Teaching about Ecosystems through Simulation

I absolutely love doing simulations with my kids. Anytime you can get kids to put themselves into a situation and experience it for themselves, they are bound to learn. This year my students are studying Ecosystems as one of their science units. I put a lot of thought into how I could make this unit engaging, and I kept coming back to the idea of doing a simulation because my kids have enjoyed the other simulations we've done so much.

The end result of all this thinking was this Food Web Simulation! During the activity students take on the role of an animal that needs to find water and food in order to survive. The animals fall into the categories of herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore. Each animal only eats certain other animals or plants, and many of them can be eaten of course. I assigned specific movements to the animals, which I expect the kids to do while they run the simulation. This adds a fun element, but also is important to the conversation later.

Each kid has a card that tells them how their animal moves, what they eaten, what hunts them, and has space provided to collect stickers to show the food and water they have collected. 

I set up stations around the school yard, within boundaries but spread out, for the animals to venture to for food and water. I told the kids they had a limited amount of time to hunt for resources, reminded them of the importance of moving the way their animal should move, and let them go!

I put a lot of effort into balancing these roles and planning it so that I could run the simulation in different ways to get my students thinking. 

Simulation #1:

First, my students ran through the simulation with everything in place in a normal way. I made no alterations to the basic set up of the simulation.  The vast majority of the kids were successful this time around. Some great observations were made by my students though! For example:

-Everyone kept catching me! I think it's because my shirt is so bright!

-It was hard to find Ann because her shirt is green and brown.

-Once one animal found the water, a bunch more found it easily.

-It was easy for me to find the animals I needed to hunt because I could see them hopping, but it was hard to catch them because they could move faster than me!

And so on! The simulation led to a great discussion and I had to pick and choose between all the teachable moments that were popping up!

Simulation #2:

We ran the simulation again, only this time I adjusted the number of herbivores so that there were fewer than necessary for everyone in the game to survive. It definitely became a "survival of the fittest" situation! This really showed the kids how quickly a food chain can start to collapse, but as one kid pointed out, "I couldn't find the animals I needed, so I just went and found plants instead." This helped drive the point home that the most successful animals have adapted to  eat multiple food sources. Another great conversation popped up, and I loved when one kid made the connection, "No wonder the pandas in China are going extinct, they only eat bamboo!"

Simulation #3:

This time I set it up so that there were plenty of prey and other resources, but also an overabundance of students acting as predators. This time around an interesting thing happened. My kids are really sensitive to each other, and after playing a round where some students survived and others didn't, my kids tried to be a little "too human" and not hog the resources. This led to most of my carnivores not surviving. Again, this led to an interesting discussion about how this simulation is similar to and different from real life, and how in nature it is sometimes necessary for animals to be "selfish" to survive. One kid noted, "It's lucky we have farms, or people might have to be that way too." What a great connection!

In the end I think this simulation was one of the best science activities we did this year, and the conversations that it brought about were amazing. If you're interested in trying it out with your kids, find my packet of materials in my store for the very reasonable price of just three bucks!  :)

Our Astronomy Unit!

This kiddo had quite a bit learn still.

Before the winter break we wrapped up our astronomy unit. I started off the unit with a quick pre-assessment where I asked the kids to draw our solar system as best as they could, and include as much detail as possible. I asked them to try and think about scale, and to only include things that are actually in our solar system.

Ah...much better, but still some misconceptions to clear up.

After looking through the pre-assessments it was pretty clear that my kids had a wide range of basic background knowledge. Some could draw the planets in order, and even come close on their sizes, while others drew the planets in a grid format, all the same size.  It was pretty clear that even my students with a lot of background knowledge also had a ton of misconceptions. (One of my favorites was that many of my kiddos drew stars as part of our solar system) There were also many elements missing from all of my students' drawings, including things like dwarf planets and the asteroid belt. 

I taught a bunch of lessons during the unit, but I'm going to mention a few of my favorite things that are easy to share.

We started with the basic idea of My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles. A great mneumonic to help kids remember the order of the planets. And no, we don't teach about Pluto as a planet. It is just one of the 5 discovered dwarf planets in our solar system...not even the largest of them, and besides...it's been this way for nearly 9 years people! :)  

This website from NASA is obviously chock full of information about the planets. My kids used it as a resource when they completed the planet brochures I'll share about later. If nothing else, it can serve as a great way to get yourself caught up on all the recent changes in the world of space exploration.

Of course no science unit would be complete without watching one of the classic Bill Nye videos. Kids still love them, and he has one of the best visual representations of the scale of the solar system that I've seen. 

Brainpop isn't a free resource, but you CAN sign up for a free week trial. They have an entire section of videos about space, with a quick little video about each of the planets, and many other things related to space as well. I made great use of it during this unit. At least three of the videos are free without a sign-up too.

We made these Oreo Cookie Moon Phases as kind of a fun wrap-up to studying the phases of the moon. 

I used a few web resources for teaching this.

http://www.planetsforkids.org/moon-moon.html 

http://www.wonderville.ca/asset/phases-of-the-moon 

http://wonderopolis.org/?s=moon

http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/interactives/science/earthandbeyond/phases/

I also made this Planet Research Brochure for my students to complete as a side project. I thought it went really well. My kids had a lot of fun making the brochures, and when we had a gallery walk to show off their finished products, the kids were really proud of the work they had put in to making them look great. 

I went ahead and added the brochure to my store for two bucks! Grab up a copy if you teach about the planets and use it as a whole class project or an enrichment opportunity for fast finishers. 

Awesome Science Educents Bundle!

I've been posting a lot lately about science, but that's because science is so much fun to teach... I hope you share the love! 

Some friends and I have teamed up with Educents for an amazing bundle of instant downloads for you!

Two of my products are included, and I am certain they will be loved by your students!

One of the featured products is my set of Scoot/Task Cards about Ecosystems and Land Biomes. 

I use this set as a quick and fun way of assessing my kids after teaching this science unit. Much more fun than taking a test on a worksheet! Place the cards all around the room and then either have kids hunt the cards or have them scoot from one card to next when you call out "scoot!"

I used this second featured product while teaching our unit on the human body. 

Having kids make a lapbook while you teach a unit is a great way for them to store the things they've learned, take notes about the body systems, and then is a perfect piece of evidence to show parents or to put in their portfolio when the unit concludes!

The product includes a handout about the body systems, along with unique black and white (colorable!) images of all of the body systems, and some other flaps about homeostasis and cells. Pictures are included to show what a completed lapbook looks like.

For a limited time you can grab up these two products plus another 7 for just $10.99 from Educents which is about 65% off!  There's a variety of other great products so there is sure to be some things you will love!  Use code Anniversary20 between now and April 7th and you'll save another 20%!

You can also take peek at some of the other products included in the bundle at any of the links below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation with Hands On Science - and a Freebie!

I'm linking up with my BBB Joanne over at Head Over Heels for Teaching for Spark Motivation Saturday!

I wanted to share a quick post about what we're doing in Science lately! We've been studying Energy and Electricity, and a big part of that is understanding that energy can be classified as potential and kinetic. 

This Studyjams video explains it really well, and isn't too long.

  

There's also a handy little quiz included to do with your class after the video. If you haven't heard of Studyjams yet, it's a great free resource. There are lots of short videos that explain concepts in all the subject areas!

After we had a basic understanding of the difference between potential and kinetic energy, I showed my kids a couple videos of some amazing Rube Goldberg Devices. 

This one is my absolute favorite!

Melvin the Mini Machine from HEYHEYHEY on Vimeo.

While we watched, I had the kids notice when energy was being transferred within the system, when energy was transformed, and when potential energy was activated.  Pausing at different points and quizzing my kids about what kind of energy transfers and transformation were occurring during these engaging videos really helped them understand. It was a lot of fun, and really help the kids see how energy can be transferred and transformed...but never created or destroyed!  

I think one thing I would like to do when I teach this next time is to teach the kids some hand motions to go along with potential, kinetic, transfers, and transformations. That way they could try to make the motions to keep up with the video!

This group is using a catapult from the
simple machines unit as part of their
device! 

And now that we've watched some cool Rube Goldberg device movies, and talked a lot about potential and kinetic energy I figured it's time for an assessment. So my intern and I gathered up a bunch of raw materials, and my kids have been building their own devices! They are working in groups. They are expected to plan out their device, build and test it, and finally present the device to the class. The devices have to perform a simple task in the end. The kids have to label where the potential energy is in their device, and where energy transfers or transformations will occur. 

Here's the first stage of this group's machine! 

As you can see, the kids are coming up with some great stuff already! And I joined in the fun and have been building one too! If you only watch one video in this post, watch this one because I'm proud of my machine. :)

I made this poster to put up in my room to help kids remember how groups should work. I've posted it in my TpT store as a freebie! Go grab it up! 

Be sure to stop over and check out the other link ups!

Tunes Tuesday - Science Edition

I'm super excited for the return of Tunes Tuesday! Today is the science edition! My hope is that lots of other bloggers will link up their ideas for how they've used music to teach science! If you don't have a blog, but a have a cool idea to share, just share it in my comments section!

In my class we've just begun our study of Energy and Electricity! I am trying out a new way of teaching Science this year that incorporates showing the kids a "phenomenon" and then having them ask all the questions (inquiry!), make claims, and back up their claims with evidence and reasoning about just exactly how that phenomenon happened. It isn't just magic after all, it's science!

So first I showed them this picture:

Cool, right?!

Then I showed them the first half of this video:

The kids could hardly believe I showed them a "What does the fox say?" video! I couldn't believe they knew all the words...

But when I asked them, "How did this happen?" they realized that beyond knowing that there are lights strung in the trees that must be hooked up to some kind of timer and all of that was plugged into an outlet...they really didn't know!

So I had them think of all of the questions they had and we kept a running list. The great news is that most of these are questions we will be answering in our studies during the unit! Throughout the unit students will be making claims, and supporting those claims with evidence and reasoning. I can't wait to see the "lightbulbs go off!" (Pun intended!)

As a bonus, we watched this Bill Nye video about Energy, which has a rap music video about energy at the 20:00 mark! 

 And later in the unit I'll be showing them this Schoolhouse Rocks video about Electricity:

How have you used music to teach Science? Link up below! Be sure to check back and give everyone else's posts a look!

An InLinkz Link-up

Must Read Mentor Text - Max Axiom

Howdy all! I'm linking up with the Collaboration Cuties today for their Mentor Text Linky. Today's topic is Science, which is perfect because I have a couple science related posts coming up soon. Tunes Tuesday's topic this week is Science, so be sure to come back then for even more science-y goodness!

I'm going to share about a set of educational graphic novels. The main character is named Max Axiom. There's one for just about any topic in science. Max is a superhero science teacher that explains how the science in each graphic novel works. 

There isn't really a made up plot or storyline beyond the fact that Max is teaching about science, but he does use several super powers throughout the series similar to those of the Magic School Bus (shrinking down to size to see a cut get infected, traveling at super speed, etc). 

Here Max enters the human digestive system!

The facts he relates throughout the book are all true and at a perfect level for upper elementary kids. The bright colors, and comic style format is a great way to get readers engaged. 

In other news...

If you didn't win in my giveaway, no worries, the giveaways aren't over yet! My BBB Jivey just announced her 1500 follower/Birthday Giveaway! I've donated my Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes Novel Unit. So if you're reading this that means you've already earned an entry! And it would be pure foolishness for you not to go and follow the other amazing contributors!

See you tomorrow for another "Lifehack for Teachers!"

Spark Student Motivation with Food and Tech!

So, thanks to all of the crazy winter weather we've had lately this past week was our first full 5 day week since December! Isn't that insane?! Keeping the kids engaged and motivated for a whole week when they're used to only sporadically coming to school is tough!  ;)  So I'm linking up with Joanne over at Head Over Heels for Teaching for her Spark Motivation Saturdays linky!

Luckily we had a lot of interesting things going on this week to help keep them engaged! 

Early in the week we finished our unit of study on Japan with a Japanese Foods Taste Testing! I went to a local Asian Market and bought a variety of Japanese snacks for the kids to taste. I was surprised by how many of them they actually enjoyed. I purposefully bought a few that wouldn't normally appeal to American kids' palates....like the green tea mochi pictured here!

Nothing motivates students like science experiments! My partner intern came and led the kids in a science experiment where they tested out different sized parachutes to try and understand drag. I think the kids will need a little more instruction, but they did enjoy making hypotheses and carrying out the experiment!

Using technology is always a big motivator too! It just so happened that I was going to be paid a visit by my superintendent and the school board on Friday, and they were coming expressly to see how technology is being used in the district! To compliment my students' current understanding of what we've been learning in our "Air, Aviation, and Weather" unit of study, I had my kids exploring several websites and doing a webquest that I created. I went ahead and added it to my store for anyone else who is interested for just a buck! I found it funny that when I rang the bell to signify that it was time for us to put the computers away the kids could hardly believe the entire science block was over. Technology really sucks them in!

Go check out some of the other ways to keep kids motivated! And be sure to stop by later this week for some details on my great big one year blogiversary giveaway! Woohoo!

November already?! - Five for Friday

Surely I'm not the only teacher out there thinking this, right?! The memories of setting up my classroom and anxiously awaiting meeting my kiddos for the first time are still fresh, yet here we are...November! Time flies when you're having fun though I suppose!

And today I thought it'd be fun to link up with Doogle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday linky! It's been a full week since I have last blogged, so there's plenty to share! It's that whole time flying problem again!

1. Best Idea Ever:

Today is actually a district-wide in-service day for elementary teachers! Whoever thought up having a professional development day the Friday after Halloween deserves a prize. I love Halloween as much as the next teacher, but the lack of routine and all the excitement of the day makes me need a nap! 

PS - I will never wear this costume again. Questions like, "Are you a penguin or a fly?" got a little bit old. Haha. I'm a SPIDER! Geez people! ;)

I'm actually presenting to a small group about using Social Media for Professional Development today! This someecard sounds like a joke, but it's actually true! Where would I be without blogging, Pinterest, Facebook, or Teacherspayteachers?! Seriously though, sharing ideas and finding great ideas and products is one of the best benefits of reading teaching blogs. I think I could easily say that I've gained more insight from reading the blogs of my colleagues than all the trainings I've been sent to in my 13 year career combined! Props to all those teachers out there who did this job pre-internet is all I have to say! 

2. New Read-aloud beginning!

We just finished up our reading of Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger, so on Monday we'll be starting a new favorite of mine, Gooseberry Park by Cynthia Rylant. I've read other works by Cynthia Rylant, but had never read this one until it was recommended by a colleague this year. As an avid reader of children's lit, I was kind of surprised I hadn't heard of it. If you're like me, head on over and read the summary here.  I think it'll be the perfect book to read as Fall gets colder and colder. Even better, when I pre-read it I was able to find a ton of opportunities to address my CAFE strategies with the kids! Our next book will be the ever-popular "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" to go along with our Japan Unit. 

3. Baby Trout are on the way!

We'll be raising Brook Trout, which is
Pennsylvania's state fish, and the only native
species of trout in the state! I'm learning already!

Well, eggs really...but still! I've worked really hard to get my trout tank all set up, and the eggs will finally be arriving Tuesday afternoon. I've been learning more about trout care than any one man should know...Who knew that caring for trout was so complicated anyway?! I'm really nervous that something will go wrong and we won't have any survivors! I'll be sure to keep you updated on their progress!

4. Science Mentor Text for Animal Adaptations

I picked up this fun book at my school's recent Book Fair to go along with our Ecosystems Unit. We've talked a lot about biomes, producers, consumers, etc. But we're finally getting to the really fun stuff...adaptations! This book presents a variety of different animal teeth and shows how those animals use their specialized teeth to survive. The illustrations alone would keep the kids engaged, but the information presented is great too! I think it's best to read some selections from the book, and then let the kids explore the rest of the book later. My intern is required to teach three science lessons this semester, and she is teaching them next week. They're all about animal adaptations, and I know the kids are going to love them. 

5. Two Random Non-Teacher Things

I recently invested in one of these Ninja blenders, with the cup that can be blended right into, and I love it. I used to drink a smoothie every morning for breakfast, but fell out of the habit because I just got sick of cleaning the blender every morning and the time it took to make them. Now I throw some stuff into the cup, put it right onto the blender base, hit the button for like two seconds, and then switch out the lid. Rinse the cup when I'm done and it's ready for the next day! I'm usually so busy in the morning that I won't take time to eat breakfast, so having a smoothie in the morning now is like a treat. It's really been brightening my mornings!

Speaking of bright... Please tell me that all of you other teachers out there are also dealing with this newest fad? The fun loom/rainbow loom bracelet thing has gotten out of hand. This kiddo has this many bracelets on both arms. It's all the kids want to do at recess. And I have like 20 tiny rubber bands on my floor every day after school. I keep telling myself it's better than those silly bands from a couple years ago at least. Those the kids had to take on and off all the time, (to see the shapes of course!) and at least these they just leave on!

The real question? Why couldn't I invent this?

Til next time!