This is an annual celebration in our First Grade Classrooms! Usually around Halloween, we are just finishing up our Properties of Matter Unit for our Science Curriculum. Throughout the unit we investigate all different specifics of Matter. We learn what it is, we learn how to identify the different states of matter, we use our senses to describe matter, and we come up with lists of property words to describe matter. (This translates nicely into Writer's Workshop!)
We have developed a Fall themed culminating Centers Day for our unit on Matter. We use Fall things to describe, compare, contrast, graph, and write about. They are full of fun and learning all in one day.
Of course you can do the activities individually if you choose, but each has merit in it's own way.
Take a look. If you see something you like and would like us to put up the activity separately, let us know. We'd be happy to do that also!
There are 4 centers: 1. Comparing and Contrasting Apple Juice vs. Apple Cider, 2. Comparing 3 different types of Apples, 3. Pumpkin Observations, and 4. Cookie Frosting (changing the appearance of matter by changing the color of the frosting).
We do these centers all in one day and the students rotate through them in 15 – 20 minute intervals. We have parents in to run the actual centers and we teachers circulate and participate as needed. It’s a great way to invite parents in for participation in the classroom. Our room mothers have been great in the past several years and usually organize all of the purchasing of materials from the parents.
It’s a really fun activity to do them together, but they can also be done separately on different days. It’s up to you!
Apple Observation Materials Included
Hard Copy or Smart Board File for the Graph!
Compare and Contrast Apple Juice and Apple Cider Materials Included- Graph your favorite!
Hard Copy or Smart Board File for the graph!
Changing Matter Materials Included- Frosting!
Pumpkin Observations Materials Included
Not only do these Fall Centers make a great hands-on culminating activity to our Properties of Matter unit, but they help students connect what they know about matter to the world around them. Students will realize that Science is all around them...in the juice they drink, the apples they eat, in the pumpkins they try to lift, and in thedescribing words they use in everyday life! With the fast pace of curriculum these days, I sometimes struggle finding the time to allow students to digest what they've just learned and make their own real-world connections. Kids of all ages love the Fall Season and what better way to incorporate the Science curriculum? Allowing students the time to investigate, explore, connect with AND change matter (all while having handson fun!) is truly worth it. You'll see your classroom come to life with discussions about Solids, Liquids, Gases, Weight, Mass, and much more when you do these Centers. Let us know how it goes!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE the Fall Centers! I recently moved to third grade and I plan on using these centers this year also! The students can investigate and explore the properties of matter at their own level. I'm excited to see the difference between the first and third graders ability to investigate matter!
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