Organisms Exploration

For the following stations, you will work with a partner or threesome. There will be two groups at each station at a given time; for the book discussion (E), all four (or five) of you will work together. You will have about 12 minutes per station.

Carefully observe and draw and earthworm. Devise a test to determine whether worms prefer the light or dark. Explain/ draw what your procedure will be, then try it. Make a note of your results. Also, make a note of any questions you have.

Some of the lima beans have been soaked overnight and some have not. Observe the differences between them and come up with a way of representing these differences. Observe them with your bare eyes, with a hand lens, and with the microscope. Feel free to take the beans apart. Draw a labeled diagram or diagrams in your notebook. Include any writing that is necessary. Make a note of any questions you have.

In general, a seed should be planted twice as deep as it is long. You and your partner are going to be planting 2 bean seeds into cups full of potting soil. Be sure to make notes on how you plant your seeds; include data on the size of your beans, the weight of the soil you used, how much water you added, and anything else you think is important. Make a note of any questions that come up as you do this.

Observe our friends the hissing cockroaches. Create a two-circle Venn Diagram with one circle representing the hissing cockroaches and humans. What characteristics do they share? What is unique to each species? Be sure to make note of any questions you have.

In your group, share the books you brought in. One way to do this by taking turns sharing selected passages and ideas. Remember, you will be creating an artifact for your portfolio that includes the following information:

Title, author, illustrator.

Curricular Connections (grade and competency goal are fine).

Accuracy statement. Be sure to consult some other resources to check the accuracy of the science information in the text and images. For longer books, you don’t have to check everything, but check out enough to get a sense as to the scientific “seriousness” of the information. Include any interesting information you found out as you did your checking.

Inquiry Activity that could connect. Describe some EXPLORATION your children could do that would relate to this book. For instance, the book My Beak, Your Beak, by Melanie Walsh could be connected to an activity in which children explore similarities and differences between themselves and another organism, perhaps using a Venn Diagram. You don’t have to write a lot, but be SPECIFIC about at least one thing you could do.