Practicing Science:Hands-on Activities

Grades K - 5 Observing, Sorting, Measuring

and Comparing MatterEmbedding the Florida Standards

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Can you Guess my Button? Look at these buttons.Listen as I describe a button.

Here are my clues:Its shape is a circle.It has 2 button holes.

Its size is small.

Its color is yellow. This is my button.What do my clues describe

about buttons? propertiesWhat properties did I use?

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Number of

How do we tell buttons and other objects apart?

We use our Senses• Sight - Looks

– Color– Number of Holes– Shape– Size

• Touch – Feels (texture)• Hear – Sounds when

dropped• Smell – Odor • Taste

• Eyes

• Hands and Fingers• Ears

• Nose• Mouth

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to describe each object’s properties

Let’s listen to The Button Box to learn more properties that can describe buttons

Properties We Found

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Properties of My Button

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Reflection1. Can a button have more than one property? Explain.

2. How did you discover the properties of each button?

3. Did you use all of your senses? Why or Why not?

4. Which of the five senses were important to your observations of buttons?

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What are Properties ? A property is something about an object you can observe with your senses.Color, shape, and size are properties. How something feels is a property.

How can you describe a ___________?

We use our senses to tell about its properties.

Division of Academics – Department of Science Excerpt from Scott Foresman Gr. 1 Quick Study

How Can We Sort?

We can use our senses to sort matter in different ways.We can group matter by how it feels.Some matter may feel hard or bumpy.We can group matter by shape. Matter can havemany different shapes. (Gr. 1 Scott Foresman Quick Study)

How can we sort these buttons?We can sort by color: blue - red – green – yellowMatter can be different colors.We can sort by size:large - medium – smallMatter can be different sizes.

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Practicing Science Sort, Group, Classify

1. Observe the objects in your basket.2. Discuss their common properties.3. Decide on a way to sort your objects. 4. Sort the objects. Name your groups.5. Talk about why you classified them as you did.6. Can you sort your objects in another way? Try it.

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Claim Evidence (CE)Assignment: Think like a scientist to write an answer to this question:How do you learn about the properties of objects?

Claim: (A sentence that states how you learn about properties of objects.)

Evidence: (Examples of what you do to learn about properties of objects.)

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Getting Started

First think about: What is a possible claim? Where can you find your

evidence? What science words will you want to include? Where can you find

science and other words to help you write?

Use your resources: Classroom charts,

word walls and bulletin boards

Science notebook Observations from

hands-on activities and videos

Reading passages Your textbook

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I can

feel…

Evidence

You can look for help in your textbook. Let’s read.

Claim: I use my senses to…

I can see …

Science words

CE Samples

Claim: I use my senses to learn about properties of objects.

Evidence:My button

I use my to look Color – greenShape - circle Number of holes – 4I use my

Feels - smoothI drop it and use my I hear – click, click

Claim: I know I can use my senses to learn about properties of objects.

Evidence: Here is how I found my pencil’s properties. First I used my eyes to look at my pencil. My pencil’s color is yellow. Its shape is long and round. Second I used my hands to feel the pencil. It is smooth. Then I used my ears to describe the sound it made when I dropped it. It sounded like a plop, plop. Last I used my nose to describe its smell. It smells like wood.

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CER Sample

Claim: I know I can use my senses to learn about properties of objects.

Evidence:Pencil’s properties:Color: blue and yellowShape: long and round like a can with one end sharpened and the other end with an eraser.

Feels: smooth and hardOne end feels sharp and the other end feels rubbery.

Sounds when dropped: plop, plop

Smell: woody

Reasoning: Here is how I used my senses to observe my pencil’s properties. First I used my eyes to look at my pencil. I can see my pencil’s color is blue with yellow stars. Its shape is long and round like a can. I can see one end is sharpened with a point. Next I used my hands to feel it. It feels smooth and hard. Then I used my ears to describe the sound it made when I dropped it. It sounded like a plop, plop. Last I used my nose to smell it. It smelled like wood. Using my senses helped me learn properties of my pencil.

Grades 2 - 5Practicing Science Like a Scientist

Observation, Measurement and Investigation Stations

1. Observe a Rock

2. Classify Rocks

3. Measure a Rock’s Length

4. Weigh a Rock

5. Measure a Rock’s Volume (Gr. 4 & 5)

6. Bubbles and Fizz (Gr. 4 & 5)

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Practicing Science:Teacher Reflection

How did you see the Florida Standards being integrated in the hands-on activities?

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