Up Close - What Is It?

Broccoli under the microscope.

Real vs Paper

Yes, I use worksheets, but I try to use the real thing whenever possible.  We're studying plants right now.  I think most schools are, now that spring is here.  There's always a wild batch of wildflowers somewhere around where we can pull our samples.  I gave each child a sheet of construction paper, and we glued our plants on them.  Allow to dry overnight.  The next day I wrote the words LEAVES, ROOTS, STEM, and PETALS on the board for them to copy, and they had to place the words in the correct areas.

Science Scavenger Hunt

By the end of the school year my Kinder can sound out/read these words. I divide the class into groups of 4, and give each group a list and a paper bag (a plastic grocery bag works just as well.)  Taking them out to the vacant lot/playground, I let them search for the items on their list. 

The list has the following words:  rock, leaf, flower, grass, seed, and wood, plus a ? and an X.  The ? means they don't know what the item is, and X is for anything that's not on the list - their "eXtra" choice.

When we're finished, we go back to the classroom where each team can then dump the contents of their bags, and they discuss with the class what they found.