Biology in elementary schools

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Welcome to Biology_in_elementary_schools, a source of tested, hands-on class room activities. Wiki reflections Current BES students

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Selected wikis for July 2010 demo

 * Outrageous Ooze
 * Cloudy Day Creation
 * Plant Dissection

New lessons being tried in 2010
All are works in progress and will vary between the initial generic instructional handout to completed lessons with photographs and reflections depending on when you see them.

Tested by Mater Christi grade 1

 * Three Layer Float
 * Oobly Goobly
 * Fun with Fossils!
 * Magnetic Breakfast
 * Change Matters
 * Plastic Milk Blobs

Tested by Mater Christi grade 2

 * Life in a Bottle
 * Thermometers To Think About
 * Erupt into Chemistry!
 * Guess Who?
 * Fizzy Lava
 * Milky Plastic

Tested by Mater Christi School grade 3

 * Bag of Life
 * Cool Camo
 * Digestion Detectives
 * Cloudy Day Creation
 * Glo Germ
 * Insulation Exploration

Tested by a 3/4 grade from Edmunds Elementary School

 * Hill of beans
 * Lovely Lungs
 * Love Your Heart
 * Mighty Mud!
 * Ice Cream Matters!
 * Busy Beetles
 * Power Up Your DNA

Tested by Edmunds Elementary School Grade 2

 * Tongue tastes
 * Kick start your heart
 * Whose nose knows
 * Do you hear what I hear
 * Build a body
 * Fun with fingerprints

Tested by Lawrence Barnes School Grade 2

 * Germs germs go away
 * How smart are your muscles?
 * Pulse-o-rama!
 * Little messengers
 * My hard-working heart
 * Mystery Senses

Lessons from 2007 through 2009

 * Acid Rain Destruction
 * A Deeper Look Into Seeds
 * Amazing bean races
 * An Inside Look at Apples!
 * Animal Inventions
 * Balloon Blow Up
 * Balloon Lungs
 * Beans in a Bag
 * Betta Fish Behavior
 * Biodome
 * Biome in a Baggie
 * Breaking Bones
 * Caille the Caterpillar
 * Can your seeds grow here?
 * Cell-O
 * Cloud Creations
 * Colorful Celery and Carnations
 * Colorful Nutrients
 * Components of Life
 * Crater Creations
 * Crawling to Flying: The Life Cycle of a Butterfly
 * Crystal Creations
 * Density Rainbow
 * Disappearing Snow
 * Do Humans Have Blind Spots?
 * Earthworm Ecosystems: What do Earthworms Like to Eat?
 * Effects of Liquids on Your Body
 * Evaporation in the Water Cycle
 * Ew! Gross! Germs!
 * Exercising the heart
 * The Exploding Engine Extravaganza
 * Exploring Animals and Their Environments
 * Exploring Food with Senses
 * Exploring the Five Senses
 * Fabulous Forensic Fingerprints
 * From Liquid to Solid: An Ice Cream Creation
 * A Fiery Energy Flow
 * Frogs vs. Hamsters: Using Your Senses
 * Fruit Salad De-Light
 * Good Vibrations
 * Hear The Wave!
 * How to float an egg
 * How to Prevent Eggcidents
 * Ice cream in a Bag!
 * Illuminating Lava Lamps
 * Inherited Traits
 * Lung Limit
 * Magic Moisture
 * Mold Mania
 * Moldy Food
 * Neuron Creations
 * Object Mystery
 * Observing reactions
 * Oh No! Oil Spills
 * Oobleck
 * Opening Our Minds
 * Outrageous Ooze
 * Paper Creations
 * Penny and Cup Game
 * PH in Food: You are what you eat!
 * Plant Dissection
 * Pump It Up
 * Rainbow milk
 * Rock Candy Crystals
 * Snow graphing; a math exercise for grades 3 and above
 * Sprouting Artwork
 * Stomach Juices
 * Sweet Science
 * Tantalizing Taste Buds
 * The Wonder of Birds
 * This Oil Makes a Royal Mess
 * Termite trails
 * Terrific Tastebuds
 * To Light or Not to Light
 * Touch N' Feel Box
 * Tie-Dye Milk
 * Underwater vision
 * You are what you eat: pH in Food
 * Your Body: A Bacteria Incubator!
 * Visible Pulse!
 * Water Around and Around Again
 * Water Cycle in a Bottle
 * Water Lily Lesson
 * Water Organ
 * Water Pollution and Food Chains
 * What eggsactly is good for your teeth?
 * Where do they Live?
 * Who's Eating Who?
 * Wiggley Worms
 * Ziploc Gardening

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Ideas listed by grade
First grade

Second grade

Third grade

Sixth grade (a single untested idea for now, but likely a good one!)

Project details
The teaching ideas on this page have been found, refined, and developed by students in a college-level course on the teaching of biology at the elementary level. Unless otherwise noted, the lesson plans have been tried at least once by students from our partner schools. Some ideas have also been used by cub scout pack 656.

Partner schools
Students travel to Saint Michael's College from our partner schools or we take science on the road and visit the schools. The science ideas remaining in the Tested teaching ideas after April 2009 will have been tested at least once in grade schools. We are extremely grateful to the teachers and students in our partner schools for the contribution they have made to the success of this project. Our partner schools thus far have been:


 * Mater Christi School.
 * Lawrence Barnes School.
 * Edmunds Elementary School.

Our partner schools are in Burlington Vermont, USA.

Other resources

 * Links to Science Related Resources
 * Wikis in elementary schools
 * /Video Reflection/
 * /Selected Wikieducator resources
 * BES templates

Introduction
This wiki has been established to share ideas about teaching biology in elementary schools. The motivation behind the creation of this page is twofold: 1. to provide an outlet for the teaching ideas of a group of college educators participating in a workshop-style course; 2. to provide a space where anyone else interested in this topic can place their ideas.

Contributors page
New ideas are welcome. Please go to the Contributors page to add your page.

Note to teachers and other users of the information
Our intent in establishing this site is that all of the information placed here is free for educational use. You may print, copy, distribute (without charge), and modify the content in any way that suites your educational needs. We encourage you to provide a link back to this site on your printed handouts or if you reproduce this material on a web site. Most importantly we encourage you to make the best educational use of this material possible.

New improved feedback
Please hit the discussion tab above and give us feedback or use the BESfeedback page including E-mail options.

Island of misfit ideas
Not all teaching ideas can be perfect. We have evaluated some ideas dredged up from the bowels of the internet and found them lacking, at least in our hands. Others have not been developed because of time or weather constraints. Rather than deleting these ideas, we have left them in place and explained how and why they failed or were otherwise abandoned. This is probably a departure from the typical, but we are not attempting to be typical. There is value in pointing out flaws, and we hope others can learn from our mistakes. On a positive note, we hope that others can point to modifications that could make these ideas viable and valuable teaching tools.

Ideas in need of further development:


 * Pond and stream bugs (this program not yet fully developed)
 * Rainbow in a Glass This program did not work for us first time, but a year later we had more success.

Safety disclaimer
Please keep in mind that the material on this site can be edited by ANYONE. With that in mind, please realize that safety of the teaching ideas cannot be and is not guaranteed by the original authors. Responsibility for classroom safety is a matter for discussion with the administration of your school.


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