Brainstorming: Stars

We have been studying space during our science time for a few weeks, and this week we focused on stars.  To get an idea of their prior knowledge, we started with a brainstorming session, and I was super impressed by the ideas they came up with.  Here is our web:

 

After brainstorming, we talked about several constellations and the names of the big stars in them.  I also showed them some pictures of different stars built to scale.  I can’t remember where my pictures originally came from, but they look very similar to these pictures, which I found here.

 

Camp S.O.L.E.

Monday and Tuesday, we took the fifth grade on our first study trip of the year to Camp S.O.L.E.  So, what IS Camp SOLE?  It stands for Science Outdoor Learning Experience, and boy is it!  At Camp, we teach the kids different science related information through a series of activity stations.  The kids cycle through Leaf and Tree Identification, Pond Water Study, Star Lab, Orienteering, and Initiative games stations in a two day (yes, that means overnight) camp experience.  The stations cover a ton of information and meet most of our science standards for the year (although we DO continue to teach science).  

Here are the basics of each station:

Leaf and Tree ID – the kids learn about organization systems and hierarchical charts to identify trees native to Indiana.  They also learn how to identify poisonous and edible plants

Pond Water Study – The kids use microscopes to find microscopic life in pond water samples.  They identify the organisms and do drawings of their findings.

Star Lab – This is a portable planetarium that we use to teach the kids the different constellations that are visible during this time of the year.  This was my station, and I had a blast teaching about the constellations and their stories.  We talked about the Native American mythology and the Greek mythology behind the constellations.

Orienteering – The kids learn how to use compasses and then use them to navigate a scavenger hunt.  

Initiative Games – This is the only non-science activity.  In this station, the kids play different team building games to work on their communication and team work skills.  I taught this for several years and it was always fun to see the kids work together to accomplish a task.  The usual leaders pop out of the group immediately, but it’s the quiet leaders that are often discovered during this time.

On the afternoon of the first day, we also have a recreation time, during which, the kids canoe, kayak, and play kickball and volleyball.  Then, during the evening, we have a story teller come in and the kids’ groups all do short skits before it’s time for bed.  

It makes for an exhausting two days, but the kids love it and learn a ton.  It also provides a great topic for their first long writing assignment: a 10 paragraph essay about Camp S.O.L.E.  We started writing today and the kids are amazed at how easy it is to write a long paper when you have a lot of material to write about!

Main Idea and Details Craftivity

With the kids observing the moon for a month between lessons in my Moon unit, I have been filling our science lessons with a variety of activities.  One thing I have noticed is that the kids love anything hands on.  That sent me searching blogs for fun, hands-on activities that I can use in my classroom.  I found this craftivity from Deb at Crafting Connections.  I'm excited to be using it as part of her Classroom Tested Teacher and Student Approved series.

I started my lesson today by reviewing the concept of Main Idea and Details.  This seems like an easy enough concept, but the review was definitely helpful to a few of the kids!

Then, I handed out the pages for the craftivity.  There are six main pages to this mini-book, a cover, and five pages with Main Ideas about the Earth.  The last page the kids picked up was a sheet of details.  The details are all listed on one page and have to be matched to the correct main idea for the book.  I let the kids work on this part with a partner.

 

Then we worked on assembling the books.  Cutting out the six pages, taping the construction paper together, and then gluing the pages onto the construction paper took a lot longer than I had planned!  The kids wanted everything to be just right, and it took them about half an hour to get things done.  In the future, I think I’d probably split this activity into two parts: do the thinking part on day one, and do the constructing of the book on day two.

The finished projects were really cute and I know the kids did a lot of thinking along the way!

 

In addition to creating this awesome product, Deb is kind enough to be giving this craftivity away to one of my readers!  You can head to her blog to enter the drawing! 

Saving Fred – A Science Activity

This week, I’m participating in Fourth Grade Flipper's Tried it Tuesday.  I’ve been reading all of the “Tried Its” for weeks, and am excited to be linking up today for the first time! (Correction....I tried to link up, but was too late....the collections were closed when I tried to link up)

Our first Science topic is “The Sun, Moon, and Stars.”  It’s a fun unit, but during the Moon section, the kids are required to keep a moon journal for a month between lesson one and lesson two.  The experience is great for them and they learn a lot, but that leaves a month’s worth of Science lessons without activities.  In the past, I plug the Stars lessons in during this month, but this year, I put that off a week to try a new activity I found called Saving Fred.

I can’t remember where I originally found this lesson, and I know I’ve seen it on several blogs, so if the original idea is yours please let me know and I’ll give you credit!

Saving Fred is a great activity to get kids thinking about problem solving strategies, team work, and procedural journaling.  The kids are given the scenario that Fred (a gummy worm) has been trapped on top of his upside down boat (a cup) and his life preserver (a gummy ring) is trapped beneath the boat.  Their job is to get Fred through the life preserver using only paper clips to move any of the items.

I modified this long lesson into three short ones.  On day 1, we brainstormed a list of problem solving strategies.  I took a picture of our list, but the dry erase marker on the white board didn’t show up well.  Our list included:

Think about what to do
Ask someone else
Use common sense
Pick the easiest path
Make a pros and cons list
Test your ideas
Make a cause and effect list
Use time wisely
Think ahead
Make a plan
Be organized

On day 2, I gave the kids the scenario and they actually did the activity.  Here are a few photos:

Several of the groups were able to save Fred pretty easily, so I challenged them to try it with only two paper clips instead of four.  One group felt like challenging themselves even more and tried it (successfully) with only one!

After they had all finished, we discussed the strategies they used.  We also discussed how much harder it was with two paper clips than with four!

On day 3, I had the kids do a reflection journal.  They were to write about the procedures they used, what worked and didn’t work, and working with a partner.

If you’d like your students to try Saving Fred, it is available here.  I’d say it’s definitely worth a try!