Investigation Box

      

Books

Box

                                    

Materials:

Shovels

Gardening kit

Seeds

Cups

watering can

magnifying glass

pretend bugs

pretend worms

old shoe

paper

soil word find

Description:  My investigation box will be a hands on box that students can get dirty in!  I will use a clear aquarium as the actual box so that students can observe the dirt visually.  Students will be able to play around in the dirt, examining its texture, color, weight, smell, etc.  There will be a watering can at this center so students can add a small amount of water to see what happens when water is added to dry dirt. I will also  have cups and seeds available so students can make their own potted flower to display on the classroom window sill.  I will add worms and bugs to the dirt so the children can have an idea of what they may find in the dirt when they are outside.  Students will be encourages to count the insects found and sort them in any way that they see fit.  I will also have an old shoe in the center and some paper.  The shoe it so students can experiment with making an imprint in the dirt.  Students can explore with adding different pressures to the shoe and seeing how this will effect the imprint.  The paper is there for them to put the shoe on after making an imprint, so they can see how dirt can travel.  For a game in this center, I will have a Soil word find, along with the three books displayed above. 

Science Activities

Estimation

This is a great activity for estimation. Children can trace their hands, and then guess how many fruit loops it will take to fill their hand.  Once they have made a guess, they can put the fruit loops on their hand and count to see how close they were to their estimation.  To get a copy of the estimation hand out, Download Here!


The Human Bubble

For this activity you will need bubble solution, a small plastic pool and a hula hoop.  This is a fun way to show children what it actually feels like inside of a bubble.


Water Walk

For this activity you will need one cup filled with colored water, a piece of paper towel and an empty cup.  Place the filled cup on a higher level.  Put the paper towel in the filled cup, as close to the bottom as possible.  Put the empty cup below the filled cup, and put the other end of the paper towel into the empty cup.  Check the empty cup throughout the day to see if the "water walks!"


Mixing Colors

This activity is great for Kindergartners!  Make 3 different cups full of colored water; blue, red, and yellow.  Have one large cup that can be used for mixing.  Have them chose two colors at a time, and blend them into the larger cup.  You can have your child write down their data, or even show it by making color blotched on a piece of paper!  Example: blue scribble + yellow scribble = green scribble.


Magnet Fun

For this activity, give your child a magnet and have them explore your house to figure out what will connect with a magnet and what does not.  Have a conversation about what connects, and what doesn't and come up with some idea's as to why.


Push or Pull?

For this activity you simply give your child something on wheels.  It could be a toy car, a wagon or a small bike.  Talk to your child about how things move, and have them experiment with their objects.  If several children are involved, you can have one sit in the wagon, and one doing the pushing or pulling.  This is a fun, easy way to discover to motion of objects.


Seeds and Stamps


At home, make snack time a fun way to discuss an apple's seeds.  Cut the apple down the center remove the seeds.  Discuss there size and shape.  Then using paint and a white piece of paper you can make apple stamps with the star shaped side.  You can cut the other side up in smaller pieces for a snack!


Senses


When discussing our 5 senses, there is nothing better to taste than ICE CREAM!  Choose a few different flavors for your child to try, while being blind folded and see if they can guess which flavor they are tasting.  This will be a yummy treat, but also show them how hard our taste buds work to distinguishing flavors.


Parts of a flower


After we have completed our flower lesson, your child will be able to show you the different party of the flower.  You can have them model this with play dough.  This is a great way to work there small motor skills, have fun, and recap on what we have been learning.


Rainbow Carnation


All you need if a few different cups, food coloring and white carnations!  You can show your child how water travels through a flowers stem and reached the pedals of the flower, even if we can not see it happening.  This will then make a great decoration for them to sit on their window sill!

Good Reads

Think of all the rocks there are: skipping rocks, splashing rocks, climbing rocks, and wishing rocks. Children can’t help collecting them. With joyful, poetic text and luminous photographs, If You Find a Rock celebrates rocks everywhere—as well as the mysterious and wonderful places they are found. (Amazon.com)

Holly Keller has created vivacious new paintings for this favorite Reading Rainbow title about geology. Readers follow two enthusiastic rock hounds around the globe as they add to their collection. Along the way they will learn how sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks are formed. From the Egyptian pyramids to Roman roads, from the diamond ring on your finger to the pebbles under your feet'rocks are everywhere! (Amazon.com)

This books tells you all about fossils; the different types of fossils, where they come from, and even how to create your very own.  This is a great book for children of all ages that want to explore and be a part of history in creating their very own fossil.

The Jump Into Science book, Dirt, takes on the topic of soil, one of the most important resources on Earth. A star-nosed mole is the book's character guide, and he shows off all the different kinds of dirt in his garden, helps us to understand how dirt formed and what's in it, and points out many of the incredible creatures who live in the dirt. (Amazon.com)


This book does a great job in explaining to children why it is that you can feel wind but not see it.  It talks about the effects of wind and really draws children in with its colorful pictures.



Meet Max the Little Monster. He is a cute, furry green monster who is an environmental nightmare. Among other things, he leaves on all the lights, keeps his computer plugged in, blasts the TV, hoards his old toys and uses so much toilet paper it clogs the toilet until finally, his excessive ways cause a power outage. With no TV to watch, computer to play on, video games to play with, Max finds there is a whole big world outside that he can make a difference in the environment. (Amazon.com)



Ms. Frizzle's class is growing a beautiful garden, but Phoebe's plot is empty. Her flowers are at her old school! So, the kids climb aboard the Magic School Bus. They go to Phoebe's old school to get some of her old flowers, but they end up actually going inside the flowers. Follow the kids' colorful adventure as they learn how living things grow. (Amazon.com)



This book has colorful diagrams and activities for children to do to explore what is living and non living.  This is an essential first step in science.



How does a tiny acorn grow into an enormous oak tree? At one time, the tree in your backyard could have fit into your pocket! Look inside to learn the simple steps for turning a packet of seeds into your own garden. (Amazon.com)

Buddy and his mother are spending a relaxing day at Pete’s Pond. As Mama tells Buddy about the animals, bugs, and plants they see, Buddy sketches them on his drawing pad. Ducks! Whirligig beetles! Lily pads! Buddy is curious about everything, but most of all, he hopes to see a turtle. And he does—but not the kind he expected! This book, illustrated with photographs and cut-paper artwork, is a perfect introduction to environmental science and biology, but will also be useful to all enthusiastic pond goers. A make-a-rock turtle craft activity is included. (Amazon.com)

Science Lessons

Let the weather help you dress

This is a great lesson plan for Kindergarten students because weather is something we talk about every morning.  During morning meetings, students can incorporate the weather vocabulary that they learn through doing this lesson, as well as make predictions.  What I like most about this lesson is that we can use this as a cross curricular lesson.  This lesson can be brought over into math as the students graph the weather over a course of a month.


Insects, Insects, Insects!

This lesson allows students to explore the insects around them, all while using other sources such as computers to learn more and ask experts important questions.  Insects are something children are either fascinated with, or disgusted by, but this is a great lesson because it provides the children with a great experience no matter how they currently feel about insects - and it could quit possibly change their minds!

Clifford Learns about Seasons, and so do we!

Through this lesson children will identify dates, such as their birthdays, and learn about the season in which it falls.  Students learn to associate different types of weather to a specific season.  This is a great lesson so that children explore the weather around them, and talk about not just the weather in present day but also what is to come.

Ocean Life

This is a great lesson plan for children to get to use technology.  Children are to research behaviors of dolphins, and weather and how that effects the ocean.  Children will also get practice using a graphic organizer as they record their findings, and write down their questions.

Where do Chickens and Worms live?

In this lesson students will first define the word environemt and then discover how differnet animals physical features are matche to their environment.  Students will explore their own environment and compare and contrast it to other animals environments.  This is a great lesson to broaden the minds of children and inform them of different environments, rather then just theirs. 

How do Chicken and Worms help people?

This is a great cross curricular lesson because we are recognizing how animals help humans, but also practicing writing.  After reading The Chicken and the Worm students should be able to identify how these animals help us, which is also a great comprehension activity.

Building a Worm bin

In this lesson students will learn how to build a worm bin and properly take care of it.  This is teaching responsibily, but also showing students the importance of giving a creature what it needs in order to successfully live within its environment. 

Origami Butterflies

This is an art lesson that can easily be used when teaching about the life cycle of a butterfly.  This is a great way for children to use their fine motor skills and explore through art.

Rainbows

This is a fun activity to do when following a lesson about rainbows.  This directly corresponds with weather, and how and when rainbows are formed.  Children will find this activity fun, as well as beneficial in learning the order of the colors of a rainbow.

Senses

This activity is designed to focus on the 5 senses.  Explaining to the children that almost everyone has 5 senses is important because they begin to learn the similarities in people.  Discussing each sense by itself first and making sure the children understand the sense is important before moving onto the next sense.  Once they have learned all of the senses, they can begin to see how sometimes they work together!