Sixth-Grader's Science Fair Finding Shocks Ecologists hide captionLauren Arrington's sixth-grade research project is cited in a science journal. Courtesy of Lauren Arrington Lauren Arrington's sixth-grade research project is cited in a science journal. When 12-year-old Lauren Arrington heard about her sixth-grade science project, she knew she wanted to study lionfish. Growing up in Jupiter, Fla., she saw them in the ocean while snorkeling and fishing with her dad. Her project showed that the lionfish can survive in nearly fresh water. hide captionScientists previously underestimated the ability of the lionfish to live in less salty water. Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images Scientists previously underestimated the ability of the lionfish to live in less salty water. "Scientists were doing plenty of tests on them, but they just always assumed they were in the ocean," Lauren, now 13, tells NPR's Kelly McEvers. "It was just a small, sixth-grade project, and I really didn't have all the tools necessary," she says. Her research did not stop there.
Coaching in Early Childhood: Coaching Tools The following tools were developed by Dathan Rush and M'Lisa Shelden as well as other staff at the Family, Infant and Preschool Program in Morganton, North Carolina to assist practitioners in their adherence to coaching practices. They will be available in the PDF format. You will need the free Adobe Reader to view these documets. These products are not available yet, please check back soon. A Framework for Reflective Questioning A Framework for Reflective Questioning provides questions that may be used by the coach to promote reflection on the part of the learner. The framework lists examples of four different types of questions use for four different purposes during the coaching conversation.
Tornados & Rain Clouds & Saturday Science Blog Hop Preschool Weather Science Activities Indoors! Why Science? My son loves our science experiments. He is a high energy, sensory seeking little boy who enjoys highly stimulating activities. Science experiments provide just the right amount of everything for him to become fully engage and interactive with what we are doing together. Weather Science for Preschool We have been enjoying two books lately. Tornado Experiment Materials 2 one liter bottles (we drank a lot of seltzer today), metal washer that fits closely to the top of the bottle, duct tape (we used flex fix tape), glitter (cause it's cool and we called it debris) and some of our bats from a package of table scatter. Set Up Fill one bottle almost to the top and add the glitter and bats. Action Turn the bottle over so the water is on the top and get a good swirling motion going to create the vortex. Rain Cloud Experiment How does it rain? Materials & Set Up We used a large vase with a good sized opening. Extend The Fun Now it's your turn!
Sensory Art Play: Puffy Rainbow Clouds - Twodaloo Last updated Sunday, June 8, 2014 Have you ever wished you could paint a cloud? Even if the idea never occurred to you, I guarantee your kiddos will love this activity. Not only will they be able to create a giant, puffy cloud in a seriously cool way, they’ll be able to add color to their hearts’ content and THEN dive into some ooey, gooey, foamy sensory play. *This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Puffy Rainbow Clouds If you want to make a puffy rainbow cloud, you have to start by making a regular cloud. and our microwave. You can read more about the science behind the Ivory soap experiment at Steve Spangler Science. *Looking for Ivory Soap? . So yeah. The “cloud” of soap has a unique texture- kinda crunchy on the outside and airy/spongy on the inside. After that, I mixed up jars of colored water using a few drops of food coloring per jar- I’d prefer to use liquid watercolors but we were running low. on Amazon) and let them loose to paint their clouds any way they pleased.
Let the Kids Learn Through Play Photo TWENTY years ago, kids in preschool, kindergarten and even first and second grade spent much of their time playing: building with blocks, drawing or creating imaginary worlds, in their own heads or with classmates. But increasingly, these activities are being abandoned for the teacher-led, didactic instruction typically used in higher grades. In many schools, formal education now starts at age 4 or 5. Without this early start, the thinking goes, kids risk falling behind in crucial subjects such as reading and math, and may never catch up. The idea seems obvious: Starting sooner means learning more; the early bird catches the worm. But a growing group of scientists, education researchers and educators say there is little evidence that this approach improves long-term achievement; in fact, it may have the opposite effect, potentially slowing emotional and cognitive development, causing unnecessary stress and perhaps even souring kids’ desire to learn. Continue reading the main story
Weather Unit #1 – Clouds I am finally getting around to sharing our science weather unit we started last spring - yikes. These activities are intended for toddler, preschool, kindergarten, and 1st & 2nd grade to be able to do together in homeschool. Here is first week in our science weather unit based on my free {free} Weather Unit – it is one of my most popular posts. Make sure to go grab it to get weather worksheets – complete with activities, experiments, and more. We did some fun, preschool type worksheets. One of our favorites is the Roll & Add. We did an experiment to create clouds in a bottle! We talked about why rain happens. We observed clouds for a couple weeks and made a graph. We also made cloud art using the classic – cotton ball cloud! I don’t know about you, but it is pretty much a given that if we are going to study clouds we won’t have any! By downloading from my site you agree to the following: >> Download Cloud Creations here << More Science Resources:
Pot-in-pot refrigerator A pot-in-pot refrigerator, clay pot cooler[1] or zeer (Arabic: زير) is an evaporative cooling refrigeration device which does not use electricity. It uses a porous outer earthenware pot, lined with wet sand, contains an inner pot (which can be glazed to prevent penetration by the liquid) within which the food is placed - the evaporation of the outer liquid draws heat from the inner pot. The device can be used to cool any substance. This simple technology requires only a flow of relatively dry air and a source of water. History[edit] There is some evidence that evaporative cooling was used as early as the Old Kingdom of Egypt, around 2500 B.C. Despite being developed in Northern Africa, the technology appears to have been forgotten with the advent of modern electrical refrigerators. Construction[edit] Functioning of a clay pot cooler A zeer is constructed by placing a clay pot within a larger clay pot with wet sand in between the pots and a wet cloth on top.[9] Impact[edit]
Little Story Maker App: Listening, Reading, Customizing, Personalizing I am completely impressed with the “Little Story Maker” App by Grasshopper Apps. (Thank you to Karen Lirenman, a first Grade teacher from Surrey, BC, Canada) I happen to visit my little niece in Canada this past week. Sophia is 8 years old and just moved to Canada 6 months ago from Brazil. In the app, we added a story. Then added the title of the story, added a cover image from the photo album and chose the template with the biggest image layout (I hope that a future update will bring more template layouts with multiple images as choices.) We kept adding pages with images and text for each page. The app allows you to have the book read to you, read it by yourself of set it to AutoPlay, which is really nothing new and most children’s book apps have the same feature. Where the customization comes in, is the fact, that you not only can enter you own text, then record your own voice (in any language of course) AND have individual words highlighted as it is being read! Like this: Like Loading...
Weather Fun!!! We just wrapped up our weather unit last week! It was so much fun to start the year off learning about something we experience every day!! Here are some of the activities we loved.... We made the cutest cloud flipbooks. We learned about dangerous weather and weather safety! We also enjoyed learning about weather instruments. Hands-on learning ROCKS!! We fell in love with these precious lil’ wind vanes! -straws-pencils-pins-crayons-scissors-tape Step 1- Decorate & cut out the pointers. Step 2- Tape the pointers to the ends of a straw. Step 3- Stick a pin in the middle of the straw. Step 4- Stick the pin into the middle of a pencil eraser. Step 5- Go outside and test them out!! Stay tuned for more weather activities tomorrow! Happy *almost* Hump Day!!
Who Came Up With Chewing Gum? | Wonderopolis If you had a choice between chewing on a wad of tree sap, a mouthful of rubber bands or a stick of gum, which would you choose? If the answer seems obvious, you may be surprised. All three have more in common than most people realize. Chewing gum has a history — a long, long, loooong history. Many years before Columbus landed in America, citizens of the world were chewing gum and popping bubbles. Before World War II, gum was still made from chicle. Latex? One of the advantages of chicle is that it softens when warmed by the heat of your mouth. After World War II, the demand for gum continued to rise, and chemists began looking for an alternative to chicle. In order to make the gum more palatable, manufacturers mix in sugar and flavorings. Your teachers may not allow you to snap-crack-and-pop in school, but there are real advantages to chewing gum. As you chew, the gum stimulates saliva production, which helps neutralize acids in the mouth that can lead to tooth decay. Gum fun facts