Teach about Cold-blooded Animals with Color Changing Dough

If you have ever taught a lesson on the characteristics of reptiles then you have probably found that young elementary students often struggle with the idea of warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals. The term "cold-blooded" is misleading, cold-blooded animals are not always cold!

This science activity will help you model the concept of being ectothermic, or cold-blooded, by using temperature sensitive color changing play dough! It will help your science students or your kids at home better understand what happens when a turtle, snake or lizard sits in the sun or under a heat lamp. If you are looking to include STEM or STEAM elements in your curriculum, this activity includes art and design, as well as opportunities for including technology.

This post contains affiliate links, meaning I will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you make a purchase after clicking a product link. Please see disclosures for more information. 

Cold-blooded vs. Warm-blooded

Students often believe that warm-blooded animals are always warm inside and cold-blooded animals are always cold inside. Warm-blooded animals, like mammals and birds, can regulate their own body temperature and maintain a consistent body temperature unless ill. Cold-blooded animals, like reptiles, amphibians and fish have a body temperature that adapts to the ambient temperature. If conditions are cold, the animal will be cold, and likewise if conditions are warm the animal will be warm.

Ectotherm (cold-blooded) and Endotherm (warm-blooded) are more accurate terms, but also can be confusing words for young students. The activity below will help model why cold-blooded animals must move locations to adjust their body temperature.

Cold-blooded Creatures Experiment

For this science lesson you will need the following:

• Temperature sensitive play dough (you'll find the recipe we used in the STEAM Kids e-book, and you will need some thermochromic pigment to add to your dough, or you can experiment with other pre-made color changing doughs and putties)
• Large transparent container such as a terrarium or aquarium 
• Clamp light with a heat-generating light bulb (an aquarium lamp will also work)
• Clock and/or stopwatch 
• Infrared surface thermometer (optional, but will allow you to measure the surface temperature of the play dough animals)
• Tablet or camera with time-lapse capability (optional, but a great way to integrate technology in your experiment!)

Create Color Changing Creatures

 

To make our temperature sensitive color changing play dough, I used the recipe found in the STEAM Kids e-book (the print version available on Amazon). The secret sauce to temperature sensitive dough is thermochromic pigment. This pigment powder is the same stuff that causes mood rings to change color and makes the magic happen in other color-change products like nail polish.


If you are using the recipe from the STEAM Kids book (which I highly recommend for tons of little projects as well as ideas like this one that can be incorporated into other lessons) you will want to double, or maybe even triple the recipe when working with a large group of children.

When the dough is heated, it will change color. In this experiment, the color change is the indication that the "body temperature" of the dough creature is changing.

Experiment with Color Changing Cold-blooded Creatures! 

Have students make a hypothesis about the outcome of shining the light on the dough animals. Will they heat up? How long will it take for the animal to change color?

Determine how you will run the experiment. How often will you check on the play dough animals? Will you be taking their surface temperature? How will you collect data?

Once the kids have designed and built their their reptiles, amphibians or fish, place them in the terrarium. Be sure everyone is on the same page on how the experiment will be run.

Clip the light to the side of the aquarium. Be sure everyone involved understands this lamp will get hot! Use the necessary precautions and adult supervision.

We found that in our experimental set-up the color change occurred very quickly when heated, then changed back very slowly when cooled. We decided to make a time-lapse video of the process to capture the changes. This brief video is comprised of many still photos of the changes that took place over several minutes.



Once the students have observed and collected data, wrap up with a discussion. Here are some potential discussion questions:

• What was realistic about this model? 
• What was unrealistic?  
• How hot did the surface of the cold-blooded creatures in the experiment get?
• Why do cold-blooded animals sun themselves? 
• How do cold-blooded animals survive the winter months in climates with freezing temperatures?

A Patriotic Spin on the Zoetrope Animation STEAM Project

Let's put a patriotic spin on one of the most popular activities we've featured- zoetrope animation. Combining the science of how our eyes work along with creating some great art that you can animate makes this a super fun STEAM project. Why not also combine this activity with your Independence Day celebration and inspire some creativity over summer vacation?

First, you'll build your zoetrope out of supplies you most likely have around the house. Then do some doodles and voila! You'll be animating in no time. If you love STEAM projects, be sure to continue reading to the bottom of the post where we're sharing some other fun patriotic STEAM ideas.

This post contains affiliate links, see disclosures for more information. 

Supplies you'll need:

• Zoetrope Templates (optional)
• Dark colored paper
• Scissors or an X-acto Knife
• Ruler
• Container like a pie tin
• Tape
• Pencil or a dowel
• White printer paper
• Writing utensils for drawing

Build a Zoetrope

You will find the directions for building a zoetrope here.

Once you've built your spinning device, you can begin to create the art that you'll be able to animate. For our zoetrope design, you'll find that strips of paper that are an inch and a half wide work well for your drawings. Templates for the strips are included with the templates to build your zoetrope, available here. We created an American flag design and some fireworks for our Fourth of July animation.

What other patriotic or summer designs could you make? Here are some ideas:

• Parade floats
• The Statue of Liberty being built
• The crack forming in the Liberty Bell
• A moving map of the United States
• Talking Mount Rushmore
• Red, white and blue Popsicle melting

Animate!  

Zoetropes aren't the only way to make your own animation. You can create a stop-motion movie using LEGO bricks. Or try a clay animation video. You'll find a kid-friendly clay animation article here.

Here's a classic example of clay animation in action. 





If you're interested in doing more STEAM projects at home, you won't want to miss these Family STEAM night ideas.

Patriotic STEAM for Kids

Check out these other great patriotic STEAM ideas for your 4th of July and summer vacation!

Fluffy Patriotic Slime :: Schooling a Monkey

Make an American Flag Using Water Science Experiments :: From Engineer to Stay at Home Mom

Patriotic Animation :: Share It! Science

Film Canister Rocket Fireworks :: Science Kiddo

Home with the kiddos this summer? Check out this awesome new resource to keep them creating, experimenting and tinkering: Camp STEAM! 

Using Nature Arts and Crafts to Inspire STEAM Learning

Creating art from natural items is an excellent way for kids to hone their observation skills while developing creativity. I'm excited to be reviewing the Nature Arts and Crafts printable pack from author Penny Whitehouse of the Mother Natured blog. Not only is this a beautiful and clever resource for families, teachers and summer camps, but it also provides opportunities for STEAM learning and building science observation skills.

There are over 30 activities included that only require a printer, a place in nature and an excited kid! I predict it will provide hours of creative hands-on engagement for the kids in your life. Check out what we've done so far with our copy.

This post contains affiliate links, please see disclosures for more information. 

What are Nature Arts and Crafts? 

The Nature Arts and Crafts printable pack is a 60 page digital book including over 30 activities to take out into nature and create art. The activities are open-ended, inspiring creativity in nature loving kids. Not only do they get to explore art while out in nature, but also hone some important science and math skills in the process.

There are printables for all skill levels included in the pack, from learning patterns and developing fine motor skills for young children, to creating intricate nature mosaics and nature journals for older kids.

STEAM Learning Opportunities

Not only will kids get to be artistic and explore nature with these activities, but they also learn a lot in the process. Elements of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) are inherent throughout. Concepts like symmetry, and patterning develop math skills. Activities like basket weaving inspire nature engineering projects.

As kids choose the natural items they will use to make art, they make careful observations, looking for specific shapes and colors in nature. This can even lead to better plant identification skills. Using the printables during different seasons of the year can help children understand the changes that nature goes through.

Fun with Nature Arts and Crafts

So far we've enjoyed a few of the activities and are excited to try them all. The best part is that you can do them over and over again and each time they come out differently! It only reminded me that I need to get a little laminator like this for home so that I can make sturdy copies of each that we can take with us whenever we go on an outdoor adventure.

Our cherry tree was just losing its blossoms when we were collecting materials, so we had plenty of pink petals to craft with! Here are some of our other "supplies".

Pattern practice, first an AB pattern, then ABC!

We also had fun with dress-ups!

I love that there are so many different ways you can use the same printable to create something new! Here is another example:

Where Can You Get Nature Arts and Crafts?

Ready to try these yourself? You can follow this link to learn more and to purchase the printable pack. This digital download is well worth the money, as you can print them over and over once you own it.

In the meantime, you can enjoy this free excerpt.

Want to know more? Check out this video to see Nature Arts and Crafts in action!


Looking for more nature art? Check out these Nature Sculpture Engineering Challenges or this Beautiful Bird Nest craft. You might also enjoy this post on hosting a family STEAM night!

Disclaimer: I received a digital download of this printable pack in exchange for an honest review.

Nature Sculpture Engineering Challenges

I love art made from natural objects. Engineering challenges are a great open-ended way for kids to be creative and stretch their thinking. Let's combine both of these ideas into an outdoor STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) project.

This post contains affiliate links, please see disclosures for more information.

The overarching idea of these engineering challenges will to be to build a sculpture using only natural items. Just as a professional engineer goes through the engineering process, so will the kids while they sculpt. They will define the problem, or challenge, identify any requirements or limitations on materials, brainstorm a solution, build their prototype and test it to see if it solves the problem. They will redesign their sculpture as necessary.

Here are some nature sculpture engineering challenge ideas:

• Design and build a sculpture made of round rocks, stacked at least 4 rocks high.
  
• Design and build a sculpture that can hold water.
• Design and build a sculpture that is an inverted pyramid- where the small stones are on the bottom and the large ones on the top! 

• Design and build a woven sculpture.
• Design and build a sculpture made of leaves.

• Design and build a wall either of sticks or rocks that is sturdy enough for you to sit on.
• Design and build a tower made of sticks that can hold a rock the size of your fist on top.

• Design and build a sturdy log cabin structure. 
• Design and build a sturdy tee-pee shaped structure.

Here are some other great Outdoor STEAM activities to try: 

 

Watermelon Seed Spitting Measurement from Schooling a Monkey

Dry Ice Film Canister Rockets from Science Kiddo

Simple Ways to Take STEAM Outdoors from Little Bins for Little Hands

Magnify Without a Magnifier, A Science Art Project

Mixing science and art is never a bad thing. In this STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) art project kids use their powerful science observation skills and attention to detail to make some cool illustrations. This is a great lesson because you don't need a magnifying glass, or even a microscope to start to see the tiniest details. You'll hone your children's or student's observation skills with these magnification frame drawings!

Visit my Magnify Without a Magnifier contributor post on Only Passionate Curiosity to find out how to do this fun science and art project.


For more great STEAM projects, check out STEAM Kids!

Fractals in Nature: A Mathematical Suncatcher Project

In this STEAM activity we will combine art, nature, science, and math. Learn all about fractals and how to find their intricate repeating patterns in nature. Kids and students will create a beautiful suncatcher featuring fractal patterns for the classroom or window at home. 

While you can create these suncatchers any time of year, this can be a wonderful indoor activity in the winter. All you need is a window to sit by and a view of some deciduous trees! You will love this STEAM project as it leads to all sorts of curiosities and wonder about patterns in nature.

This post contains affiliate links, meaning I receive a small commission from purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Please see disclosures for more information.

What is a fractal? 

Let's combine science, math and art with a nature inspired STEAM project. Fractals are fascinating mathematical patterns that are never-ending. They repeat and are similar regardless of scale. In other words, a small part of the whole looks just like the whole. These patterns create beautiful images that can be constructed by humans, but are also prevalent in nature.

One common example of a fractal is the Sierpinski triangle, where the triangle shape repeats and is the same whether you are looking at just one of the smaller triangles, or the large triangle.

Sierpinski Triangle (image: public domain)

Fractal patterns are found throughout the natural world. From fern fronds and planetary rings, to lightning and tree branches, nature is full of these beautiful patterns. Here are some examples:

Frost fractals

Romanesco Brocolli Fractals (image by Jon Sullivan, public domain)

Create a Fractal Suncatcher

You can go out and find fractals too! We went on a fractal scavenger hunt and then made a pretty suncatcher with one of the patterns we found.

To do this project you'll need:

• device that takes digital photos (or the internet) 
• printer
• tracing paper
• colored pencils or markers
• dark colored card stock

First, head outside to see what sort of fractal patterns you can find! Remember, they are the same at all scales, so you could find large or small examples. With the leaves gone from the trees it is easy to see the branching patterns:

Fractals in the branching of a tree.

Snap some photos of the fractal patterns you find.

Fractals in the branching pattern of flowers.

Once you're back indoors, you'll print out your favorite images and trace the patterns in any color or repeating scheme that you like onto your tracing paper.

If you are unable to go outside due to the weather, you can also print out fractal images from the internet. Check out these amazing examples of fractals in nature. 

Once you are happy with your fractal design, create a frame with the dark card stock to complete your suncatcher. Hang it on the window to enjoy.

We were amazed at how much our suncatcher, which was a repeated pattern from one tree, looked like branching blood vessels in the human body. It is amazing that similar patterns are found in so many naturally occurring places.

More Fun Learning with Fractals

If you are interested in learning more about fractals, we highly recommend Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in Nature by Sarah C. Campbell, and incredible images by her husband, Richard P. Campbell. I was lucky enough to hear Sarah speak about her book, and she is one of the most enthusiastic people I've ever heard talk about patterns in nature.


**Purchasing books from Bookshop is a great way to support this blog AND your local book sellers!** 

You might also be interested in another book by the Campbells, Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature.



If you're looking for more great STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) activities, you won't want to miss the STEAM Kids e-book. Get it here, or read our review here.

More Math and Nature

The Golden Ratio in the Garden which is part of our Children's STEAM Festival series.

Lessons from Sunflowers 

This post is part of the 28 Days of STEAM series on the Left Brain, Craft Brain blog. Check it out for tons of fun STEAM activities!