MAY I TAKE YOUR ORDER?

Animal needs

For this simple project, have each student choose an animal and research its diet. Next, guide the child to invent a restaurant for the animal and brainstorm dishes that would meet the animal's needs. Then have the student create a menu for the restaurant that includes an appetizing listing of dishes the animal would surely order. Have each student share his work and then add it to a display titled "On the Menu: What Animals Eat."

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LEARNING THE TERMS

Properties of light

To help students understand that light passes differently through transparent, translucent, and opaque objects, give each pair of students a small square of each of the following: plastic wrap, waxed paper, and foil. Next, guide the partners to fold a sheet of paper in thirds, unfold it, and sign their names at the top of each section. Then have the pair glue on square of each set of signatures. Lead partners to describe their observations using the terms transparent, translucent, and opaque and then list examples from around the classroom. Invite each pair to share its list as you create a class chart.

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HUNTERS, GRAZERS, AND GATHERERS

Animal adaptations

Prepare for this instructional role-playing activity by putting a class supply of yellow, green, and brown squares in a bag. Next, take students outside or to the school gym and have each student draw a square from the bag. Explain that students with green squares will pretend to eat grass as grazers, students with brown squares will pretend to gather nuts and take them to their dens, and students with yellow squares will portray hunters by sneaking up and trying to tap the grazers and gatherers. After several minutes, have students switch roles and repeat until each student has played every role. To follow up, guide each child to respond to the questions below.

What dangers do grazing and gathering animals face? (A hunter might sneak up and catch them.)

How can a grazing animal stay safe? (It has to be watchful. It can freeze and try to blend in. It can try to run away.)

How can an animal gathering food stay safe? (It has to be watchful. It can freeze and try to blend in. It can run back to its den.)

What must a hunter do to catch its food? (It has to be watchful. It has to sneak up on other animals. It has to be strong and move fast.)

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MATTER IN ACTION

States of mind

Get students moving toward a better understanding of the states of matter. After reviewing how the particles in different states of matter interact with each other, take students to a large open space, such as a multipurpose room. Divide the students into two groups and quietly share an example of a state of matter, such as the gas in a balloon, with one group. Have those students move around the space as thought they are particles in that state while the other group watches. On your signal, have the students freeze; then call on a student in the other group to name the state of matter demonstrated. It desired, have him support his thinking by referencing the actions of the group. When the state has been correctly named, switch groups. Continue in this manner until each group has acted out each state of matter.

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SIGHTSEEING

Observing moon phases

Help students track the phases of the moon with this portable project, To make one, cut a sheet of 11" x 18" paper in half horizontally. Fold each resulting half into fourths. Apply glue to the first section of one of the strips and place the last section of the other strip on top of the glued area. Accordion-fold the sections to make a stack. Next, select a student to take the stack home and observe the moon for one week. As he observes the moon from the same position each night, he draws a picture of what he sees and records other important data as shown. At the end of the week he shares his finding with the class. Post the project as shown. Then, as each child completes a project of his own, add it to the display and use the resulting timeline of lunar events to jump-start a class discussion of the moon.