Science+Projects

Post your favorite science projects here!

Overview: Students research an ocean animal using an article from an elementary encyclopedia. They take notes and then divide their notes into those that describe the animal's appearance, and those that are just "interesting." They then go to the computer lab and create two powerpoint slides -- one about the appearance and one about interesting facts. The group generates text for an introductory slide. The completed powerpoint slide is shown to their fifth grade book buddies and can also be printed to create a nonfiction library book. The goals of this project are: · Library: o Discussion of finding the right resource for the information we’ll need o Introduce encyclopedia research—what are these books? Using alphabetical order to locate information; Using Guide Words o Introduce note taking o Sorting information into “Important” to know and “Interesting to know” categories o Introduce citing sources · Technology o Discussion of finding the right resource for the information we’ll need o Introduce PowerPoint
 * Grade 2 Ocean Animal Research Project--Plympton School**

Science Goals the ocean biome, sea animals, and sea life how do ocean animals interact with their environment and adapto ocean life.

We’d like to propose the BIG question: “What do Ocean Animals Look Like?’ This might give us some ability to draw big conclusions from our individual research into ocean animals to draw conclusions like: · They can swim · They camouflage with their environment · They can get wet Which all will get kids thinking about animals in the same environment sharing characteristics that help them survive in that environment

Begin with an overview of the project and a discussion of what resource might be best for gathering this information. Next, show them how to find an article in an encyclopedia and having them look for their own animal using alphabetical order, guide words, etc. At another session, each student receives a folder that contains their encyclopedia article and a note sheet, which will include a notation about where the article came from. I will model for students how to take notes. During this session, we will work with kids in the library to have them take notes, sentence-by-sentence to create a fact list about their animals Based on who completes this task—we can sign up for another session for the whole group—or I can take a small group of students who need help finishing their notes. Once all notes are complete we will: · Sort our notes into those that answer our question and “other interesting facts” · We can also talk about the common features of ocean animal appearances—and create some introductory and concluding text that can be used for their power point
 * Library Piece:**

Once all notes are taken and sorted and intro/conclusion are in place, students work in computer lab to create two slides—one with “what it looks like” facts and one with “other interesting things” facts. Make sure their citation appears on one of the slides. A photo appeared on the “looks like” slide and a drawing was on the second slide.
 * Technology Piece**