Science in 4th & 5th Grade
Learning to Think Like a Scientist.
Young children enjoy learning about the scientific method and how the world works. Students will be engaged in many experiments to learn science first hand. Children should be encouraged to think like a scientist. Becoming an observant person and noticing the world around you is such an important skill for life. No matter the age we can always learn something new about our world.
Students will be learning about electrical circuits, weathering and erosion, animal and plant adaptations, along with studying transportation systems and devices that operate on or in land, water, air, and space.
Classifying Living Things
Classifying Living Things -In this activity, you will see a large grid of green square tiles. Each tile will have a different plant or animal on it. See if you click on the correct tiles that belong to the category shown in each round of the game. When you think that you have clicked on all of the correct tiles, then click the "GO" button on the bottom of the screen. You will then find out if you got them all correct. BE SURE TO PLAY THIS ACTIVITY MORE THAN ONCE!!! When you find out your final score, be sure to click the "Play Again" button for more fun.
Animal Classification Game -Before playing this activity, be sure to click on "Animal Classes" for an overview of animal classification before playing the games on this site.
Classification of Vertebrates -See how well you know the basic characteristics that each class of vertebrates have in common. If you're having trouble with this activity, be sure to review the basic characteristics of each class of vertebrates. Game not working? Click here.
Fun with Venn Diagrams -Did you enjoy our Venn Diagram activity in class? In this activity, take the Venn Diagram challenge! See if you can figure out the rules of the Venn Diagram by placing the correct sizes, shapes, & colors into the appropriate circles. When you think that you have finished, be sure to select the rule for each circle by selecting from the drop-down menu. Once you have selected the appropriate rules click the "Check Rule" box to see if you were correct. Good luck! If you enjoyed this activity, why don't you try your hand at these other math Venn Diagrams:
Even Numbers/Multiples of 5Odd Numbers/Less than 20Square Numbers/Odd NumbersEven Numbers/Prime Numbers
Leopards of the Night -We discovered in class that one way in which animals and insects are able to survive is by using a strategy called camouflage. But did you realize that there is more than one kind of camouflage strategy?? In this activity, you will learn about the various survival strategies that animals and insects use. Drag each animal over the label that best describes its survival strategy. Once you put the animal in the correct column, its name will appear.
The Disappearing Act -Why is it so difficult to see animals and insects when they lie perfectly still? Oftentimes, it's not just their colors that blend in with the environment. This activity will help explain why.
The Hidden Animals Game -Click on a particular animal and see if you can find this animal in each picture. Some of the pictures are easy, but don't be fooled! Some pictures are really challenging!
Bird Beak Adaptation Game -Do you remember playing the bird beak adaptation activity in class? This game will really test your ability to figure out what type of beak works best for different ways of feeding! Click here for an even more challenging version of this game!
Build a Fish -We learned in class that all birds have a certain design to their beak that enables them to capture specific types of food. But the survival strategy of having a specific body design can be applied to just about any creature out there in the world! In this activity, see if you can design a fish with the right adaptations to survive. Try different combinations and see which ones work together.
Mare's Build a Fish -Here is another activity that puts you in charge of designing a fish that best suits its environment. What I particularly like about this activity, is that it lets you choose from 6 different environments. Be sure to click on "instructions" before playing this activity.
Design a Caterpillar -Have you ever spotted an unusual looking caterpillar and wondered why it had such an unusual color or appearance to it? This activity will allow you to design different caterpillars that live in different environments. As you are designing each caterpillar, ask yourself the following questions: "Who is the caterpillar's enemy?" "How can the caterpillar avoid being eaten?" "Can it blend into its surroundings?" "Can it scare away or startle its enemy?"
Food Chains -This activity provides a nice overview of the basic parts of a food chain. Once you've reviewed the basic parts, see if you can put all of the plants and animals in the correct spots for 3 different habitats: a woodland area, a river, and a seashore habitat.
The Food Chain Game -This activity starts out REALLY easy and then gets more difficult as you go along. See if you can correctly place each organism in the correct spot for each food chain.
Producers, Consumers, & Decomposers -All living things need energy in order to survive. Play this activity to learn how organisms can be classified by how they obtain their energy.
Carnivore, Herbivore, or Omnivore Part 1 -As you learned in the activity above, organisms that do not make their food directly from the Sun's energy are called consumers. Consumers have different names based on the type of diet that they eat. Click on this activity to learn more!
Carnivore, Herbivore, or Omnivore Part 2 -Once you've played the game above, let's see how you do with the selections of animals in this second game!
Fun with Food Webs -See if you can put all of the plants and animals in the correct spots for three different types of food webs- meadow, arctic, & pond habitats. Click here to learn more about the producer that is found in the arctic food web!
Build a Food Web -In this activity, your job is to build a food web. Move each arrow from the predator and place it directly over what it eats. If you are correct, the arrow will lock into place. HINT: Feel free to move the pictures around on the screen so that you can easily see all of the feeding relationships!
Interdependence & Adaptation -The first thing you will need to do in this activity is select all of the living organisms in this forest habitat. Be sure to click on the magnifying lens to learn more about each living organism. Then click on "Sorter 1" to place each of those living organisms into a food web. When you have finished "Sorter 1," then move onto "Sorter 2."
Make an Ocean Food Web -In third grade, you got a chance to learn about ocean habitats when you took your field trip to Sandy Hook. In this activity, see if you can correctly place each marine organism in its feeding level in a giant ocean food web. Be sure to use the hints and pay careful attention to the arrows drawn in the food web. For best results, start by determining what producers belong at the bottom of the food web and work your way up from there!
Food Chain Reaction -A lot of people don't realize just how much the survival of each plant and animal affects the balance of a food web. Play this game to learn more.
How Wolves Change Rivers -In 1995, the US Fish and Wildlife services reintroduced wolves back into Yellowstone National Park. This fascinating short film explores how the reintroduction of wolves has had a far-reaching impact, not just on the entire ecosystem of Yellowstone, but even on the land and rivers themselves.
Variation of Life -In this activity, see if you can correctly classify different living creatures by a whole series of questions that they provide you with.
Moving & Growing -This activity explores the body movements and body types of various living organisms. Be sure to click on the "labels" button and see if you can correctly label the different parts of each living organism.
The Minibeast Identification Game -Scientists oftentimes use what's called a dichotomous key to classify living things. See if you can follow the flow of this chart to correctly identify the various minibeasts in this activity.
Life Cycle Games -See if you can correctly place the various life cycle stages of three different organisms in this game.
Life in the City -You might not think that the city would be a habitat that would support a great diversity of life. This activity takes you to a city park and gives you a closer look at the surprising world around us!
Design a Dinosaur -See if you can construct a dinosaur with the proper body, head, tail, arms, and legs so that it can successfully find food and safely get back home. When constructing your dinosaur, be sure to click on the HELP button to learn what all of the controls do!
Who Wants to Live a Million Years? -Why do giraffes have long necks? Why do polar bears have thick fur? In this activity, you will learn about Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. After doing so, play the Survival Game and see if you can survive for a million years!
Color, Light & Sound
Mixing Light Beams and Mixing Paint -This activity allows you to create an almost infinite amount of colors by mixing different amounts of red, green, & blue light beams. Be sure to click on the "Mix to Match" button and test your ability to match the color given by controlling the various amounts of these 3 light beams. Also, be sure to check out the Mixing Ink/Paint section as well!
Color Vision Simulation -Have you ever stopped to wonder why certain things around us are the colors that they are? This simulation will help you to better understand that the colors that we see are actually the reflection of certain speeds of light back to our eyes. This simulation will also help model what happens when we use different colored filters.
Interactive Optical Illusions -Certain patterns confuse our eyes and our brain. Scientists are still riddled by why some of these illusions trick our brain. There are over 30 interactive optical illusions on this page. Which one is your favorite?
Why is the Sky Blue? -This is an age-old question that I get asked all of the time. This website does a good job of explaining why the sky is blue and why we have the different colored sunrises and sunsets
Video on Why is the Sky Blue? -Here is a video that also answers this age-old question. This video does a good job of explaining why blue light gets scattered in our sky.
Other Great Websites about Light & Color
Identifying Sounds-Try your hand at this activity! Make sure that you play each game by clicking on the "next" arrow on the bottom left-hand side of the game.
Juice Bottle Jingles - This activity also allows you to create music using bottles with different amounts of water in them. They even give you the written music to perform different songs!
Sound Beats -In class, we will learn that pitch (highness & lowness) is controlled by the frequency of the pitch. This sound experiment allows you to listen to sounds that have a similar frequency. When you play two pitches that are similar in frequency, you will hear pulses (or beats) due to the interference of the sound waves.
Sight vs. Sound Reflexes -Which will you respond to faster, seeing something flash on the screen or hearing a sound? This activity will explore this question by letting you design your own experiment. The results just might surprise you?
Dangerous Decibels Virtual Exhibit -If you're not careful, you can actually do permanent damage to your ears if you don't take care of them. Remember, you're only born with 2 good ears. If you don't take care of them, you could suffer from permanent hearing loss. This site has a lot of great activities to learn about how you can protect your ears.
How Loud is Too Loud? - Check out this interactive sound ruler to learn about how loud everyday sounds are to our ears. Find out which sounds may actually damage our ears!
Auditory Illusions -After our unit on color and light, we're quite familiar with optical illusions, but did you know that there are sound or "auditory illusions" as well? This experiment will definitely play a trick on your ears!
The Beat Goes on -What happens if you combine different tones together at the same time? This experiment allows you to do just that! Some of the resulting sounds are rather interesting to say the least!
Other Great Websites about Sound
Landforms
Layers of the Earth -This site does a great job of quickly explaining the three basic layers of the Earth.
Identifying Layers of Soil -See if you can remember what the different layers of soil are called. Drag the cards next to each of the layers and then match each layer with its description.
Stages of Soil Formation -In this activity, see if you can put the pictures in the correct order showing the stages of soil formation.
Soil Composting -Plants need soil that is enriched with nutrients. You can help enrich the soil by composting. In this activity, decide which items get recycled, and which items need to be put in the composting bin.
Mold & Cast Fossil Animation -This site has a good animation of how a fossil forms. Be sure to click over the animation to stop it at anytime.
Fossil Fun!- Burying Bodies -A lot about what we have learned about the Earth's history comes from its fossil record. This activity helps you understand what are the perfect conditions in order for a fossil to be formed. Click and drag the dead beast in this activity and place it in different parts of the picture to see what happens!
Making Fossils -A once living organism must go on a lengthy journey before it can reappear at the surface as a fossil. It's very rare that all the conditions are right for this strange process to happen. This website does a very nice job of giving you an overview of the types of fossils and how they form.
Layers of Time -This is a really cool game. Using the fossils found in each layer of rock, see if you can correctly place the rock layers in order from the oldest layer (being on the bottom) to youngest layer (being on the top.) When doing this activity, be sure to use the fossil clues in each layer to help you match layers of rock that belong together.
Journey ThroughTime -This is also a really cool activity. Take a journey through time to look at some of the creatures that lived on our planet millions of years ago.
How are Fossils Formed? -This site gives you a nice overview of how dinosaur fossils formed. Be sure to click on the other tabs to continue your adventure.
Observe the Effects of Mechanical Weathering -Click on the different pictures to get a closer look at six different examples of mechanical weathering.
Shape it Up! -In science lab, we explored how the Grand Canyon was formed by the powerful eroding force of water. This activity explores how wind, water, volcanoes, and glaciers have an impact on the shape of our land over time. Be sure to play this game more than once! Although you might get the same landform with the same erosional force, it might be showing you a different length of time!
The Virtual Stream Table Lab -Did you enjoy the work that we did with stream tables? There are so many really cool experiments that can be done with stream tables. This activity allows you to compare 2 stream tables at the same time by changing one variable in the experiment. The variables (the thing you change in an experiment!) include the length of time, the slope, the stream flow rate, and type of material. I recommend that you click on the "View Stream Table" first! Then click on the RED "?" in the upper right corner of the screen. It will explain all of the variables as well as how to conduct the different experiments.
Landforms Created by Erosion -Click on different parts of the U.S. map to see the different types of landforms that have all been created by forces of erosion.
River Erosion Creating Waterfalls and Chasms -This animation does a great job in demonstrating how a river creates waterfalls and chasms over a period of many, many years.
Where do Sediments get Deposited by a River? -This is another animation that will help you to visualize why certain sized sediments get deposited where they do.
The Water Cycle Explained -Click on the various parts of this interactive to learn more about all of the processes that are involved in the water cycle.
What Happens During the Water Cycle? -Here is another great resource about the water cycle. Click on the arrows in this interactive to learn more about all of the processes that are involved in the water cycle.
Water Cycle Diagram -Click on the various parts of this interactive diagram to learn more about all of the processes that are involved in the water cycle.
Water Cycle Interactive Video -Click on the various parts of this interactive video to learn more about all of the processes that are involved in the water cycle.
Water Cycle Game -This activity is a great way to learn about and remember all of the important parts of the water cycle.
The Solar System
Go to the Head of the Solar System -In this activity, see how good your knowledge of the solar system is.
How much do I weigh on Mars? - Go to the weighing station to find out! As you learned in third grade, gravity is the force that pulls things towards the center of the Earth. When we weigh something, we are actually measuring this force! Your bodyweight will be different, depending on what planet you're standing on!
Planet Size Comparison -You might be wondering why Pluto is no longer considered a planet in our solar system. Several of the reasons as to why it lost its planetary status all have to do with the fact that it is not very large. In fact, Pluto is even smaller than our Moon! This activity does a great job doing side-by-side comparisons of our planets. Just make two selections and then click on the "compare" button.
Solar System Jigsaw Puzzle -In the first level of this game, see if you can put all of our planets in their correct place. The second level tests your ability to place all of the moons found in our solar system in the correct place. Don't forget to play the third level of this game called the "Hardware Level." This level tests your ability to correctly place all of the probes & telescopes found in our solar system.
Name the Planets -Do you know your solar system? Warm up with this activity! Click and drag the correct name over the correct picture. This activity came out a long time ago! How do I know that?? Well... scientists don't even consider Pluto to be a "planet" anymore. Due to its small size, we now consider Pluto to be a dwarf planet.
How Much Light Pollution is in Our Sky? -This site will give you a great idea as to how much light pollution there is in our area. It will also give you a little bit different perspective of the night sky depending upon what latitude you place yourself in the world. If you move the other slider closer towards the street light, you will see how much more of the night sky that you are missing out on!
Explore the Solar System -Click on the planets and other items of interest found in our solar system to learn more about each.
Solar Eclipse Animations -Did you know that there are actually three types of solar eclipses? Click here to see animations of all three types of solar eclipses.
How long is a minute? -We know that an earth year is 365 and one quarter days long. That sure feels like a long time.......... How long does one minute feel like?
The Moon Illusion -Why does the moon look so huge when it first rises? Click here to find out. This site lets you actually move the moon over the horizon!
Other Great Websites about the Solar System
Electricity & Magnetism
Circuit Guide-Residential electric circuits explained.
Balloons and Static Electricity -Have you ever rubbed a balloon against a wool sweater and then attached the balloon to a nearby wall? What really happens when we do this? This website provides a great visual as to what happens to the electrical charges when we do this.
The Hidden Dangers of Electricity -Every year, tens of thousands of people in the U.S. are killed or injured from contact with electricity. Play this game to learn more about how you can protect you, your friends, & family from the dangers of electricity. See if you can get a perfect score of 16,500 points by being able to correctly identify each dangerous electrical situation in all three of the neighborhoods in this game. Good luck!
Make the Safe Choice -Making the wrong decisions when it comes to electricity could cost you your life! Test your ability to handle electrical hazards in the home by playing this game. See if you can get a perfect score of 12.
Build a Circuit -See if you can complete a circuit that will light up the bulb in this activity. Once you've finished building your circuit, be sure to use the switch to turn on the bulb.
Placing More than 1 Bulb in a Circuit -Do you remember our work with series circuits? What happens to the amount of current in our circuit when we place more than one bulb in the same path?
The Blobz Guide to Electric Circuits -This is a great website that lets you explore how & why electrical circuits work. This guide has five sections. Use the buttons on the bottom of the screen to jump to each section. Click on the "?" to learn more about each section, and be sure to play the activity that is found in each section as well.
The Fusebox-Building Circuits -This activity on building circuits has 3 different levels. Level one allows you to build simple circuits. Level two lets you build series circuits. Level three is all about building parallel circuits.
Conductors & Insulators Experiment -Did you enjoy our experiment testing different materials to see whether or not they conduct electricity in science lab? If so, you're going to LOVE this activity! There are even a few items that might still surprise you! Just click on the pickle to start the activity.
Magnets & Electromagnets Around the House -Find as many of the magnets and electromagnets as you can in this house. I think that you will be surprised just how many magnets and electromagnets are found in many common items around the house.
Build an Electromagnet -Try to build the strongest electromagnet that you can by picking up all 500 iron filings! In this experiment, you can change the type of wire, the wire thickness, the number of coils, the type of current, and how much current. Only when you use the correct combination of these five ingredients, will you be able to pick up all 500 iron filings!
The Circuit Construction Kit -This is one of the best interactive sites that I've seen on electricity.
Other Great Websites about Electricity & Magnetism
Young children enjoy learning about the scientific method and how the world works. Students will be engaged in many experiments to learn science first hand. Children should be encouraged to think like a scientist. Becoming an observant person and noticing the world around you is such an important skill for life. No matter the age we can always learn something new about our world.
Students will be learning about electrical circuits, weathering and erosion, animal and plant adaptations, along with studying transportation systems and devices that operate on or in land, water, air, and space.
Classifying Living Things
Classifying Living Things -In this activity, you will see a large grid of green square tiles. Each tile will have a different plant or animal on it. See if you click on the correct tiles that belong to the category shown in each round of the game. When you think that you have clicked on all of the correct tiles, then click the "GO" button on the bottom of the screen. You will then find out if you got them all correct. BE SURE TO PLAY THIS ACTIVITY MORE THAN ONCE!!! When you find out your final score, be sure to click the "Play Again" button for more fun.
Animal Classification Game -Before playing this activity, be sure to click on "Animal Classes" for an overview of animal classification before playing the games on this site.
Classification of Vertebrates -See how well you know the basic characteristics that each class of vertebrates have in common. If you're having trouble with this activity, be sure to review the basic characteristics of each class of vertebrates. Game not working? Click here.
Fun with Venn Diagrams -Did you enjoy our Venn Diagram activity in class? In this activity, take the Venn Diagram challenge! See if you can figure out the rules of the Venn Diagram by placing the correct sizes, shapes, & colors into the appropriate circles. When you think that you have finished, be sure to select the rule for each circle by selecting from the drop-down menu. Once you have selected the appropriate rules click the "Check Rule" box to see if you were correct. Good luck! If you enjoyed this activity, why don't you try your hand at these other math Venn Diagrams:
Even Numbers/Multiples of 5Odd Numbers/Less than 20Square Numbers/Odd NumbersEven Numbers/Prime Numbers
Leopards of the Night -We discovered in class that one way in which animals and insects are able to survive is by using a strategy called camouflage. But did you realize that there is more than one kind of camouflage strategy?? In this activity, you will learn about the various survival strategies that animals and insects use. Drag each animal over the label that best describes its survival strategy. Once you put the animal in the correct column, its name will appear.
The Disappearing Act -Why is it so difficult to see animals and insects when they lie perfectly still? Oftentimes, it's not just their colors that blend in with the environment. This activity will help explain why.
The Hidden Animals Game -Click on a particular animal and see if you can find this animal in each picture. Some of the pictures are easy, but don't be fooled! Some pictures are really challenging!
Bird Beak Adaptation Game -Do you remember playing the bird beak adaptation activity in class? This game will really test your ability to figure out what type of beak works best for different ways of feeding! Click here for an even more challenging version of this game!
Build a Fish -We learned in class that all birds have a certain design to their beak that enables them to capture specific types of food. But the survival strategy of having a specific body design can be applied to just about any creature out there in the world! In this activity, see if you can design a fish with the right adaptations to survive. Try different combinations and see which ones work together.
Mare's Build a Fish -Here is another activity that puts you in charge of designing a fish that best suits its environment. What I particularly like about this activity, is that it lets you choose from 6 different environments. Be sure to click on "instructions" before playing this activity.
Design a Caterpillar -Have you ever spotted an unusual looking caterpillar and wondered why it had such an unusual color or appearance to it? This activity will allow you to design different caterpillars that live in different environments. As you are designing each caterpillar, ask yourself the following questions: "Who is the caterpillar's enemy?" "How can the caterpillar avoid being eaten?" "Can it blend into its surroundings?" "Can it scare away or startle its enemy?"
Food Chains -This activity provides a nice overview of the basic parts of a food chain. Once you've reviewed the basic parts, see if you can put all of the plants and animals in the correct spots for 3 different habitats: a woodland area, a river, and a seashore habitat.
The Food Chain Game -This activity starts out REALLY easy and then gets more difficult as you go along. See if you can correctly place each organism in the correct spot for each food chain.
Producers, Consumers, & Decomposers -All living things need energy in order to survive. Play this activity to learn how organisms can be classified by how they obtain their energy.
Carnivore, Herbivore, or Omnivore Part 1 -As you learned in the activity above, organisms that do not make their food directly from the Sun's energy are called consumers. Consumers have different names based on the type of diet that they eat. Click on this activity to learn more!
Carnivore, Herbivore, or Omnivore Part 2 -Once you've played the game above, let's see how you do with the selections of animals in this second game!
Fun with Food Webs -See if you can put all of the plants and animals in the correct spots for three different types of food webs- meadow, arctic, & pond habitats. Click here to learn more about the producer that is found in the arctic food web!
Build a Food Web -In this activity, your job is to build a food web. Move each arrow from the predator and place it directly over what it eats. If you are correct, the arrow will lock into place. HINT: Feel free to move the pictures around on the screen so that you can easily see all of the feeding relationships!
Interdependence & Adaptation -The first thing you will need to do in this activity is select all of the living organisms in this forest habitat. Be sure to click on the magnifying lens to learn more about each living organism. Then click on "Sorter 1" to place each of those living organisms into a food web. When you have finished "Sorter 1," then move onto "Sorter 2."
Make an Ocean Food Web -In third grade, you got a chance to learn about ocean habitats when you took your field trip to Sandy Hook. In this activity, see if you can correctly place each marine organism in its feeding level in a giant ocean food web. Be sure to use the hints and pay careful attention to the arrows drawn in the food web. For best results, start by determining what producers belong at the bottom of the food web and work your way up from there!
Food Chain Reaction -A lot of people don't realize just how much the survival of each plant and animal affects the balance of a food web. Play this game to learn more.
How Wolves Change Rivers -In 1995, the US Fish and Wildlife services reintroduced wolves back into Yellowstone National Park. This fascinating short film explores how the reintroduction of wolves has had a far-reaching impact, not just on the entire ecosystem of Yellowstone, but even on the land and rivers themselves.
Variation of Life -In this activity, see if you can correctly classify different living creatures by a whole series of questions that they provide you with.
Moving & Growing -This activity explores the body movements and body types of various living organisms. Be sure to click on the "labels" button and see if you can correctly label the different parts of each living organism.
The Minibeast Identification Game -Scientists oftentimes use what's called a dichotomous key to classify living things. See if you can follow the flow of this chart to correctly identify the various minibeasts in this activity.
Life Cycle Games -See if you can correctly place the various life cycle stages of three different organisms in this game.
Life in the City -You might not think that the city would be a habitat that would support a great diversity of life. This activity takes you to a city park and gives you a closer look at the surprising world around us!
Design a Dinosaur -See if you can construct a dinosaur with the proper body, head, tail, arms, and legs so that it can successfully find food and safely get back home. When constructing your dinosaur, be sure to click on the HELP button to learn what all of the controls do!
Who Wants to Live a Million Years? -Why do giraffes have long necks? Why do polar bears have thick fur? In this activity, you will learn about Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. After doing so, play the Survival Game and see if you can survive for a million years!
Color, Light & Sound
Mixing Light Beams and Mixing Paint -This activity allows you to create an almost infinite amount of colors by mixing different amounts of red, green, & blue light beams. Be sure to click on the "Mix to Match" button and test your ability to match the color given by controlling the various amounts of these 3 light beams. Also, be sure to check out the Mixing Ink/Paint section as well!
Color Vision Simulation -Have you ever stopped to wonder why certain things around us are the colors that they are? This simulation will help you to better understand that the colors that we see are actually the reflection of certain speeds of light back to our eyes. This simulation will also help model what happens when we use different colored filters.
Interactive Optical Illusions -Certain patterns confuse our eyes and our brain. Scientists are still riddled by why some of these illusions trick our brain. There are over 30 interactive optical illusions on this page. Which one is your favorite?
Why is the Sky Blue? -This is an age-old question that I get asked all of the time. This website does a good job of explaining why the sky is blue and why we have the different colored sunrises and sunsets
Video on Why is the Sky Blue? -Here is a video that also answers this age-old question. This video does a good job of explaining why blue light gets scattered in our sky.
Other Great Websites about Light & Color
Identifying Sounds-Try your hand at this activity! Make sure that you play each game by clicking on the "next" arrow on the bottom left-hand side of the game.
Juice Bottle Jingles - This activity also allows you to create music using bottles with different amounts of water in them. They even give you the written music to perform different songs!
Sound Beats -In class, we will learn that pitch (highness & lowness) is controlled by the frequency of the pitch. This sound experiment allows you to listen to sounds that have a similar frequency. When you play two pitches that are similar in frequency, you will hear pulses (or beats) due to the interference of the sound waves.
Sight vs. Sound Reflexes -Which will you respond to faster, seeing something flash on the screen or hearing a sound? This activity will explore this question by letting you design your own experiment. The results just might surprise you?
Dangerous Decibels Virtual Exhibit -If you're not careful, you can actually do permanent damage to your ears if you don't take care of them. Remember, you're only born with 2 good ears. If you don't take care of them, you could suffer from permanent hearing loss. This site has a lot of great activities to learn about how you can protect your ears.
How Loud is Too Loud? - Check out this interactive sound ruler to learn about how loud everyday sounds are to our ears. Find out which sounds may actually damage our ears!
Auditory Illusions -After our unit on color and light, we're quite familiar with optical illusions, but did you know that there are sound or "auditory illusions" as well? This experiment will definitely play a trick on your ears!
The Beat Goes on -What happens if you combine different tones together at the same time? This experiment allows you to do just that! Some of the resulting sounds are rather interesting to say the least!
Other Great Websites about Sound
Landforms
Layers of the Earth -This site does a great job of quickly explaining the three basic layers of the Earth.
Identifying Layers of Soil -See if you can remember what the different layers of soil are called. Drag the cards next to each of the layers and then match each layer with its description.
Stages of Soil Formation -In this activity, see if you can put the pictures in the correct order showing the stages of soil formation.
Soil Composting -Plants need soil that is enriched with nutrients. You can help enrich the soil by composting. In this activity, decide which items get recycled, and which items need to be put in the composting bin.
Mold & Cast Fossil Animation -This site has a good animation of how a fossil forms. Be sure to click over the animation to stop it at anytime.
Fossil Fun!- Burying Bodies -A lot about what we have learned about the Earth's history comes from its fossil record. This activity helps you understand what are the perfect conditions in order for a fossil to be formed. Click and drag the dead beast in this activity and place it in different parts of the picture to see what happens!
Making Fossils -A once living organism must go on a lengthy journey before it can reappear at the surface as a fossil. It's very rare that all the conditions are right for this strange process to happen. This website does a very nice job of giving you an overview of the types of fossils and how they form.
Layers of Time -This is a really cool game. Using the fossils found in each layer of rock, see if you can correctly place the rock layers in order from the oldest layer (being on the bottom) to youngest layer (being on the top.) When doing this activity, be sure to use the fossil clues in each layer to help you match layers of rock that belong together.
Journey ThroughTime -This is also a really cool activity. Take a journey through time to look at some of the creatures that lived on our planet millions of years ago.
How are Fossils Formed? -This site gives you a nice overview of how dinosaur fossils formed. Be sure to click on the other tabs to continue your adventure.
Observe the Effects of Mechanical Weathering -Click on the different pictures to get a closer look at six different examples of mechanical weathering.
Shape it Up! -In science lab, we explored how the Grand Canyon was formed by the powerful eroding force of water. This activity explores how wind, water, volcanoes, and glaciers have an impact on the shape of our land over time. Be sure to play this game more than once! Although you might get the same landform with the same erosional force, it might be showing you a different length of time!
The Virtual Stream Table Lab -Did you enjoy the work that we did with stream tables? There are so many really cool experiments that can be done with stream tables. This activity allows you to compare 2 stream tables at the same time by changing one variable in the experiment. The variables (the thing you change in an experiment!) include the length of time, the slope, the stream flow rate, and type of material. I recommend that you click on the "View Stream Table" first! Then click on the RED "?" in the upper right corner of the screen. It will explain all of the variables as well as how to conduct the different experiments.
Landforms Created by Erosion -Click on different parts of the U.S. map to see the different types of landforms that have all been created by forces of erosion.
River Erosion Creating Waterfalls and Chasms -This animation does a great job in demonstrating how a river creates waterfalls and chasms over a period of many, many years.
Where do Sediments get Deposited by a River? -This is another animation that will help you to visualize why certain sized sediments get deposited where they do.
The Water Cycle Explained -Click on the various parts of this interactive to learn more about all of the processes that are involved in the water cycle.
What Happens During the Water Cycle? -Here is another great resource about the water cycle. Click on the arrows in this interactive to learn more about all of the processes that are involved in the water cycle.
Water Cycle Diagram -Click on the various parts of this interactive diagram to learn more about all of the processes that are involved in the water cycle.
Water Cycle Interactive Video -Click on the various parts of this interactive video to learn more about all of the processes that are involved in the water cycle.
Water Cycle Game -This activity is a great way to learn about and remember all of the important parts of the water cycle.
The Solar System
Go to the Head of the Solar System -In this activity, see how good your knowledge of the solar system is.
How much do I weigh on Mars? - Go to the weighing station to find out! As you learned in third grade, gravity is the force that pulls things towards the center of the Earth. When we weigh something, we are actually measuring this force! Your bodyweight will be different, depending on what planet you're standing on!
Planet Size Comparison -You might be wondering why Pluto is no longer considered a planet in our solar system. Several of the reasons as to why it lost its planetary status all have to do with the fact that it is not very large. In fact, Pluto is even smaller than our Moon! This activity does a great job doing side-by-side comparisons of our planets. Just make two selections and then click on the "compare" button.
Solar System Jigsaw Puzzle -In the first level of this game, see if you can put all of our planets in their correct place. The second level tests your ability to place all of the moons found in our solar system in the correct place. Don't forget to play the third level of this game called the "Hardware Level." This level tests your ability to correctly place all of the probes & telescopes found in our solar system.
Name the Planets -Do you know your solar system? Warm up with this activity! Click and drag the correct name over the correct picture. This activity came out a long time ago! How do I know that?? Well... scientists don't even consider Pluto to be a "planet" anymore. Due to its small size, we now consider Pluto to be a dwarf planet.
How Much Light Pollution is in Our Sky? -This site will give you a great idea as to how much light pollution there is in our area. It will also give you a little bit different perspective of the night sky depending upon what latitude you place yourself in the world. If you move the other slider closer towards the street light, you will see how much more of the night sky that you are missing out on!
Explore the Solar System -Click on the planets and other items of interest found in our solar system to learn more about each.
Solar Eclipse Animations -Did you know that there are actually three types of solar eclipses? Click here to see animations of all three types of solar eclipses.
How long is a minute? -We know that an earth year is 365 and one quarter days long. That sure feels like a long time.......... How long does one minute feel like?
The Moon Illusion -Why does the moon look so huge when it first rises? Click here to find out. This site lets you actually move the moon over the horizon!
Other Great Websites about the Solar System
Electricity & Magnetism
Circuit Guide-Residential electric circuits explained.
Balloons and Static Electricity -Have you ever rubbed a balloon against a wool sweater and then attached the balloon to a nearby wall? What really happens when we do this? This website provides a great visual as to what happens to the electrical charges when we do this.
The Hidden Dangers of Electricity -Every year, tens of thousands of people in the U.S. are killed or injured from contact with electricity. Play this game to learn more about how you can protect you, your friends, & family from the dangers of electricity. See if you can get a perfect score of 16,500 points by being able to correctly identify each dangerous electrical situation in all three of the neighborhoods in this game. Good luck!
Make the Safe Choice -Making the wrong decisions when it comes to electricity could cost you your life! Test your ability to handle electrical hazards in the home by playing this game. See if you can get a perfect score of 12.
Build a Circuit -See if you can complete a circuit that will light up the bulb in this activity. Once you've finished building your circuit, be sure to use the switch to turn on the bulb.
Placing More than 1 Bulb in a Circuit -Do you remember our work with series circuits? What happens to the amount of current in our circuit when we place more than one bulb in the same path?
The Blobz Guide to Electric Circuits -This is a great website that lets you explore how & why electrical circuits work. This guide has five sections. Use the buttons on the bottom of the screen to jump to each section. Click on the "?" to learn more about each section, and be sure to play the activity that is found in each section as well.
The Fusebox-Building Circuits -This activity on building circuits has 3 different levels. Level one allows you to build simple circuits. Level two lets you build series circuits. Level three is all about building parallel circuits.
Conductors & Insulators Experiment -Did you enjoy our experiment testing different materials to see whether or not they conduct electricity in science lab? If so, you're going to LOVE this activity! There are even a few items that might still surprise you! Just click on the pickle to start the activity.
Magnets & Electromagnets Around the House -Find as many of the magnets and electromagnets as you can in this house. I think that you will be surprised just how many magnets and electromagnets are found in many common items around the house.
Build an Electromagnet -Try to build the strongest electromagnet that you can by picking up all 500 iron filings! In this experiment, you can change the type of wire, the wire thickness, the number of coils, the type of current, and how much current. Only when you use the correct combination of these five ingredients, will you be able to pick up all 500 iron filings!
The Circuit Construction Kit -This is one of the best interactive sites that I've seen on electricity.
Other Great Websites about Electricity & Magnetism