Second Grade Videos
I hope you enjoy these videos from our school year.
2021 - 2022
On this page are videos from some of this year's science lessons. Students will be reflecting on inquiry-based observations, activities, investigations and experiments in order to increase their understanding of science instruction. Interpreting, analyzing, and interacting with science is a critical aspect in the classroom and can be seen in these videos. It is my intention that these videos spark conversations at home about science and what we are learning in the classroom.
*FYI - THIS WEB PAGE IS BEST VIEWED FROM A LAPTOP OR DESKTOP - WHEN VIEWING FROM A MOBILE DEVICE SOME IMAGES MAY APPEAR TO BE CUT OFF. Some formats that I use to create these videos give me control over the music volume when students are talking and some do not. I apologize if some students are harder to hear.
Science Topic: PLANTS
LEARNING GOAL: As a result of these lessons, students will gain an interest in learning about plants by understanding the similarities in survival needs among all living things. Students will plant a few different kinds of plants under different growing conditions, students will also dissect seeds.
Our Last Visit to Kirk's Run
Today was our last visit to Kirk's Run. We had a great year exploring the creek. The girls used their senses to observe their surroundings and wrote about it in their journals which will be sent home with the girls along with their creek boots. My favorite part of the journal is when the girls explain how being at the creek makes them feel in their heart.
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
Growing Grass Hair
We used grass seeds to grow hair on the faces we made. The girls decided if they wanted to grow their hair by putting their person face down, face up, or standing up. This would change the direction that the hair grew. They look so cute!
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video
Dissecting Seeds
Students learned about the parts of a seed by dissecting lima beans. They removed the seed coat and then looked inside the seed to observe the food source and the start of the roots and leaves.
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
Our Very Special Tomato Plants
THESE TOMATO PLANTS ARE UNBE"LEAF"ABLE!
These are very special plants. In the Fall we harvested the seeds from ripe tomatoes. We let the seeds dry all through the winter. In the early Spring we planted the very same seeds we had harvested ourselves. We watered the seeds and kept them safe under the grow lights in our room where they grew into the plant the girls took home with them.
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
Science Topic: SIMPLE MACHINES
LEARNING GOAL: As a result of these lessons, students will be able to identify six simple machines, explain the function of six simple machines, and create a model displaying how simple machines make work seem easier. Students will be able to explain that work is a force used to move an object a certain distance. Students will review the three types of work, Push, Pull and Lift.
CARS - Wheels and Axles
To demonstrate how wheels and axles work we made cars. The girls used hammers and a wheel and axle to put the cars together and then decorated them. The girls generously gave away the cars they worked so hard on to the Pre-K students and became a teacher when they taught the Pre-K students what we learned in science about wheels and axles. One of the stages of learning is "I can teach it." So in the process we demonstrated our understanding of this simple machine. The first video is from the day we made the cars. The second video is from the day we visited the Pre-K. In the third video you can hear the girls' reflections of this teaching experience. :)
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
LEVERS - Launching "Snowballs"
We learned about levers as a simple machine. The girls launched (paper) "snowballs" and experimented with changing the fulcrum and the load. They changed the size and position of the fulcrum to see how that would change the effort to move the load. They also changed the force applied. As you can see from the video, the girls had a great time and they learned a lot too!
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
Winter Visit to Kirk's Run
The girls went out to visit Kirk's Run, with snow on the ground and fog in the air, to see what was different about the creek in the winter season. They used their scientific observation skills to record what they noticed in their journals. The girls also took note of water spiders and other creatures that were NOT there during our winter visit and we discussed why that might be so. These environmentalists also decided to clean up trash that they found in the creek. Way to help the environment!
The second video is one student sharing what she discovered today at the creek.
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
Force Paintings
After learning about the science of position and motion, and how a force is a push or a pull that makes something move, the girls used the FORCE of their own breath to create beautiful force paintings. They could "paint with all the colors of the wind." FYI: We went outside and spaced ourselves apart for this part of the lesson.
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
Science Topic: WEATHER
LEARNING GOAL: Throughout these lessons, students will learn how weather has many determining factors such as: temperature, wind, precipitation, clouds, and sunlight and that weather is changing all the time. They will learn about weather tools and how to use them such as: thermometers, anemometers, and weather vanes. At the conclusion of this unit students will be able to identify evidence of weather factors in different weather conditions.
The Water Cycle
The girls were on a water adventure today! Each student pretended to be a water droplet and traveled to different destinations. We used colored beads to identify the different locations and we put the beads together on a bracelet. Each bracelet tells a story about where their specific water droplet traveled. The girls also wrote in a Water Adventure Booklet to keep track of their journey. :)
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
A Beautiful Day at the Creek
What a beautiful day (but a bit chilly) to visit Kirk's Run! Some students used our nets to catch and release different insects and animals. We found a salamander that the girls named Sally! We noticed the differences in the different seasons that we have visited our creek and wrote about that in our science journals. We had a great day exploring!
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
AND NOW THE WEATHER... 2nd Grade Weather Reporters: In front of the green screen
Second grade scientists have spent the trimester learning about the science of weather. As a culminating project the girls became weather reporters. The reports include most of the components of our lessons from the entire trimester. In each of their reports you will hear about types of clouds they learned about, seasonal information, appropriate clothing related to the weather, the use of weather instruments, and other important information related to weather. The reports were filmed in the upper school S.T.E.A.M. studio in front of a green screen. Students wrote their own reports, chose their own locations, selected their background images and created their own forecast. The girls also worked one on one with a member of the iTeam to put together their green screen video forecast which is available for you to watch in this section.
A special thank you to Mrs. Walker, Mrs. Powers, Mrs. Diana, Mrs. Croall, Ms. Harmon, Mrs. Westmeyer, and Mrs. White, Ms. Harrison, Mr. Miller, Mrs. Carmichael for all your help making this project run smoothly!
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
FYI: There was a formatting issue with the individual forecast pages. When they were imported all of the lower case "i" letters look like lower case "l" letters. I'm sorry for the imperfection.
Rain Gauge
The girls each made a working rain gauge in class to measure the amount of rainfall in a given period of time. They are taking this tool home to measure the rainfall over the next couple weeks.
The second video is a tutorial about how we made the rain gauge in class and how to use it at home. This is the first tool for your at home Weather Station.
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
Harvesting Seeds for Spring Planting
Today we learned how to harvest seeds from tomatoes. We will let them dry and keep them packaged away for safe keeping until the Spring when we will plant our own seeds - the very same seeds that we harvested today and grow our own seedlings. How exciting!
Bonus: Last year the Pre-K students grew a tomato plant and the tomatoes are still growing here at AIS. We went downstairs to pick some tomatoes (with their permission of course) to use for this lesson. Thanks for sharing, Pre-K!
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
Our First Day at the Creek
We had a great day exploring the creek for the first time in our new Agnes Irwin boots. There will be many more adventures at Kirk's Run to come!
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
Making Clouds Rain
We experimented with shaving cream and food coloring to show what happens when clouds become too heavy with water droplets...rain falls from the cloud! We had a great time!
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
Visiting Kirk's Run
We walked down to see the creek that we will be exploring throughout this school year. Many more adventures at Kirk's Run to come!
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.
First Day of Science:
Shrinky Dink Experiment
Question: What will happen when you put a sheet of plastic into an oven? Watch and find out!!! We used special shrinky dink paper for this experiment and we talked about how melting the plastic to make it smaller would be helpful in recycling. We also talked about single use plastic vs. multi-use plastic. The students watched as their creations twisted, curled, and shrank in the oven and they were able to take home their creations today. Please enjoy this video from our time in science .
*If you click this video and it doesn't work, try clicking the YouTube button on the bottom right of the video.