What's the coolest thing you've ever done/ bought for elementary science?

[Hannah]

Snap Circuits are probably the favorite.

Do you have the teacher manuals? My girls like building them, but its more like building a puzzle than learning about electronnics for them.

 

Last year when we studied chemistry, my son started collecting all the elements. He made the board himself using a drill bit to cut out the circles for each element. He learned so much and had a blast doing it!

 

What a cool idea!

[Osaubi]

We are studying Chemistry this year. The coolest stuff we have done so far is a mentos and cola experiment with different cola and mentos to see if there was a difference.

 

We found out what happened when pure sodium and potassium mixes with water. It was really cool!

 

We also made an edible Periodic Table out of cheese, crackers, and meat. Anything with food is a favorite in our house.

 

The Elements by Ellen McHenry is great. We are also using Mr.Q Chemistry in a co-op setting.

 

[Sahamamama]

We found a large, lovely black house spider (somewhat venomous) in the laundry bin in the basement. After the initial surprise, ;) we caught her (gently, carefully), put her in a Critter Keeper, and have enjoyed getting to know this amazing creature.

 

We named her Charlotte. She has a small water dish (cut off cup) with a piece of towel in it to keep her from drowning when she gets a drink. We mist her environment to keep it moist. We feed her crickets and houseflies. We purchase the crickets from the local pet shop, or find them in the weeds behind the shed. We have found and caught flies near garbage cans. :tongue_smilie:It is SO COOL to see her attack her prey, inject it with venom from her fangs, and wait until the struggling cricket or fly has been internally dissolved into juices, which she then sucks up. We do have to clean out the entrails when she is done with her meal. What a lovely science project. :lol: My husband is appalled by all this, BTW. :lol:

 

I will say, though, that doing something HANDS-ON has been so eye-opening. We have been "studying" animals all year, but it's mostly been reading aloud library books. We have a family zoo pass, and my parents took us all to the aquarium. These experiences have been good for us all. Nice, but too neat. Real science is messier.

 

I think that doing something UP CLOSE and HANDS-ON is essential. With something as simple as a live spider, there is a greater intensity of learning, the "danger" or risk of something going wrong (hence, the need to be careful and deliberate, to follow a procedure, to respect the spider's life and needs), and the intimacy of having something real right in front of us -- all this has created a heightened PASSION for science, for exploring and researching, and for doing more of the same as we travel along our "sequence" of topics.

 

For example, next year we plan to explore 9-week units focusing on: (1) Human Body; (2) Nature Study; (3) Plants; (4) Ecology/Biomes. These topics will give us so many opportunities for hands-on projects, some of which will be ongoing (ex.: a backyard garden). We're looking forward to it!

[Corraleno]

We found a large, lovely black house spider (somewhat venomous) in the laundry bin in the basement. After the initial surprise, ;) we caught her (gently, carefully), put her in a Critter Keeper, and have enjoyed getting to know this amazing creature.

We had a praying mantis this year (she just died last week :(), and it was amazing the things we learned from watching her every day. We watched her stalk, catch, and eat lots of different prey insects, and did a lot of research on mantis anatomy as well as grasshopper anatomy (we wanted to figure out what part she was always discarding). She was much smarter than I ever thought an insect could be — she used to pull the back legs off the big grasshoppers before eating them (alive), so they couldn't kick her! She'd often eat the heads first, but grasshoppers can actually live (and kick) a long time with no heads! (Male mantises can apparently continue to mate for quite awhile after having their heads eaten off, too!) We caught a male mantis and watched them mate (but missed seeing her eat him when she was done :ack2:) and then watched her lay 7 ootheca, which looks like someone spraying foam from a can. (The ootheca are currently in our fridge, to be hatched in the spring).

 

We also caught antlions and did various experiments with them, and observed several ant colonies every day. We have a "pet" toad that DS caught last summer when he was a tiny 1/2" baby — now he's huge! He lives in a vivarium with some ferns, a colony of woodlice and some other bugs. All of the coolest science projects we've ever done have involved just observing critters!

 

Jackie

[Sahamamama]

We also caught antlions and did various experiments with them, and observed several ant colonies every day. We have a "pet" toad that DS caught last summer when he was a tiny 1/2" baby — now he's huge! He lives in a vivarium with some ferns, a colony of woodlice and some other bugs. All of the coolest science projects we've ever done have involved just observing critters!

 

Jackie

 

Jackie, that is fascinating about the mantis! We want to observe a mantis in the spring -- they are all over the place in our backyard.

 

If you like to get some new ideas, we've enjoyed this book:

 

Bug Zoo (DK), by Nick Baker

 

Next year we plan to implement Nick's ideas for making

 

• a Louse House (for wood lice)
  
• a Wormery (for earthworms)
  
• a Mollusk Mansion (for a snail)
  
• an Earwiggery (for earwigs [pincher bugs])
  
• a Cricket Crib (for crickets & katydids)
  
• a Caterpillar Villa (for observing metamorphosis)
  

Nick has GREAT ideas for building doable, inexpensive habitats for observation of small creatures. He provides enough information to get started watching and learning about over a dozen critters. I also think that his easily-constructed "wormery" could be used in a botany study -- to observe root vegetables growing into the soil, for example. If click on this Bug Zoo link, you can see photos of the wormery. The photo shows the British version of the book, but the US version has "American" words, LOL. HTH.

[Mom-ninja.]

My ds just got done with a co-op class using the book Creepy Crawlies and the Scientific Method.

 

He loved it.

[Corraleno]

We want to observe a mantis in the spring -- they are all over the place in our backyard.

You will LOVE having a mantis, they're the most fascinating creatures! I was never a "bug person" (in fact, I was one of those wussy girls who was always getting chased by boys holding spiders :tongue_smilie:), but I'm now quite smitten by mantids. I can understand why someone would become an entomologist and want to spend a lifetime studying these critters. They're really beautiful and surprisingly intelligent.

 

Bug Zoo (DK), by Nick Baker

I love Nick Baker. If I wasn't married I would probably stalk him, lol. We were living in England when he got his start on TV, first doing a segment on another nature show, and then he had his own show. He was really really young then, with a pony tail, and just so gorgeous and smart and funny. :001_wub:

 

My ds just got done with a co-op class using the book Creepy Crawlies and the Scientific Method.

This is my absolute favorite bio lab book for kids. It's not just "demonstrations" or "observations," like so many other kiddie experiment books, it's real science, with variables and controls and lab sheets — and unknown outcomes. (Too many science-for-kids books use the same old experiments, and kids know exactly what's going to happen.) We did several of the antlion and wood louse experiments, and the kids are dying to do the slimemold lab, too. Another book I highly recommend (especially for the spring/summer) is Explore the World Using Protozoa.

 

Jackie

[Hunter]

I just put Bug Zoo on my wish list. Creepy Crawlies is in the mail and i'm looking forward to it's arrival. I purchased it hoping for ideas for applying the scientific method to nature study.

 

I adore the idea of hatching eggs and then being able to give the birds away, soon after hatching.

 

I'm thinking of getting a pet...but...there is a lot entailed in that, because of the rules of my building, and I'm scared to death of large unexpected vet bills.

 

I need more life in my apartment this winter. I'm looking for cheap, creative ideas.

 

What have you all done with plants?

 

What about long term studies with repeat visits to an aquarium, museum, zoo, that are worth the year long pass?

 

Other than hatching eggs are there other opportunities for a short term small animal visit?

 

What about river activities?

 

Hmm...I remember sea monkeys. Years ago I remember there was a free curriculum download, for a similar creature, that my younger son used.

[mamapjama]

We also made an edible Periodic Table out of cheese, crackers, and meat.

 

 

 

Do you have photos of this or instructions?? We studied the period table and the elements last year, but I know this would be a huge hit.

[Pippen]

Zorb Digital Microscope:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161395&highlight=zorb

 

Private Eye Do-it-Yourself World in a Box:

http://www.the-private-eye.com/index.html

[lisabees]

Okay ladies. I am loving the Bug Zoo and Creepy Crawlies books. I am such a "bug person". These will be perfect.

 

Jackie, years ago I got some awesome close up photos of a praying mantis. He was angry I was doing so and gave me an evil look and batted his legs at me in defense. This little creature actually scared me with his anger and fear. I like snakes and spiders, but ever since this encounter, I am

creeped out by a praying mantis!!

[anneofalamo]

the blue (space gel) ant farm with the glow light!

I got it without the light at first, and then Rainbow had it on clearance during one of my binge spends! :tongue_smilie:

We had to wait on the ants til it was not so hot here in California, so we finally got them (the fact I ordered ants still amazes me) in October

It was a month of pure fun!!

My hubby would stand and yell, "they have almost connected the tunnel" and the kids would come running, and for 10 minutes they (all 5) would stand there staring giving a commentary of each ants job!

 

Chickens are also one of our top fun things, and we have 3 laying chickens that are pets in our backyard!

 

I 2nd, 3rd and 4th a microscope! We got this kit in a box with a hand held microscope (it is pretty cool) and my kids are outside with it constantly!

 

I just think science MUST be a hands on! I was so not a science kit, but mine love the 2 days we do science! I find they "re do" it on their own, so that makes a momma smile!

 

We are dissecting owl pellets next month, I am excited about it, hoping it will be a good one!

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I LOVE the Science in a Nutshell kits.

 

 

:iagree:We've had a great deal of fun with these.

 

The make a volcano kit was also popular. (Messy but fun!)

 

The next favorite items are our various bug catching jars and holders. (Nets, jars with magnifying lids, etc.)

 

Finally-the microscope-Brock magiscope!

[fitna]

wow i'm loving this post!

last year my 7 year daughter was really interested in butterflies. so i signed her up for a butterfly class at a science museum here. at the end of the class each kid received their own caterpillar. we had so much fun raising it and watching it turn into a butterfly. after a few days we released it. it was a great experience.

 

:)

[Beth in SW WA]

 

This dry ice project was a hit here. :)

[Mom-ninja.]

 

Private Eye Do-it-Yourself World in a Box:

http://www.the-private-eye.com/index.html

 

This looks like something my boys would love.

[Pippen]

This looks like something my boys would love.

 

I would have loved it as a kid, too. My daughter was skeptical. She is very artsy--not a science lover at all--so I bought it as some incentive for our nature study unit and filling it really took us in all directions. She collected fossils, learned to dry insects, dried and pressed flowers, took soil samples, collected mollusk shells, made a mushroom spore print etc.

 

She lined the boxes with various colors of stiff felt, and others she placed colored paper under. It's really quite lovely.

Edited November 28, 2010 by Pippen