Which Came First? The Chicken or the Egg.....

 

Which Came First? The Chicken or the Egg......

Objective: Students will observe the development of an animal by documenting their observations and questions during the duration of their study using their Animal Observation Journal.

Standards: K-LS1-1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.

Resource: Animal Observation Journal - This handout can be used if your students are hatching chicks or even if you are just observing chicks already hatched. (You will need to print several copies or use Kami if wanting to keep the journal digital.)

Vocabulary: Eggshell, Embryo, Incubator, Incubation, Development, Hatching, Candling, Hen, Rooster

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Incubation Cycle: 
Follow the instructions of the incubator.

Materials: Fertilized Eggs, Incubator, Candler, 

• You can purchase fertilized eggs from a local hatchery or even Amazon,
• Meyer Hatchery - https://meyerhatchery.com
• Crackle Hatchery - https://www.cacklehatchery.com
• Strombergs - https://www.strombergschickens.com
• If you do not have an incubator there are virtual Egg Farm field trips. 

On the 4th day of the incubation cycle, eggs can be candled. If you do not have a candler, do not worry you can create one from a LED flashlight. The Chicken Chick blog had pretty easy instructions to follow and included pictures of the embryo development.

Instructions:

1. Have students observe the development of their chick embryo by candling the egg. (If not hatching the chick then the observation of the live chick, measuring its height, weight, etc,,.)
2. During their observation time have students fill out their Animal Observation Journal documenting what they see and the questions they have.
3. To help guide the discussion and the development of the embryo found this Development Wheel helpful. 

Questions:

• What is an embryo?
• What makes the embryo alive?
• What do you think the eggshell's role is in the development of the chick?
• Do you think the egg could hatch on its own?
• What do you think the role of the incubator is in the development of the chick?

How Do Your Flowers Grow?

 How Do Your Flowers Grow? 

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Objective: Students will observe the life of a plant by documenting their observations and questions during a plant cycle using their Plant Observation Journal.

Standard: K-LS1-1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.

Resource: Plant Observation Journal (You will need to print several copies or use Kami if wanting to keep the journal digital.)

Vocabulary: Observe, Seeds, Soil, Clay, Sand, Sunlight, Growth, Carbon Dioxide, Oxygen, Water, Fertilizer, Bloom, Sprout, and Life Cycle.

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Materials: Pots, Potting Soil, Flower Seeds, Fertilizer, Water, and a Small Scoop

Instructions:

1. Fill your pots with soil.

2. Sprinkle a small scoop of fertilizer over the soil in each pot. (Follow the instructions on the bag for the fertilizer.)

3. Plant a few seeds in each pot and cover with soil.

4. Give the pots the same about of water and place them in sunlight.

5. Record your first observations and questions in your Plant Observations Journal.

6. Check the soil in your plants daily. If the soil is dry add water. You want to keep your soil damp not muddy.

7. Record your observations and questions as you watch your flowers grow.

8. Once your flowers bloom continue to water and record your observations.

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Questions:

What do plants need in order to grow?

What might happen if the plant does not get water?

What might happen if the plant doesn't get sun?

How long did it take for you to see a sprout?

How long did it take for you to see a bloom?

Playing in the Sand ... AR Style ....

Playing in the Sand ... AR Style ....

I learned abut the AR sandbox almost 2 years ago and finally in May of this year I got to see it in action.  For my son's senior project he set up an AR sandbox for the high school.  The original Sandbox prototype was designed and built by project specialist Peter Gold of the UC Davis Department of Geology. The driving software is based on the Vrui VR development toolkit and the Kinect 3D video processing framework, and is available for download under the GNU General Public License.  Using this software, a Linux based computer, a short throw projector, and a Kinect 3D scanner he was able to make the AR Sandbox a reality.

My STEM students were one of the 1st group of students to tryout the AR Sandbox.  Let me tell you they fell in love instantly.  As they were busy building different land-forms my teacher mind was jumping up and down.  What a great way to visually see a topographical map.  My students that have to get all hands on deck building the different elevations would love it.  My students that are visual learners would also love seeing the elevations form.  My 1st thought was what if I gave two groups of students two different printouts of a topographical area and have them build them next to each other in the sandbox.  They then compare how they were able to build a certain elevation. They also can compare how different and or similar their two elevations are.

My mind then went to having my students build different mountain ranges and compare their elevations.  I would then have them discuss the weather on the mountain rages, the animals, and the foliage and why some mountains tops do not grow any kind of vegetation.  Talk about seeing the world from a different perspective.

Resources: 

My son demonstrating to my students
how the AR Sandbox works.

ARSandbox - Website
AR Sandbox - Educators Resources
AR Sandbox - Technical Resources
Move Mountains and Carve Rivers in a Seriously Awesome AR Sandbox - Wired Article

Join us on June 2nd 8pm central as I share how you can create your own AR sandbox among other fun augmented tools you can use with your students.

Science Fair Project by Ethan

Science Fair Project by Ethan 

My son came home from school so excited about the project he wanted to do for the Science Fair.  After hearing a lot of "Please mom the rats won't escape their cages can I please do my project?".  It didn't help that he got everyone in the house behind him and encouraging him to do this project.  What swayed me into agreeing to have four rats in my house for a month was he wanted to make a website for his project.  I guess the boy has my number and I caved in.  

He created his website using the online tool Weebly.  He used an iPad to record his video clips of his tests and with a little help from his techie mom he uploaded  these clips to Schooltube.  Since Schooltube allows you to use an embed code it made it easy for him to embed his video clips to his Science Fair website on Weebly.

http://ratproject.weebly.com

He did make the required Science Fair Board and included a QR code on it that is linked to his Science Fair Project.