Racimals

I wish I could take full credit for this project idea, but it was inspired by an article I saw in my nephew's Highlights magazine! In Highlights, students created a robot racer. I took this idea and let children have complete creative freedom to design any racer they would like. All they needed was an empty square tissue box and a tennis ball! Then of course a ramp or some type of hill for their racers to travel down!

In this lesson, students use their design skills to create their very own one of a kind racer! They want it to look aesthetically pleasing, however, they must use their engineering skills to make it travel fast! Will 30 pom pom balls, 20 pipe cleaners, layers of construction paper and glue really help their racer? Students learn that minimal design is not only more pleasing to the eye, but can also help them construct a super fast racimal (racing creature). This lesson also ties in well with a forces and motion unit. Students experiment with push, the amount of effort applied (to push) and distance. Teachers can also tie math in by having students measure the distance their racer traveled.

Here is what you need:

▪ A variety of art materials for students to go crazy /experiment with! (construction paper, pipe cleaners, markers, crayons, googley eyes, etc)

▪ Empty square tissue boxes (with the top square cut off - where you pull the tissue out)

▪ Tennis Balls

What you do:

1. First cut the top off of the tissue box (this is the bottom of the racer)

2. Next, decorate it! Students can create an animal, superhero, monster, alien, cryptid, anything they can imagine.

3. Then students put the tennis ball inside of the opening of the tissue box, flip it over (tennis ball on the bottom, inside of the box), set it on a ramp and watch it go!

Cryptozoology: Learning with Cryptids

Kids turn into cryptozoologists and study 3 cryptids closely: Sasquatch, Loch Ness Monster and Chupacabra. Then they create a field report on any cryptid they would like to investigate!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SXe6idap5PZ6PnJmvprjRjpay7mcfLy_/view?usp=sharing

Includes:
List of 50 Cryptids
Top 10 Cryptids That Turned Out to be Real
Task Sheets for the 3 Cryptids: math / art projects with measuring, fictional sighting report writing, adaptation activity and survey / data collection
Adapation Recording Sheets for the 3 Cryptids
Bar Graph Sheets for the 3 Cryptids
Field Report Assignment to Research Any Cryptid

Entomology: Cross-Curricular Learning

Kids have fun investigating insects in their natural habitat!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VSK6HrKelgtudsf66-B3jeZ8On5L4Ywh/view?usp=sharing

Includes:
1. Letters and photos from Entomologist Greg prompting kids to do different experimentations.
2. 3 Insect Investigation Worksheets: identifying, describing, comparing and contrasting
3. Insect Trading Card Project: measurement and data collection
4. 4 Insect Posters: insect characteristics, non-insect characteristics, mouth parts and compound eyes
5. Insect Fraction and Graphing: oversized images of insects are hung up around the classroom and kids have to circle whether the specimens are insects or not. Then they make a graph of their findings and record fractions.
6. Ant Restaurant Experiment and Recording Sheet: kids have a menu and add their own items to a paper plate for experimentation. Then they graph the results of the experiment (as a class).
7. Label Ant Worksheet
8. Metamorphosis Monarch Sequencing Cards and Worksheet
9. Create Your Own Ladybug Sequencing Cards and Ladybug Lifecycle Worksheet
10. Lifecycle Comic Strip Tech Project
11. Incomplete Metamorphosis Worksheet: Grasshopper and Dragonfly
12. Butterfly Feeder Instructions: kids make daily recordings of the feeder
13. Letter from Greg prompting kids to research an insect from a different biome

5 Olympic Activities

Check out my post at We Are Teachers: 5 Olympic Activities that Integrate Core Subjects!

Mandala Math Art

Check out my We Are Teachers post on integrating art and math by making mandalas!

Measurement Recycled Garden

Celebrate Earth Day by creating a class garden of upcycled flowers! Check out this math/art activity at We Are Teachers!

3D Collage: Measuring

Give kids different colors of construction paper. They cut 1 inch (width) strips. Then, they use a ruler and cut their strips different lengths (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 inches) and manipulate them into different designs, creating a 3D collage. Have kids write their measurements next to each paper strip.

Octopus Math

Integrate math, art and science all in one craft! Kids create an octopus, while exploring division, fractions, and multiplication! First, they divide a piece of construction paper in half. Next, they use a ruler and draw lines (on half the sheet) to create eight rectangles for the arms (see image). They cut along the lines they drew, stopping at the halfway mark. Then, they curve the paper and staple. Once stapled, they bend the arms, so the octopus can sit up. 

After they created their octopus shape, they flip it over. They stick round reinforcement labels (white circle stickers with a hole in the center) on the back of its arms and create suction cup arrays! (see image) Then, they figure out the multiplication equation for their octopus.

Science - This craft can be used for an animal adaptation unit. Kids learn that octopi have arms (not legs). The suction cups on their arms help them grasp their prey, move along rocks, and taste things! Also, their stomach is on top of their head! Their mouth is a hard beak (don't let children draw a happy face on their octopus - the beak is underneath!)

Seed Investigation

Click here for free printables: Seed Investigation (+ Free Printables)! Click here for a free lima bean dissection lab!

Post-It Note Area/Perimeter

Have you used post-it notes for a creative math lesson yet?! They're a fantastic tool to introduce the concept of area and reinforce perimeter. For this lesson, students used 25 or less post-it notes. We made a prediction: Do different shapes that have the same area have the same perimeter? Working in groups of 4, students mapped out their design and figured out the area and perimeter of their shape. Then, they found a blank wall to construct it! Click here for printables! Featured in The National Counsel of Teachers of Mathematics - thanks to my ECE professor! - if you belong, check out the article here!

The Case of the Missing Sides!

Students transform into Perimeter Detectives as they try to solve The Case of the Missing Sides! After they figure out the unknown side lengths of 10 real world irregular polygons, they must infer what they are part of! - Click here to download!

Introduction (Fence for the Vegetable Garden)

Students compare and contrast regular and irregular polygons. They are introduced to the term perimeter by relating it to a garden fence. Then, they rap along with Heath: Rap video by Heath!

Perimeter Detective

Next, they investigate real world irregular polygon photographs. They must find the length of the missing side for 10 items! Then, they use their detective skills and infer what the objects are part of! Tell your students to think creatively! Note: Older students could convert side length measurements. - Conversion Chart included in the package! Exit Slip - For reinforcement, students apply their new skills independently by figuring out the missing side lengths of five irregular polygons. Then, they rate their understanding by drawing a checkmark in the box that fits their current knowledge of the content.

Bubble Gum Exploration

Cross-curricular learning with bubble gum:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MNYQ30GsdJD1oSyImNqL73bFqz-HYGfS/view?usp=sharing

Math:
Graphing - Who can blow a bubble?
3D Solids - Comparing gum shapes
Measuring - Pre-chewed vs. chewed (stretched) vs. blowed bubble on wax paper
Mean, Median, Mode and Range (optional) - Using data for measuring
Area/Perimeter - Gum wrapper design (and real gum wrappers - optional)

Science:
States of Matter - Investigating the process of bubble blowing / physical changes of gum chewed and placed in ice water

English Language Arts:
Writing - How-to blow a bubble / Recipe for new flavor / Math word problem

Social Studies:
Economics - Cost of their gum
History - Inventor Research

Design:
Logo & Packaging - Design for their new flavor of gum

Centimeter Crawl

Have a race with your plastic figurines! Students pick a card, measure using the number on the card, and create a path. Whoever reaches the end of the paper first wins!

Kandinsky Math

Fractions - Students create a grid and divide the paper, exploring unit fractions. 
Multiplication - They create an array of concentric circles and write down their equation. 
Area & Perimeter - Each design is contained within a square unit. What is the area and perimeter of their entire design? 
Fractions - They write down the fraction for the main color of each square. 
Note: Older students could use a math compass to create perfect circles and figure out the circumference of each circle (geometry).
You could use any art medium for this project (paint, crayon-resist art with watercolor, oil pastels, or markers).

Asymmetrical Starburst

Students explore geometry and art by creating asymmetrical starburst designs!

1. Draw a line segment 3 to 5 inches long in the center of the paper.
2. Make dots around the line segment. (No dots on the horizontal line)
10 dots (5 above, 5 below for younger students / 15-20 dots for older students)
3. Connect the dots! - but, in a pattern. (Connect one end of the line segment to a dot, back to the other end of the line segment) - repeat (end of line segment-dot-other end of line segment) - use a ruler

Note: To simplify this project have children make their horizontal line a different color or add bright colored dots to the end of the line segment. Then, they will be able to see where they draw their lines to.

Math Connection:
Visit I Love That Teaching Idea for questions to ask children while they are constructing!

Mathematical Op Art

Students use their math skills to create op art! First, have students come up with a measurement for their line spacing between their parallel lines. The example has a 1/2 inch gap between each line. After students draw their parallel lines with a ruler, they choose five polygons to include in their composition. They draw their shapes using a ruler. Once their shapes are drawn, they create an AB pattern using two different colored markers, coloring around their shapes. Then, they go back and color their shapes to create an optical illusion! (see example).

Tape Resist Measuring Art

materials:

- painter's tape

- ruler (inches)

- tempera, acrylic, or water color paint (or other medium: crayons, markers, etc.)

- paint brushes

- thick cardstock paper

- pen

Students explore measuring, while creating aesthetically pleasing works of art. They tear different lengths of tape and place it on their paper (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal). After they place a single piece of tape, they measure it. Then, they write the measurement with pen on top of the tape. Once they're finished taping and measuring, they add color! They can paint or color over the tape. Their measurement lines will stay intact. Just make sure students don't paint over their recorded measurement, what they wrote with pen. After the paint dries, students carefully pull the tape off and write their measurement on their white line (see image).

Now, see if they can point out angles in their design. Can they find an acute, obtuse, or right angle? Have them examine their lines. Did they make any perpendicular or parallel lines?

Note: If you're working with older students, have them measure their angles with a protractor.

FOAM Math

This math experiment comes from Growing in 5th Grade! Kids compare the suds created by different dish soaps. They add 1/2 cup water and 2 drops of soap to a water bottle and shake! Then, they measure the height of the suds! Which soap created the most suds?! Is this a physical or chemical change?!

Science - Go With The Flow! (laminar flow)
Visit Exploratorium to explore water patterns (turbulence) created by shaking dish soap, water, and a drop of food coloring!

Mr. Evaporation

Have kids construct an Evaporation Cup Man or Lady! Check out Miss Klipfel's first grade evaporation project! Kids decorate a cup, add water, cover the top with a material (punch holes or not), and wait till it evaporates! They measure their "friend" and keep track of any changes. Does material affect how fast or slow water will evaporate? If you don't punch holes in your material, will it evaporate?! Have kids make a prediction. As a class, create a graph showing their predictions. See the experiment in action here!

Paper Chain Gang

Kids are given 5 strips of paper. They write something they are really good at on each of their strips. They link their strips together to create a small paper chain. Then, they measure it!

As a class, they help link all the chains together. Use blank strips of paper in between each child's chain. Have kids estimate the length of the giant chain. Then, as a class measure it! Did anyone come close to guessing the actual length of the chain?!

Discussion:
Look at the variety of talents in the room! (Compare the length of their chain to the giant class chain.) If we all work together, we can accomplish anything!