SCIENCE

Journey North: A Global Study of Wildlife Migration and Seasonal Change

Become a “Global Citizen Scientist” as you track the spring migration and seasonal changes of animals and plants around the world. You can share your own field observations with students across North America. Follow the migration patterns of monarch butterflies, bald eagles, robins, hummingbirds, manatees, and whooping cranes, as well as the budding of plants and other natural events.

Type II Activities

Butterfly Wings

Have you ever heard of a Blue Morpho butterfly? A Blue Morpho has the fascinating ability to change the color of its wings from blue to green. This website features a short, online video that will help you discover how they’re able to do it! Adobe Flash Player is required for this website.

Children’s Butterfly Site

Butterflies and moths are some of the world’s most fascinating creatures! This site is dedicated to these beauties of the sky! You’ll study the butterfly and moth life cycle, read fictional butterfly and moth tales, find out the answers to frequently asked questions, and so much more!

Project Ideas that might spark a Type III

Build-a-Butterfly

Have you ever wanted to have a pet butterfly, but you didn’t want to put it in a jar? This site allows you to make your own creative butterfly, and the best part is that you don’t have

to feed it!

Use Symmetry to Make a Butterfly!

Find out how symmetry works through this project. You will use colored paper, scissors, and glue to make a butterfly whose two sides are like mirror images.

You could also head on over to the Wizard Project Maker and check out the Super Starter Project Animal Adaptations!

Traveling with Lewis and Clark

After Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, he assembled an expedition to explore this vast territory. Leading the expedition were two former army captains – Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Braving unfamiliar territory and dangerous conditions for more than two years, Lewis and Clark successfully crossed the entire western United States, mapping the territory and discovering its resources. Click “Discover” to experience the journey for yourself. Amazing!

Type II Activities

Go West Across America with Lewis and Clark

It’s your lucky day! The famous explorers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, have invited you to join their expedition across western North America. Your tasks include finding the Northwest Passage (“an easy water route from coast to coast”), befriending Native Americans, and establishing trade in the West. Are you up for the challenge?

Dear America: Colonial Period

Colonial America refers to the time between 1607 and 1776. During this period, European settlers immigrated to America and established the first colonies, which later became a new nation. At this site, you can learn how the colonists lived, what they ate, how they dressed, and how they spent their spare time! Click on the two scrapbooks to learn what it was like to be a child in Colonial America!

The Constitutional Convention

Meet our Founding Fathers! At this site, you have the opportunity to explore the legacy of our Founding Fathers through special features, exhibits, classroom activities, and more. You can even sign and print your own copy of the Declaration of Independence! Adobe Flash Player is required for some activities at this website. Or, if you are interested in art, click on the Faulkner murals and explore the faces of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Do you know the stories of any of them? How many names do you know?

Type III— Resources to Inspire Type IIIs

Here’s your chance to express your creativity! The following is a list of different projects you could create:

• • Take on the role of a native inhabitant of a place that was explored and claimed during the time of American expansion. Research the specific events that occurred in your territory, and then share your findings through the eyes of the natives in a series of letters. You can write these letters in your journal on Renzulli Learning. You may wish to start by selecting a native tribe at the introductory website. For example, if you click North Dakota, you could be from the Hidatsa or the Mandan tribe.

  • Research the tools, weapons, and gear needed for early American exploration. Replicate several artifacts by building models using clay, popsicle sticks, paper-mache, or any other material that you find appropriate. Then write a description explaining why each item was important and how it contributed to the explorers’ success. Present the models in an exhibit to share with the class.

  • You can also head on over to the Project Wizard and check out the Super Starter Project: Create Colonial America! By completing this project you will discover what it was like to live in the colonies during the period from pilgrim days to the Revolutionary War. Through research, you will learn about the challenging and exciting events experienced by colonial kids. You can choose to use your imagination to write a diary as if you were a young person living in the 1600s or 1700s or you can build a diorama showing what a home, schoolhouse, or town may have looked like during these times.