Science Activities Archive

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January 2005

The Spice of Life

(Before you try this activity, check to see if any of the children in your care have any allergies to the materials you will be using.)

Invite the children to use their sense of smell to explore several different spices or extracts, such as cinnamon, pepper, vanilla, or mint. Pass around the containers to sniff, or pour a little on cotton balls. Ask the children how many different words they can think of that describe each scent. Write down their ideas on a big piece of paper.

Invite children to mix up their own “formulas”. Give each child a bit of flour and water in a bowl. Allow the children to stir the mixture, adding more flour or water as they choose. Then invite them to add some of the spices or extracts to create a “formula”. If possible, let them use their hands to touch, stir, and (depending on the consistency) roll out their mixtures.

Though all of these ingredients are safe to taste, the focus of the experiment is on engage the children’s sense of smell. If necessary, gently re-direct children’s attention to smelling the formulas rather than tasting.

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science as Inquiry

Illinois State Goal:

 Students should develop strategies for: asking questions; planning and conducting investigations; using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data; thinking critically and logically about relationships between evidence and explanations; constructing and analyzing explanations; and communicating scientific arguments.

Illinois Learning Standard:

Know and apply the concepts, principals and processes of scientific inquiry.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

Uses five senses to observe and explore materials and natural phenomenon.

February 2005

The Science of Sleeping

Ask children to notice what happens to their bodies when they rest. Suggest that the children pay attention to their breathing. At nap time, does their breathing slow down or speed up? Suggest that the children listen to each other’s breathing, and try to figure out who is awake and who is sleeping, just by the sounds of their breath.

This activity helps children quiet down and also teaches them about how their bodies work.

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science

Illinois State Goal:

Students should develop an understanding of: characteristics of organisms, regulation and behavior.

Illinois Learning Standard:

 Know and apply concepts that explain how living things interact with each other and with the environment.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

Environmental Awareness Development: Predict changes in him/herself and the environment. Describes and compares basic needs of living things.

April 2005

Let's Fly A Kite

Now go outside to an open area, where the wind is strong. Have the children hold up their Streamer Kites, by the ends, in the wind. Watch how the wind blows the long streamers into the air. Have the children run, trailing the streamers behind them. The children will be delighted to have invented their own kites.

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science

Illinois State Goal:

Students should develop an understanding of: properties of objects and materials; position and motion of objects... and interaction of energy and matter.

Illinois Learning Standard:

 Know and apply concepts that describe force and motion and the principles that explain them.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

 Environmental Awareness Development - Describes the effects of forces of nature (i.e. wind, gravity, and magnetism)

April 2005

Spring Blooms

Later, label and display the children's drawings. Here's a quick guide to the spring blooms you might see in the Evanston area...

Daffodils are usually yellow, sometimes white, with petals forming a trumpet-like shape in the center of the bloom.

A crocus is a small, cheerful flower, usually violet or white, with a yellow center. Its leaves are thin, like grass.

A hyacinth has a dense cluster of many small blooms on a single stalk, usually white or purple.

The very small, deep-blue flowers, usually seen in large masses on lawns are Siberian squill. (Look for them at Lighthouse Beach Park!)

The common (yet lovely) flowering yellow bushes are forsythia.

The trees with white or pink blooms are magnolia trees.

Of course, the ever-familiar tulips will be blooming soon and in another month we'll see (and smell) lilac bushes.

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science

Illinois State Goal:

Students should develop strategies for: asking questions, planning and conducting investigations; using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data...

Illinois Learning Standard:

 Know and apply the concepts, principals and processes of scientific inquiry.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

 Scientific process development: Shares discoveries with others.

April 2005

Daily Weather Report

 From the classroom of Bettye Cohns, Child Care Center of Evanston.

Each morning, Bettye Cohns picks two helpers to give the daily weather report. The two children walk to the window and observe the day outside. Then Bettye asks them open-ended questions that help the children develop their descriptions.

Bettye: What is the weather report today?

Helper 1: Sunny.

Bettye: What else can you tell us about the weather?

Helper 2: I can't see any clouds anymore.

Bettye: Is there anything else that you notice about the weather?

Helper 1: It's a little cold.

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science

Illinois State Goal:

Students should develop an understanding of: light, heat, electricity and magnetism; chemical reactions, conservation of energy and increase in disorder, interaction of energy and matter.

Illinois Learning Standard:

Know and apply concepts that describe force and motion and the principles that explain them.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

 Scientific Vocabulary and Concept Development - Uses common weather-related vocabulary (e.g. rain, snow, wind, and clouds)

April 2005

Exploring Roots

From the classroom of Bettye Cohns, Child Care Center of Evanston.

This Spring, the water table in Bettye Cohn's classroom is filled with potting soil. And along with the soil, Bettye has placed some sturdy potted flowers.

But the children enjoy the flowers with more than just their eyes. The children are encouraged to touch and manipulate the flowers. The children even explore the root systems of the flowers by touch and by smell.

This process may not benefit the flowers, but it certainly benefits the children. These budding scientists are learning to observe, investigate, and examine the natural world with all their senses.

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science/Life Science

Illinois State Goal:

 Students should develop an understanding of: characteristics of organisms; life cycles; environments; structure and function; reproduction and heredity; matter, energy and organization in living systems, and behavior or organisms.

Illinois Learning Standard:

 Know and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt, and change.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

Environmental Awareness Development - Investigates living things in the environment.

May 2005

Science Journals

In School for Little Children’s Blue Room, children are invited to create “journals” that describe the changes they see during long-term science experiments. These journals are used to document the changes observed as they watch caterpillars transform into butterflies, mealworms hatch into beetles, and seeds grow into plants.

Each day, the children are asked to draw what they see. Then the teachers ask the children to describe what they drew. The teachers write down the children’s words.

Here are some examples from the children’s butterfly journals:

This is the butterfly. His wings are relaxing from sleeping at night time.

Me, watching the caterpillars. This is the food for the caterpillars.

I drew what the caterpillars are going to look like.

The caterpillars are making their chrysalis.

For more information about how to raise mealworms in your classroom click here .

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science

Illinois State Goal:

Students should develop strategies for: asking questions; planning and conducting investigations; using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data.

Illinois Learning Standard:

 Know and apply the concepts, principles and processes of scientific inquiry.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

Uses five senses to observe and explore materials and natural phenomenon.

May 2005

Predicting the Future

When the teachers in the Blue Room begin a new science experiment, they ask the children to predict what they think will happen. When the Blue Room raised beetles from mealworms, they asked the children, "How many days do you think it will take until the mealworms turn into beetles?" The teachers wrote down the children's ideas on a big chart.

More recently, the children observed caterpillars spinning their cocoons. The teachers asked the children to predict, "How many days until we have butterflies?"

The children's answers were varied. Answers were as low as "1" and as high as "100". After the butterflies emerged, the class compared the actual number of days to their predictions.

How many days do you think it was?

Answer: 14

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science

Illinois State Goal:

Students should develop strategies for: asking questions; planning and conducting investigations; using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data.

Illinois Learning Standard:

Know and apply the concepts, principles and processes of scientific inquiry.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

Makes predictions.

May 2005

Alike and Different

When the children in the Blue Room were learning about plants, they were asked to think about two things:

"How are all plants alike?"

"How are some plants different from each other?"

The teachers made a large chart, using the children's ideas. Here are some examples.

Alike: All plants grow from seeds. All plants need light. All plants need water. All plants need air. All plants grow roots. All plants need love and care.

Different: Seeds come in different sizes. Some plants need more light. Some plants need more water. Some plants need wetter air. Leaf sizes are different. Some stems are thick. Some roots are thin.

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science

Illinois State Goal:

Students should develop an understanding of: characteristics of organisms; structure and function; diversity and adaptations.

Illinois Learning Standard:

 Know and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt, and change.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

Investigates and categorizes living things in the environment.

How Things Change:

"The Little House"

So begins the well-loved picture book The Little House by Virgina Lee Burton that won the Caldecott Medal in 1943.

The story and illustrations in The Little House describe many different kinds of changes: Day changes into night, country life changes to city life, and the seasons change.

After reading The Little House to children, talk about change. Ask the children to tell you about the changes they saw happening in the book. Does it remind them of any changes in real life?

Ask the children to draw some of the changes they remember from the book. You may want to fold each piece of drawing paper so you have four sections, like this:

Ask the children to draw a house in four different ways, one in each section. You may suggest the children draw the four seasons (fall, winter, spring, summer) or allow the children to think of their own changes to draw.

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science

Illinois State Goal:

 Students should develop an understanding of: life cycles; environments; populations and ecosystems.

Illinois Learning Standard:

Know and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt, and change.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

 Predicts changes in him/herself and the environment.

June 2005

Envelope Factory

• paper in a variety of sizes
• glue sticks
• tape
• rulers
• staplers

Then ask the children, " What is an envelope?" and "How do you think an envelope is made?"

Invite the children to discover their own ways of making envelopes. Make sure they understand there are many different ways to make envelopes, not just one right way. Encourage children to experiment and test out their ideas. For example, if you tell the children that their first attempt is a "practice" and "doesn't count" they may feel more free to try something new.

It may also be helpful to break the task down into steps:

1. folding the paper
2. securing it with glue, tape, or staples
3. decorating it

In order to really challenge their creative thinking, don't show the children any manufactured envelopes until they have made their own. Then you can show them a variety of "real" envelopes and invite them to observe how the envelopes are folded and put together. You may even want to take one apart, in order to see what the shape of the paper looks like before it is folded.

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science

Illinois State Goal:

Students should develop strategies for: asking questions; planning and conducting investigations; using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data.

Illinois Learning Standard:

 Know and apply the concepts, principals and processes of scientific inquiry.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

 Plans and experiments with materials to test ideas.

June 2005

Brainstorming Game:

Same and Different

The following activity was written by Jean Marzollo.

Set two different foods in front of the children. Interesting foods to compare are:

• orange juice and milk
• an apple and an orange
• grapes and raisins
• flour and bread

Ask, "How are they the same?" Explain that there is no right answer; encourage the children to think of many ways that the foods are the same. Repeat the process for the question, "How are they different?"

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science

Illinois State Goal:

Students should develop an understanding of: properties of objects and materials.

Illinois Learning Standard:

Know and apply concepts that describe properties of matter and energy and the interactions between them.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

Describe how things are the same and different.

June 2005

Tree Dance

Have the children spread out across an open area of the floor, or move outdoors where there's more room.

Tell the children that they are tiny seeds that are going to grow into trees. Ask them to make themselves as small as possible. Then describe for the children how the rain and sun are helping the seed grow, little by little, into a small sprout.

Gradually encourage the children to grow more and more until they are standing. Tell them that their branches are growing too, and have them spread out their arms.

Once the trees are grown, strong winds can blow the branches. But the trees are strong and their roots stay in place.

After the Tree Dance, go outdoors and observe some real trees. Are they dancing?

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science

Illinois State Goal:

Students should develop an understanding of: characteristics of organisms; life cycles; environments; structure and function.

Illinois Learning Standard:

 Know and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt, and change.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

Investigates living things in the environment.

July 2005

Talking Trash!

To help children develop environmental awareness, ask them open-ended questions about garbage, such as, “Where does our trash go after we throw it away?” For inspiration, you may want to read the wonderful picture book Trashy Town by Andrea Zimmerman.

Once you’ve established what the children already know and what they still need to learn, start investigating the trash in your neighborhood. Be trash detectives! What do people throw away and where do they put it? If possible, introduce the children to the sanitation workers in your neighborhood who pick up the garbage and recycling every week.

Then, collect a bin of recyclables and have the children help you sort them into categories, such as

glass

paper

plastic

aluminum

Explain to the children how these old materials will get recycled into new materials.

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science

Illinois State Goal:

Students should know that science is functional and essential in developing an understanding of: types of resources; changes in environments; populations, resources and environments; natural and human-induced hazards; risks and benefits; science and technology in society (local, national, and global); and environmental quality.

Illinois Learning Standard:

 Know and apply the concepts that describe the features and processes of the Earth and its resources.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

 Environmental Awareness: Participates in recycling to protect the environment.

July 2005

Water Detectives

The only materials needed for this experiment are paper cups, water, and a thermometer.

As the children play in the water outdoors today, ask them open-ended questions about the temperature of the water. Does the water from the hose feel cool or warm? Perhaps it feels warm at first and then becomes more cool. Why is that? Does water sitting in the shade feel warmer or cooler than water sitting in the sun?

Invite the children to do an experiment to see if they can make cups of water cool or warm, simply by placing the cups in different locations. Place cups of water around the yard or playground and leave them there for a half an hour. Then measure the temperature of the water in each cup with a thermometer. Which water is now the coolest? Which is warmest? Why?

This activity supports the following goals and standards:

Category:

Science

Illinois State Goal:

Students should develop startegies for: asking questions; planning and conducting investigations.

Illinois Learning Standard:

Know and apply the concepts, principals and processes of scientific discovery.

Early Learning Checklist/Benchmark:

Plans and experiments with materials to test ideas.