HollyinNNV Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Does anyone have some fun thanksgiving science projects to share? Any science ideas are welcome, though I am specifically looking for fourth grade (boys). TIA, Holly:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 (edited) This has a lot of potential! How about covering food science? This looks like it has a lot of information: http://www.scientificamerican.com/report.cfm?id=thanksgiving Depending on your Thanksgiving traditions and your locations, you could also cover tree growth, including information on why leaves turn colors and fall off of the trees. You could cover how the foods you are eating for your Thanksgiving meal grow, including information on plant growth, USDA growth zones & how they are determined, science of fertilizer, bug repellents, etc. How about a study of weather in different parts of the US on Thanksgiving Day? The history of weather on Thanksgiving Day? Here are some resources: The Farmer's Almanac First Thanksgiving Weather You could track weather predictions for the holiday weekend at various intervals (20 days out, 15 days out, 5 days out, etc), studying what all of the different symbols on the weather map mean and why the events they represent are important to weather prediction. Then track the actual weather and determine the accuracy of the predictions. For your older, you could assign a paper on genetically modified food - how it's done, why its done and risks vs. benefits. If you follow football, you can study how statistics are compiled, a very necessary part of scientific studies. Your younger could conduct a survey among friends & relatives regarding Thanksgiving related traditions. This would cover creating effective, measurable questions, analyzing and graphing results - all necessary science skills. Your older could write a paper on the benefits and/or drawbacks of athletic competition in today's society (not science, I know, but interesting, nonetheless). You could have her do a persuasive essay on the same topic - advocating for or against genetically modified food. If you want to branch out further, you could have her analyze holiday economics. An interesting way to approach Thanksgiving studies - very creative on your part. Edited November 1, 2009 by TechWife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyinNNV Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 Hi TechWife, Thanks so much for the wonderful information. I'm thinking that it would be really cool to learn about the farmers almanac. I never even thought of that! Thanks for the wonderful ideas. Brilliant! Holly This has a lot of potential! How about covering food science? This looks like it has a lot of information: http://www.scientificamerican.com/report.cfm?id=thanksgiving Depending on your Thanksgiving traditions and your locations, you could also cover tree growth, including information on why leaves turn colors and fall off of the trees. You could cover how the foods you are eating for your Thanksgiving meal grow, including information on plant growth, USDA growth zones & how they are determined, science of fertilizer, bug repellents, etc. How about a study of weather in different parts of the US on Thanksgiving Day? The history of weather on Thanksgiving Day? Here are some resources: The Farmer's Almanac First Thanksgiving Weather You could track weather predictions for the holiday weekend at various intervals (20 days out, 15 days out, 5 days out, etc), studying what all of the different symbols on the weather map mean and why the events they represent are important to weather prediction. Then track the actual weather and determine the accuracy of the predictions. For your older, you could assign a paper on genetically modified food - how it's done, why its done and risks vs. benefits. If you follow football, you can study how statistics are compiled, a very necessary part of scientific studies. Your younger could conduct a survey among friends & relatives regarding Thanksgiving related traditions. This would cover creating effective, measurable questions, analyzing and graphing results - all necessary science skills. Your older could write a paper on the benefits and/or drawbacks of athletic competition in today's society (not science, I know, but interesting, nonetheless). You could have her do a persuasive essay on the same topic - advocating for or against genetically modified food. If you want to branch out further, you could have her analyze holiday economics. An interesting way to approach Thanksgiving studies - very creative on your part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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