A Flurry of STEM!

Things are really busy over here!  We have been having tons of fun with our matter unit.  

We observed all three states of matter when we watched the life cycle of our snowman. I saw this great idea over at The Frugal Teacher, and it was  a huge hit!  The kids were so excited when they met our special visitor.  

We made observations, measured, and collected our data all day.

You know how the story ends.  It is not a happy ending, until...my super scientist came to the conclusion that our new friend will always be floating among us - as a gas!  

After observing the three states of matter, we investigated how matter changes with a snow lab.  We talked about physical changes and chemical changes, and then we did some exploring with instasnow

Rollin' Down the River

We are studying Georgia Rivers, so of course we are going to get wet...and dirty.  What fun would learning be if things didn't get a little messy?

We started our unit by drawing our own map using How to Draw Georgia's Sights and Symbols from the A Kid's Guide to Drawing America series.  This text was the perfect way to integrate some of the Reading Informational standards into our unit!  Click on the picture to find your state.

Today we added the rivers and then we talked about how a river is formed.  We read Follow that Water from the Brook to Ocean.

And then it was time to get down and dirty!

I assigned each person in the group a job, and they got busy 
creating,

observing,

hypothesizing,

thinking,

and don't forget the best part...getting messy!

Now - I'm off to find a broom.  If you like to make a mess click to grab the freebie below...but keep the broom handy!

Earthworm Investigation and an Earth Day Giveaway!

Brace yourself...this post involves something wiggly and sort of slimy...but you must put your squeamishness aside for the sake of science.

What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to investigate some of the earth's BFF's.  That's right.  WORMS! 

Earlier I posted about some great worm books.  You can read about them here.

Today we're going live.  I'm talkin' creepy-crawly-slimy-the-wigglier-the-better-live!

Nestled between cries of that's gross and a collective chorus of ewwws is some of the BEST learning.  You know I'm right even if you freshly manicured self wants to deny it.  So let's dig in.

To build background knowledge and find some great info on the anatomy of a worm check out this link.   The kids will get to know Squirmin' Herman from head to toe!

Now you are ready to grab a bucket of worms and start investigating.

I put together an investigation guide for the kids to fill in as they work.  Click the pic to check it out.

Now you are ready to measure,

make obstacle courses, 

and scientific observations!

For some other great Earth Day ideas and some AWESOME giveaways check out

She has SEVEN great bloggers giving stuff away and you don't want to miss out!  Hurry on over and get  signed up it ends Saturday at 10:00.