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After our initial experience with Building a Sail Car ( read about it here ) my students (and I) were HOOKED with these building challenges! I knew I had to capitalize on their enthusiasm and determination and continue this type of learning! However, changes had to be made to make sure it was a true and balanced learning experience.  This means starting with a REAL plan.  It just so happened that I stumbled across ( while actively searching for appropriate & challenging STEM-type activities ) this great resource geared for students in grades 4-8: Bridges: An Integrated Stem Teaching Guide provided by Elmer's in cooperation with STEMfest The Works .    It provided a lot of the structure I needed to proceed: Objectives, Discussion Questions, Research Activities & Hands On Activities. Activate Prior Knowledge : To begin, I read the story: Bridges Are to Cross by Philemon Sturges with stunning illustrations by Giles Laroche.  This quick but engag...

Materials Used in Creation of Sail Car Back in February I received an email from Catherine Logue, Associate Editor, Scholastic Instructor asking if I'd be interested in reviewing a STEM product.   Of course I jumped at the chance!  As I waited for the supplies to arrive, I tried to imagine what exciting materials would be shipped to us. When the box arrived I couldn't open it fast enough .  Peering inside, I was less than thrilled!  Seriously, I was disappointed!  Inside were about 400 notched craft sticks, many clear straws,  6 inch long, thin dowels, elastics and some large and small cardboard wheels.  As I looked at the lot, I wondered what the students could possibly do with this collection or ordinary items.  Then I noticed there were directions for a "Sail Car" provided by Pitsco Education ( Try This Engineering: Sail Car ).   http://youtu.be/nks-7De7Au8 As I gave my word I to review the product I decided to forge ahead and give it a ch...

In part 1 of my series " Elementary Science Resources - Part 1 ," I mentioned a site that I hope to use this from Mystery Science .  While that alone should be enough, I have found some other notable resources.  Here they are in no particular order. The Norwood Science Center :  This comprehensive resource for K-5 teachers was created by Mr. Haffey & Mrs. Lockwood, two elementary science teachers. The site includes Lesson Plans with Vocabulary, Powerpoints and Videos. Topics include: Animals, Plants, Geology, Weather, Energy the Solar System and more which are broken down by grade level. Be sure to check out this free site with Creative Commons license! Singing Songs of Science : I first stumbled upon J.P. Taylor's site when looking for information about the Scientific Method.  His catchy song, Scientific Method Blues ,  got my kids learning and moving!  He's got tons of them.  They do cost money but worth checking it out! Listen to the Scientif...

My Students' Favorite Experiment: Making it Rain "Science is a Verb!" That has been my motto for many of the 25 years of my teaching career.  Although, I will admit that recently it feels like more of a noun!  Students need practices that involve hands-on activities which will take learning to new heights.  In an effort to revert back to VERB status, I'm looking for some new science resources. One new resource (to be launched in September) which I hope to utilize is called: Mystery Science . (See what grabbed my attention below:) The premise of this site is "open and go" (videos and lessons) making it very user friendly.  To start, the focus will be on 3rd and 4th grade (but adaptations could be made for older/younger learners with lessons to be created for 2nd - 6th graders soon). The first four units are: Spaceship Earth (Night Sky, Sun, & Seasons) Plant Superpowers (Life Cycles, Adaptations, & Plants in Human Life) Animals in Society (Lif...

Desperado, Nitro & Goliath are just a few of the roller coasters students learned about on the last 2 1/2 days of school.   This thematic unit (designed by a teacher, Lovin' Lit,  from Louisiana as a 7 hour plan for subs) included activities that related to all areas of the curriculum from reading non-fiction articles, recording and analyzing statistics, using map skills, to comparing and contrasting kinetic & potential energy. Videos and pictures of roller coasters were used to engage students.   Sharing their war stories about being on a roller coaster helped them make connections.  Then following directions students slowly created a lap book using the information about the roller coasters.   They made bar graphs, learned about energy through this song .  The final activity was to build their own roller coaster using simple materials.  The designs were unique and many worked.  I believe if we had more time - ALL of them would...

This tweet from @mbfxc the other day caught my attention for 3 reasons: It was sent by my twitter friend I know she and her son are spending the summer exploring I just love Jerry Pallotta , author of the Icky Bug Book and More! So I clicked on the link and it took me to The Explorers Site , which Marialice created with her son, to keep track of their adventures. The post with amazing photos and a video about lobstering with Jerry is great, and I couldn't help but think of the wonderful summer Marialice and her son were having by making 'exploring' together a priority. Memories that will last a lifetime! Then shortly thereafter, this tweet came into my feed from @dandanscienc The word "Project" caught my attention (as it often does!). So I clicked on the link and discovered a wonderful blog called SciStarter, which had 10 amazing summer activities in which to participate. They included counting moths in your area, observing jellyfish, volunteering in...

Tadpoles feasting During a science lesson yesterday about Vertebrates, the life cycle of a frog became a focus.   This of course led to a discussion about tadpoles.  In a weak moment, I shouted "Okay, tomorrow wear your old sneakers and jeans because we are going to go in search of tadpoles in the stream behind the school!"  The chairs went flying as the kids jumped out of their seats with joy. When the cheers died down, I instantly realized what I had done. My lesson for the day was done as the students couldn't think about anything other than the upcoming science class outdoors.  Then came the questions and comments: "What about poison ivy? Last time I was in those woods, I got a bad case." "How long are we going to be out there?" "I don't have any old sneakers." "Wow, my mom can come because she knows all about poison ivy."  "Where are the tadpoles? Did you see them?"  I realized I was over my head on this one. As ...

Crew of Apollo 7 (NASA photo) Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham may not be household names, but they are names that are now known in our fourth grade classroom thanks to one 10 year old girl and her Grandpa.  These gentlemen were the crew of Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo space flight!  Our young fourth grader shared a piece of their incredible story, but shared it through the eyes and stories of her Grandpa who was fortunate enough to see the end of Apollo's mission. In honor of Veteran's Day our class wrote letters thanking a veteran in our family (or neighbor).  My student wrote to her grandfather (who happens to also live with her) and he wrote back.  Not only did he write back but he sent in his yearbook from the ship on which he was stationed, pictures of that vessel and some amazing photos of Apollo 7 's splashdown from 1968! As this young lady shared the photos (via the class document camera) she spoke knowledgeably about each one of them. The photos were ta...

Go ahead and ask my kids!   They'd tell you that I would bring 'school' anywhere.  It just so happens that we are on vacation and indeed school is in session!  Ski school that is....well, really Boarding School. Well, really...we're just snowboarding and skiing!  And I didn't bring 'school' here I just brought the kids to the mountain and the lessons are here waiting to be discovered!     Okay - so what I mean is that there are ample opportunities for the kids to learn even while they are snowboarding. Take a look at a few of our lessons today. Lesson 1: Elapsed Time!  What time will you need to wake up if it takes 40 minutes to get to the mountain? Make sure you plan to give yourself time for a 10 minute shower each (so multiply by 3) and grab a quick breakfast.  We need to arrive by 8:30 so you might need to work backwards.  ( Elapsed time practice for kids ). Lesson 2:  Money! (at the ticket window)  Throughout the d...