FINDING TIME TO INCORPORATE SCIENCE INTO YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE – INEXPENSIVELY! PRESENTED BY: KRISTEN POINDEXTER KINDERGARTEN TEACHER SPRING MILL ELEMENTARY INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Science!

Do you have this problem? You don’t have enough time in your day to include Science? Do you want to include some science, but feel like you don’t have enough materials? You want to “do” science, but you’re not sure how to include it without breaking the bank? You’re in the right place!

Today we’re going to… Represent the lifecycle of the Monarch Butterfly in two ways and help The Very Hungry Caterpillar turn into a butterfly! Make Beanie Baby necklaces to learn about plant growth Grow Jack’s Beanstalk! Make a Garden Monster! We’re also going to look at other inexpensive science ideas and take a tour of my classroom blog!

Mouse Paint

We explored mixing colors in several ways:  Shampoo and food coloring in plastic baggies  Melting different color ice cubes  Exploring with markers and crayons  Painting with watercolors  Plastic color paddles  Color mixing tubes

Monarch Butterflies Here are some great books that along with Monarch Butterflies:

Squishy Bags Squishy bags are a fun way to incorporate science and sensory! egg caterpillar chrysalis butterfly

You will need… One snack size baggie One clear bead One pipe cleaner part One leaf One butterfly bead About 2 tablespoons of hair gel READY, SET, GO!

Why do we want to learn about Monarch Butterflies? There are fewer and fewer of them migrating Scientists cannot figure out how they know to migrate to Mexico every year Tie in cultural celebrations You can send symbolic butterflies to Mexico each year through JourneyNorth.org

Monarch Bracelets You will need: One clear bead (egg) One black bead (head) Three yellow beads (body of caterpillar) Three green beads (chrysalis) One butterfly bead (butterfly—can use orange beads)

Monarch Lifecycle Bracelets

Monarch Butterfly Song To the tune of “Up on the Housetop” First comes a butterfly and lays an egg, Out comes a caterpillar with many legs, Oh see the caterpillar spin and spin A little chrysalis to sleep in Oh, oh, oh wait and see, Oh, oh, oh wait and see Out of the chrysalis my oh my! Out comes a Monarch Butterfly!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Using a coffee filter (the more triangular shaped ones), you can turn The Very Hungry Caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly!

Ice We are usually studying weather at this time or have had a winter storm

Ice

Jack and the Beanstalk

Seeds

Let’s make Garden Monsters

To make a Garden Monster… You will need:  One 6x6 square of tulle  One cup/scoop of dirt or potting soil  A small handful of grass seed  Zip ties  Glue dots  Wiggly eyes  Roofing nails  Small cups or lids  water

Garden Monsters… Take your 6x6 square of tulle and lay it flat on the table. Pour your grass seed into the middle of the square and then cover with all your dirt. Gather up all the corners of your tulle into a very tight ball (making sure all the dirt and grass seed is inside). Zip tie the bottom shut. Get two roofing nails and apply ½ of a glue dot to the flat part of each nail. Attach a wiggly eye to each glue dot and insert them into your Garden Monster Set onto cup and water lightly…watch them grow! You can also plant herbs or flower seeds in their heads and can put the grass seed in different designs!

Books about Seeds Seeds by Ken Robbins The Tiny Seed (World of Eric Carle) by Eric Carle Seeds! Seeds! Seeds! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace From Seed to Plant (Rookie Read-About Science) by Allan Fowler What Kinds of Seeds Are These? by Heidi Roemer

Sponge Gardens You can also use kitchen sponges and grass seed to make sponge gardens. The kids can “mow” them and watch how grass grows! Each child can have their own yard, or you can put them together to have a bigger yard.

Seeds Other ideas about seeds: Explore the differences between seeds and bulbs Ask children to match seeds with seed packets Challenge children to make a “Seed Book” where they glue on the seeds and then write the names in

Planting Magic Beans! You will need one cd case for each student or one case for each pair of students. The hinges of the CD case should be at the top. That way you can stand them up and dirt won’t fall out. Also this leaves a nice hole at the top for watering the plants with droppers. Plant your bean high in the soil. If you plant it toward the bottom the roots will grow out the bottom! You can also use a paper towel!! Tape the bottom shut. This will keep roots from growing out the bottom, and curious fingers from opening the case. Use masking tape and permanent markers to label whose plant is whose. Around day 5 or so I un-taped the cases overnight so that they could have a little bit of space to grow. I taped them back in the morning. By day 7 or so, you will be ready to label your plants. We used paint pens. Plant your bean with the concave side down. It should resemble the letter “n,” not the letter “u.” I didn’t tell my kids this. I just let them discover it… which was a nice learning experience. Just depends on which way you’d rather teach it.

Planting Magic Beans

cotyledon

Planting Magic Beans You will need: One CD case 2-3 magic beans One paper towel Marker (to write your name on the outside) Fold your paper towel in ¼’s, then in ½ again. Dampen the paper towel. Place in the bottom of your CD case. Place beans on paper towel, close, label with your name.

Beanie Babies This is a great activity to help children learn to grow and care for a plant The children will wear them as necklaces and their body heat will help them grow and germinate. They are called Beanie Babies because they are soybeans!

Beanie Babies /pdf/meetthebean.pdf

Beanie Babies You will need: One small zip bag One hole punch 2-3 soybeans 1 cotton ball String Water Punch a hole in the top of your zip bag and put the string through. Place one damp cotton ball in the bottom of the bag. Place 2-3 soybeans on top of the cotton ball. Seal the bag and place around your neck, under your shirt (you need the heat to help it germinate).

Compost

Other ideas about compost: Children supply the food and record when and what they added Children measure the worms once a month to chart growth Write our own Diary of a Worm stories We use the compost to plant milkweed in our nature center and to help our mother’s day plants grow

Questions?? Blog: Thanks for coming!