SLEUTh Academy

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• Animal See-Saw – In this activity K-1 students investigate levers by going on a pretend visit to “Old MacDonald’s Farm”. While there they must “ride” the see-saw with all the different animals. This activity uses a lever made from a meter stick – giving a number to the best position for each of the animals (all weighing a different number of washers) to balance with the boy/girl that weighs just one washer. When finished the students are able to use the bar graph created to predict where other animals of different weight would need to be placed on the see-saw. As a preface to this activity the book How do you Lift a Lion by Robert E. Wells helps the students understand about levers and fulcrums and how they make work easier to do. Using die-cut animals makes the activity more visual for the early learners.
• Rock Cycle Bracelet – Students use their reference and resource skills to make a lift the flap book about the steps in the rock cycle. They illustrate each of the stages (volcano is there for them): Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic rocks and magma and include facts under the flap that help them characterize each stage. The book is then taped/stapled into a circle to complete the “cycle” and the student has a bracelet (or arm band) to help them remember that it is a continuous cycle. I had samples of each kind of rock for students to use and a reference book (ScienceSaurus by Great Source). Be prepared for the students to ask for a sample of “magma” while completing their bracelet! This was used by 2^nd and 3^rd graders, but can probably be extended to several grades.
• Eureka! Density Rocks! – 4^th and 5^th graders were introduced to Archimedes and the story of his work investigating the golden crown in ancient Greece as an introduction to scientific thought. There is an on-line version of this story at Abbreviated Version from Harvard and Eureka Stories. Students then apply Archimedes method to determine the density of two different size rocks that look alike to see if they could be from the same “big” rock. This activity includes measurement of volume and mass and involves division (calculators provided).
• The Goldilocks Dilemma – Students investigate some reasons why Mama Bear’s porridge is colder than Baby Bear’s in the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This includes discussion of the differences between insulator and conductor materials. Measurement skills (temperature) are emphasized in the lab technique. Includes areas for class or team chart and bar graph. Appropriate for 2^nd-4^th grade.
• The Three Pigs Construction Company – Students are owners of the “The Three Pigs Construction Company” and they need to figure out the least amount of weight to put inside a shoe box so that the “big bad wolf” or hurricane won’t blow it down (half a shoe box per team with open half facing fan). They are told not to use too much weight or they will need to spend too much to build their house and no one could buy it. They have to strategize how to figure out what the least weight is.
• Magical Magnets – K-1 students learn about properties of magnets and follow up with balancing the force of gravity and magnetism by levitating a paperclip.
• Energy Conservation – 4^th and 5^th grade students learn about energy conservation (and energy transfer) when comparing heat (energy wasted) by incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs.