Kategori: English

Soap Bubble ideas

Summer heat and soap bubbles work well together!

Try to make soap bubble art: Pröva att göra konst med hjälp av såpbubblor.

  • Mix soap mixture with liquid watercolor paint.
  • Collect a bundle of straws together.
  • Put the bundle in the color mixture.
  • Then blow the bubbles onto paper – they create beautiful patterns.
  • Bend aluminum foil in different shapes and soak them in the seed solution.
  • Blow the bubbles on the paper.Why not take a look at some chemistry at the same time –

    Blow soap bubbles through geometric figures:

  • The children form geometric figures of aluminum wire.
  • What shape does a soap bubble come from a square stick?
  • From an oval?
  • What do that depend on?Blås såpbubblor genom olikt formade pinnar.

    Again, thanks lekolar.fi for the ideas!

Leaf insects

At least here in Turku isn’t the summer booming in full force, but you still want to enjoy the pre-summer. Why then not drag in som leaves, press them in a plant press (would probably work with just underneath some heavy books). Mix theReady-Mix paint with som Artmedium varnish, that the surface will be shiny. Paint the leaves to look like insects.

Gör egna insekter av blad.

Idéa taken from lekolar.fi.

 

Cobweb

As if the forest is not full of cobwebs anyway …

Try to study together with the children how a spider web looks. Maybe take a picture of it too. Then try to build something similar back on your farm.

Think of course also why the network is built as it is …

Cobweb
Spindelnät
(The picture, and the idea is borrowed from lekolar.fi)

Build a Bridge!

Let the children try to build a bridge. Determine a distance, say between two pulpets and then see which constructions they can come up with to create a firm bridge.
Broritning
Materials can be:
• Toothpicks and soaked peas (carefulwith the peas, they can crack easily)
• Straw. Tape them together, or use pins.
• Paper & tape.
• Glass sticks and glue.

Please let the children do a plan first on paper hard thoughts go, or you can always try and see what ideas work and which ones do not.

Document the children’s thoughts before they begin to build, and evaluate afterwards to see how their thoughts have changed.

Positive attitude toward math predicts math achievement in kids

A positive attitude toward math boosts the brain’s memory center and predicts math performance independent of factors such as a child’s IQ, a Stanford study has found.

<img src=’//med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2018/01/positive-attitude-toward-math-predicts-math-achievement-in-kids/_jcr_content/main/image.img.620.high.jpg’ alt=’Happy young girl doing math on a chalkboard’>Happy young girl doing math on a chalkboard

A new Stanford study found that kids with a positive attitude toward math performed better in the subject.
For the first time, scientists have identified the brain pathway that links a positive attitude toward math to achievement in the subject.

In a study of elementary school students, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine found that having a positive attitude about math was connected to better function of the hippocampus, an important memory center in the brain, during performance of arithmetic problems.

The findings were published online Jan. 24 in Psychological Science.

Educators have long observed higher math scores in children who show more interest in math and perceive themselves as being better at it. But it has not been clear if this attitude simply reflects other capacities, such as higher intelligence.

The new study found that, even once IQ and other confounding factors were accounted for, a positive attitude toward math still predicted which students had stronger math performance.

Read more here

The 4 C:s

This is not just a truth for STEM, but it’s generally good practice.

The 4 C:s are good foundation for learning:

  • Communication
  • Critical thinking
  • Collaboration
  • Creativity

Next time you plan for an experiment leave keep this in mind. Leave room for communication and ideas from the children, spend some time thinking on the result, let them have working together, not just watching, and leave room for their creative approaches!

Play with the experiment!

TrådtelefonWhy don’t try to make a ”can-phone” (have no idea if this is the correct term)? Many have done it sometimes.

Try to experiment with it; how long thread can you use?, what difference does the thread quality make?, can you listen around corners?…

When you’re done experimenting, let the kid use it to play with, and they’ll might find more questions to ponder…

The manual (in Swedish) is found from experimentskafferiet.se, though their site seems to be down for the moment.

The Three Billy Goats STEM Challenge

Bockarna BruseA fun and engaging lesson to introduce engineering and STEM learning in the classroom.  

Student Learning Objectives: The students will be able engineering concepts to build a bridge that will hold the weight of a toy goat and record and self evaluate their designs on their digital portfolio.

Standards: K-2-ETS1-2. Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.

Grade Ranges: K-1

Attention Getter: The teacher will introduce the lesson by playing the NASA for kids engineering video for the class.

Direct Instruction: The teacher will announce to the class that today they are going to work as engineers. Present the Google Presentation The Three Billy Goats Gruff STEM Challenge.  Pose the problem- How can the goats cross the river with the troll? (Solution- Build a bridge).  Then go over the steps in the engineering process and explain the next step is Plan.  TTW go over the task and the materials available. Presentation

Guided Practice: The teacher will pass out the planning sheet and have the students draw the materials and the blueprint for their bridge. The teacher will encourage students to talk with their classmate and work collaboratively to come up with a plan.

Independent Practice: Students will gather materials and begin building their bridge. When students have finished they will bring their bridge to the testing area.  They will test their bridge to see if it fits over the river and can hold one toy goat.  Then they will go to the recording station to record their results.  Students will use the SeeSaw App to take a picture of their bridge and post it to their learning journal.  Students will record how their bridge worked and what changes they think would improve their design.

Wrap Up: Students will gather on the carpet. The teacher will show SeeSaw on the bridge and allow students to share their journal entry.  The students and teacher will discuss what materials and techniques worked well and what did not work well.

Attachment: Lesson plan & students worksheet: Technology Lesson Plan- STEM Three Billy Goats Gruff