Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Types of Organisms

For science, we started out unit on organisms. First, we talked about what organisms are and what makes something an organism. We looked at various pictures and decided if they were organisms or not. Then I had them talk to a partner to come up with one thing that is an organism and one thing that is not. We created a long list on the board. Next, I gave each student a picture card and they had to tell me if it was an organism or not. Finally, students went to their seats and cut out and sorted pictures to decide if they were an organism or not.

Now that the kiddies know what organisms are, I told them there are lots of different kind of organisms and we are going to learn about each one. Every day, we focused on a different kind of organism (mammals, reptiles, fish, birds, amphibians, insects, and plants). I read a book about each one and we talked about examples of that kind of organism.  Then students went to their seat and wrote 2 facts and drew a picture of the organism we were focusing on that day. Once we finished learning about all of the different kinds, I gave the students all sorts of pictures. I also had the different groups written on their tables. Their goal was to work as a team to put the pictures on the correct tables.







To finish out our unit on organisms, we made cute little explorers! I gave each student 6 index cards to fold in half. They wrote mammal, reptile, fish, bird, amphibian, and insect on the outside of the cards. Then they wrote 2 facts and a picture on the inside of the card. They glued the cards to the vest of their explorer. Next, they colored their hat, face, hands, and shoes. They also had to draw examples of the various organisms that would go on the inside of their vests. Once everything was ready to go, they glued it all together and here's how they turned out!










Thursday, February 6, 2014

Candy Houses

Before winter break, I started something new and exciting with my kiddies. As part our science curriculum, we began talking about engineering and what it meant. We talked about the steps of a science experiment and why it's important to follow these steps before actually doing your experiment. Since it was way back in December when we started this new project, it was a perfect time to build candy houses! Candy houses in school? You bet! We went through the planning process by each drawing our own candy house. Then I put students in groups and they had to present their plan to their teammates. After presenting, each team picked the best ideas and drew a plan for their house on a huge piece of chart paper (they LOVED using chart paper). Once their drawings were finished, I passed out materials and let the building process begin! It wasn't easy to get their structures to stay standing, but each group didn't give up and was able to build and decorate their candy houses.













By the end, everyone felt like successful engineers and their bellies were full of sugar!