Science

The Secret Life of Ponds

Submitted by sarahp on Sat, 07/24/2010 - 01:46

Water makes life on the planet not just livable, but possible. All organisms are utterly dependent on it for survival. Our bodies are 80 percent water. It covers three-quarters of the Earth's surface, but only 3 percent of that area is fresh water (the rest is oceanic salt water), and more than half of that is in the form of ice.

Growing Baby Ferns

Submitted by sarahp on Thu, 07/22/2010 - 23:32

fern prothalliumObjectives

Students will:

Catching the Rain

Submitted by sarahp on Thu, 07/22/2010 - 09:10

Objectives

Students will:

discover the impact of soil conditions on rainwater absorption
learn gardening practices to help increase moisture absorption

Central Concepts

Water does not penetrate well in some soil conditions, causing runoff and erosion.

Understanding and Conserving Community Water Resources

Objectives

Students will:

Introduction to Plant Breeding

The following activity is from the Harvest of History, an online fourth grade curriculum that introduces students to agriculture of the past and present, emphasizing its importance in our lives.

Oliver's Vegetables by Vivian French

Submitted by sarahp on Tue, 07/20/2010 - 22:30

Objectives

Read Oliver's Vegetables by Vivian French.
Discuss the edible parts of plants.
Learn the health benefits of vegetables and why they should eat some every day.

Central Concepts:

Vegetables are an important part of our diet because they provide essential nutrients and fiber.
Different vegetables provide different health benefits.

Bulb Botany

Submitted by sarahp on Tue, 07/20/2010 - 02:36

Objectives

Learn the different parts of a bulb and what they do.
Explore the parts of the bulb through dissection.

Central Concepts

A bulb is a plant that grows from an underground mass of food storage tissues.
The storage capacity of a bulb is a special adaptation for survival.

Materials

bulbs (onion and/or spring-flowering bulbs)
a knife
cutting board
plastic bags
paper towels
paper
pencils

Discussion Questions

Flower Dissection

Objectives

Learn the difference between angiosperms and gymnosperms
Learn the purpose of flowers
Investigate and identify the parts of a flower using live specimens

Central Concepts

Flowers vary in appearance, but all possess similar structures.
The purpose of a flower is to produce seed.

Materials

Chart or model illustrating the parts of a flower
Flowers, conifer cones
Paper towels
Tweezers and hand lenses

Discussion Questions

Tree Math

Submitted by sarahp on Sun, 07/18/2010 - 14:17

Overview

Students practice measuring the circumference of trunks and estimate the height of trees.

Materials:

Trees
Tape measure
Stick
Meter stick

Background

The American Forests website provides detailed instructions for measuring the circumference of trunks, height of trees, and size of tree canopies.

Ladybugs Lost and Found

A Tale of Schoolyard Citizen Science

Noelle Kramer hadn’t planned to delve into citizen science, but her students were rather persuasive. As her third and fourth graders in Dixon, California read aloud from Time for Kids, something sparked their interest. “An article on a citizen science program called The Lost Ladybug Project asked kids to become ladybug spotters in order to help scientists find a native species that had nearly disappeared,” says Noelle.

Right Side Box:

The Tale of the Lost Ladybugs

Once the state insect of New York, the nine-spotted ladybug population diminished until it all but disappeared from the radar. In fact when some youngsters spotted one of them near their Virginia home in 2006, it was the first of that species seen in the Eastern United States in 14 years! John Losey and other scientists at Cornell University figured that if lots of eyes scoured the country, they might help find more of them along with some other native lady beetles that were also disappearing. And so, the Lost Ladybug Project was born. But it wasn’t just about documenting locals. Scientists – and many homeowners – noticed that populations of other ladybugs were exploding. This included the orangey Asian lady beetle, which was introduced in this country to control pests. Have these imports excluded the native species from their habitats? This is one of the questions that scientists are exploring, thanks to a growing team of citizen scientists.