POP Science

OverviewLooking for an engaging and interactive notes page to teach or review complete and incomplete metamorphosis? This interactive folding notes page is designed to teach students to differentiate between incomplete and complete metamorphosis. It also helps student compare and contrast various types of life cycles including: insects, frogs, birds, and plants. It is important that students understand that all living things have life cycles with distinct forms. The note portion under each t

OverviewLooking for something to handy and straightforward to teach seasons and the effect of the tilted Earth? This is just the resource for you. This interactive folding notes page with a built in card sort is designed to visually model for students that the revolution of Earth with a tilted rotational axis is the cause of the seasons. It helps students understand the relationship between a tilted Earth and seasonal characteristics including temperature, angle of sun rays, intensity of sola

Concept Taught: Types of Energy Purpose: This activity is designed to help student form a deeper understanding of the different types of energy. In this activity, I have included the following types of energy: light/solar, thermal (heat), mechanical, electrical, sound, and chemical. Students must analyze various examples of objects (or actions) and determine which types of energy are associated with that object (or action). For example, a picture of wood burning would be associated with hea

Overview: This is a foldable designed to help students identify the various types of microorganisms. As shown in the picture below, students identify the microbes and record important examples, ideas, definitions, and attributes about each. This is a great activity/handout for interactive notebooking. Depending on how you utilize the foldable, it could serve as a nice formative assessment. Materials prep: o Print foldable in color (two-sided printing option) or copy in black and white (two-

Summary: This activity is designed help students understand how different organisms use their external body parts in different ways to see, hear, grasp, protect themselves, move, and obtain food. According to the National Academy of Sciences’ Next Generation Science Standards, by the end of 2nd grade student should know and understand how animals use their body parts in various ways to help them live and function in their environment. (LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structure and Processes

This activity is designed to help students recognize, identify, and define geological features and processes related to plate tectonics. In this interactive manipulative, students have a set of cards containing those key geologic features, definitions and processes. They must correctly play the cards on the “game” board in the correct boxes. Plate tectonics is a fundamental concept in Earth science and geology and this manipulative activity is a great way to teach, review, and/or formatively

This hands-on manipulative requires students recognize and identify the components of photosynthesis. Students must be able to identify the reactant and products of the chemical process as well as explain where reactants and products are coming from and where they going. This game is a great for learning the basics of photosynthesis. In addition to the game board manipulative, an assessment handout is included that requires students to identify where the reactants of the process come from and

Patterns of Change Interactive Diagrams Activity: Yearly, Monthly and Daily Cycles of Shadow Position, Shadow Length, Seasons, Sun’s Path Across Sky, Tides, and Moon Phases Developed by: Marianne Dobrovolny – www.science-lessons.org Suggested level: Elementary and Middle School Objectives: At the end of the activity the student will be able to: o Describe patterns in moon phases, shadows throughout the day and year, tidal patterns throughout the day and month, yearly seasonal patterns, year

Overview: This States of Matter Interactive Diagram Game is an interactive, learner-centered way to learn the states of matter and what causes matter to cycle through the states. Students are given a game board, and a set of cards, and they must correctly play the cards in the correct boxes on their game board and verbally explain the process taking place in that step. It is a great formative assessment activity to see just how much your students know about the states of matter. This activity

This Venn diagram interactive notes page is designed to teach students the different characteristics of the Earth, Moon and Sun. After students have been given information about the Earth, Moon and Sun by means of direct teach or student-lead research, they will cut out the attribute cards and correctly place them on their Venn diagram. This could also be done as the direct teach or research is being done. The diagram helps them see the differences and similarities between the three objects.

Objectives: o Students will construct a 2-d model depicting spring and neap tides during a lunar cycle. o Students will differentiate between spring and neap tides. o Students will relate the position of the moon and sun to ocean tides. o Students will explain how the relative position of the moon and sun and the gravitational pull by each causes spring and neap tides. o Students will explain the cause of tidal range differences during spring and neap tides as it relates to the gravitational pul

This hands-on manipulative requires students recognize and identify the components and process that drive the water cycle. Students must be able to identify the various processes and define them. This game help students conceptually understand how and where water is moving in and through the cycle. This game is a great for learning the fundamentals of the water cycle. In addition to the game board manipulative, an assessment handout is included that requires students to identify where water i

This match game exposes students to a wide range of traits in plants and animals and requires them to distinguish whether they are inherited or acquired. Understanding the difference between inherited and acquired (learned) traits is a fundamental genetic concept. In the 5th grade (varies among states), students are expected to differentiate between traits or characteristics that are inherited and ones that are learned or acquired during an organism’s lifetime. This highly engaging, student-c

Overview: This is a foldable designed to help students identify the planets within the Solar System as well as the Asteroid Belt and Kuiper Belt. As shown in the picture below, students identify the planets/belts under each tab of the foldable and record important ideas, definitions, and attributes about each. This is a great activity/handout for interactive notebooking. Depending on how you utilize the foldable, it could serve as a nice formative assessment. Materials prep: o Print folda

Overview: This is an interactive activity that helps students understand that all living things have basic needs that must be met in order to survive. Students must distinguish the differences and similarities in animals and plant needs as well as differentiating between biologic needs for survival and other non-biological needs.

This a reference handout of weather symbols and their meaning.

Overview: The Rock Cycle Game is an interactive way to learn the rock cycle and the processes that drive it. Students are given a game board, a set of cards and sentence stems and they must correctly play the cards in the correct boxes on their game board and verbally explain the process taking place in that step using an ESL friendly sentence stem. It is a great formative assessment activity to see just how much your students know about the cycle. This activity would also make for a wonderfu

Animal Adaptation Brainium is a guessing game (modeled after "Cranium") in which students must act-out, draw, and sculpt animals as well as identify and explain certain beneficial structures or functions of the animal group they are guessing. This engaging game gives students the opportunity to explore how beneficial characteristics from different species in the animal kingdom that are needed for their survival. In upper grade levels, these traits/characteristics are referred to as adaptations

This hands-on manipulative is designed to help student learn the position of the planets in the solar system as well as what they look like. Students must also distinguish between the four Gas Giant plants and the four Terrestrial planets. This manipulative can be played as a game (instruction provided below) or simply as a teaching tool to help student visually understand our Solar System. Although this activity is designed for elementary classrooms, it can be used at higher grades as well.

Choose Your Corner is a formative assessment strategy that helps students distinguish attributes of certain categories, objects, topics, terms, etc. In this choose your corner, students are given a set of attributes that describe the Earth, Moon and Sun. They must distinguish between those attributes and determine which corner of the room they belong. This activity can be used as a pre-assessment to your Earth, Moon, and Sun lesson or as a post-assessment to see how well students know the dif