shelter). Students collect, graph, and analyze data to look for cause and effect relationships in an ecosystem. Reading and writing pages are included alon

3-EES3-1 Make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard. [Clarification Statement: Examples of design solutions to weather-related hazards could include barriers to prevent flooding, wind resistant roofs, and lightning rods.) Description: of assessment: Students make a claim about the merits of a design solution that reduces the impact of two weather related hazards. Students begin with a review by using a template to build a house, placin

This engaging PowerPoint presentation will generate much discussion about the needs of animals and how animals meet those needs. Students are guided to observe patternsof how animals meet their needs for survival through their locomotion, body coverings, foods, and homes. Photos and concepts enhance and extend the eight activities in the NGSS lessons “Animal Needs – What do Animals need to Survive?” https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/NGSS-Kindergarten-What-do-Animal-Need-to-Survive-

Get Quaking with these creative hands on lessons about earthquakes and faults! Karen Ostlund and Sheryl Mercier put their talents together to make science engaging and full of content! This series of lessons uses a paper fault block model to engage students in learning what happens to faults during an earthquake. Each earthquake lesson has an exploration hands-on opening to help students make predictions, then an investigation using fault block models to help them envision results of movemen

2-LS2-2 Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.  Key concept for this performance assessment: Animals can move around to meet their needs, but plants cannot, and they often depend on animals for pollination or to disperse their seeds.  Lessons include extensive teacher background, teaching tips, student recording pages, rubrics for scoring, Comic Book style reading pages for research, Photos and steps for sample pollination mode

This Power Point is designed to be used as a stand alone presentation on parts that plants and animals have to help them survive, grow and meet their needs. This also would be useful in conjunction with a lesson on the NGSS : Solution to a Human Problem - Grade 1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes:1-LS1-1. Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs. http

This series of activities/assessments By Karen Ostlund and Sheryl Mercier address NGSS 3-PS2-1 on Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object. Students begin with an activity to explore to force of gravity and balance by making a clay ball move and change shape followed by a game of “Gravity Says.” Next, students analyze the forces acting on their “Balancing Buddy”

Students love to learn about themselves. Use this short study of observable variation of hereditary traits to engage your students to collect, analyze, and interpret relevant data. They then use that data as evidence to construct explanations. Teacher's guide, scoring rubric, science notes for reading and writing are included. This is relevant for applying math skills for surveying also. 2011 Science National Framework Grade Band Endpoints for LS3.B Variation of Traits By the end of grade 5. Of

Study the planets with models. Use these three lessons to have your students think critically about our solar system as they learn about the characteristics, size and order of our solar system. Students collect information by measuring, construct a chart to organize information, represent the natural world with models and analyze those models for limitations. 1. Size the Planets – students practice their measuring skills to find or create spheres that model the planets’ sizes relative to Ea

This Kindergarten lesson is written and illustrated by Karen Ostlund and Sheryl Mercier. Kindergarten students act as engineers as they design a structure to provide shade all day. A full and half size Engineering Journal are provided for recording. The lesson begins with a whole class activity in which students observe and classify objects according to how well they block light. In the individual performance assessment, students design, build, and test their structure to keep out the light a

Get rolling with a science energy study. In these NGSS aligned activities/assessments, students use bouncing, flashing, balls to observe forms of energy including mechanical, electrical, sound, light, and heat. Students use the Energy Concept Map with a brainstorming activity about energy in everyday life. They also conduct an investigation designed to help students connect observations with evidence of different forms of energy. “Science Notes” can be used for reading in the content area with a

These activities introduce the idea of classification of animals. It starts with a team brainstorm session of vertebrate animals. Next, students research the characteristics scientists use to classify the 5 vertebrate groups. The third lesson has students branch out to invertebrate animals. They are challenged to group the animals according to some system of their own choosing such as locomotion, body covering, habitat. The final extension is to create a new animal with structures that help it s

Use this packet to introduce or as a final assessment of the NGSS standard for Grade 4 - Energy. It is also a scaffolded teaching tool of the scientific inquiry process so that step by step, students go from highly teacher directed science investigators to independent science investigators. Scaffolded inquiry (Directed, Guided, Connected and Full) provide essential support to help students construct the skills and knowledge needed to conduct independent inquiry. 4-PS3-1: ENERGY Students who demo

This sequence of NGSS aligned activities/assessments begins with an assessment of students’ prior knowledge of the Tenebrio Molitor, also known as the mealworm or darkling beetle, which goes through complete metamorphosis during its life cycle. As they study the full life cycle, they make conceptual models by drawing and writing. Prior knowledge is assessed as students write and draw pictures to illustrate how they think mealworms will change over time. Then they cut and paste pictures to mode

The in-depth lessons in this bundle help students use the scientific practices to learn disciplinary core ideas about Sound. The 7 lessons listed below are designed to engage students in using scientific practices to learn about sound energy. Each lesson emphasizes using a different scientific practice to learn about core disciplinary core ideas of sound energy. Each of these science lessons is structured into 3 hands on activities, giving you a total of 21. The first introductory activity he

NGSS Grade 3 Motion and Stability Forces and Interactions Predicting Patterns of Motion Investigations In this activity, students design and conduct investigations to find out what happens when objects with different masses collide. Students compare an empty can to full can rolling down a ramp and colliding with a box. They make observations and measurements to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion. Then they are provided with an opportunity to test additional obje

Science Activities to teach and Assess the Process Skills of Inquiry offers your students 15 challenging tasks to demonstrate what they are able to do as a result of their science experiences. These hands on activities use inexpensive materials and are flexible enough to use with individuals, small groups, or an entire class. Science Process Skills of Inquiry includes 1. Teacher instructions for testing the major process skills of scientific inquiry 2. Separate tests for each inquiry skill 3.

Matter and its properties are investigated through the use of a mystery mixture and its properties. Students must test and decide whether this mixture ( like the famous oobleck) is a solid or a liquid. Detailed instructions for the teacher, scoring rubrics and teacher back ground is included as well as inviting student recording sheets for copying. This activity meets many of the national standards and especially can be used as a performance assessment for Texas TAKS.