Guiding questions may include:
- What living things do we notice?
- What does this organism need to survive?
- What does it eat, and what might eat it?
- How does energy move from the sun to plants, animals, and decomposers?
- What might happen if one part of the food web changed?
- Are there important living things here that we cannot easily see?
- Much more possible
These are session ideas, not fixed lesson plans.
Sessions are adapted to student ages, interests, questions, location, and weather.
Younger students may focus more on observation, drawing, and discovery.
Older students may explore deeper science ideas, evidence, systems, and explanations.
Sample Idea #1: Food Webs & Food Energy
This is a sense of our learning experiences.
Possible activities include:
- Observing plants, insects, birds, soil, bark, flowers, or lake water
- Using hand lenses, magnifiers, or microscopes to look for visible and hidden signs of life
- Discussing how organisms depend on one another for food, shelter, and survival
- Choosing one organism and investigating what it needs, what it eats, and what might eat it
- Thinking about cause and effect in a food web
- Comparing the needs of organisms to needs in our own lives
- Creating a group mural showing the organisms, energy flow, and relationships discovered during the session
Sample Idea #2: Nesting Birds & Habitat Choices
Guiding questions may include:
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Why might this bird choose a hidden nest in shallow water?
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How does the bird’s body help it move, feed, hide, and protect its young?
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What does this bird need in order to “make a living” in this habitat?
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How is this bird’s habitat different from the habitats used by other birds nearby?
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Why might this season be a good time for nesting?
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How do nesting behaviors compare among birds, reptiles, and other animals?
Possible activities include:
- Students observe a nesting water bird, such as a moorhen, from a safe and respectful distance.
- This type of observation can lead to rich discussion about habitat, adaptations, animal behavior, reproduction, and survival.
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Students may also identify other birds in the area, compare body structures and behaviors, and make connections to animals such as alligators, lizards, snakes, and even dinosaurs.
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This session encourages careful observation, comparison, cause-and-effect thinking, and respect for wildlife.
Sample Idea #3
Chemistry: Is Water Sticky?
Guiding questions may include:
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What is water made of?
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Is everything made smaller bits?
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Will water and oil act the same? Make predictions.
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How could we measure the "stickiness" of water or oil?
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Discuss, what is going on?
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After observing drops on a penny. Is water a bit "sticky"?
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Where do we see water being "sticky" in our world?
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How do you know if something is heavier/denser than water?
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Can water make metal float with its "stickiness"?
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Much more is possible and many paths of inquiry will be created by students.
Possible activities include:
- Observe the top surface of water and oil at the top of a full cup.
- Observe water and oil on wax paper.
- Take data of counting the number of drops of water vs oil that will stay on top of a penny.
- Measure the water droplets on wax paper(height or diameter)
- Add different amounts of salt to water and then see how that effects these same characteristics
- *MAKE PAPERCLIPS FLOAT ON WATER
- Graph data, "What if...", much more possible :)
- Students will help create paths of inquiry and discovery :)