Hands-On Life Science Activities For Grades K-6

Marvin N. Tolman, Ed.D., is a popular presenter at national meetings of science teachers, contributes to academic journals, reviews science education materials, and edits textbook and journal series. Currently, he is professor of teacher education at Brigham Young University and author of the popular Hands-On Science series from Jossey-Bass.

• About the Author xixAbout the Library xxHow to Use This Book xxiCorrelation with National Standards Grid xxxviiKey to Icons xxxixListing of Activities by Topic xliSection One: Living Through AdaptationTo the Teacher 1Correlation with National Standards 3Activity 1.1: What Is Adaptation? 4Activity 1.2: How Do Adaptations Affect Where Animals Live? 6Activity 1.3: Why Are Feathers Special? 9Activity 1.4: What Purposes Can Feathers Serve? 10Activity 1.5: Can You Make a Feather? 12Activity 1.6: How Can We Be Tricked by Color? 14Activity 1.7: How Is Color Used by Living Things? 15Activity 1.8: What Happens When the Camouflage Is Gone? 17Activity 1.9: What Happens to Camouflage When the Environment Changes? 19Activity 1.10: How Do Birds Adapt to Eating? 22Activity 1.11: What Are Some Other Eating Adaptations? 24Activity 1.12: What Are Human Teeth Like? 26Activity 1.13: How Important Is Your Thumb? 28Activity 1.14: How Do Animals Move? 30Activity 1.15: How Do Some Animals Communicate? 33Activity 1.16: How Do Seasons Affect Animal Adaptations? 35Activity 1.17: How Do Animals Adapt to Seasonal Change? 37Activity 1.18: Can You Design a Better Bird? 39Animal Adaptations Word Searches 41Do You Recall? 44Section Two: AnimalsTo the Teacher 47Correlation with National Standards 49Activity 2.1: Who Are the New Members of Our Class? 50Activity 2.2: How Can We Keep Our Pets Healthy? 53Activity 2.3: How Many Pets Can You Find? 56Activity 2.4: How Many Other Pets Can You Find? 57Activity 2.5: What Kind of Pet Would You Like to Own? 59Activity 2.6: What Can Hair Tell You? 60Activity 2.7: How Many Play Animals Can You Find? 62Activity 2.8: How Can You Make a New Animal for a Funny Zoo? 63Activity 2.9: How Can You Make a Bony Animal? 65Activity 2.10: What Can Footprints Tell Us? 68Activity 2.11: What More Can Footprints Tell Us? 69Activity 2.12: What Clues Can Help Us Read Tracks? 72Activity 2.13: What Animals Live Around You? 74Activity 2.14: What Do You Need in Order to Study a Nature Square? 76Activity 2.15: How Can a Chart Help Us Make Observations? 79Activity 2.16: What Equipment Can Help Us Study Our Nature Squares? 80Activity 2.17: How Can We Report Our Findings? 83Activity 2.18: How Can We Attract Wild Birds? 86Activity 2.19: What Is a Bird? 88Activity 2.20: How Can You Make a Birdhouse? 91Activity 2.21: What Do We Need in Order to Keep Pets in an Aquarium? 94Activity 2.22: How Can We Keep Small Animals in Our Classroom? 97Activity 2.23: How Do Earthworms Live? 100Activity 2.24: Why Is the Snail So Unusual? 102Activity 2.25: What Organisms Live Around Us That Are Too Tiny to See? 104Activity 2.26: Is It Alive or Not? 106Activity 2.27: Is It Living, Once-Living, or Nonliving? 109Animals Word Searches 111Section Three: Growing and Changing: Animal Life CyclesTo the Teacher 115Correlation with National Standards 117Activity 3.1: What Is Growing Up? 118Activity 3.2: How Much Do People Change? 119Activity 3.3: How Does Growing Up Begin? 121Activity 3.4: What Is a Chicken Egg Really Like? 123Activity 3.5: What Are Some Other Animals That Hatch from Eggs? 126Activity 3.6: How Can You Hatch Eggs in the Classroom? 128Activity 3.7: What Is a Tadpole? 131Activity 3.8: What Is a Good Environment for Tadpoles? 133Activity 3.9: Where Do Butterflies Come From? 136Activity 3.10: What Is Wormy? 140Activity 3.11: How Long Do Animals Live? 142Growing and Changing Word Searches 144Do You Recall? 147Section Four: Plants and SeedsTo the Teacher 149Correlation with National Standards 151Activity 4.1: What Plant Is This? 152Activity 4.2: How Do Seeds Begin to Grow? 154Activity 4.3: What Happens to a Growing Plant If It Has No Light? 156Activity 4.4: How Do Seeds Travel? 160Activity 4.5: How Can Plants Grow Without Seeds? 163Activity 4.6: What Is Another Way to Grow Plants Without Seeds? 165Activity 4.7: What Can You Do with Plants That Become Too Big for Their Containers? 167Activity 4.8: How Do Containers Make Plants More Interesting? 169Activity 4.9: What Is a Terrarium? 171Activity 4.10: What Do Plants Need in Order to Grow? 173Activity 4.11: How Does Water Travel in a Plant? 175Activity 4.12: How Do Plants Respond to Light? 179Activity 4.13: How Do Plants Respond to Gravity? 183Activity 4.14: How Can We Make a Visual Record of Plant Growth? 188Activity 4.15: What Are the Parts of Some Common Plants? 191Activity 4.16: Why Are Leaves Important? 193Activity 4.17: How Are Leaves Alike and How Are They Different? 196Activity 4.18: How Can You Preserve the Leaves You Collect? 198Activity 4.19: How Can You Collect Bark Without Damaging the Tree? 200Activity 4.20: How Do Roots Grow and Develop? 202Activity 4.21: What Are the Parts of a Flower? 204Activity 4.22: How Can You Make a “Dandy” Tasting Salad? 206Activity 4.23: What Parts of Plants Do You Like to Eat? 208Activity 4.24: Can We Make a Whole Meal with Just Plants? 211Activity 4.25: How Can We Know What Kind of Tree It Is? 213Activity 4.26: If We Can’t Climb It, How Can We Measure It? 215Activity 4.27: Is This a Plant? 219Activity 4.28: What Is This Strange Growth? 220Activity 4.29: What Does Your Strange Organism Grow On? 221Activity 4.30: What Have We Learned About Mold? 223Plants and Seeds Word Searches 225Do You Recall? 228Section Five: Body SystemsTo the Teacher 231Correlation with National Standards 233Activity 5.1: How Do Fingerprints Compare? 234Activity 5.2: How Big Is the Average Person Your Age? 236Activity 5.3: How Can You See Your Pulse? 238Activity 5.4: What Is a Blood-Pressure Cuff? 239Activity 5.5: How Do the Body Systems Work Together? 241Activity 5.6: What Is Your Lung Capacity? 242Activity 5.7: How Does an Apple Skin Protect the Apple? (and How Does Our Skin Protect Us?) 244Activity 5.8: How Does the Skin Help Regulate Body Temperature? 247Activity 5.9: What Do Our Bones Do for Us? 250Activity 5.10: Are Human Bones Large or Small? 251Activity 5.11: How Many Bones Can You Count? 253Activity 5.12: How Can Doctors Tell Whether a Bone Is Broken and Where? 255Activity 5.13: How Is a Splint Applied to a Broken Bone? 257Activity 5.14: How Are Bones Connected at a Joint? 258Activity 5.15: What Are Tendons, and How Do They Work? 260Activity 5.16: What Is Bone Like Without the Mineral Material? 262Activity 5.17: How Many Muscles Can You Identify? 263Activity 5.18: How Do Voluntary and Involuntary Muscles Differ? 265Activity 5.19: What Is Muscle Sense? 267Activity 5.20: How Fast Are Your Reactions? 268Activity 5.21: How Fast Do Your Nails Grow? 270Activity 5.22: What Does Hair Look Like Under a Microscope? 273Body Systems Word Searches 275Do You Recall? 278Section Six: The Five SensesTo the Teacher 281Correlation with National Standards 283Activity 6.1: In What Ways Do We Depend on Our Eyes? 284Activity 6.2: How Well Can You Judge Depth with One Eye? 285Activity 6.3: Which Is Your Dominant Eye? 287Activity 6.4: How Well Do You Remember What You See? 288Activity 6.5: Why Do We Need Five Senses? 290Activity 6.6: How Do Our Eyes Help Us “Hear”? 292Activity 6.7: How Does a Picture Stimulate Your Senses? 294Activity 6.8: What Happens to the Iris as Light Changes? 295Activity 6.9: How Is the Eye Like a Camera Diaphragm? 297Activity 6.10: How Can You See Through a Solid Object? 299Activity 6.11: What Is a Blind Spot? 300Activity 6.12: How Effective Is Your Side Vision? 302Activity 6.13: Can You Save the Fish? 304Activity 6.14: How Can Our Eyes Make Colors Seem to Change? 306Activity 6.15: How Well Can You See in the Dark? 308Activity 6.16: How Fast Can You Judge What You See and Take Appropriate Action? 310Activity 6.17: How Fast Do Odors Travel? 314Activity 6.18: How Long Can You Retain a Smell? 315Activity 6.19: What Foods Can Your Nose Identify? 317Activity 6.20: How Is Taste Affected by Smell? 319Activity 6.21: How Can You Tell Whether Taste Is Affected by Smell? 321Activity 6.22: How Can You Match Things Without Seeing Them? 323Activity 6.23: What Sounds Do Your Ears Recognize? 325Activity 6.24: What Sounds Do You Hear in Paper? 326Activity 6.25: How Well Do You Know Your Classmates’ Voices? 327Activity 6.26: How Well Can Your Ears Alone Tell You What’s Happening? 328Activity 6.27: How Much Can You “See” with Your Ears? 330Activity 6.28: What Is a Stethoscope? 331Activity 6.29: What Differences in Taste Do People Have? 333Activity 6.30: Which Part of the Tongue Is Most Sensitive to Taste? 335Activity 6.31: How Can We Classify Foods by Taste? 339Activity 6.32: How Does a Sudden Change in Temperature Affect Us? 340Activity 6.33: How Well Can You “Observe” with Your Sense of Touch? 341Activity 6.34: How Much Can You “See” with Your Hands? 343Activity 6.35: Where Is Your Sense of Touch Most Sensitive? 345Activity 6.36: What Parts of Your Body Can Feel Things Best? 347Activity 6.37: What Is Warm and What Is Cold? 349Activity 6.38: How Many Touch Words Can You Find? 351Five Senses Word Searches 353Do You Recall? 356Section Seven: Health and NutritionTo the Teacher 359Correlation with National Standards 361Activity 7.1: What Are We Made Of? 362Activity 7.2: Why Do We Wash Our Hands Before Handling Food? 364Activity 7.3: Why Are the Basic Food Groups Important? 366Activity 7.4: What Are the Most Common and the Most Popular Foods? 368Activity 7.5: How Well Balanced Is Your Diet? 372Activity 7.6: How Can We Test Foods for Protein? 374Activity 7.7: Which Foods Contain Sugar? 376Activity 7.8: Which Foods Contain Starch? 378Activity 7.9: Which Foods Contain Fat? 380Activity 7.10: How Do People Count Calories? 382Activity 7.11: How Many Calories Do You Use? 383Activity 7.12: How Are Teeth Shaped for Their Task? 386Activity 7.13: What Does Tooth Decay Look Like? 388Activity 7.14: Why Are Healthy Teeth Important to You? 390Activity 7.15: How Can You Clean Your Teeth Best? 392Health and Nutrition Word Searches 394