Afterschool Science Club Gives Students the Ability for More Hands-On Activities I started this program to get kids excited about science and learning. I send permission slips home with the fourth graders near the beginning of the school year. I make sure they know I will allow the first 30 students, that return their permission […]
Tag: Hands On
Collaboration with Dry Erase Boards
Dry Erase Boards Creates a Culture of Conversation While Encouraging Small Group Interactions In the realm of education and instruction, collaboration is a hot topic. The mathematics classroom thrives on collaboration among students, fostering deeper thinking. Use of dry erase boards can enhance problem solving, boost self-confidence, and assist in the practice of mathematics. This […]
The Egg Drop Project
Hands-On Activity Helps Students Integrate STEM Concepts with Content Writing 7th grade science, math, and English honors teachers at Southside Middle School developed a cross-curricular egg drop project to integrate STEM concepts with content writing. Student were challenged to design, create, test, and analyze a BESS (Better Egg Shipping System) that would protect a dropped […]
Classroom Economy
Classroom Jobs Teach Students About Economics This best practice was developed to meet the second grade economic standards. It begins by teaching the content and introducing vocabulary words: needs, wants, producers, consumers, goods, services, opportunity cost, save, spend, and donate. After the majority of the content has been addressed the students begin the interview and […]
Jigsaw Activity in the World Language Classroom
Interactive Activity Helps Students Create Their Own Learning During our unit on travel and transportation, I wanted to design an activity that was more interactive than simply finding information from an authentic French website. I know that the “jigsaw” technique is a cooperative learning strategy that allows students to create their own learning. I found […]
Let’s Get Visual
Visual Cue Cards Enhance Classroom Management This summer, I attended a conference on appealing to special needs students. There were many strategies presented about adding more visual elements to your classroom. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough to appeal to the visual learners in my classroom. This year, I have tried out visual cue […]
Kennedy Assassination: Crime Scene Investigation
Unique Class Assignment Encourages Students to Use Problem Solving and Communication Skills Students travel back in history to 1960 to the presidential election between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. We spend a week acquiring biographical information while comparing and contrasting the influence of media then and now. Once students have a good understanding of […]
Golden Beads: A Golden Ticket for Teaching Math
Use of Beads Helps to Introduce Mathematical Concepts The Golden Beads are used to give a concrete introduction to the decimal system. The Golden Beads, like all Montessori materials, are very tactile, attractive, and easy to understand. The material consists of: “unit” beads, which are just individual bead “tens” bars, which are made of 10“unit” […]
7th Grade Honors Capstone Project
Students are Given a Chance to Make the Community Better An inquiry-based investigation based on the idea, “Any community has the potential to grow, to serve better its members, become safer, or present a more enjoyable environment. How can you make your community better?” The project included the four stages of proposal, research, presentation, and […]
Growing a STEM program with Rube Goldberg Machines
After School Program Allows Students to Excel in an International Event to Promote the STEM Field The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest originally began as a competition against Purdue engineering organization. Today, it has grown into an international event that inspires all students to design, build, problem solve, and present. In recent years, Science, Technology, Engineering, […]
Turning Caps/Lids into Tables
Children’s Involvement in Collecting Plastic Caps and Creating Tables Enhances Environmental Awareness We first became aware of Green Tree Plastics, Inc. and their ABC Partnership program when two former CUMNS Kids students asked for help in gathering plastic caps and lids for their elementary school’s bench project. As we got involved in helping them, our […]
Making Science A Priority In Today’s Classroom
Activities Help Students Learn to Foster an Appreciation for Science Using STEM activities; along with detailed lab manuals, will help you to foster an appreciation for science with your students. Students need the opportunity to manipulate materials, trial and error, and use verbal and written communication to describe how things work. STEM activities are great […]
Hands-On Projects in AP Physics
Students Apply Concepts Learned in Class to a Real World Environment Each project was implemented to provide students opportunities to directly test physics concepts in a real world environment. Egg-Drop Ships – This is a first semester project given to students after a discussion on kinematics and forces. Students are given a specific material list […]
Simple & Compound Machines
Using Science in Daily Life Through our unit on simple & compound machines students will “explore the significance of science in their lives”, have “hands-on inquiry that involves a series of steps with Questioning, Observation, Organizing Data, Explanation, Reflection, Taking Action,” and they will “integrate reading, writing, speaking, and math.” These objectives are listed as […]