June: End-of-the-Year Finishers
June: End-of-the-Year Finishers
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May: The Force
May: The Force
Forces still seem like a mystical power, don't they? Especially when they're used so prevalently in media. We've all heard of force fields and even those who aren't familiar with Star Wars have heard of the Force. In case these are new ideas for you, check out some resources below on how to bring these ideas to your students - especially you Kinder, 3rd and 8th teachers who teach these topics the most.
Force and Motion with Milo The Monster In most Kindergarten classes, you can get avoid needing to ever use the word, Force, by just discussing it in terms of push and pull. But if you're interested in bringing Forces to your classroom, check out this video that has a quick explanation on them and allows you to discuss Gravity and even Friction with students after
Generation Genius on Balanced and Unbalanced Forces If your students are at the point where pushes and pulls make sense, consider adding to those ideas with Balanced and Unbalanced Forces. Check out this Generation Genius video that can help bring down the two.
How Close Are We to Building Force Fields? What is a force field and are we close to making one? Check out this video for a crash course on how forces are linked to fields and what technology is around today.
April: Showers
April: Showers
Have you ever been outside and it's 75 but it feels like 80. Why does warm somehow feel warmer? While ideas like the water cycle may be embedded into the Disciplinary Core Ideas, other ideas like humidity or even dew point sometimes never make it. Here are some resources to help your students digest these big ideas, gain a greater understanding of the New York water cycle, and even changes in the Pacific Ocean that could lead to a few more May and summer showers as well.
Human Water Cycle: Waste Water You might have heard that New York City has the best tasting water. That's no secret! There are so many resources that go into treating our water supply so that it's useable and drinkable as well as some emerging technologies on the way (National Science Foundation News)
El Nino likely to develop this summer: It's something that gets thrown around, but also something we haven't been able to pinpoint a pattern to - El Nino and La Nina. Although it influences the Pacific Ocean more and explains California's present rain storms, the sloshing of water can even affect us here on the East Coast. Check the link above to read more (NOAA)
Bad Hair Days and Tree House Weather Kids These resources can be great addendums in case your students are interested in building on any learning about the water cycle and are curious about fog or clouds. Some of the activities in Tree House Weather kids have since expired due to the retiring of Flash Player.
March: Migration, Hibernation, and Other Marching Animals
March: Migration, Hibernation, and Other Marching Animals
With the weather starting to improve and animals coming back out, consider spending part of this month exploring them. Check out these activities that you can do around migration, hibernation and other MARCHing animals!
There and Back Again: This history of migration is always an interesting one. We didn't know where birds went in the winter. In fact, one of our theories was that they transformed. Check out this middle school level podcast episode on how we came to understand migration and also some of the questions that we still have today. (Radiolab)
Big Animal Adaptations - For Kids! Add ideas to your Groundhogs Day lessons by discussing the ideas in a friendly and approachable way. Check out these ideas on how to bring migration and hibernation to your elementary classrooms.
Honeypot Ant Webcam But speaking of March and marching animals, there's no better an opportunity to talk about nature's biggest marchers - Ants! Check out this live stream of Iowa State University's Honeypot Ant Cam. Have students ask questions and observe different findings that they may have.
February: All About the Heart
February: All About the Heart
A month dedicated to love, but also an important reminder of what's going on with our hearts. The last century has been so vital with understanding the heart to the point that we can create valves, make arteries, and even move hearts between bodies - and potentially different animals. Check out some of the resources on some general information on the heart and some breakthroughs recently involving Covid-19
Heart 101: Check out this video for a quick crash course on all things heart-related. (National Geographic)
Researchers take a closer look at what COVID-19 does to the heart: You may have heard of COVID-19 effects on the heart. Take a look at some of the recent findings on infection links to heart damage
The Heart, For Kids! It's a tricky subject teaching organs to students, but this fun ziplock bag science model can help take that abstract concept and make it a little more youth-friendly.
January: What Happened in Science Last Year?
January: What Happened in Science Last Year?
2022 was MONUMENTAL in terms of science. Here are some of the big highlights in case you haven't heard.
Speaking of that Fancy Telescope: Check Out these Space Photos that We've Collected and What We Think They Are
Timeline, The Most Important Science Headlines of 2022: Infographics always help and this one is a timeline of everything from January 2022 to December 2022
December: Weird Weather and Snow Safety
December: Weird Weather and Snow Safety
In New York, weird weather is quite common. Many of us know that it's important to check the weather in the morning but also pack an umbrella in the summer. Take a look at these resources below on how to introduce some of these ideas to students and also how to engage in some tangential science that is still ESS-aligned.
What each cloud can reveal about the weather: Check out this NewsELA article
Image 1. Lightning and rain from collapsing cumulonimbus clouds in late afternoon over the city of Tucson, Arizona. Photo from: Wild Horizons/UIG via Getty Images
New York's Strange Lack of Snow: Why are some winters snowier than others? Especially in New York? Check out this article on the changes that have been tracked over the last 50 years and what we think New York winters will look like in the future.
Make Snow at Home: If we don't end up getting too much snow this year, check out how you can make fake snow with this cool lab at home.
How to Prepare Your Home for a Blizzard: What are the do's and don'ts of blizzards? Check out this video with TODAY on how to make it safetly through the icy cold months.
November: Fall, Food, and Other Fun
November: Fall, Food, and Other Fun
Although we say not to, scientists play with their food all the time. Check out some of these activities and articles on how science has change our perspective on food and how plants have been doing it for a while.
Oxidizing Apples: Although this is advertised as a PK experiment, the science behind is actually quite complicated and how acids can help prevent oxidization in apples. Have students consider ways to preserve the apples using the ingredients and then observe as the test compares to the control
Pumpkin Dissection: A great way to introduce students to the idea of observing and investigating is to have them predict what a pumpkin looks like based on measurements outside. And then to have them explore underneath!
Fall Flotation: A great activity for understanding the mobility of seeds and other plants as they find new homes, can be articulated in this sink or float activity.
How Water Travels Through Plants: A great activity to understand capillary action and how water travels through roots to leaves. Food coloring the water can even help show the transition more accurately over time.
October: Chemistry of Candy
October: Chemistry of Candy
Who says Candy can't be a learning experience? On top of the Science behind candy, candy can be a great piece of modeling material from tectonic plates to rock cycles. Check out some of the resources below on how you can make your classroom sweeter.
Rock Cycles with Starbursts and Jolly Ranchers: From sedimentary-to-igneous-to-metamorphic-back-to-sedimentary, candy can be a great material to show how materials change with heat and pressure. Check out some of the resources below on how you might use this in your classroom:
Starburst Rock Cycle Activity - Model the Rock Cycle with Starburst Candy Hands On Lesson
Explaining minerals, sedimentary rocks, and igneous rocks with Jolly Ranchers
Candy Science: It's never too early to have conversations about the effects that sucrose can have on your body. How candy is made is incredibly complex with sugar taking various different forms in different pieces of candy.
Halloween Science: From coloring dyes to using candy as a tool to teach appropriate dissecting skills, candy can also be used as a great tool to teach scientific etiquette, observations, and habits.
September: Back to School Science Resources
September: Back to School Science Resources
There's nothing that says team building and rapport quite like a good Science activity. In case you're interested in having student's creativity flourish, here are some ideas for low-budget STEM ideas to launch your year. Additionally, each month, you'll find new lessons posted around cool and emerging science from the Chemistry of Candy and Food in October / November to the Science of Christmas Lights and how to fix old ones you might find in a yard sale.
The Spaghetti Marshmallow tower is an iconic way to start the year. Have students with a limited amount of Spaghetti sticks, Tape, Marshmallows, and String try to build the largest free-standing structure. This project has been studied extensively and has even revealed that 5th graders outperform adults.
There's nothing quite as powerful as having students see themselves as scientists. Whether they're incredibly young or much older, see yourself in the role of Doctor or Radiology Technician or Entomologist is important. These activities help students see themselves as just that and speak into existence their dreams and goals.
Where science seems to be labored in procedure, consider starting the year by listening to a podcast or exploring a phenomenon. Podcasts like Radiolab and Stuff You Should Know and Science Vs. offer a great opportunity for students to see the adventurous endeavors that modern scientists pursue. Alternatively, phenomenon in the form of gifs and videos are also great at starting these endeavors with your students and having them generate explanations to their cause.
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