Recognize that learning can come from careful observation.
| Name |
Description |
| What Makes "Sense"? A Study of Rules and Laws | Students will explore how the five senses help us make careful observations of rules, behaviors, and consequences to produce learning in this integrated lesson plan. |
| Gr. K Lesson 2-Everglades Animals | Students will revisit the Everglades discussing the similarities and differences between some of the animals that were presented in lesson one. They will continue to color and build their Everglades class book. Students will draw and write the similarities and differences using a Comparing Everglades Animals worksheet. Everglades Animals is lesson 2 out of 3. |
| The Five Senses | The five senses are essential to understanding the world around us. What body parts relate to each of the five senses? How do we use the five senses to discover new information? Students will encounter these questions and more as they explore the five senses and their corresponding body parts through observation and conversation. |
| Have You Ever Met a Tree? | The students practice making observations of a specific tree and write about it as though they are a scientist. |
| Let's Be Scientists: Notebooking with a Purpose | In this lesson, students learn about one of the jobs a scientist does: keeping a notebook or journal. The students will earn a procedure for completing an accurate Science Notebook entry. The teacher can follow this process throughout the year to develop students who are proficient in Science Notebooking. |
| Nature Journaling | This is a detailed lesson plan for introducing the importance of detail accuracy through nature journaling. Students will find a leaf, flower and insect to draw in their nature journals. From this lesson the students will conclude that it is important to pay attention to detail when observing and identifying objects in nature. |
| Finding the One!! | Students will sort and classify rocks by observable properties, such as size, shape, color and texture. (The properties of temperature and weight are not addressed in this lesson). |
| Kindergarten Listening Walk | Students will record what they hear on a nature walk. They will learn that sounds are all around us and that they are made by vibrations. |
| Go Fish! | This lesson will guide students in understanding how models can help us understand real-world objects. Students will learn about fish features, observe real fish, and create a model of a fish. |
| Butterfly Life Cycle: Biography of a Caterpillar | Students observe and write about the life cycle of a caterpillar. A K-W-L chart is utilized to begin discussion, as well as Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. |
| Name |
Description |
| Where Plants and Animals Live | This site features activity ideas on comparing plants and animals in different habitats. It also includes a virtual manipulative, black line masters for activity ideas, and a family newsletter to encourage family involvement. |
| Animal Disguises-SeaWorld Classroom Activity | In this activity, the students will be able to demonstrate how cryptic coloration helps ocean animals survive. |
| Investigating Motion With Marbles | In this guided inquiry activity, students will use 2 marbles of different size and a box to investigate what makes the marbles move and what will cause the marbles to change speed and direction. |
| Thematic Observational Drawing Ideas for Primary Students | This chart provides teachers with easy and practical items that can be used to for observational tables and observational drawing opportunities. Drawing requires the observer to focus on details such as shape, texture, line, and color. When students have time to study and then draw items in nature it increases their observational skills. |
| Webcams: Animal Inquiry and Observation | Observe animal habits and habitats using one of the many webcams broadcasting from zoos and aquariums around the United States and the world in this inquiry-based activity that focuses on observation logs, class discussion, questioning, and research. |
| What Is a Bird? | In this activity students will compare characteristics of birds with characteristics of animals from other classifications. They will list the characteristics that are unique to birds. |
| What Is Water? | The lesson introduces students to the properties of water and its presence in the environment. |
| Name |
Description |
| Exploring the Five Senses | This unit explores the five senses and their respective related body parts. It shows how observations of the natural world are made using our senses. |
| Ladybugs | These lessons explore the characteristics and behavior of ladybugs, and to create their own paper model of a ladybug. |
| Touching and Fair Tests with Pill Bugs and Earthworms | This unit shows students how to humanely handle pill bugs ("roly polies") and earthworms while observing their characteristics. Students will explore the types of conditions that each bug prefers to live in (eg., wet or dry, dark or light). |
| Comparing Plants, Animals, and Seeds | These lessons compare and contrast plants versus animals and seeds versus plants in regards to both appearance and behavior/function. |
| Plants and Animals in Media | These lessons show children how the media portrays plants and animals with characteristics that they do not truly possess in reality. |
| Vibrations Make Sound | Students explore and discuss vibration and sound using a variety of common materials. Activities demonstrate connections between vibration, movement, sound, and waves using materials such as homemade drums, rubber bands, tuning forks, balloons, and water. |
| Physical Changes | Two lessons provide students with opportunities to explore physical changes. Students manipulate paper and clay to demonstrate and discuss physical changes of matter. |
| Sorting Lessons | In this sequence of lessons, students have opportunities to sort various objects by multiple properties including color, size, shape, temperature, texture, and weight. |
| Sun and Moon | Day and Night | In this unit, students record observations of the day and night sky over weeks or a month. Discussions around the observations are intended to help students recognize the patterns in their observations. Literature connections are included. |
