Waterplay-:Students will experience free play, curiosity and discovery of water, its properties and forms, by using a variety of utensils to mix, pour, stir, change and enjoy water. Skills to be emphasized in this unit are observing, classifying and communicating.

Classroom Plants: Students plant, grow and care for common plants. Using seeds, cuttings, and roots students learn the basics of plant growth. Unit intended to last entire school year.

Properties: Using the skills of observing, classifying and communicating, students will investigate the properties of objects. Students will observe and describe objects by their color, shape, texture, size, weight and whether they sink or float. Students will observe that materials can exist in different forms and that solids, liquids and gases are objects.

From Seed to Plant: Students classify seeds by properties, plant seeds, care for plants, and observe and record plant growth.

Measuring: Students use nonstandard and standard units of measurement to compare objects. The properties of length, area, temperature, volume and weight are investigated.

Animal Coverings: Students will be introduced to the animal world through observation and classification of the many different forms of protection animals have developed. Looking at feathers, furs, shells, and hides students play games and use hand lenses to investigate animal coverings.

Buoyancy: Students experiment with a variety of designs and investigate variables that affect the buoyancy of the boats they construct. Using plasticine, aluminum foil and salt students learn the basics of floating.

Growing Older: Students observe and compare the changes occurring in plants and mealworms as they mature and die. Students investigate the processes of growth, maturation and change as they track the life span of people, plants and insects.

Simple Machines: Students investigate the basics of simple machines. Friction, pressure, force, velocity and mass are introduced as students manipulate air carts, catapults, pulleys and ramps.

Butterflies: Students observe the biological process of metamorphosis and learn to care for and feed butterflies. Students practice humane treatment of animals.

Aerial Photos: For grades 4 and up. Exploring from an aerial perspective students gain new insights about how their neighborhood has changed over time. With topographic maps and aerial photo overlays students observe the impact of development on a community or how land use has affected a watershed. A good exercise in geography and water management for all ages.

Plant Life Cycles: Students raise their own plants from seeds. Students observe and compare different plant life cycles, and stages of growth and development, learning the basics of scientific observation, data collection and analysis.

Electromagnetism: Students will use magnets and electromagnets to investigate the relationship between electricity and magnetism. Students will construct various devices using electromagnets including a buzzer, a small motor, and a large motor.

Animal Responses (Meet the Creatures): Students learn about the process of scientific inquiry by studying the behavior of mealworms.

Simple Machines: Students investigate the basics of simple machines. The concepts of friction, pressure, force, velocity and mass are introduced as students manipulate air carts, catapults, pulleys and ramps, marbles and carts.

Animal Responses (Crayfish): Students practice humane treatment of animals while they learn about the structure and behavior of crayfish by observing respiration, reaction to stimuli, feeding habits and territorial behavior.

Powders & Crystals: Students investigate the physical and chemical properties of powders and crystals. Students observe the interactions of these materials with a variety of chemical indicators.

Pond Life: Students visit a pond and set up classroom aquaria to investigate the plants and animals that live in ponds. Students learn to use 2 different microscopes to observe the microcosm of life in a drop of pond water.

Chemistry: An introduction to chemistry laboratory procedure and equipment, this kit covers states of matter, properties of matter, states of energy, effects of energy on matter, and interactions of systems.

Rocks & Minerals: Students investigate the properties of rocks and minerals, such as color, texture, cleavage, streak, hardness, reaction with hydrochloric acid, and attraction to magnets.