STEM is Hopping With Easter Stations!

Time for a much needed break after testing? Need to find a way to let off some steam with STEM? This is a perfect time to add some Easter STEM stations to your day. All you need is 30 minutes set aside for building, creating, teamwork and some "HOPPY" students!

These are some of my favorite quick STEM activities! The kids love to create a way to pick up jelly beans and with a little competition it certainly is "egg"citing! Love to add a bit of candy fun for everyone...I love having the kids make peep towers, too!

Jelly Bean Picker Uppers! 

Another quick way to add a bit of area and perimeter into your lesson is to build baskets! I love watching them try to fit as many eggs in their basket so that they can walk the eggs down the bunny trail! 

Easter Egg Baskets!

In intermediate classrooms, students love to make something to protect their eggs as they build an egg drop! Perfect for integrating science concepts such as physics with laws of motion, fluid science, and properties of matter. 

Add some fun Easter Themed Science and STEM! Find both packs HERE!

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STEM and Easter Connections Make Learners and Teachers HOPPY!

Sometimes it is just plain fun to plan for a holiday! I know that some people think it might be a waste of time, or it is just plain impossible to fit in...what if I told you that a small 30 minutes of STEM engagement is just what your learners need to develop problem solving skills, and team building strategies!

Why STEM? Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math expands to every part of our lives. Students are able to develop a passion for STEM challenges allowing them to be part of hands-on and minds-on lessons that will allow them to be exposed to potential occupations in the future. This can also help develop problem solving skills as well as help them build, modify, and share as a team!

Take for example, the four stations that I use with four different grade levels. If you just tuned in...I teach K-5th grade science to over 400 kiddos! LOVE it!

Here are three quick reasons that I use STEM around the holidays:
1. It allows for use of the engineering design model/process
2. It allows students to be able to use hands-on inquiry based strategies
3. It allows for students to apply science and math to what they are building which is real application to a given problem!

Find your EASTER STATIONS HERE!

Our 5th graders make Jelly Bean Picker Uppers! Problem Solving and Team Building and under 30 minutes!

Our 4th graders work on egg protectors! Did I say problem solving and team building yet? I can get them to make and test in just roughly 30 minutes. Time constraints are key!

3rd graders are working on Easter Baskets with two pieces of paper and a small bit of tape! Problem solving using area/perimeter strategies is perfect for this team activity!

Finally, our 2nd graders build Peep Towers using paper and tape as well. Love to see their creativity added to problem solving and team building!

You can also use these activities with kindergarteners and first graders if they are up for a challenge!

I am also so HOPPY that you stopped by that I am sharing a fun Easter Freebie right here for you! Enjoy!

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Oviparous Animals: Hatching a Great Science Lesson

As I plan ahead to next week, I am always thinking about what is on my road map. The plan that is in place for me and how much time do I have until spring break! I wonder if you are thinking those same things???

Most of my friends are busy planning their math lesson and their reading lesson. Some of my poor friends are locked into making sure that they are on the same page as their grade level partners. That is never easy...but how many of you are saying to yourselves what am I planning for Science next week?

Well...think about your reading lesson!

How can your reading lesson lend itself to a science connection?

To play off of Dr. Seuss Week...Horton Hatches an Egg was a perfect example of how I was able to engage my kindergartners to learn about oviparous animals. Let's just say it is a perfect way to take any book about eggs and make it work!!

Here is how I did it!

1. I grabbed some Easter Eggs and printed off my animal cards. I folded the oviparous animals and I took 6 eggs of the same color and put one picture into each egg. I did that for four colors. Giving me 24 eggs. One for every kindergartner.

2. I hid them in the room...easy access and then I had them gather at the carpet. I let them know that we were going to learn a very BIG word today. We practiced over and over. Then we went to the anchor chart where we made a list of animals that hatch from eggs.

3. I then read my Egg themed book! I then told them we were going to search for one egg to bring to a group. All orange was going to be one group...yellow another....and so on. We shared the rules: no running, no opening the egg until the baby was ready to hatch, and no getting an egg for anyone else...everyone needs to find their own egg and ONLY ONE!

4. I then let them find an egg. We gathered in color groups. I had a colored paper egg for them to go to so that they knew where to go! I then told them that I would come around to each next to tap them on the shoulder so that they could hatch their egg. The person tapped could then open it and share an animal with the group that hatches ...making it an oviparous animal!

5. When the team was done hatching all of the eggs we put the papers back in and put them in my egg basket. We all joined at the carpet.

6. We went back to the anchor chart to see what we could add and to look at any misconceptions. We then played the digital google interactive game on the smartboard! I will tell you that my littles love this! Drag and drop! The made the connections and we were able to review what they learned.

               Grab Your Oviparous Animal Pack just in time for Spring! The lesson plan is already for you!

Find This Resource HERE!

This is an EGG-cellent way to welcome Spring!

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Hey Peeps...It's Time For Easter STEM

It is the week before Easter and it is time to find a simple way to add STEM Easter Stations to your science time. Here is a simple way to add science concepts...

An adaptation is a process of making changes over a long period of time for survival. This can include changes in looks and in behavior. This concept is a great way to teach students how we adapt and change and so do animals!

For my bigs...we share an adaptation book from EPIC books called Animal Adaptations by Patricia Armentrout. We make a list of how animals can look different and a list of how animals behave. After the list is created I tell them that they are going to be collecting jelly beans, but they can not touch them with their hands. They must adapt to the task by creating something that will help them collect their food in the jelly bean patch!

Love all the different ways they try to adapt to not being able to use their hands!

Our winners...so cute and so proud!

Here is another fun version of the Peep Palace!

For this activity they can only use the items I provide at the STEM Store...our supply table. I give them time to build. Then, we set up the jelly bean patch and let the first person test their adaptations. The first team to collect and place the beans in the cup yells out Jelly Beans! We then modify if we need to and then try again until everyone gets a chance to collect their food.

Jelly Bean Patch Fun! Adapting to not being able to touch the jelly beans with their hands...

The second part of our hour was spent making our peep palaces. We discussed ways that animals protect themselves by building a special home. Some are way up high in trees. So I challenged them to make a home for the Peep rabbit that would be higher than anyone else's. The shortest home would have the predator eat their Peep first, going in order until the predator was full! We just learned about food chains so this was another perfect way to incorporate that review! Finding ways for STEM to fit in your classroom is just that simple...Here is the pack that I got those two activities from! Check it out in my TPT store...four fun Easter STEM stations that can bring holiday fun and science together!

Jelly Bean Picker and Peep Palace are just two of the fun activities in this pack!

Enjoy some Great Easter STEM activities! Happy Easter!

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Science Makes Me Hoppy!

I am on VACATION! But before we finished up science last week...we worked on a few science stations that made the kiddos pretty HOPPY! We made Easter eggs with coffee filters...

The kiddos made designs on coffee filters...

They got to spray them...then we made sayings on notecards how Our Teachers Are EGG-cellent. I love that teachers are egg-cellent because they are pretty! Those cuties. It takes about an hour to dry...but they are cute in a little nest. I will share next week when I get back! I was out of there quick on Friday...break started!

Now...onto our Egg-stra fun sound discrimination station! I made nests out of crumpled paper...put the matching eggs in a nest and the littles loved trying to find the pairs...open them up...and check their answers. Even the kinders could write down the matches...I was so proud.

Look at them working together and having fun learning!

Just a closer look at the sheet and a little checking to see if they were right! They loved it!

Onto the activity that was a blast...but whoa...a bit messy.We learned to do this one outside in our school garden...We made bird nests out of natural products in the garden...and realized that birds are AMAZING animals. We looked at real nests and the ones in our garden. We tried to build them to hold 2-3 Cadbury Eggs. We set our nests in the trees for the birds to use if they wanted. The kiddos were proud of their creations...as the kids got older though they were harder on themselves for not building a "solid" nest. We connected engineering with what other animals can do that people have tried to copy...planes... gecko feet...shark skin...Biomimicry is a great connection for this lesson to show how we can learn from animals!  Here is the link I used and some fine looking bird nests...

Biomimicry Connections

Look at our indoor nests...do this activity outside:)

Might not actually works for real bird eggs, but they were proud of how they turned out...

After really looking closely at real bird nests...we realized how much we can learn from nature!

The final nests were placed in trees in our garden...we shall see if any bird uses their nests!

The great thing about these activities is that they allow for great thematic science connections...these activities and more can all be found in my Easter Science Pack...Hop on over to ...Easter Science Stations on TPT

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Garden Nests: Engineering for Easter

I just can't wait anymore to use our school garden. Even if you don't have a school garden, you can gather some great items outside for your students to do this engineering project. I have two classes the day before spring break...I was wondering about what I could do with both kindergarten and 1st graders from my Easter pack...I added three new activities today! I am really excited about using it! Take a look...

I added chromatography eggs, an engineering next building activity, and a writing activity! Here are my littles in action!

Easter Egg Sound Discrimination Activity...

Teachers are Egg-cellent art project...

Building a nest for our Cadbury Eggs...great for outside connections! We started inside...made a mess...took it outside...and

A nest fit for a Cadbury Egg! Bird nests are hard to build, but the kiddos loved getting outside and using natural garden goodies!

Happy Easter!

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Hop on Over Again!

So today, my son and his friends went to an indoor water park. It is very interesting riding in a car with four boys and what they talk about. For 20 minutes I listened to them discussing their new names...one of  my favorites...Nemo Shamu. Cute, huh? As I sat at the water park, I got a new TPT pack done. I love it. It is for Easter and it reviews some of the FOSS vocabulary that the students have used in prior units. I wanted something that didn't cost much...some eggs, plastic Easter eggs (got a ton in my basement), and solvents around the house. I figure kids could bring in some liquids if they wanted to add to what I would bring in. I love the peep idea, but I wanted it to be relevant for my students after finishing the variable and mixtures and solutions units. Check out my new Easter Science Stations... I can't wait to share them with my students and you!

Easter Science Stations On TPT

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