Category: Science

Art, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Education, K-12, Language Arts, Math, Problem Solving, Science, Student Products

Trap a Leprechaun

Terri Eichholz

Our next holiday, St. Patrick’s Day, is right around the corner.  I was looking for some creative ideas for that theme, and came across a fun concept – trying to trap a leprechaun.  If you teach students in higher grades, you could really get into some math and physics with this challenge.  Pretend there is a leprechaun hiding in your classroom, and see if the students can deduce from clues (footprints in the soil of a plant, for example) his approximate height and weight.  Or, just bring a bunch of supplies to class and see who could build the most clever trap.  This would spark some great writing activities, as well.  Here are a few links to spark your imagination:  To Catch a Leprechaun, Leprechaun Traps, Leprechaun Trap Cake.  And, if you are interested in some more creative thinking activities for next month, you can also download my March S.C.A.M.P.E.R. packet here.

3-12, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Education, Problem Solving, Science, Student Products

Ewok Escape

Terri Eichholz

Ewok Escape is one of 12 Design Challenges (7 current ones, and 5 in the archives) offered by Boston’s Museum of Science on their website.  The question posed by this particular challenge is, “CAN YOU DESIGN AND BUILD A BALANCING DEVICE TO HELP AN EWOK ESCAPE THE IMPERIAL FORCES BY SLIDING DOWN A TIGHTROPE TO SAFETY?”  What student wouldn’t want to accept that challenge?  Each of the challenges come with Educator Guides in PDF format, and many of them have additional worksheets, as well.  If your students aren’t Star Wars fans, they can use other figures that pique their interest, or they can try to design a house for an animal or tools to help them survive in case of a shipwreck!

3-12, Art, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Math, Multiple Intelligences, Music, Science, Teaching Tools, Videos

Fibonacci

Terri Eichholz

The mysterious Fibonacci pattern can be a great way to hook students into both math and science. Here is a fun video from YouTube that shows the connection, and a link to some Fibonacci lesson plans integrating music.

Direct YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahXIMUkSXX0

Apps, Creative Thinking, K-12, Language Arts, Math, Science, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Videos

Talking Tom and Ben News for iPad

Terri Eichholz

You are probably familiar with the “Talking” apps.  There are a variety that are available for free, and work on iPhone, iTouch, and iPad.  This particular one is only compatible with the iPad at the moment, and is free (though there is an offer for an in-app purchase).  My Multimedia club students had fun playing around with the app to deliver some Thanksgiving Jokes on our school news, which is a video broadcast.  They recorded the jokes, then sent them to the computer, where, once the MOV file was converted to WMV (with a little help from Zamzar), we were able to add music and subtitles.  If you are not crazy about all of those complicated steps, don’t worry.  You can just record and e-mail it.  We have not had a chance to use one of the coolest features of this app, which allows you to insert a video from your iPad on which Tom and Ben can comment.  This offers a lot of learning opportunities in which students can explain some of their own homemade videos.  (Example:  Imagine, “This just in – Allison figured out how to solve 13 times 14!”)

Here is a sample of our jokes from our video club:

[vodpod id=Video.15704637&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

Geography, Independent Study, K-12, Research, Science, Social Studies, Teaching Tools, Websites

Geography Awareness Week

Terri Eichholz

Next week, November 13-19, is Geography Awareness Week.  I think we can all agree that we could stand to brush up on our geography skills.  This site, produced by National Geographic, has some great activities for doing that.  You can print out a booklet of “missions”, or go to the online version.  The wording in the booklet is fun, and the missions are very creative.  For example, one mission is titled, “Alien Invasion”, in which the student is tasked to “Photograph evidence of where a non-native plant or animal has invaded a local ecosystem. Produce a ‘spotter’s guide’ to these invasive species.”  Many of the missions would make great activities any time of the year, so don’t feel restricted to squeezing all of your geography education into one week!

Independent Study, K-12, Language Arts, Motivation, Reading, Science, Social Studies, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Writing

60 Graphic Organizers

Terri Eichholz

This is a great resource for differentiating.  Many teachers use graphic organizers, but there are a few here that I’ve never seen – such as the jigsaw puzzle.  Changing things up always grabs the students’ attention.  To apply this to different abilities in your classroom you could try the following levels, in order from least ability to greatest ability:

  • organizer that is pre-filled
  • organizer that is attached to a worksheet with the different words or phrases for the students to cut out and apply
  • blank organizer with no word bank
  • select your own organizer and fill out

I have tried the last one in my classroom, and the students love being given the option to choose.  It is interesting to see how they can apply the same information in several different types of diagrams.