Showing posts with label social studies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social studies. Show all posts

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Rock Band Storypath



Storypath units promote children as active participants in their own learning. Students learn about topics through cross-curricular connections woven into an imaginative real-world scenario. They role-play and make critical decisions independently and collaboratively. Invite your students on a rock band adventure! This unit integrates Common Core standards with project-based learning. Students discover that what they learn in school is valuable, even for a rock star!

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Wildlife Trade: Affecting Animals and Their Ecosystems

International Fund for Animal Welfare’s (IFAW) Animal Action Education is providing teachers with hands-on, inquiry based lessons on animals, their adaptations and good citizenship for grades K-8. Students learn about how commercial wildlife trade is one of the biggest threats to wildlife. Animal preservation lesson plans, printables and teaching resources, available at We Are Teachers: http://ow.ly/UBN1w

Use of Animals in Trade:
Entertainment
Fashion
Decoration
Traditional Medicine and Religion
Pets
Food



Video (3rd-5th) featured above: http://ow.ly/UBPTU

Students investigate: “Why do people trade in wildlife?” and “How do our choices as consumers affect animals?” They discuss why people would want wildlife products? These products do not benefit the animal. How would they benefit humans? They also explore how wild animals are sold as pets and taken from their natural habitat. Students are provided with a free magazine. Student magazine http://ow.ly/UBPPg



Students learn that not only is wildlife trade affecting certain animal species, it can affect an entire ecosystem! Grades 3-5 Lesson plans http://ow.ly/UBPJK


Some of the Inquiry Lessons featured in the pack:

Dog Sniffing Scavenger Hunt: Dogs are used to detect wildlife products. In this activity students put their nose to the test, searching around the room for an onion hidden in a clean sock.
Science Meets Art- Animal Diagram and Poem: Students research an animal and investigate how its features help it survive. Then they write verses for adaptation poems provided by IFAW.
Ecosystem Cups: Students stack cups and create an ecosystem pyramid. They take cups away and discover how the removal of one animal can cause an ecosystem to fall apart.
Geography Project- An Exotic Pet's Journey: Students collaborate in groups and use a map's scale (provided) to determine how many miles an animal travelled from its home. Students compare an animal's natural environment to it's life as a pet. They write down what humans cannot provide wildlife animals with if they were kept as pets.
Keep Wild Animals Wild Informative Comic: After reading a comic about the use of sea turtle shells as hair clips, students are encouraged to create their own comic about an animal of their choice.
Pet Store Skits: Students take on one of these characters: store owner, customer who wants to buy a wild animal for a pet, a member of the student Animal Welfare Club, a wild animal that the store sells, and a reporter. The skits tell the story of what happens when the customer comes into the store to buy the animal but runs into a protest being covered by the local news.
Design a Pamphlet: In pairs, students make their own pamphlets to persuade others that keeping or trading in wild animals as pets has negative effects for the animals, people, and the environment.
Culminating Project: Students figure out a way to get the word out about wildlife trade: mural, assembly, video (anything they can think of)



Keep Wild Animals Wild is available at three levels of instruction.

Students ages 5 to 7 (grade K-2) are introduced to the concepts of what makes an animal wild and how people can observe and appreciate wildlife responsibly.
o   Lesson plans http://ow.ly/UBNGE
o   Student magazine http://ow.ly/UBNMW
o   K-2 Video http://ow.ly/UBPDG

Students ages 8 to 10 (grade 3-5) learn about wildlife trade, how it is relevant to them, and how they can take action to help protect wild animals from wildlife trade.
o   Lesson plans http://ow.ly/UBPJK
o   Student magazine http://ow.ly/UBPPg
o   3-5 video http://ow.ly/UBPTU

Students ages and 11 to 14 (grade 6-8) also learn about wildlife trade and its relevance to their world.
o   Lesson plans http://ow.ly/UBQ0r
o   Student magazine http://ow.ly/UBQ5r
o   Classroom poster http://ow.ly/UBQdu
o   6-8 video http://ow.ly/UBQjl

Friday, February 27, 2015

Packaging Crayons: Assembly Line vs. No Division of Labor

Help students understand the efficiency of an assembly line by having them package crayons! In this activity half of the class is part of an assembly line and the other half has no division of labor.

Assembly Line Instructions:
Separate crayons by color into different bins.
Lay the bins out in a line.
Put a package of Ziploc bags at one end of the line.
Put an empty bin on the other end of the line (used to "ship" crayons out to consumers).
Students sit in a line, pass the baggie down the line and add 1 crayon.
The last person zips up the bag and puts it in the bin to send off!

No Division of Labor:
Set out crayons in separate bins (separated by color exactly like the assembly line).
Put the bin for "shipping" crayons near the line.
Give each child 1 Ziploc bag to start out with.
Give each child a special ticket.
Ticket has their name on and the order in which they have to collect crayons in their bag.
Students work independently collecting crayons.
Make sure that you make out tickets so kids have to go to the same color crayon bin at the same time to provide them with a challenge!
Once students collect their crayons, they zip their bag and put it in the bin.
Then they have to grab another bag and follow the list of colors on their ticket again!

Have students package crayons for 2-3 minutes. Who will finish first?! When time is up check their crayon bags. Does each bag have 1 of each color crayon? If not the bag cannot be counted.

Students discover that they can package more crayons by making an assembly line.
Have kids talk about what way they found to be easier: assembly line or no division of labor.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Friday, January 23, 2015

Play Dough Economics

Snakes and Donuts: This fun economics activity comes from Raki's Rad Resources. Students are given 1 minute to create as many snakes and donuts as they can! There are 7 rounds. Students experiment with working independently, in a partnership (joint-venture) and in a group. One round challenges them to use only half of their play dough because resources are short! Another round has color change the value of their product. Students with a certain color earn more points because that particular color is high in demand. Students learn about "natural resources, human resources, trade policies, supply and demand and value." 

Above are the students in my class making their snakes and donuts. They really enjoyed this economics lesson and it helped reinforce their economics vocabulary. After they made their snakes and donuts for 7 rounds, they calculated their points for each round which integrated math in the lesson! Another important point we discussed prior to the lesson was the importance of craft. We discussed how their goal was to create as many snakes and donuts as they could for each round. However, their snakes and donuts should look nice because companies want consumers to keep buying their product. If they sent out a bad snake or donut they would loose consumers! Their snakes had to be the length of an unsharpened pencil. Once they had a good snake it could be transformed into a donut by connecting the "head" and the "tail." This aspect made their task of creating snakes and donuts even more challenging!

Visit Raki's Rad Resources for a pdf that includes detailed instructions.
Click here for a recording sheet I created to go along with this activity.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Me on the Map!

Help children understand where they are located in relation to the world by making geography stacking cups! Book to go along with activity: Me on the Map! by Joan Sweeney. Click here for food chain stacking cups.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Water Balloon Compass

Integrate science and social studies by creating a water balloon compass! Click here for a video tutorial! Visit Questacon for written instructions!

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Water Wheels

Integrate math (measuring), science / engineering (simple machines, force/motion, renewable energy), art (design), and history by constructing a water wheel! 

Wired - Can you construct a water wheel that can lift a small load?
Science Buddies - "Put Your Water to Work," exploring Hydropower!
Meet the Greens - Kids go green (water wheel featured bottom right)
History - water wheel / Types - get kids inspired (design) / Physics - water wheel

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Big Spender or Bill Saver?

This economics project is by Emily Stout at We are Teachers (2nd grade lesson plan). Kids explore wants / needs as they balance money in Kid Town. 

In order to have money, they startup a business. They collaborate, design store signage, create a window display (out of poster board), and market their product. However, they have expenses (rent). Plus, their list of needs comes before their wants. Students find that they might not always be able to get what they want with their earnings.

Who's a big spender and who's a bill saver? Click here for the full activity! 

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Balloon Geography

How far will your balloon go? Check out the Helium Balloon Experiment here!
Instructions: Tag each balloon with your school address and the student's name, along with a note for the receiver to write back. Then, send them off! Kids mark off on a map where their balloon ended up. Whose balloon travelled the farthest?!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Cookie Rocks and Mining

2 activities, Science and Economics:


1. Cookie Rocks - This experiment is inspired by Kinderpond's "C is for Cookie." Have all students sit around a large table. Give each kid a cookie. Then, have them destroy it! 

Weathering
First, have them experiment with a toothpick. Next, give them an ice cube to see the effects of ice on a cookie. They'll use the cube to chop at the cookie. Then, hand out an eyedropper to represent rain. Kids squirt water on the cookie. Note: You could even use a spray bottle.

Erosion
Once their finished demolishing their cookie, pass out straws. Have kids blow (wind) their cookie crumbles (rock fragments) toward the center of the table. Then, sweep their crumbs into a pile. 

Deposition
Add a couple drops of water to their crumbs (if needed) and squish them all together.


2. Cookie Mining Economics -  Check out the Museum of Science and Industry's Cookie Mining Project. Kids excavate chocolate chips from a cookie; but, first they have to purchase the materials they need and stay within their price range!

energy resources (renewable vs. non-renewable) - You can also use this activity to explore . Kids get a soft and hard chocolate chip cookie (which represent 2 landsites). Can they dig out coal without harming the landsite? Which site was easier to retrieve the coal? Visit Third Grade Thinkers for instructions!






Friday, December 28, 2012

Lego Chrome

Build with Chrome: Kids find and explore different plots. They can recreate a famous landmark or just play around! Once they are finished building, they can print their creation and find the area and perimeter of their structure. You can print a 3D or 2D version of your art. Click here for digital Lego Geometry on Build with Chrome. Click here for tactile Lego Geometry.


Thursday, December 13, 2012

Dara




Nigerian problem solving game from the Cincinnati Art MuseumDara! It can be played on the pavement or on paper! First, create a 5 x 6 grid. Next, create teams of two. Each team gets 12 counters (sticks vs. stones or other manipulatives). Teams take turns laying down a counter on a square (anywhere - see note below). Once all counters are laid, the game begins. Teams take turns moving their object to an adjacent open square. Moves can only be up, down, left, or right. The goal is to get three counters in a row. If they get three in a row, they remove one of their opponent's counters. The game is over when a team cannot make any more moves. The team out of moves loses! 

Note: 
1. Teams must scatter their objects around the board, when placing them before the start of the game. They are only permitted 3 objects in a row before the game.
2. Counters placed 3 in a row before the game begins don't count. They must make a move to remove an opponent's counter.
3. Teams can only remove one of their opponent's counters, even if their move could knock out more than one.

Click here for more math games from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

50 States and Capitals

   


Featured Above: Musical Stew (Macho Nacho and Mouth Trumpet): 50 States and Capitals
Also, check out the 50 State Capital Rap by Educational Rap!



Games:
1. State Card Printables - Laurie Keller (featured) or nick Jr.
2. Matching Stick Game -TLC or Pick Up Sticks Version - Fabulous in Fourth
3. State Bingo - Relentlessly Fun Deceptively Educational or The Science Mom 

Monday, November 12, 2012

Dream Vacation PBL Project



Project-based learning / cooperative groups of 4
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ncaWHZVTZPksE3TFNv865VtZucQkse0-/view?usp=sharing

Tell kids that they get to travel to any destination around the world! The only catch is that they will be going with 3 other classmates (only 1 destination) for 4 days and 3 nights.

Once they decide on a location, they all get an air ticket, which they fill out for their flight. The teacher cuts it and collects their boarding passes. They keep their ticket and attach it to their photo journal (a travel book they make throughout the process).

Next they research the weather forecast for the 4 days they are going so they know what to pack. Then they come up with a list of items that they should bring with them. Once again students must collaborate and decide what to pack. Each group has 1 photo journal (not each individual student). Students take turns drawing / recording in it. 

Then they research a place to stay, record the cost / research places to eat, record the cost / research things to explore, record the cost (+ the cost of traveling there: taxi, bus, rental car, etc.). The research process is the imaginary vacation!


At the end of this project compare what groups spent. Who was money savvy and found cheap lodging, food and entertainment? Who was a big spender and wanted the best of everything?!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Native Americans

photo via telegraph.co.uk

After re-watching all 6 seasons of the TV show "Northern Exposure," which features the Northwestern tribe the Tlingits, I was inspired to write a post devoted to Native American crafts and activities for kids. Some of the crafts below can be incorporated into a Thanksgiving them. Others, which don't relate to the Wampanoag tribe, can simply be used in a history lesson.

Totem Pole Stories - Have students collaborate and create a totem pole that tells a story. You can create wall totem poles outside of your classroom or make totem poles out of paper towel rolls.
Unplug Your Kids - wall stories
My Adventures in Positive Space - paper towel roll example

Native American Paper Bag Vest
1. Lay the bag down flat, with the flap towards you. Cut out a half-circle shape for the neckline, leaving a couple inches on both sides at the shoulder seams.
2. Cut straight down the bag to create an opening. (Don't go through both sides of the bag!)
3. Side with neckline - Cut half circles out of both sides for the arm holes. Please, please don't make your bag look like a cube on the child - stylize it! :)
4. Bottom of the vest - Cut half circles to make it more vest-like. Then, cut fringe (strips) along the bottom.
5. Decorate using natural fruit and plant based paints, made by your students! Find Native American symbols for kids to paint.

Science Activity - Natural Paint
1. Materials: beets (careful they stain!), spinach or kale, red onion skins, berries, black walnuts, coffee grounds, tea, carrot skins, dandelions or marigolds (click here for more ideas)
2. Instructions: Boil until water has turned colored, let cool, and paint!
Below are sites with detailed instructions: 
Boiled - ehow
No boiling required - Weird Science Kids

Headdress
1. Brown construction paper - Cut strips 1 to 1.5" thick, depending on preference.
2. Staple strips together at one end.
3. Decorate by stamping finger in paint for a beaded look. Then, let it dry.
4. Cut feather shape out of construction paper. Then, draw a line down the center of feather.
5. Cut fringe along the paper feather's edge.
6. Glue feathers along the inside of the top edge of the headband.
7. Fit on child's head, then staple the other two sides together.

Mini Tepee
Click here for instructions!

Miniature Bow and Arrow - Qtips and popsicle sticks
The Brooding Hen

Dream Catcher - Paper plate, lacing craft
Naturally Educational

Story Stones - Draw Native American symbols on stones and tell a unique story!

Traditional Native American Toys and Games
Native Tech - scroll down for traditional toys / games
Games - Native Americans_MrDonn and  UWLAX.edu
Pass the Feather - The one with the feather speaks.

Reading
1. You can find lots of Native American stories on-line for kids. 
Example: Coyote Spills the Stars, click here for a fantastic book list.

2. Another great story is The Raven, which was also featured on Northern Exposure, Christmas episode. Click here to watch the video - awesome performance

Sunday, October 7, 2012

2D and 3D Geometric Towns

Integrate math, social studies, and art with 2 awesome projects! 

1. 2D GEOMETRIC TOWN (LINE SEGMENTS) - Check out ABC Teach Geometric Town Map project (more advanced)! View examples at Engrade and Mrs. Sandri Math.

2. 3D GEOMETRIC TOWN - Get creative and "develop basic mapping and geography skills including the use of symbols, compass directions, scale, and grid coordinates," by creating a 3D Town - Peggy Healy Stearns - (photo of town featured above). Visit Parent's Choice for free building pattern printables (store fronts / town accessories), as well as map printables (cardinal rose, coordinate grid, etc)! Also, check out Fun Stuff To Do for lots of 3D solid patterns for your town buildings, and see their version of a Geometric Town!

To turn this into a PBL project, combine the 2 activities! Make small 2D maps of your 3D geometric town. Share your town on a parent night! Pass out maps to the tourists (aka parents) and have them visit your Geometric Town!

Note: You can also add fractions to your town, click here for details!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Electoral College - KID Style

Awesome post about how to teach kids about electoral college, with a link to an interactive electoral map, from Hoosier Teacher! Check it out here!


image sources:
Capri Sun via Kraft  / Hi-C product nutrition
Map via east chester school

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Candybar Election

Which candybar will get the most votes? Divide class in 2 (or 3) - First have kids choose candy-dates (candidates), design posters / create mini commercials (ad campaigns), have debates, sample, and cast their vote! Click here for detailed instructions from Cool Cub Scout Pack Meeting Ideas. Check out the activity in action at Momnaction, and Eat.Sleep.Teach (lesson sold for a fee).