The Science of Thanksgiving

            

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! After stuffing myself with food and catching up on sleep over break, I started thinking about what this holiday means for the classroom. When I think of Thanksgiving, I imagine little art projects where students make hand-shaped turkeys or draw their own pilgrims. However, what about science class? With all the excitement going on, how can we teachers direct that excitement toward science and offer our students learning opportunities that go beyond craft projects? After looking around on some websites, I found that this is actually a bit difficult to find. I’m a hard believer in maintaining an academic purpose in my lessons – even when break is approaching, that doesn’t mean we teachers can resort to activities that are fun but don’t necessarily teach anything! Luckily, I found a website with some fun Thanksgiving science experiments that can also be based on different learning objectives. Here are a few of my favorite activities:

https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/thanksgiving-science-activities-and-experiments-for-kids/

1.      Make a pumpkin clock:

I’m going to start with this activity because it serves as the perfect reminder that science isn’t just nature! Right now in TE 403, we’re discussing how engineering is another core part of science that students need to learn. A lot of our kindergarten and 1^st grade classrooms are focusing on nature for their science lessons, but let’s not forget that human technology is an important (and VERY much used) aspect of science as well! I remember back to the first days in this course where we did a group investigation activity. Somebody stole an important computer chip from a company, and, using a few clues, we had to figure out who did it. This activity served as a great reminder that science is a multi-disciplinary subject. While nature is important to learn about, we also need to keep up with other disciplines in order to stay up-to-date in our society. But enough about that, let’s get to making pumpkin clocks!

·         The website recommends a cheap, reusable kit you can get off of Amazon. Basically, you can get potato clock kits and use them on different vegetables!

·         Following the kit’s instructions, poke two metal strips into two small pumpkins. You’ll need to connect wires to these strips, one to connect the two pumpkins and two others to connect the pumpkins to the clock.

·         You just made the pumpkins into a battery! In order to power the clock, particles inside the pumpkins convert chemical energy into electrical energy, which flows through the wires and to the clock.

·         While this activity could be used across all ages, I suggest having upper elementary or middle school students do it, since they will be able to better understand the energy conversion process. However, if done with lower elementary students, you could discuss the concept of how energy is never created. Thus, students could see that the pumpkins supply energy somehow!

2.      Cranberry structures:

I love this activity because it can be applied across so many areas of science! For example, students could be assigned different molecules and given the task to create those molecules. Another potential lesson would be to challenge students to build the most stable structure. Whoever builds the tallest structure without it swaying/falling down wins! This would be a great way to lead into a discussion on architecture and WHY we’ve designed buildings the way we have.

·         For this activity, you’ll need lots of fresh cranberries, some toothpicks, a flat surface, and some paper towels (just in case any berries get smashed!)

·         After given a task, students will press the toothpicks into cranberries, connecting the berries and creating their own structures. It’s kind of like Thanksgiving Tinker Toys!

·         While it may be tempting to just give cranberries to students and tell them to have at it, I highly suggest planning some task or challenge for the students. Keep it scientific! Plus, this can be connected to different science units. Learning about insects? Build an insect and a non-insect and compare! Learning about atoms? Build an atom or a molecule! Learning about balance or strength? Build a sturdy tower or strong bridge! Above all, this activity should be used to provide students with physical representations of whatever they’re currently learning.

3.     Pumpkin rolling:

This activity reminded me of the ruler and golf ball activity we did in TE 403. That day, we were given the task of figuring out how we can get the two to interact. My group talked about hitting the golf ball with the ruler, another group had the golf ball roll down the tilted ruler, and yet another group balanced the golf ball on the ruler. Overall, we were bringing physics into our science classroom! This pumpkin rolling activity is also open-ended, and can be used for different stages in a force-and-motion unit!

·         This activity also requires small pumpkins – it’s probably best to have one for each group of students. Then, you can bring in any ramp materials you find (and challenge students to bring materials in as well!): Cardboard, wood planks, plastic rain gutters, etc.

·         Some possible student tasks: Make the pumpkin roll, keep the pumpkin on the ramp, measure the distance the pumpkin travels, make the pumpkin roll faster or slower, etc.

·         Essential questions: Why do pumpkins roll? How does the angle of the ramp change the pumpkin’s rolling? Does gravity play a factor here, and if so, how? How does the ramp material affect the pumpkin’s rolling? Why does this happen?

I hope these Thanksgiving science activities can help you in your future classrooms! Overall, I want to emphasize a concept we’ve learned in TE 403: Everything should have a learning objective! As teachers, we need to think of how we can make each moment an Aha! moment. There are definitely times when students need to just play and enjoy themselves, but we teachers need to always be prepared to help our students learn. Also, it’s important to remember that science class is not just for learning about nature – it’s about physics, chemistry, investigations, observations! I’ll go into that more for the next blog, though. Until then, feel free to comment with ideas/suggestions, and happy turkey day!