May the Force Be With You: Maker Lab Star Wars

There is no doubt that the Maker Lab series of books published by DK Books are among my favorite nonfiction materials for my sixth grade science students. I've blogged about these books on three separate occasions, celebrating each new addition to the Maker Lab series:

     Maker Lab, the original book
     Maker Lab Outdoors
     Maker Lab Out of the Box

Today's blog post is featuring another Maker Lab book, one that I predict might become the most popular thus far.

Star Wars Maker Lab

by Liz Heinecke and Cole Horton

Containing the perfect amount of science, science fiction, and movie lore, this edition enables readers to create wonderfully futuristic, fun projects. While this book is not available until July 3, 2018, Amazon already has it listed in anticipation of its popularity, and says this about Maker Lab Star Wars:

Ever wanted to move things without touching them like a Jedi can? Or grow your own kyber crystal? Or maybe explode a balloon with a beam of energy, just like the Death Star? Now you can! 

With 20 amazing projects, Star Wars™ Maker Lab teaches your budding Padawan how to become a Master of science, in both the real world and the Star Wars galaxy. Using clear step-by-step instructions, the book guides home scientists and makers through each exciting experiment–from making Jabba's gooey slime or a hovering landspeeder, to an Ewok catapult and a glowing Gungan Globe of Peace. Each experiment has fact-filled panels to explain the real-world science as well as the Star Wars science fiction from the movies. 

With projects that are out of this world, this fantastic Star Wars book can keep children entertained for hours, making use of many household items such as cardboard tubes, baking soda, cornstarch, straws, balloons, and food coloring. There is also plenty to keep more adventurous scientists enthralled, with instructions to make your own bristlebot mouse droid, lightsaber duel, and Mustafar volcano. Star Wars Maker Lab supports STREAM topics and helps children to learn the basics of science by traveling through the Star Wars galaxy. May the (static) Force be with you!... Amazon.com

Among those 20 fun, futuristic projects are:

Each project's difficulty level is represented by a series of Yoda heads, ranging from simple to most challenging. Full color photos describe the household materials needed to complete a compete and illustrates the step-by-step instructions. Movie scenes spark the interest of the Star Wars fanatic and draws them into that galaxy far, far away! 

If you already own the Maker Lab series, you will definitely want to add this volume, and if you haven't added a Maker Lab book to your library, this is one to start with! May the Force be with you!

Teacher Book Talk Tuesday: Maker Lab

Oops! I missed out on last week's fun linky! Chalk it up to summer with its lack of routine; I'm lucky if I know what day of the week it is. I realized just in time this week to join Kathleen from Kidpeople Classroom for her weekly...

This week I'd like to share a fabulous STEM (read FUN) book with you. It was a gift from one of my sweet girls... thank you, Kiden!

Here's what Amazon has to say about this terrific text:

Supporting STEM education initiatives and the maker movement, the National Parenting Publication Award-winner Maker Lab includes 28 kid-safe projects and crafts that will get young inventors' wheels turning and make science pure fun.

Each step-by-step activity is appropriate for kids ages 8–12, and ranked easy, medium, or hard, with an estimated time frame for completion. Requiring only household materials, young makers can build an exploding volcano, race balloon rocket cars, construct a solar system, make a lemon battery, and more. Photographs and facts carefully detail the "why" and "how" of each experiment using real-world examples to provide context so kids can gain a deeper understanding of the scientific principles applied. 

The book is loaded with fun, simple activities that a child can do independently, with a partner, or in a small group. Arranged into categories Around the House, Food for Thought, Water World, and The Great Outdoors all major concentrations of Science (life science, physical science, earth science) are represented. Here are a few of the many individual topics that kids can explore.

Beautiful photos and simple explanations make it inviting for children to read, explore, and do! While fun is a big part of this book, rigorous science is the goal. Behind each engaging activity is fundamental science concepts contained in the Next Generation Science Standards.

I look forward to really diving into this book during the coming school year. I have Kiden's class once again for science this year and plan to use this book and its ideas as much as possible.

Speaking of STEM and Science, guess what I've been doing the past few days!

If you guessed organizing my STEM building materials then you are correct! Every building material is counted and bagged so that no time is wasted during Science class. Groups can grab their materials and go to work immediately. Since I'm still teaching sixth grade science, I decided to get all of the first quarter materials organized before school even begins; I know what I'm doing for these lessons. I can then concentrate on the two new sections of materials as the year progresses. I'll be relying on Smithsonian Maker Lab by Jack Challoner for some help with this!

Don't forget to stop by Kathleen's blog to see what she has shared for Teacher Book Talk Tuesday. Better yet, why not add a booktalk of your own to the linky!

The Magic of Science Day

Last week I mentioned that I was working on preparing a Magic of Science Day. This special day, actually morning, was held on Feb. 15, 2016, for some of our first through third graders. Because it was President's Day normal classes were not in session. Often on federal holidays or inservice days, our school will hold enrichment classes for our young students. You might be thinking, "Angela teaches older students. Why is she working with the younger grades?" Many of my sixth graders have siblings in the lower grades, so when this particular day was announced, since I am known as a geeky, science/STEM teacher, I was nominated by my students' parents to be a resource person.

I immediately jumped in, contacting my Science Coach, Dr. Ann Abraham, chemistry professor at Kent State University, our local branch. She graciously volunteered her chemistry students' help and suggested a few ideas for what we could do for the day. We decided to utilize a "station" format for the day wherein we would set up multiple science activities/experiences that the kiddos could rotate through during the morning.

One thing that I knew that I wanted to do was provide the students with take home science kits so that the fun and learning would extend beyond our morning at school. I had purchased a product on TpT during one of the big sales more than a year ago and had never found time to implement with my own students. You can check it out more closely HERE.

I had my sixth graders help me prepare all the materials for the kits several days before our Science Day. They were a great help! They were also disappointed that they weren't able to have their own kit. Shhh, don't tell them but I'm going to try and do the kits for them for over Easter break.

Dr. Abraham brought seven activities along with her college students. She had peacock feathers for our budding scientists to explore the center of gravity and balance. She had a cotton candy machine and a sno-cone machine to explore chemistry, taste, and colored dyes. She also had the children make simple bottle rockets (this one I'm having my kiddos do in a STEM lab). Other stations that Dr. Abraham set up involved investigating objects via UV light and designing a UV bead bracelet. The kiddos also were able to create sand sculptures in a test tube.

My contribution to the day, besides the take home kits, was the chemistry of play-doh. I saw this terrific video on Facebook a few weeks ago and had saved it.

Make Your Own Playdough
SUPER EASY Playdough recipe for kids!
Posted by Whizkidscience on Saturday, February 6, 2016

I got the bright idea to convert the names of the ingredients to chemical formulas and rewrite the recipe. Confronted with this Chemist's recipe, our young scientists had to follow the formula to successfully make a batch of play-doh. Here's the recipe I presented to the kids.

The very last thing that our young scientists did for the morning was to fill their take home kits. My student helpers took charge of this activity.

My helpers were thrilled that they were able to make their own kits, too.

One thing that we could do to improve the event is to include about three more activities. I forgot how quickly younger students will go through an activity. My older students would've investigated deeper and asked a multitude of questions about everything. We finished a little early and had to invite the children to revisit their favorite stations. Over all, however, the day was a success, and I'm looking forward to next year's Magic of Science day.

Five for Friday 2.12.16

Once school starts for the year I rarely find time to join one of my favorite linkies. You ALL know how busy a teacher's life really is. However, today is a Friday off, a comp day for our parent conferences a few weeks ago. My fur girls woke me EARLY today and being wide awake I thought, "Do it!" So here I am, joining Doodle Bugs Teaching with Five for Friday.

FIRST... My favorite television show returns this Sunday. I have been waiting and waiting and waiting since LONG before Christmas for season six to continue. Its return is my Valentine's Day present.

I am so happy at its return that I am celebrating by offering all of my TpT cute zombie items at a discounted price. There's even a FREEBIE tucked away in the group. Grab them HERE until the start of the show when they will return to their regular price.

SECOND... We had the most wonderful Valentine's party at school! My homeroom mothers are THE BEST that I've had in over 35 years of teaching. From tasty treats to awesome Minute-to-Win-It games the party was a hit from start to finish!

THIRD... I was a bit crafty this week! I actually fashioned a wreath for my Religion bulletin board and transformed it from New Year, New You to Lent. I also made my sixers' Valentines this year based on a wonderful idea that I found on Pinterest. The finished product allowed me to do a Religion lesson while my sixers had a sweet treat.

FOURTH... My seventh grade English students participate in our schools one-to-one laptop program. As a result we do nearly all of our lessons, practice, writing, etc. on the computer. One of our favorite uses is practicing our weekly vocabulary words before we take our weekly test. If you have never used Quizizz with your class, check it out! It's well worth the effort FUN!

FIFTH... This coming Monday, President's Day, we have no school. However, we do have a special day of learning planned for our young scholars (grs. 1-3). I have the reputation for being a geeky, Science teacher so my parents nominated me to host a Magic of Science day. With the help of my long time Science Coach, Dr. Ann Abraham, a chemistry professor at a local university branch we have planned a day full of COOL science activities. Dr. Ann has enlisted the aid of her chemistry students and I've enlisted my sixth graders to help make the day run smoothly. There was a lot of prep work to do. 

My sixth graders helped me organize, sort, and pre-package the materials for a Send Home Science Kit, an idea I borrowed from Teach-a-Roo.

I am REALLY looking forward to Monday's science fun; we've never done anything like it. There are about 30 students signed up to participate in the learning fun. I plan to blog more about the Magic of Science Day next week so please check back for more information and photos of the experience.

I had the BEST week this week! The best of all is that I was able to share it with you! Be sure to stop by Doodle Bugs for Teaching to read more Five for Friday posts by teacher bloggers.

December Pinterest Pick 3

Uh, what happened to Dec. 1, 2, 3, and 4? Blink, they must've been here since it's now the fifth! Truly, is every teacher that busy or is it just me that misses days? It couldn't be my age, could it? I don't remember being this harried when I was younger. Ah well, although I missed the target date of Dec. 3rd for this my favorite monthly linky, I am here now with some great Pinterest finds for the month of December.

Let's get started with the December Pinterest FUN!

Just click the link below each graphic to be swept away to the pin.

I am a STEM gal! I thoroughly enjoy the simple, engaging, and fun activities. A STEM activity usually requires little prep, uses materials you normally have or that are easy to procure and is totally learning packed for kiddos. My sixers have STEM-med their way through building towers, vehicles, and bridges with plastic cups, index cards, toothpicks, and candy corn so far this year while learning about engineering and science principals. I can NOT wait to try this great STEM activity with them next week.

STEM Christmas Trees

I really enjoy sharing creative writing activities with my students. Here's a fun and engaging Santa activity guaranteed to inspire creativity in even middle school students while sharpening their writing skills.

Design a suit for Santa

This time of the school year can be difficult for both teachers and students. Holiday excitement and thoughts of the holiday break ahead often interfere with our ability to focus... GUILTY! Here's something that just might help.

Christmas Brain Breaks

Be sure to visit all the terrific blogs below for MANY MORE terrific Pinterest Picks for December!

An InLinkz Link-up

Color Chemistry Part 2

Earlier in the week I had shared what a great time my students had when Dr. Ann came and presented several lessons about the Colors of Chemistry. I also had my students do a colorful chemical investigation this week...

Color Changing Milk from Steve Spangler Science

bipolarity of molecules

(hydrophilic vs. hydrophobic properties)

I just LOVE these simple yet powerful activities that demonstrate complex science concepts. While the colorful milk explosion activity is simply fun and intriguing for much younger students, my sixers were able to connect the information Dr. Ann and I have been teaching about atomic structure, electrical charge, and physical vs. chemical properties to what they saw happen in their dish of milk.

Oh, and remember from my previous post mentioning the sweet, colorful treat Dr. Ann provided for my kiddos as also a part of the Colors of Chemistry? We enjoyed that this week also... colorful, tasty snow cones (the chemistry part... colors of dyes in the sweet syrup).

... and while my sixers happily shared their colorful tongues with each other and me, they would NOT pose for my camera so I could share them with you! Silly kids!

Just Had to Share...

what a fun time we had when Dr. Ann came to work with us this past week. Dr. Ann Abraham is the chemistry professor at a local university who visits my sixers several times a year sharing AWESOME chemistry demonstrations with us!

This year she is sharing with us the colors of chemistry. She had my students testing objects for fluorescence and phosophoresence using a UV light and testing common household items for ph levels.


...and we're not done yet. Dr. Ann left a snow cone machine for us so we can have a colorful sweet treat sometime this week! THANK YOU, Dr. Ann! And THANKS to the parents who came to help us during our investigations.

Phew! Just a Moment...

Wow! Can it be more than two weeks since my last blog post? What in the world? Oh yeah! School has started.

First week down, albeit a short one but a GREAT one! My sixers are fantastic and my fifth and seventh graders as well. I had probably the best first day EVER in three dozen years. Here are a few sights from the week. I am off and running back to school for a WELCOME BACK picnic! It has definitely begun.

FIRST ever First Day gifts... the teachery nutcracker is supposed to look like me. LOVE!

First Science activity of the year, first STEAM activity my sixers ever did.

Spark Student Motivation: S.T.E.M. Part Two

Last week I blogged about a S.T.E.M. activity that really sparked my students' motivation when I joined Joanne over at Head Over Heels for Teaching for her weekly linky...

This week I am once again going to write about S.T.E.M. (Science, Technoogy, Engineering, and Math) activities. They are probably the best hands-down, single motivating activity that I do with my sixers. Say "S.T.E.M" and they are all over it! They constantly beg to do S.T.E.M. activities. Why? They are fun and packed full of learning (but don't tell my kiddos that).

Last week the S.T.E.M. activity that we were involved with dealt with designing an aircraft that would transport aliens to their dream vacation. You can read more about it HERE. At the time of the blog post, we had only finished about three-fourths of the project. Basically we had time to design and build the aircraft, but we still needed to run the safety trials and the actual TEST, meaning did the students meet the challenge posed to them.

Listen in to this group as they make plans for their airplane. They had just researched how a plane flies. Notice the concentration, the problem-solving, and the scientific principles of flight they are incorporating. They didn't care about all that, they simply thought they were having a competition to see whose plane would fly the farthest!


And here you see photos of the TEST to see which aircraft was the best!

Because my sixers completed the Alien Aircraft S.T.E.M. activity so well and had so much fun while doing it, I decided to do another S.T.E.M. activity this past Thursday, the day before Easter break. I needed something that would totally engage my kiddos and keep them learning! This is what I chose...

Did it motivate my sixers to learn on the last day before break? Judge for yourselves.

There is no video to listen in on this activity; however, I can relate many of the topics that were discussed in the student design groups: simple machines (the lever), trajectory, force, Newton's Laws, mechanical engineering, gravity, fricton.... Whoop, whoop! They were using the concepts they had learned in Science class on their own! Score another one for S.T.E.M. activities!

Be sure to stop by Head Over Heels for Teaching for more Sparking Student Motivation posts. I always find great ideas during Joanne's lnky party.