Plants Prop Box

Prop boxes are a great way for children to explore everything there is to learn about a specific topic. Often times prop boxes are used to enhance a dramatic play area, but in this case I am using a prop box to teach a science lesson.

When we think of spring, we often think of flowers blooming. Many children also think this way, but they do not always understand the science behind flowers. To celebrate spring, I created a prop box based on a garden shop theme. There are several levels to my box.

 

1. Seeds! Explore different types of seeds and what flowers/plants they produce.

Seeds are an interesting concept-- especially to children who may have never seen or explored seeds before. As adults we sometimes forget how new some things are to children. Begin by collecting packets of seeds from a local store. Pour these seeds into clear plastic baggies or jars. Allow children to observe the seeds and make predictions about what type of plants they think those seeds will grow. It would be nice if you could use sunflower seeds in your sand or water table this week for children to play with.

2. How do "things" grow from seeds?

There are two options for this activity. The first might be to really grow plants over the course of a month in your classroom. Students could journal each day or every other day about what they are seeing in the plants. It would be important for you as the teacher or parent to help them understand what they are seeing or are not seeing as a result of this project.

Avocado seed growing in a preschool classroom. The students are hoping it sprouts roots and leaves.

Another option would be to explore children's books (there is a list provided at the end of this post!) about how plants grow. Children could then create a graphic organizer such as a comic strip showing the stages of a plant. It would be awesome if you gave children the choice between concrete materials like paper and pencil OR allowed them to use an online website to create their comic strip. The choice between the two will empower children while still allowing them to learn from the activity.

3. Garden planting

There are more pictures from this activity at the beginning of this post.

For the younger ages, create a garden in your dramatic play area for kids to play in. Have child sized plastic tools such as a hoe, rake, and shovel (very easy to find this time of year!) You can make or collect "seeds" for children to plant. I chose to use seed packets for the children to plant as their seeds. A good inquiry idea might be to include children in this process by asking what they would use as play seeds. You can scaffold them to an answer by discussing the pros and cons of using real seeds or smaller objects vs. larger child sized ones. For your dirt, use a large brown piece of felt or other type of fabric. Students can spread the material out on the floor and plant their seeds in the dirt. If interested, children might enjoy having real fruits and vegetables "grow" in their garden by replacing the seeds with materials from the play kitchen.

4. Cards to sequence the growth of plants

source: http://www.exploringnature.org/db/detail.php?dbID=26&detID=2957

Create a series of cards for children to order showing the different stages of a plant. This website where the photo above came from has a great activity for understanding a plan life cycle.

5. Pots for students to plant in

What good is a lesson on seeds without an actual station for children to plant and actually explore science hands on? This activity could easily be used in conjunction with the second activity to take the science exploration to another level.

For this activity walk students through the process of planting real seeds in pots and watching them grow. Students could choose what type of plant/flower they want to grow or you could choose for them.

6. Match that seed!

Have students match pictures of seeds to their matching plant. Ask students to write or talk about the characteristics of each seed or plant using their observation skills.

7. Dirt.

Everyone loves dirt. Or at least kids love dirt. Instead of having a sand or water table in your classroom today, have a dirt table. Place some potting soils without fertilizer in a tub and allow students to touch, play, and squish it. It may surprise you how many kids have never played in dirt before. This activity will allow them to use their sense to develop a deeper understanding on dirt.

For older students you can take this activity further by having them analyze the different parts of soil to figure out what type of soil it or if it is really soil at all.

Children's Literature 

While hands on activities are important, I think the most important part of this project is including children's literature to help explain concepts children are learning about in this prop box. I included a short list of books below that you can easily print and take shopping with you. All images are from amazon.com.

The Carrot Seed, By Ruth Krauss

A little boy tries planting a carrot seed to see if it will grow. Everyone says it won't. Read to see what really happens!

One Bean, By Anne Rockwell

Read this story to find out what happens when you plant one bean seed.

How a Seed Grows, By Helene Jordan

This book answers the question "How does a seed grow?"

Other Books 
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
The Vegetables We Eat by Gail Gibbons
Flower Garden by Eve Bunting
Sunflower House by Eve Bunting
Oh Say Can You Seed? by Bonnie Worth
This is the Sunflower by Lola Schaefer  

Science Websites for Home

1. Weather Wiz Kids 
This website is designed to teach kids all about the different types of weather. If you are struggling with how to explain a weather concept to children then you should check out this site. With the crazy weather we have been experiencing recently, this site could be extremely beneficial.

2. NASA
Another great website for children is this webpage created by NASA. I would recommend this site for older children or younger children with their parents simply because there is so much information on this page. The creators thought of everything Earth related when they created this site such as weather and space.

3. American Museum of Natural History
Just like the NASA webpage, this site is almost overwhelming there are so many resources on it. I was attracted to this page because it explores the different ologies that sometimes confuse people, but there is so much more here to be found. Each topics on the site contains activities, games, information, and so much more for children.

4. Smithsonian Institute 
This webpage, created by the Smithsonian Natural Museum of History, takes children deep down underwater to explore strange and exotic underwater topics. While exploring this site I learned more about the ribbon worm, but there are hundreds more topics that children can read about. This site is more text heavy than the others so parents and teachers may need to explore this site on their own first before involving children in the exploration process.

5. Engineer Girl 
Sorry boys, but this webpage is definitely geared more towards girls. There is a serious problem with the number of people in this world who believe that girls are not good at math and science and that they cannot do the same things as boys. This site says differently though. Created by the National Academy of Science this webpage is designed to teach girls all about the world of engineering.

6. Energy Kids
Energy consumption is an everyday thing here in the US, and this site is designed to teach kids all about energy consumption. In addition, the creators included ways to conserve energy so this site would be a nice companion for Earth Day.

7. Female Scientist Biographies  
I'm not trying to be gender biased with this list, but the biographies on this page are all female scientist. These people could serve as great role models for your daughters or female students. This list however could also be a stepping point for more research that includes male scientists as well.

8. Kids Health
This website is definitely geared more towards health than science, but it is still a really great webpage to use when children are learning about life sciences and their bodies. Young children especially cannot understand life science more beyond themselves. I recently completed a lesson for my science methods course about the heart, and this page has some great resources that could have been used alongside that lesson.

9. Science Kids
This New Zealand webpage contains science experiments, games, information, projects, lessons, and more on every science topic imaginable. I can definitely see myself using this site as a future teacher, and I hope you can find some useful tools here for your family and classroom.

10. Exploring Natural Science 
I created this blog as a way of helping parents teach their children science topics. As a result I almost didn't put this site on this list. I changed my mind however because it contains many science lesson plans that some parents may find interesting and helpful when working with their children. Parents might also want to pass this site along to their child's teachers and caregivers as a simple way of integrating science into everyday life. This site is also really great because teaching standards accompany each lesson.

"Good Reads" Science Books for Children

1. Gabby and Her Grandma Go Green By Monica Wellington 

This book shows the relationship between Gabby and her grandma. Throughout the book the two work on green projects together such as sewing reusable bags and recycling bottles at the grocery store. The author provides children with lots of "go green" tips they can use in their own lives, and the storyline between Gabby and her grandma emphasizes the importance of family as well.

2. Compost! Growing Gardens from Your Garden By Linda Glasser 

The beautiful illustrations in this book help teach children about the world of composting. The author walks children through a typical compost cycle and all the responsibilities that come from composting through the eyes of a little girl. 

3. How Groundhog's Garden Grew By Lynne Cherry 

After reading Compost! parents, teachers, and caregivers can use this book to teach children about how gardening requires patience. This book includes information on the life cycle of plants and how exciting it is to grow vegetables yourself instead of relying on someone else for food. 

4. The Great Kapok Tree By Lynne Cherry 

One day a man exhausts himself trying to cut down the Kapok Tree. While he is sleeping the residents of the tree inform him of the importance of trees. This book is a great choice for Earth day and rainforest conservation. 

5. Jack and the Beanstalk By Stephen Kellogg

This is another great book to use in a gardening series. Although this book is a timeless classic, teachers and parents can add a scientific twist to the book by teaching children about growing beans just like Jack does in the story. Many children who have heard the story before may be surprised to learn about the scientific nature of the story.

6. Weighing the Elephant By Ting-xing Ye and Suzane Langlois

While this book on its own helps teach children about weight, parents and teachers could also easily create a lesson out of the book by only reading the first 18 pages. After finishing the first half, children can then brainstorm ways to determine Huan-Huan's weight. Then, after some discussion, children can finish the book to see how the story ends. 

7. 11 Experiments That Failed, by Jenny Offill and Nancy Carpenter 

How often do children see science experiments that fail? In school, children are frequently led to success when it comes to science. This book however explores the other side where scientists fail and learn from their mistakes. A great read for the budding chemist. 

8. Older Than the Stars By Karen Fox 

Karen Fox did a great job of appealing to all ages with this book. Fox takes readers on a journey through the Big Bang Theory. Although this is can be a complex topic, Fox found a way to help children understand these ideas on their level. 

9. Volcanoes By Franklyn Branley 

All children love the topic of volcanoes. But how much do they really know about them? This book takes children behind the scenes and helps them understand the science of volcanoes. Readers will learn about what makes a volcano erupt. 

10. Gravity is a Mystery By Franklyn Branley 

Everyone has thrown a ball at some point in their life. Adults usually know that gravity is the reason the ball falls to the ground, but we shouldn't take it for granted that children understand this concept. Franklyn Branley uses a scientist and a dog to help teach children about gravity and why it exists. 

Roller Coaster WebQuest

One of our assignments for my science methods course is to make a WebQuest on zunal.com. We received very little instruction on this assignment giving us the freedom to do almost anything we wanted. I decided after a lot of exploration that I wanted to make a WebQuest on roller coasters. This topic was difficult because there was only so much I could do with 3rd and 4th graders, but it was a lot of fun because it gave me the opportunity to introduce students to a more complex topic they will learn in middle and high school. I also think that this topic will engage students because it is something they are interested in. My WebQuest can be found here, http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=186952 if you would like to check it out. I would love to hear your feedback either here on my blog or on the actual WebQuest site since I do not have any experience creating or using WebQuests with students.

Science at Home

As parents it is important that you incorporate school activities and learning into your home as often as possible. This helps continue learning that occurs at school and also shows children that you support what they are doing at school. I have compiled a list of 10 ideas for you to try at home in your free time with your children.

1. Edible Life Cycle of the Butterfly

This activity is perfect for the Spring when your child begins seeing butterflies flying around outside. If you have time, I recommend reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar first before starting this activity. Tracy has instructions on her blog for how to complete this activity. Check it out at the link above.

2. Make a Paper Clip Float 

This website has many good ideas for science experiments you could do in your kitchen. I chose this one to feature on my blog because it is simple and requires materials you probably have already in your house. 

3. Ear Drum Model

Did you ever wonder how your ear drum works? This model helps young scientists understand how their ear drums work when sound enter their ear. 

4. Rock Classification

This is a relatively easy and inexpensive experiment to do at home with your kids. While your children are outside playing have them collect a small container of rocks. Later, sit down with you children and talk about the different sizes and colors of the rocks they collect. Have them sort the rocks into piles based on the characteristics your family creates. 

5. Filling Up Ballons

Do you remember the balloons you bought for the ear drum experiment? You can use some of the extras for this experiment which fills up balloons in a new way. 

6. Exploding Ivory Soap

This blog post leads to two different Ivory soap experiments, and the author has links on her page to some other suggestions using Ivory soap. I highly suggest checking out this post for a fun activity that will end with some very clean kids. 

7. Controlled Fizz

Did you ever make or see a volcano experiment growing up? The author of this post provides some great suggestions on how to change the volcano experiment with different ingredients. After you try all three ideas discuss with your children why the results were different with each change. 

8. "M" is for Marshmallow 

The author of this post provides a bunch of different science experiments with marshmallows. I am a huge fan of marshmallows and would love to try some of these experiments with my children some day. 

9. Snow Storm in a Bag

Where I currently live, it snows a lot. No matter where you live though this experiment would be great for exploring the concept of snow, and it is relatively easy to create with materials you should have lying around your house already. 

10. Dancing Oobleck 

Even though I'm an adult I really want to try this experiment. Supposedly this cool solid-liquid mixture dances when you play music around it. 

I hope you enjoyed my suggestions! Please comment below if you have any recommendations for cheap and easy science experiments that will make a big difference in your child's education.