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Gathering Weather Information
Young scholars watch a video of a recent weather disaster. Using the internet, they work together to examine the weather forecast for tomorrow and next week and discuss why it is important to know the weather. In groups, they use...
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Fossils
First graders write a brief informational description of a real life object, person, place or event using information gained from observations. They create their own fossil imprints and write a brief description about the fossil that...
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Graphing Sound
Students formulate an understanding of sound as a vibration and draw their graph as carefully as possible on their observation sheet. They also record how they made the sound and and a description of the sound. Finally, students cut out...
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Scientific Method for Middle Schools
Students use the scientific method to solve a teacher scenario. They bring in M&M's. Students are given a copy of the scientific method. They first come up with a problem. Students are told that they are going to conduct an...
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Fossil Evidence
Students evaluate each other's fossil imprints and they try to identify the original object. They comprehend the importance of accuracy in identifying a fossil imprint. Students create an answer sheet that has space for the names of the...
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Birds and Birdfeed
Fourth graders examine the basic survival needs of birds before examining a suet ball as an example of what birds eat. They conduct an experiment with pine cones, bird seed, vaseline, and peanut butter. By observing the birds, they...
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Evaluating Observations and Measurements
Third graders review the scientific method and how and in which steps scientists use observations and measurements. Then as a class, they hypothesize which ramp will send the car the farthest. They break into groups and send cars down a...
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Building a Bridge
Students build a bridge out of an index card that support the largest amount of mass. They create their bridge using an index card and books. Students place weight on the index card. They observe what happens as more weight is added to...
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Sunlight and Heat
Students brainstorm about the sources of heat. They discuss that sunlight is one of those sources. Students complete a lab about cold water and warm water. They record the temperatures from each thermometer and discuss which container...
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Folding Paper
Students use the scientific process and their knowledge to obeserve, predict, and test their predictions under controlled conditions to verify their predictions and then make sense of these predictions. They also graph, write...
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Shapes, Shapes Everywhere!
Sixth graders investigate the geometric concept of shapes. They locate shapes in their immediate environment and label them according to basic shape. The shapes that are found are recorded by the teacher on chart paper and any...
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Snails
First graders investigate the organism known as a snail. They use snails to make observations of the body structure and the basic needs. The class is shown a chart and the teacher uses questions to induce student thinking. Then they...
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Farm Animal Friends
Students apply basic communication and math skills to situations. They apply prior knowledge to list characteristics of different animals. They listen to music to engage multiple senses. Then images of animals are shared with them to...
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Time-Lapsed Observations
Students explore timed observations for science investigations. They record ideas on a chart related to a classroom closed terrarium. They repeat their observations for several days and time observations for changing shadows during the...
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3-Dimensional People
Students collect objects that represent themselves. In a class discussion, they consider how they are seen and understood by others. Students create two sculptures, one of how others see them and another of how they see themselves.
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Rock Art
Students create replica symbols of rock are found in Wisconsin and work cooperatively to create a rock art panel. They observe rock art to find their meanings and reasons why they were created.
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The Sum of the Parts
Second graders observe some everyday common objects in order to attempt to learn about simple systems and how they fit together. They observe small details in order to identify the parts of a whole design.
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Investigating Animals in Water
Learners observe small animal activity. They identify local water animals and describe the habitats where water animals can be found. Students collect samples to observe in the classroom.
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The Gummy Worm Lab
Students participate in a lab experiment with gummy worms. In groups, they record the qualitative and quantitative observations during the lab. They use their senses to make inferences about the experiment and share them with the class.
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Making Sense of Unusual Findings
Students work on the development of observation skills and seeing how they can be used in different contexts. The lesson is good for helping the beginner and novice, along with encouraging and reminding the expert observer of right...
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Wig-wag Physics
Learners make observations on the effects of a small, medium and large weight on the movement of a wig-wag apparatus. They use their observations to develop a generalized inference of the effect weight on movement patterns.
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Rain Drops
Middle schoolers examine drops of water on several materials used on the outside of buildings. They make selective observations on and compare plastic, wood, brick, metal, roof tiles and glass.
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Spring Awakenings
Pupils observe changes in a selected tree bud/leaf during spring. They record changes in the bud/leaf using words, pictures and numbers. They understand that trees adapt to changes in temperature, light, and moisture by sprouting leaves.
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Check Out Your Change!
Pupils examine a coin and write down details about the coin. They use appropriate tools and techniques to gather information. They employ logic to determine differences between the coins.