Science & Technology Challenges
Week of January 19, 2021
The goal of the NEWESD 101 Science Kit Cooperative is to send out bi-weekly science challenges to our members. The challenges will sometimes be tailored to a grade level, or a more general challenge which can be adjusted or added to based on the grade level you are teaching.
Past challenges can be found at www.esd101.net/science
If you are needing additional support, please reach out so that we may assist you. I would love to hear what you think about the challenges!
Thank you,
Beth
Grades K-5: Jumping Roaches! (Life Science)
Supplies:
- Roach patterns
- Scissors
- Empty cereal box, or other cardboard that's equally thick
- Scotch tape
- A few pennies
- Ruler
- One adult for step 4
Grades 6-8: Make a Paper Horse That Walks (Physical Science)
Supplies:
- Construction paper
- Ruler
- Scissors
Procedure:
- Use a metric ruler to draw the shape below. Start with a rectangle that is 15 cm by 4.5 cm. Then divide it up as shown. Cut around the perimeter of the rectangle. Then cut the DOTTED LINES inside the rectangle. (See photo at bottom of instructions.) - I labeled the legs, head, body, and tail for your benefit, but you don’t need to do that, obviously!
- Cut out your horse as shown. Only cut the dotted lines, do NOT cut the solid lines indicating the body.
- Curl the tail (I know horses tails aren’t curled like that, but it seems to make it balance better) and fold the head.
Now it's time to make your horse walk!
Here’s how it works:
The paper horse walks by rocking back and forth on its curved feet. As the horse rocks from one foot to the other, gravity pulls the feet down the incline.
So it rocks to the right, and the left foot (which is no longer touching the board) moves forward. It rocks to the left, and the right foot moves forward. It’s pretty cool to watch.
Please visit the following link for more photos and additional explanations!
Grades 6-8: "Write the Book on Weather Metrics" (Earth Science: Weather & Climate Systems)
Technology Challenge
Our International Computer Science Fundamentals courses are translated into over 25 languages. The different courses support students aged 4-18. Each course has 10-20 lessons that may be implemented as one unit or over the course of a semester. Students study basic programming concepts and develop interactive games or stories they can share.
The courses teach the foundational concepts of programming using drag and drop blocks rather than a programming language such as JavaScript or Python. Blocks are an easier way to get started and can be fully translated into any language. Course 1 uses picture blocks rather than words to support pre-readers.
- K-2
https://code.org/educate/curriculum/cs-fundamentals-international
Start with Course 1, progress as able - 3-5
https://code.org/educate/curriculum/cs-fundamentals-international
Start with Course 2, progress as able - MS
https://code.org/educate/curriculum/cs-fundamentals-international
Accelerated Course
Middle School Resources
- Interactive Periodic Table:
https://www.learner.org/wp-content/interactive/periodic/index.html - Simulations for density, waves, force, earthquakes: https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/filter?sort=alpha&view=grid
- Physics Concepts:
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/1DKin/Lesson-1/Scalars-and-Vectors - Chemistry Videos & Simulations:
https://www.middleschoolchemistry.com/ - Subatomic Particles video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szcboZhB6Yc&feature=youtu.be - Biology Class Resources:
https://www.biointeractive.org/classroom-resources - Genetics:
http://www.dnaftb.org/ - Ecology:
http://desertmuseum.org/center/edu/ - Astronomy: http://d3tt741pwxqwm0.cloudfront.net/WGBH/npls13/npls13_int_seasons/index.html