22 storytellers

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed

SkillsListening, following directions, counting, answering questions

Equipment:- Story book ‘Ten Little Monkeys Jumpingon the Bed’- Dice- A strong engaging reading voice

InstructionsRead the story ‘Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed’ to the class. Have students hold up 10 fingers before you start the book, and then each time a monkey falls off have the students put one finger down. You can also encourage hand movement for when the story says “mamma called the doctor” and “no more monkeys”. This is a very repetitive book, so encourage students to read and repeat as much as they can with you during the book.

After reading the story students will play a dice game. Have students sit in a circle. In the mid-dle of the circle have one student roll the dice. The student will roll the dice, count the number, and then tell the class. The teacher will pick that many students (so if the student rolled a three, the teacher will choose three students). The student who rolled the dice will say “Three fell off and bumped their heads” and the three students that were chosen have to stand up, act like a monkey and them hop back down to their spots. Have another student come up to roll the dice and continue the activity.

Key QuestionsDuring the story:What do you do to get ready for bed?When was a time that you didn’t listen?When was a time that you got hurt?After the story:Who did mama call?How did the monkeys get hurt?What happened to the monkeys at the end of the story?

Fun FactsSome monkeys live on the ground, others live in trees.

If the students are getting the hang of the game with one dice, add in a second one so that students have to count larger numbers.

Notes

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Grow a Magic Cherry Blossom Tree

Skills:Scientific discovery, making observa-tions, spring

Equipment:- Salt- Mrs. Stewart bluing solution- Ammonia- Liquid watercolor or food coloring- Cardboard- Scissors- Play doh- Small bowl

NotesYou can use different color food coloring to change the tree for different seasons (green for summer, white for winter, orange for fall).Ingesting the solution or the salt is dangerous!! Store the tree up high while the reaction occurs/tree grows.Encourage students to help pour and count out the spoonful’s of ingredients – involve students as much as possible!

The tree changing color experiment demonstrates the same phenomenon that trees actually use to draw nutri-ents from the soil and bring them to the stems and leaves.

Fun FactsKey Questions

What changes happened to our tree overnight? What do you think would hap-pen if we put a different color of food coloring in the bowl?

To prepare for this experiment, cut 2 tree shapes about 4’’ high out of card-board. On each tree shape cut a notch half way, (one from the bottom up and another from the top down), then slide the pieces together to make a 3 dimen-sional tree. In a small bowl, make a ball of play doh, and press the tree into it so the tree stands up in the bowl. In the bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of salt, 2 tablespoons of ammonia, 2 ta-blespoons of Mrs. Stewart bluing agent. Mix until the salt dissolves. Put the tree where it will get sunlight. Leave the solution overnight. Be amazed, the next day when you see how much the tree has blossomed!

Instructions

ARTS & CRAFTSARTS & CRAFTS

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Make a Family Tree

3. Now comes the fun part, have the students make a list of the family members they can remember.These will be the names they put on the leaves of their family tree. After have them write the names on the leaves, make sure there are enough leaves

1. Start by having each student trace their arm from elbow to hand and include fingers, on brown construction paper. This will be the outline of the tree. Make sure each finger is traced clearly so it is easier to cut. After they have finished tracing, have them cut it out.

2. Next have the students draw leaves on green/orange/yellow colored construction paper. Make sure the leaves are big enough to write a name in it but not so big that it will cover the branch.

4. Once that is dry, glue the bottom of the paper towel roll onto the “X” made of popsicle sticks.

Skills and HighlightsCreativity

Equipment Paper towel roll, Scissors,Coloring Utensils, Glue or tape,Popsicle sticks, Stapler,Photos of Family (optional)

NotesIf you have hot glue the popsicle sticks may stick better, if not let the glue dry for half an hour or longer. The students can also include apples or any other fruit on branches and put names on those as well, or even attach the apples on string and have them hanging from the tree.

Key Questions

How far back can you trace back your family

tree?

Fun Facts

Some trees, like the Sequoia, can live for thousands of years!

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STEM Building Challenge: Lego -or- Duplos ) Pool Noodle Marble Run

Skills and HighlightsEngineering Skills, ImaginationCreativity, Fine Motor Skills

Equipment Pool Noodles or cardboard tubes cut in half, Marbles or Small Balls, Legos/Duplos, Tape or rubber bands

InstructionsMake sure that the pool noodles are cut to smaller lengths of about 1 foot or 6 inches. Set tables or areas on the floor with supplies: pool noodles of various lengths, Legos/Duplos and 3 Marbles. Allow students to create their own ramps with the materials available, freely utilizing their own creativity. Suggest that their ramps have stability. As they challenge themselves, ask them to create more complicated/elaborate ramps that may be multi layered or connected to other ramps. As students experiment with their designs gradually have them design one with 2 lanes that will allow them to race against other groups.

NotesPut students in groups of 2-3. This activity can also be done individually but best works as groups.Cardboard tubes cut in half often make for more stable runs.Tape or rubber bands can help with stability.

Key QuestionsAsk students how altering their design might alter the speed of their marble, such as “Will creating a more steep initial ramp cause the marble to go faster or out of control?”

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Have the players multiply the number on their card by 2 or 3 for added fun!

UNO Basketball Warm Up

Fun Facts

Skills and HighlightsDribbling and Passing

Equipment A basketball for each student, UNO cards, 4 cones (red, blue, yellow, green)

InstructionsPlace one cone in front of each wall of the gym. On each cone place a sign with a type of pass (bounce pass, chest pass, overhead pass, baseball pass, etc.). Spread UNO cards face down in the middle of the gym. Students will have their own ball as they got to the middle of the gym. They will pick up a card, look at it, and leave it there face down.The card tells the student which wall to go to and how many passes to execute for the drill. Example: If a green 5 card is picked, the student will go to the wall with the green cone and throw 5 “bounce passes” against the wall. If a SKIP card is picked, the players must skip or jog around the cone while dribbling. If a REVERSE is picked, the player must dribble while walking backward around the cone that matches the color on the card.

NotesRemove all WILD cards… or have them signify kids choice.

Key Questions:

Why do we need to know different types of passes?

science5

Make Your Own Bouncy Balls

Skills and HighlightsScientific reactions, observation, measuring, following directions

Equipment - I tablespoon of borax- ½ cup of warm water- 2 tablespoons of Elmer’s white school glue- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch- Food coloring- Mixing bowls- Plastic butter knife to stir

Key Questions

Why did this reaction work and create a bouncy ball?What are polymers and elastomers?Why was the cornstarch important?

Mix ½ cup of warm water and 1 TBL of borax and stir until the borax dissolves.

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2.TBL of glue with 1 TBL of cornstarch. Stir untilcombined. Add a couple drops of food coloring. Mix the color in until it is swirly.

Pour the glue mixture into the water mixture and let it sit for about 10-15 seconds. The glue mixture will begin to harden and can be removed easily with a fork.

Pull out the mix and squish/roll it between your hands to form a ball. It will be a bit sticky at first but that will go away once it has been rolled between your hands for a few seconds.

12 Soccer

Fun Facts

Red light Green lightSkills and HighlightsGross motor skills, following directions

Equipment Soccer balls

The first electricaltraffic light wasinstalled in 1914 andwas operated by apolice officer in abooth.

Remind students of the importance of playing fair and honest in these types of games.

Instructions

The teacher stands on one end of the field facing away from students. Students stand on the other end of the field with a soccer ball. When the teacher says “green light” students must dribble the soccer ball with their feet. When the teacher says “red light” students must stop their ball and control it under their foot while the teacher turns around and tries to spot any students who are still moving. If a student is caught moving they most go back to the starting line. The first student to get to the teachers line become the caller.

Notes

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Mentos Geyser Experiment ?1: Quantity

Skills and HighlightsChemistry, Observation, ExperimentationScientific method, Synthesizing data

Equipment 2-3 rolls Mentos (mint), (3-7) 2Liters - Diet ColaPaper and writing utensils,Stopwatch (optional)Wide open space, Side ofbuilding or tall markerTape measure and chalk

Key Questions

What were the key differences in your trials? What caused the longest reaction? The tallest? For extra credit, graph the relationship between the trials.

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InstructionsLet the parents know ahead of time that you will be conducting class experiments on

Nucleation by means of diet cola and Mentos, and there is a slight possibility they will get messy. Also to keep a watchful eye out if their child suddenly requests to have fresh breath and only Mentos will do the trick for them. Make sure you’ve prepped your area ahead of time - you’ll need a wide open space with a flat surface you can set the bottles up on, next to the side of the school or a free-standing pole that can be used for a marker. Use the tape measure to mark height markers in feet on your pole or building to record the height of a geyser (see if the custodian can help you with his ladder!) Use cones or another time of boundary to keep the kids away from where you will be demonstrating - about 30 feet should be good. Set up an area around the cones with your other supplies. You should hold onto the mints to prevent any mischief. If it’s not possible to set your area up ahead of time, enlist the kids to help you, but you must hold onto the mints. Break the students into groups and have them pick a scribe and record the measurements of the day’s festivities. Use the guidelines from the Scientific Method activity to come up with questions, hypotheses, methods, and variables.

Bring the kids outside to your demonstration area. Ask the kids what they remember from the previous demonstration, and why it works (there is CO2 dissolved into the soda, and the mint has thousands of tiny little cavities which the gas collects in nucleation sites, and as the Mentos drops down into the solution, more and more gas gets collected, turns into bubbles, and causes a chain reaction with all the of the CO2 being released at once in an amazing geyser). Roll up a piece of paper and fold over one end to use as your Mentos delivery container. Plug in the number of Mentos for each trial of the experiment, depending on the number of 2 liters and time you have available. Do a minimum of 3 trials - 1 Mento to start, then 2, then 3, etc. One student from each group should be watching to record the time, and one student should record the height. Prepare yourself to spring like a panther. Using your container, drop the Mentos into the cola and spring away like a panther back to the kids. And oh, don’t forget to look back and enjoy the geyser behind you!

NotesA shaken-up bottle will be a variable you want to avoid - it will ruin the effect and mess up your results! Be careful not to shake the bottle. Regular Cola will work too - but it uses real sugar, which is very sticky and annoying to clean up if it gets on you. Diet soda uses artificial sweeteners, which are not sticky. This is a good one to record for your Apollo Facebook feed or Parent Newsletter. Make sure you show what records your students are keeping about the demonstration - writing it down makes it Science! DO NOT PUT THE LID BACK ON THE DIET COLA. You will not have time, in any case. But in between the 7 Altoid test (see below) and adding Mentos for one last hurrah (see below) DO NOT PUT THE LID BACK ON THE COLA!

Fun Facts

This is already an exciting exercise - not much fun to add here. Maybe if we test mint type. Wait a minute, more…?