6th Grade Science- 3D Animal Cells

My 6th grade class just finished learning about plant and animal cells! I really wanted to do a hands on activity with cells, so this past week we created 3D-models of an animal cell out of jello and candy.  My kids LOVED IT! In my opinion, they looked okay and I probably would make a few adjustments for next year, but like I said the kids had a blast! I mean come on, what 6th grader doesn't like artificial colors, sugar, and getting a bit messy!?  So here is what I did before we completed this lab.


Materials:  (A great project to do around Halloween!)

• Snack Sized Zip Plastic Bags = Cell Membrane
• Yellow/Orange Jello = Cytoplasm 
• Nerds = Ribosomes
• Skittles = lysosome
• Jelly Beans = centrosome
• Gopstoppers = vacuole
• Peel and Pull Twizzlers = Golgi Body 
• Raisins = mitochondria
• Gummy Worm = Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum 
• Sour Gummy Worm = Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum 
• Palmer Wrapped Eyeball Carmel Chocolate = Nucleus, Nucleolus, and Nuclear Membrane 

Before lesson:

Over the weekend, my oh-so-kind sister helped me make the jello and put the liquid jello in each snack sized plastic bag. We figured that about 3/4 cup of jello was a good amount for each student.  I bought 8 packages of jello for my 30 students and it worked perfectly.

After making the jello and putting them in the individual bags, we put all the little 30 zipped bags in the fridge to fully gel.  Then, we distributed all the candy the students would need in bags (dixie cups would work well too) so there wouldn't be 30 hands in the nerds box, skittle bag, raisin bag, etc.  After placing all the candy/material in individual bags, we took a break and ate some of the left over candy! Please, don't forget that step! ;)

Here are a few pictures of the prep work!

Lesson:

After going through an example, I passed out the individual jello bags and then had a student pass out the candy bags.  After passing out the bags, I had a poster and we went through the names and functions of each part of the cell.  I was really surprised how much the students remembered the functions and the names of each part of the cell. Once we got to the golgi body, I had students all take their twizzlers out and fold them like a wave to really make the golgi body stand out.  Finally, I had my students write a lab report and examine their 3D animal cell! I did not let them eat it in class, but would have to wait till they got home to eat it! Hope this is helpful and make's your students smile too!

Pictures soon to come! 

A Bug in the Drawer

Bugs are totally gross...I get it! Trust me! If I mention the word "bug" in my classroom, I have more students (yes...boys too) on the desks than I have ever seen before! It's so crazy how we are so BIG and yet afraid of something SO small. This past week, I noticed that when I open the top drawer in my desk, there is this small beetle like bug sitting on my reward tickets! Every time, I try to inch my way into the drawer and move my hand to pick up the reward ticket (with the bug sitting there), this little stinker goes back under the drawer where I can't get to it! I have attempted to remove this bug for three days and have had no luck. You are  all probably thinking, why don't you just empty your drawer and take the drawer out?  Yes, I could empty everything out of the drawer and remove the drawer and then get this bug, but I have realized that this has turned into a game and one day I will win this game and put this bug in a better place for him which will be outside!
Now almost finished with the first quarter, this bug got me thinking.  We all have bugs or little aggravations or little moments in our school days that we don't expect.  Lesson plans don't go as well, a last minute meeting scheduled, common core standards that need to be taught, curriculum maps that don't quite match to today's date, or basic concepts/topics that need to be reviewed which takes time that should have been mastered the first week of school!  Good grief, where's the bag of chocolate!? :) But yet, we still make it through each school day and school year seeing students/teachers succeed, smile, share, learn, and grow!

Hebrews 10:24 KJV

"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works"

First to the Finish Line

I'm not sure about you, but as a teacher I get the frequent, "I'm all done with everything, what can I do?" I absolutely hate this statement and tell my students that I have another assignment and then they usually respond with "No, actually I have something else to do! because they know that something "boring" and school related is coming there way! 

So this year, I really wanted to try to limit this as much as possible and keep all students occupied with something to do.  Plus, give them a choice of what to do!

For those who finish there work well, I will sometimes give students 1 point extra credit if they complete a "fast finisher!"

Here is a list I came up with for those "fast finishers"....

1. Boggle

I found a freebie on Teachers Pay Teachers for a free Boggle Board with letters.  After printing off the letters I laminated them and then created a Boggle Board in my classroom! I try and changed the Boggle board every week and have a competition for this!  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

2. Math Money Dollar/Hundreds Words - This actually came from another blog who has awesome ideas! She uses this in her 4th grade classroom and for her it seems to work very well. Here is the link to her freebie!

http://fourthgrademathnut.blogspot.com/2013/06/inflation.html

3. Big Kid Geometric Coloring Pages

This website, Geometrip, has free downloads to really cool geometric design coloring pages that would keep 5-8th graders busy for a while. 

http://geometrip.com/free/coloring/designs/

4. Word Searches

My students love word searches and there are several websites that provide free printable word searches.

5. Highlight Seek and Finds

At Barnes and Noble, I bought a Highlights for Kids Challenge Seek and Find book, and so I don't ruin the book, I put a transparency over the top of a page and use large binder clips to keep it in place.  Then, I give the students a dry erase marker to complete it!

6. Silent Reading

In the back of my classroom, I have a "library" that my kids love to pick out a book and just read!

7. Color

My 6th graders love to color! I try to keep crayons and scrap paper out at all times.

8. Puzzles

In the summer, I try to stock up on games/puzzles that I find at Target or at The Dollar Tree. If any one of my students finish, they love to go somewhere in the classroom and sit and complete a puzzle.

:) 

Animal Kingdom Classification Tree Project

Well, I have to admit that I am not a science teacher by any means. I am a teacher, but not a science teacher.  I  can plan lessons, stay organized (well 90% of the time), and provide something for students to do.

This year, I have been given the opportunity to teach math, science, and social studies to 6th grade.  Math is my concentration and obviously the easiest for me. However, I thought science wouldn't be too difficult since it has a lot of connection with math and it is very black and white...well I was wrong..science in 6th grade is very difficult if you have no idea what they are learning! Right now, I am teaching them about the biosphere, adaptation, and classification.  I remember doing all of this in 6th grade but to actually TEACH this material....it has been much more of a challenge than I thought.


Anyways, I have really been struggling finding assignments for them to do independently that go along with what we are learning. I don't have a teacher's manual so I have been working hard at creating my own lessons and Googling like crazy for ideas.

ANIMAL KINGDOM TREE 

 

Math is beginning to FALL all around us...Order of Operations Style

This week in math, my lovely 6th graders have been working hard on understanding Order of Operations.  One of the worksheets they completed was a "color by number" sort of activity but rather than numbers they had to solve mathematical expressions.  Here are the pictures of the worksheet. I also posted just the leaves picture because this could be used for several math lessons. :)

DIY Star/Sun Mirror

Star/Sun Mirrors are super cute and super simple to make. Normally, I am one that would go to Target or Anthropologie and just buy one, but I really wanted to do some sort of easy crafty project this week. So I decided to make one and it was all for $10.00!  Among JoAnn's, The Anderson's, and Michael's, I bought all the supplies.

Supply List:
- Paint Pallet Sticks x 40ish (The Andersons)
- Wooden Wreath  (Michael's)
- Gold or Silver Spray Paint (The Andersons)
- Elmer's Wood Glue (JoAnn's)
- Sand Paper (The Andersons) 
- Big Pot of Water

BEFORE GLUING anything to the wreath...I recommend sanding the paint sticks down to remove the clear coating that the manufactures put on the paint sticks to prevent paint absorption.  Don't spend a great deal of time on this because you could drive your self crazy doing this. (I spent about 10 seconds for each paint stick and the paint stuck just fine!)

After sanding all the paint sticks down, I  glued one layer of paint sticks down and then set a big pot of water on top (acts like a clamp) until the glue dried.  After this layer dried, I added another layer and then repeated this again for a third time. One you have this "crazy looking wooden glued paint stick star like thing"...say that three times fast...you are ready to paint!

 

I took my crazy paint stick star out to the backyard (do this the day you are planning on mowing the grass so your grass doesn't turn gold for too long).   I applied several THIN coats of paint to mine. Once the paint dried, I glued a smaller wood circle on to the middle with the wood glue so that the mirror would be level.

Once the wood smaller circle was in place and the mirror circle was glued in place, I hung my beautiful mirror! :)



 

Classroom Charm

This year, I am teaching 6th grade math, science, and social studies and am absolutely loving it! Over the summer, I have worked really hard to incorporate all three subjects in my classroom and make it noticeable to visitors that this is a place for 12 year old scientists, mathematicians, and historians! Plus, really trying to make it a homey place where everyone feels welcomed! :)