Little Red Hen Does Seeds

Here's some excellent books on seeds, sprouts and plant growth:

Little Red Hen - traditional
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
The  Tiny Seed - Carle
How A Seed Grows - Jordan
A Seed Is Sleepy - Aston
The Reason For A Flower - Heller
I Am A Seed - Marzollo

We use our illuminated 30 power microscopes to view seed coat and embryo.  We say that the rest of the seed is the "lunchbox for the baby plant" since it has food for the plant when it grows under the soil.

We've learned that there is a baby plant in every seed.  Investigating soaked lima seeds and uncovering the plant embryo is fantastically exciting!

It's good to have simple cut and paste activities to reinforce our independence.

Enjoy this time lapse video of seeds, roots, shoots, leaves and flowers:

From Seed to Flowerhttp://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/tdc02_vid_plantsgrow/
Your child likes this plant growth sequence for children:

From Seed to Fruit (interactive)
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/evscps.sci.life.seedint/

We found the baby seeds in donated altar flowers.  It's lots of fun to take them apart and make 'flower soup' for outdoor play.

We pick corn seeds off the cob and grind them up.  We're saving the seeds to feed the ducks and chicks once they are older.  Right now, they need baby food, just like we did!

We are very careful with the ducks and chick.  They peck at our hands when we offer food, but they don't have teeth, and it tickles!  Their constant peeping makes for a cheery classroom.

 

Fifth Grade Electrical Circuits

                   

 

Electricity flows in a path along a closed circuit, and what fun it initiates on its way!




To open, highlight, right click, then click on the blue GO TO LINK pop-up on your screen.

A good short lesson on electric motors can be found at my favorite site, TEACHER DOMAIN:http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/psu06-nano_vid_electrons/

Here's a fun learning game that teaches the symbols used to draw a circuit: http://www.andythelwell.com/blobz/guide.html
And here's a great link for static electricity - rub a ballon on a wool sweater! (Just hit RUN NOW and ignore the ads!)
http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/balloons

From this same site, University of Colorado at Boulder, comes an exciting skate board game combining kinetic, potential, and thermal energy.  (Just play around and be sure to check out the graphs.)
http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/energy-skate-park



Hands-on activities generates loads of learning-related conversation.

 

And cooperation can lead to unanticipated results!