science

Grade Level:

4-6

Subject:

Science

Prepared By:

Shannon Jones

Activity Name: From Dirt to Mud

Learning Domain: Social emotional, cognitive, and physical and perceptual development

Overview & Purpose

Children will learn.to stimulate creativity and imagination as it facilitates open-ended play, communication, collaboration and physical activity.

Children will connect and interact with the natural world around them.

Education Standards Addressed

The study of elementary science includes planning and safely implementing classroom and outdoor investigations using scientific processes, including inquiry methods, analyzing information, making informed decisions, and using tools to collect and record information, while addressing the major concepts and vocabulary, in the context of physical, earth, and life sciences.

In Kindergarten, students observe and describe the natural world using their five senses. Students do science as inquiry in order to develop and enrich their abilities to understand scientific concepts and processes. Students develop vocabulary through their experiences investigating properties of common objects, earth materials, and organisms.

Objectives:

(Specify skills/information that will be learned.)

nurture the child’s natural sense of adventure and curiosity

• help the child develop his own understanding of the natural world

• encourage the child to be a persistent problem solver

• introduce the child to basic elements of scientific reasoning (seeking evidence; testing predictions)

Materials Needed:

Different kinds of dirt and water

• Digging and stirring tools (trowels, sticks, spoons)

• Buckets or bowls for mixing mud

• A sunny surface for drying mud

• Containers to serve as molds for dried mud (optional)

·

Content:

(Specific skill/ concept being taught in lesson)

Predicting and Observing the process of dirt to mud and back from a hard mud brick to dirt.

Vocabulary:

Discuss and define the words:

Mixture, physical change, exploration, property, texture, bumpy, smooth,

Other Resources:

Mud by Mary Lyn Ray Mud Family by Betsy James Mud Pie Annie (I Can Read!) by Sue Buchanan Mud Puddle (Munsch for Kids) by Robert Munsch Mud, Sand, and Water by Dorothy M. Hill

The Best Mud Pie (Rookie Ready to Learn) by Lin Quinn Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin

Procedure/s: (List of steps in lesson delivery) Include as applicable and in order of delivery:

Examine & Talk, Demonstrate, Model, Plan, Guide, Record, Describe, Explore, Acquire, Practice, etc.

Start by having kids add water to each kind of dirt. Kids can also create their own mud-mixtures by combining different kinds of dirt.

.

Show kids how to make mud pies and leave them out to dry. After the mud is dry (which may take a day or two), return and let kids investigate the properties of dried mud.

Let them explore freely with all the materials used in the previous session. If they don't do so on their own, ask kids to try getting the mud pies wet.

Evaluation/Summary:

Which children achieved which objectives?

What strategies were most successful with engaging the less assertive children? The more assertive children?

Remediation:

Remedial Activities

Adaptations or Individualization

Follow up one-on-one with each child and ask questions and answer questions, provide scaffolding if needed but allow children to have their own discussion.

Extension:

Enrichment Activities

Temperature Changes

Provide cups, ice cube trays, bowl, spoons, dirt and water.Have the children make many concoctions of mud!They fill the assorted containers with the mud.

What will a change in the temperature do to the mud?

Ask for suggestions from the children regarding where to put the containers to see these changes:The refrigerator; the freezer; outside; inside; in the light; in the shade, etc.

Additional Notes: