4 Great Ideas To Teach Chemical Reactions

Teaching 6 different grade levels has me covering a lot of different science topics and concepts. Whether it be a certain standard that you need to cover or just need some ideas for what to do in science this week, I have you covered. I will be sharing a new blog series that will help you find ways to make Science child's play!

Kids love chemical reactions however, I think they are always waiting for something to explode. You can easily find ways to cover the NGSS concept of structures of matter...more specifically chemical vs. physical change...without anyone or anything blowing up!

Four Ways to Cover Chemical Reactions and Structures of Matter:

1. Vocabulary (always key to comprehending a concept)

In order for students to really grasp the idea of what they see or don't see, you need to focus on helping them understand the vocabulary words they will be hearing as well as demonstrating.

Some quick ideas:
1. anchor chart and sticky tab draw what you know. Have one side of the room draw Physical changes and the other side draw chemical changes

2. Digital review games which you can find HERE {Digital Chemical and Physical Reaction Review}

3. Task Card and QR code Scoot games which you can find HERE {Mixtures and Solutions Task Cards}

4. Lapbooks which you can find HERE {Mixtures and Solutions Lapbook}

2. Fun and Engaging Activities That Are Easy to Show

Grab some dollar store glow sticks and teach the concept behind how they glow and you have your first idea.

Grab Cranberry Juice, citric acid, and baking soda and you are onto your second idea!

Grab some pennies and some liquids and show how acids clean pennies in this quick chemical reaction activity! Make sure you have ketchup because it does an amazingly quick job getting any patina off of a penny! I also love vinegar, baking soda and water, Coke, window cleaner, and water as a control. You can always add different liquids that you have.

3. Set Up Experiments That Use Everyday Household Materials

Bath Bombs are all the "bomb"! With any holiday from Mother's Day to Christmas you can make this with your kiddos and send home a little gift!

All you need:

¾ cup Epson Salt

½ cup Kosher Salt

¼ cup baking soda

3-5 drops of essential oils

food coloring

container/baggie to hold the salts

Another fun favorite is Silly Putty! For this polymer you need: (yes, polymer which you can read all about in this great Science Buddies Link not to mention a few more ideas)

Silly Putty Recipe:

¼ cup white glue

2 TB Laundry Soap(have extra)

cup

Steps:

1.Mix

2.Knead (if sticky add more laundry soap)

And don't forget good ole' Oobleck or Slime! Oobleck is a great way to teach non-Newtonian Fluids and all you need is corn starch and water and a little food coloring!  Find the pack full of fun Oobleck Connections HERE.

4.  Physical and Chemical Reaction Observations

Now, I have to say we use the FOSS mixtures and solutions kit for our chemical experiments, but if you don't have this kit then here are some great ideas for quick and easy chemical reaction observations that are inexpensive and kids love them!

I use open and closed systems as a way to compare a plastic baggie and a cup with vinegar and baking soda because they are able to understand the difference.

You can also teach Natural Disasters and how humans can protect themselves by making volcanoes. All you need is baking soda and vinegar!

-Create boats that are propelled by baking soda and vinegar which is another creative take on these two ingredients, but with a STEM twist!

 Sign up for my newsletter and get this experiment free in my Science School Yard Library!

-I love Mentos and Coke as well as Alka Seltzer and Water in old film canisters, too! Find the Alka Seltzer Rocket Lab HERE!


It is always hard to find easy and affordable ideas to teach a concept such as structures of matter, but with a little creativity and some help from the Science School Yard, you can find easy ways to teach chemical reactions! Know any other easy chemical reaction recipes or demonstrations you use? Share below. We would love to add to our list with your help!

March Madness Begins...

March is a long month for me. Winter can be done and Spring break seems sooooo far away. However, each March our family sets up brackets for March Madness for a little friendly...yet competitive March Madness Challenge! We always pick our teams and see who wins March Madness! Competition is healthy...so I love at times to create so fun engaging STEM competitions!

Starting on March 13th this year and going until April 2nd, college basketball teams compete for the chance to win the national championship which starts with 68 teams! This is a great time to add a little sports challenge to recess, after school, or even in math! This can be done with some fun and engaging competitions!

Challenge 1:

Basketball Percentages and Pie graphs

• Each student has 10 tried to make baskets. Record out of 10 how many shots were made. Allow them to divide by 10 to make a pie graph or record percentages. This is also a perfect way to add mean, median, mode, and range!

Challenge 2:

STEM Challenges

• Catapults and Basketball hoops are a perfect way to have them writing how to's. They can create a basketball game that has someone coming to their "court" to play, but they must write directions on how to score, how they win, how what supplies they must use...
• Allowing students flexibility in their catapult designs helps them create unique game pieces. Here are some of our examples: 

What are the materials that you will need to make hoops?

Prosthetic hand...

straws -cardboard pieces -string -plastic spoons -binder clips -toilet paper tubes -cotton balls for basketball -baskets/buckets

Basketball Hoops...

-masking tape -cups (different kinds) -cardboard pieces -popsicle sticks -pipe cleaners -straws 

Basketball Free Throw Shooter ...
-tongue depressors -popsicle sticks -binder clips all sizes -rubber bands -plastic spoons -masking tape

Challenge 3

 Reading and Writing Lessons:

Last week of February:
Persuasive writing essay convincing class to read your favorite book. Advertisement: create a poster to advertise your book

First Week of March Battle of the books start.

Battle of the Books Link

Students can share their essay and poster. The class can vote on the Sweet 16 that will make it to the tournament.

Throughout March Students continue to read and clock their pages read. If you have AR tests, you can include this in your overall score

Looking for the complete pack? STEM March Madness Pack is ready and waiting for you! 3 STEM stations, sheets, writing connections and more! Or if you are looking for a sports theme with a science twist...STEM Sports Stations! Options are always good!

                              
Hoop Happiness!

ST. Patrick's Day STEM Stations

As my kids were growing up, the leprechaun visited our house every year! He would turn our milk green or even our toilet water. He would sprinkle green glitter in our hair as we slept. He would leave a mess in our room with remnants of his trickery! I love having kids learn about another culture, other traditions, even have a little o' fun in Science as well as STEM club!

 I am so in love with this new STEM Pack. I was trying hard to find ways to keep my STEM station supplies all in one spot and not have to purchase something for it. So when I saw a box of Manila envelopes in the office I needed to figure out how to utilize them in my organization.

So now it's time to find ways to utilize them...meaning new STEM stations! Some of my favorites yet!

Why am I so excited about them? Well...

• They include activities that can be used within other science concepts such as motion and simple machines.
• The materials are easy to find and affordable! 
• This pack can be used with primary and intermediate classrooms because the sheets for each station are differentiated!
• All the sheets you will need are included: Teacher set up and materials list, stduetn materials list, student guided questions, primary and intermediate record sheets...all in one pack.
• It reinforces teamwork and problem solving!

What STEM Stations are included?

Materials:

• tubes
• masking tape
• pom poms
• pot o gold or cup with pattern for catching the pom poms

We made a game out of it. Each group competed to see who could get four pom poms in the cup fastest. If it missed the cup they had to keep trying! We discussed inclined planes as each group had to have three bends in the maze!

 Materials:

• cups
• masking tape
• egg cartons
• spoons
• tongue drepessors
• bowls and plates
• beans, popcorn kernels, rice  (something to fill it to make noise
• any other items you can think of to make an instrument...a shaker (WE CALL THESE SHAMROCK SHAKES!)

They had to create a Shamrock Shake that could add to our band! We talked about sound energy along with volume, vibrations, pitch. Another great way to add a science concept!

 Materials:

• cups (we used Styrofoam)
• spoons
• masking tape 
• pom poms
• rainbow pattern

They made this into a game as well! We put each rainbow on a different rainbow color. They had to hop over each color in order of the rainbow and at the end they had to get their pom pom into a pot o gold! We talked about rainbows and their colors. We added the milk and Skittles, water and Skittles  and Mt Dew and Skittles activity to see how colors blend! Here is the idea for a Variable lesson...

This week, we also created pulleys.

Materials:

• tubes
• rulers
• string
• empty school milk cartons/ cups for riders
• you can give them binder clips, big paper clips...for a harness (these are my littles so I didn't)

We discussed simple machines and pulleys. We also with my littles talked about push and pull and motion. We discussed friction as we figured out what would support our pulley better at the top!

Next week, we will continue more engaging March themed STEM activities and Science connections so stay tuned. You might be lucky with more easy and engaging ideas you can use this ST. Patrick's Day...until then sign up for my newsletter and in your in box you will get a ST. Patrick's Day freebie!

Want all of the supply lists, differentiated sheets, teacher guide? Here is the complete set! Follow the link for this STEM Velope Pack!!

Give it a pin if you want to remember the activities...or try it out in your inbox with a free language arts connection activity STEM -Velope Style! 

STEM Lessons and Family Traditions

This week I had a new student arrive in my science room. He had an amazingly unique name one representative of our Native American culture here in Wisconsin. so I asked him if he was Native American and his reply was, "No, I am HoChunk." I shared with him that he was in fact a first American and a little bit of what that meant. It made me start to think about heritage. My future son in law is Cherokee and with this little boy's statement it made me realize that many of our youth often may have no clue where their ancestors came from or even what a tradition is. I know it might even seem funny for the science teacher to try to figure out ways to even add it in her classroom, but sometimes learning about one's self and who we are and even where we came from allows for our students to make valuable connections in any classroom.
                             
From the Hmong New Year to Cinco De Mayo from Kwanzaa to Hanukkah you can find ways to tie a story...writing idea or STEM activity to get your learners sharing! Here is how we did it in February...

Chinese New Year/Holiday Connections: 
This week marked the start of the Chinese New Year, the year of the dog. I teach an enrichment group of 16 fourth and fifth graders so it made me think how can I connect the two with reading, math, and a bit of STEM?

We sat in a circle, a bit of restorative practice and community building...and I began asking them what a tradition was. I shared the definition and then proceeded to share some of our family favorites. We have a pickle on our tree and if you find the pickle you get an extra gift. We tie dye t-shirts each fourth of July, we still have an Easter Egg Hunt, we play Christmas Bingo for prizes every year, and we on birthdays set out their favorite ice cream, drink, candy bar, and gum and decorate the table area in the morning when my kids wake up. We talked about holidays can have traditions as well as cultures. I gave them time to think and then we shared.

The Hook:
I then started to share about the Chinese New Year and what you might see on a placement at a Chinese Restaurant. We looked at the mat and figured out what year they were born in and what animal represents them. We also looked at what traits that they are suppose to possess.

Making Connections Can Be Simple

Time to make those connections...my group was comprised of Hmong, Hispanic, African American, and Anglo students. I showed a video that gave them great background in the Chinese New Year! Love that it was made for kids by Panda Express (yum!)

STEM Activities and Challenges: 

We then were able to pick what Chinese New Year Activity they wanted to do...Chinese dragon puppet, Fortune Coin Purse, or Pagoda Structure. As we worked on our projects, I continued the discussion. This is where the magic happened...I asked our Hmong students what color clan they came from...One of them said White ...and another replied he didn't know. She went on to ask him to say mom...which he said, "mom"...she asked him to say mom in Hmong and she told him he was also white because of how he said it! We listened to traditional music while we worked and I shared a Dragon Dance on the Smartboard.

Another student asked me where I came from and I told them all that I was English, Scottish from the Narrn Clan, Bohemian and Austrian. They asked me about my clan. This my friends, is what it is all about...making connections with our students.
                                                        
That day, we not only made amazing pagodas, coin purses, and dragon puppets, but we learned about Quinceaneras (when one of our students turns 15 she will have a special party as a rite of passage), special foods such as Pho everyone eats at holiday time, the Hmong New Year and how it is similar to the Chinese New Year in dance and outfits, our zodiac sign to just name a few! We must take opportunities to learn about our students and to let them interact and share. We can learn so much about each other and build a sense of community where our students can build bonds and friendships!

Looking for a four STEM ideas ready to go? From puppets to coin purses, pagodas, and fire crackers this pack is sure to get your learners talking and connecting! Find the STEM Chinese New Year Pack HERE!

How do you connect with your students? Do you have any classroom traditions? I would love to hear them. Leave me your amazing ideas in the comment section below!

Four Ways To Use Digital Activities In and Out of the Science Classroom

This week we are gearing up for Digital Learning Day which occurs on February 22nd. There are a lot of really great ways that you can add technology to your teaching to increase student learning objectives and outcomes.

For the last two years we have been a 1:1 iPad school. We are equipt with Chrome books that come in a caddy for easy access as well. I am fortunate to have a Smartboard as well as Apple TV. So with that I found ways to utilize technology into my science lessons in a variety of ways that work for each grade level I work with from Kindergarten to Fifth grade.

Here are Four of My Top Technology Tips for  Elementary Classrooms:

Tip 1: Project a Smartboard Interactive for K-1 Classrooms

It isn't always easy to have student's from many different teachers' rooms. Some of the students come with the knowledge of how to get an airdrop or even how to get to their Google Drive, but with only an hour with my littles, I had to find different ways to utilize my time, as well as check for understanding of key Science concepts...That is why I started creating Smartboard Projectable Activities that have a Science Theme or tie in math and language arts.

 I love how students can come up to the Smartboard and drag and drop to show me what they know. I also love how this is a great way to have students sit nicely to be called on and learn that we don't always get a turn to come up.

We can even agree or disagree and help a friend if they are stuck. We use the thumbs up and thumbs down method so no one is blurting and we all have an answer. 

Tip 2: Digital Quizzes Check For Understanding

Looking for ways to assess differently? I found that my 1st through 5th graders like the Google Drive Assessments because they love being able to look at a picture, circle their answer on a sheet that they can self-correct, or hand in to show what they know. In first grade, I have them sit with me and I show the slides on the Smartboard and walk around to check if they circled a word, but with my 2nd through 5th grade, we have everyone sign up with their Google user name and password and they are set with their own copy. All I do is give them a record sheet and it is an easy way to get accountability as well as guide your lessons.  (I even had my principal take the quiz when she came into my classroom to observe. She was pretty impressed!)

If you are needing to do it quickly...once again you can show it up on the Smartboard while students circle their answers at their seats as you scroll through the slides. 

Tip 3: Airdropped Sheets for Explain Everything or Pic Collage Save Paper and Allow For Better Understanding of Concepts

One of my favorite apps is Explain Everything.  I used to use Pic Collage until our district bought us this app. Both work great! 

My students can get a record sheet airdropped to them and they place the picture that is now in their camera roll into their "Science Notebook" in Explain Everything. Once they add it to their notebook they can lock in the sheet, add pictures, text, voice recordings...its a great way to look back on our experiments to show what we know and to recall what we learned the week before!

Taking a picture or video of the demonstration of an experiment has cut down on the questions asked or the lack of understanding of what to do next. It allows for reflection and instead of drawing what they see, they can take a real time picture that shows exactly what happened! This can be looked at week after week, lesson after lesson to continue to make connections! It also increases vocabulary by letting students voice record or take pictures of anchor charts, vocabulary on the board and more!

Tip 4:  QR Codes and iPads Make Learning Fun!

Increasing Vocabulary for Tier Three Words is difficult at times because they are low frequency words that appear in classes such as Science and Social Studies...classes that are often times ignored due to the increase in math and language arts. The way to get students actively engaged in learning vocabulary...studying for a test...creating partner activities that challenge who might know more information...and even assessment can be done through QR Codes!  Using a QR Code Generator such as https://www.the-qrcode-generator.com/ is an easy way to write an answer and then copy the QR Code onto a poster or task card for them to answer questions or what we love WRITE THE ROOM or SCOOT. 

We place the cards around the room and they Scoot around the room finding each card, writing  down their answers and then checking their work. I even place task cards on their tables for them to read, write, and correct to increase vocabulary and understanding!

Whether you have a classroom of ipads or just a few for a station, or Smartboard using technology with your students will prepare them for the future. Technology is always changing and sometimes that is hard to embrace because it is not always what we grew up with, but showing your students that you can utilize technology to teach makes connections that can help them learn not only Science, but any subject!

Looking for Digital Science Activities to try out...Stop on By The Science School Yard TPT Store for Digital Science Resources HERE!

Hope you enjoyed reading about how I use Technology in my classroom! Time For a Giveaway! You have a chance to win a $50 TPT gift card when you comment on each of our posts in the blog hop! 

Comment below to let me know how you can use these ideas in your classroom! Then click the image above and read another way to add digital learning into your classroom from my techie friend, Kristy over at Two Peas and a Dog! Keep hopping for great tips, tricks and content from more amazing TECHIE TEACHERS!

Valentine STEM and Organization Made Easy

Remember when you might have been able to have a Valentine's Day Party...along with treats...time to make boxes to house all of the Valentine cards in them...organize snacks and treats...well now those days are over for many schools...including mine. I do not LOVE wasting valuable instructional time so in order to find some time for fun I LOVE to add STEM to my Valentine's Day!

The best thing that I could have figured out as I teach all of our Kindergarten through Fifth Graders is that at times if I differentiate my big STEM Engineering Ideas I can set up one bucket, create different sheets that work for different grade levels, and when a holiday like Valentine's Day comes around I can be set to go hour after hour...all I have to do is replenish the materials used...and here's a BIG one...have each group that finishes with the bucket to leave it as close to the way they found it as possible! (I find that before we share out...they need to clean up because the group that cleans up first gets to present first.

Here are some great ideas that can really be differentiated for multiple grade levels! Today was the best when a group of fifth graders were watching the presentations I recorded of the second graders and I heard them say how those second graders sure are smart because their ideas were amazing!  The other weird thing was that our littles were able to work faster and more efficiently than our fifth graders as well!



STEM STATIONS THAT CROSS GRADE LEVELS

STEM Station 1: Candy Heart Carrier
In this one has you creating a short love note using at least four candy hearts in the note. We used note cards for our notes. I love how creative the kids can get with the candy hearts. As for the carrier...give the kiddos some ideas on how to carry mail or objects and they are set to go! Give them paper, string, tape, glue...

STEM Station 2: Valentine Bouquet
This one was so cute...I had them making flowers for someone they loved. Using paper, tissue paper, straws, pipe cleaners, glue, tape...the cutest part was when we got done one of my kiddos came over and gave me their flowers! So super adorable!














STEM Station 3: Candy Heart Dispenser

So I did this one with second graders and fourth and fifth graders...the second graders were so very creative and were able to do it quicker than those older kids. Go figure! I gave them Styrofoam cups (other cups, too but they seemed to go to the Styrofoam), tongue depressors, candy hearts, tape, toilet paper tubes...I love how they could get the candy hearts to come out one at a time. This one really showed their creativity!












STEM Station 4: Love Bugs

Time for some Love Bugs! I love the heart shaped wings!

Great review of the parts of an insect. Have them include a head, thorax, and abdomen, eyes, antennas, six legs...give them egg cartons, bottle tops, construction paper, pipe cleaners, straws, google eyes...Get them making a love bug for a love bug of theirs to give it to!

STEM Station 5: Cupid's Archery Game (Extra Game We Are Playing On Valentine's Day This Year! Stay Tuned For Pictures!)

Having them create a bow using plastic spoons and knives if you tape up the sharp parts, Craft sticks, Straws, Straws, Rubber bands, Paper clips, and good ole' masking tape!

But, Let's talk organization... I love having the supplies in the bucket, but remember to have them clean up and recycle or throw away before they even put anything back in the bucket. Only reusable supplies and unused supplies get put back in exactly like they first saw it. 

I have them clean up before we share and line up. We have a quality control person (bucket brigade) that inspects the bucket and then brings in back to our central location. They are in charge of making sure the team is cleaned up! It works pretty slick!

I will be sharing more tips for easy clean up in an upcoming post!




Want it all in one place? STEM Velope Valentine Pack can be found here! I love these interactive holiday themed activities...just in time for Valentine's Day!

Don't forget to sign up for our Science School Yard Scoop~lots of great extra freebies in your inbox as well as in our free resource library!

Are You Ready For Some Football...STEM Stations and Family Connections

Next weekend is the Super Bowl and to get ready we created some amazingly fun STEM football activities to play during our at home "Super Bowl Parties"...if they do not watch the game or have a get together...we shared that this would be a great way to get their families playing together this next week!

Sometimes I just love to find ways to get families involved. That is seriously one of our School Goals! Let's walk through what you can do to get your parents involved in your STEM products!

First...connect with parents by sending a pre-game warm up

What does that mean? Send a note home sharing with them that you will be making a fun game for the Super Bowl (or insert what ever else your theme is) and have them donate or have them share a time they had a ball with their child. Bring them into what you are doing in science (insert any other subject).

Second... pump the kids up by showing them football clips, high lights, Past Super Bowl High Lights and Book Connections

This will get them ready for understanding the game a bit. Give them some background. Another great idea is to share a picture book.

Third...Set them up for successful STEM Lessons

Set out the supplies at a table for a Supply Smorgasbord, or get supply buckets ready with everything a table needs...two easy ways to make sure that they are ready to go.

Have your sheets ready and have them go through the design process. I set the sheets out at every table, set them in a pile to have a helper count them out, or even just put them in a pile as part of the smorgasbord...and you are set to go!

Now let them go through the design process after sharing with them the constraints. Set a timer for them to get done at a given time and give them reminders along the way so that they are finished when the time is up. At times some groups may not get done, we discuss YET and share what we would do next as well as what we do have!

Here are this week's STEM Stations to get ready for the Big Super Bowl Party!

 All you need is 2 pieces of paper, 6 dixie cups, tape, and cotton balls to build it!

 For the Goal Posts you need straws, Popsicle sticks, and masking tape.

I have given options for this one, but I am using it with younger kids in 2nd and third grade so I am giving each person 6 sticks, three rubber bands, a bottle top and a pom pom!

Need it all in one place with sheets, supply lists, language arts and math here is the link for the Football STEM Activity Pack HERE!

Finally, don't forget to have them create directions for their games, give them a try in class, and then take them home for families to play! A perfect way to get them connecting!

The Packers aren't in the Super Bowl this year, so I guess I will root for good snacks and perfect party food! I myself am making Buffalo Chicken Dip and Veggie Pizza...

How do you connect with your parents? Would love to hear it in the comments below!

Sunshine Where Have You BEAN...Adding Jack and The Bean Stalk STEM

The sun has not come out for days...it has been cold here in Wisconsin and indoor recess is killing them! (and the teachers...) Time to pull out the fairy tale STEM packs to save the day!  Here are some quick and easy ways to add fairy tale STEM to your lessons!

Get a variety of fairy tale books that cover the theme you are trying to cover. 

For example, Jack and the Beanstalk. I use Epic Books for mine. It's a free site for teachers when you sign up.

Tie it into what you are already doing.

Using Jack and the Beanstalk can be used during a sound unit if you choose to  make a harp. We make a harp/stringed instrument using cardboard and rubber bands. We cover pitch and vibrations and volume.

I also love to use Jack and the Beanstalk with my plant unit in spring. We grow beans in our school garden and add the STEM activity of how tall of a beanstalk can you build using just masking tape and green bulletin board paper. We add leaves and jack to the vine.

You can also add activities such as building a parachute to get Jack safely to the ground. We use different types of materials to test to see which one has better air resistance. We set up a bull's eye for the parachutes to land on to see if Jack gets safely down.

Add a twist...discuss how Jack did not do the right thing by taking something that didn't belong to him.  Have them build a safe way for the giant to get down to get his harp and goose back. You can have them create the biggest giant out of a certain amount of paper and measure each of the giants and compare. This adds a little math to the equation.

If you want to save yourself time...get these activities all in one place. Find the whole pack HERE.

Bean there....done that and the kids loved it! Add a great version of Jack and the Beanstalk...a fractured fairy tale...a fun comparison and contrasting connection along with measuring how high each beanstalk is and you are set to go!