Category: Earth

Blanket of Air – Activities

FOCUS: The air we breathe is part of the Earth’s atmosphere, a layer of gases that surrounds the planet, protecting us from harmful radiation and keeping us warm. Although air is invisible, we’ll discover that it takes up space, exerts pressure and has weight, can be heated, cooled, and compressed, and always seeks to equalize its pressure. It is important to understand our atmosphere, because without air, animals and plants could not survive.

INTRODUCTION
Objective: To begin to explore and ask questions about air.

Give each small group of children an empty bag, and ask, “What’s in the bag?” Now ask children to twist the neck of the bag shut with a twist-tie, and have them feel it again. Is the bag really empty?

Materials: Plastic bag and twist tie, one for each group.

PUPPET SHOW “Half Full or Half Empty?”
Objective: To learn how air is important to living things.

Perform the puppet show, or have a group of children perform it for the class. Afterward, ask questions to review the key details and vocabulary in the story. Why is air needed by animals? (For energy.) By plants? (To make leaves, stems, etc.) Holding up each puppet, review how each one gets air. What is the part of air that people and animals especially need to breathe? (Oxygen.)

Materials: puppets, script, stage, props.

JUMPING JACKS
Objective: To demonstrate air’s importance to our bodies at work

Have the children count how many breaths they take in one minute. Then have them do ten to twenty jumping jacks. Now have them count their breaths again. Is there a difference? Why?
Continue reading Blanket of Air – Activities

Blanket of Air – Puppet Show

Half Full or Half Empty?

Characters: Freddy Frog, Teddy Toad, Wilma Worm, Frieda Fish, Water Lily, Davy Dragonfly

Props:  Two tea cups attached to stage, one on stick so it can tip.

 

Freddy Frog  Look, Teddy Toad. My cup is half full.

Teddy Toad  My cup is half empty.  I always get less. Continue reading Blanket of Air – Puppet Show

Blanket of Air – Standards

BLANKET OF AIR ALIGNMENT WITH
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS

The activities in this unit help children understand the basic concepts in the Disciplinary Core Ideas listed here. You can use the following list as a guide for lesson planning. These Disciplinary Core Ideas are taken from Grade Band Endpoints in A Framework for K-12 Science Education. Additionally, our activities give children opportunities to engage in many of the Science and Engineering Practices and reflect on the Crosscutting Concepts as identified in the Next Generation Science Standards. Continue reading Blanket of Air – Standards

Nature of Sound – Background

If a tree falls in the forest, a bird sings, or a beaver slaps its tail, does it make a sound if no one is there to hear it? To think about this riddle, we need to understand the nature of sound – what it is and how we perceive it. Sound is important in our lives and the lives of other animals. Our sense of hearing helps us learn about and monitor our surroundings. And for animals that chirp, croak, bark, or talk, sound provides a highly effective means of communication.

Sound is what we hear when something is vibrating. Pluck a rubber band or a guitar string, and we hear a sound. How does the sound reach our ears? As the string vibrates, oscillating rapidly back and forth, it pushes or compresses the air Continue reading Nature of Sound – Background

Nature of Sound – Activities

FOCUS: Sound is what we hear when something is vibrating. The vibrating object – whether a violin string, a singing bird, or a gurgling brook – creates a sound wave that travels to our ears, where we interpret its meaning. Sound waves need a medium like air, water, or a solid through which to move; they cannot pass through a vacuum. The Earth’s atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere provide a way for sounds to travel. Many animals depend on sound to learn about their surroundings and to communicate with others of their kind.

INTRODUCTION
Objective: To begin to explore and ask questions about sound.

Ask children to put their hands on their own throats as they make a noise like a frog and sing like a bird. What do they notice? Next, ask all children to make a “shush” sound. Do they notice a difference?

PUPPET SHOW “Calls of the Wild”
Objective: To learn how different animals hear and make sounds, and how sounds are important in their lives.

Perform the puppet show, or have a group of children perform it for the class. Afterward, ask questions to review the key details and vocabulary in the story. How was sound important to the different animals in the puppet show? (Chickadee – contact calls, listening for danger; woodpecker – finding food, advertising territory; jay – alarm, warning others; hare – knowing the weather, knowing where he is, listening for predators.) What are some other ways that sound is important in our lives or those of animals? (Calling for help, young begging for food, crossing roads, enjoying music, speaking, etc.)

Materials: puppets, script, stage, three signs for audience participation.

PAINT STICK ORCHESTRA
Objective: To investigate what is happening when something makes a sound.

Give each child or pair of children a paint stick. Have one child place the stick flat on a table or bench, so that about two thirds of it extends out beyond the edge. Continue reading Nature of Sound – Activities

Nature of Sound – Puppet Show

Calls of the Wild

Characters: Harry Hare, Chelsea Chickadee, Woodrow Woodpecker, Jenny Jay, Oliver Owl.

Props: cup of water and a straw; signs for audience participation: “chick-a-dee, dee, dee,” “whshhhhh,” “jay-jay-jay.”

Directions: Ahead of time, assign people in the audience a sound to make when their sign appears. It may be helpful to have one person to do sound effects and hold up the signs for audience participation.

Harry Hare   Gee, it’s almost morning and I’m still hungry. I’d like to go across the field to get to the bramble patch, but it might be dangerous. I’d better listen with my ears to be sure it’s safe. Continue reading Nature of Sound – Puppet Show

Nature of Sound – Standards

NATURE OF SOUND ALIGNMENT WITH
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS

The activities in this unit help children understand the basic concepts in the Disciplinary Core Ideas listed here. You can use the following list as a guide for lesson planning. These Disciplinary Core Ideas are taken from Grade Band Endpoints in A Framework for K-12 Science Education. Additionally, our activities give children opportunities to engage in many of the Science and Engineering Practices and reflect on the Crosscutting Concepts as identified in the Next Generation Science Standards. Continue reading Nature of Sound – Standards

Water – Background

From ice crystals to raindrops, water in its many forms is a remarkable substance that is essential to all living things. Most organisms are made largely of water, many also live in or on the water, and all require water to survive. The Earth’s water is a finite resource but one that is constantly on the move. As it cycles from the Earth’s surface to the atmosphere and back, it changes form. Water evaporates into vapor, condenses into droplets, and precipitates as rain or snow. Much of the water that falls on land is transported back to the air by plants, a process that is only possible because of water’s unique properties.

The Earth’s water was formed billions of years ago as the planet itself was forming, though there is still much to learn about how this came about. Water is Continue reading Water – Background