Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Monday, May 28, 2012
Looking for a quick science lesson?
If so, you can check dragonflies and damselflies on my other blog. I posted this a while ago, and it's lots of fun!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Playing in Google Docs today
I'm not sure how I feel about this Google Docs thing. I love the idea, but I find it really difficult to use. I'm pretty good at PowerPoint and such. Maybe I am missing something?
Anyway, I thought I'd publish a freebie and see how it goes. Frogs- Facts or Opinions is available. There are many facts and a few opinions in the text. Students can choose to write facts and opinions down on the chart, or they can use a highlighter.
It's pretty basic, but I've worked on it for a while. All that work should be for something! Plus, I've taken advantage of a lot of freebies myself. (They are much, much better than mine!) The goal is to get really good at it. We'll see.
Hope you enjoy!
Anyway, I thought I'd publish a freebie and see how it goes. Frogs- Facts or Opinions is available. There are many facts and a few opinions in the text. Students can choose to write facts and opinions down on the chart, or they can use a highlighter.
It's pretty basic, but I've worked on it for a while. All that work should be for something! Plus, I've taken advantage of a lot of freebies myself. (They are much, much better than mine!) The goal is to get really good at it. We'll see.
Hope you enjoy!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Celebrating the first day of summer vacation- with homeschool!
Ahhh, summer break. It brings to mind long, lazy days...cookouts....jumping in the swimming pool....and if you live in our house, a science field trip and lesson!
I based this lesson off a plan on the Smithsonian Education website. I used this activity as the base of our learning. Instead of using a meter square and the worksheets, we used a jump rope and some paper and markers.
To begin our activity, we posed a question. (Well, I did.)
Where is plant life more diverse in Bledsoe Creek State Park? Then we talked about diversity and how it applied to plant life.
Then we each made a hypothesis. Anthony predicted that there would be more plant species where there were lots of deer. Normally, we see tons of deer, but no such luck today. Jerimiah predicted we would find more plants at the bottom of the park, about 50 feet from the lake. Mom agreed with Jerimiah's prediction. Dad predicted we would find more plant species around a tree in the forest.
With our prediction in place, we began exploring. To gather our data, we made a circle with a jump rope in four locations. In each location, the kids and Dad counted the different types of plants in the circle. Anthony recorded the data for us.
Anthony diligently recording our data.
I based this lesson off a plan on the Smithsonian Education website. I used this activity as the base of our learning. Instead of using a meter square and the worksheets, we used a jump rope and some paper and markers.
To begin our activity, we posed a question. (Well, I did.)
Where is plant life more diverse in Bledsoe Creek State Park? Then we talked about diversity and how it applied to plant life.
Then we each made a hypothesis. Anthony predicted that there would be more plant species where there were lots of deer. Normally, we see tons of deer, but no such luck today. Jerimiah predicted we would find more plants at the bottom of the park, about 50 feet from the lake. Mom agreed with Jerimiah's prediction. Dad predicted we would find more plant species around a tree in the forest.
With our prediction in place, we began exploring. To gather our data, we made a circle with a jump rope in four locations. In each location, the kids and Dad counted the different types of plants in the circle. Anthony recorded the data for us.
The boys making their circle to begin counting the number of plant species.
Anthony counting
Making the circle around a tree to test Dad's hypothesis.
Counting at the top of the "mountain" at Bledsoe Creek.
Jerimiah counting the types of plant species at the bottom of the "mountain" near the water.
Anthony diligently recording our data.
So, after all the data was compiled, we made a graph to show our results.
Our data.
Dad helping to create our chart
Our graph
It's not a perfect graph, and the spelling is not perfect either. But today we covered several subjects. Our hike covered P.E. We discussed the scientific method and ecosystems for science. We built a graph from a table of data, which made an excellent math lesson. Most importantly, we had a great time.
And nothing makes Dad happier than being right. :)
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