The Great Sneeze Experiment

Achoo! Cold, flu, and allergy seasons are fabulous times to learn about germs and how to keep them to ourselves. Kids are not always great at covering up a sneeze. The Great Sneeze Experiment will help children understand the importance of sneezing into an elbow. 

This science experiment is inspired by Zoey and Sassafras: Gnomes and Sneezes. This is the latest book in one of our all-time favorite series. A fabulous mix of fantasy and science concepts appropriate and engaging for kids ages 4-10. 

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

Gnomes and Sneezes

In book 10 of the Zoey and Sassafras series, Zoey discovers gnomes in the secret room of her friend's new house. The gnomes have a case of the sneezes! Zoey systematically works through the gnomes' symptoms and the environmental factors in their living space to identify what it causing these sniffles. Readers see her use graphing as a way to collect data. 

You'll have to read the book to discover what is making the gnomes sneeze! We thoroughly enjoyed Zoey and Sassafras: Gnomes and Sneezes, and it inspired my kids to read the entire series over again (this will be the 3rd time for one of them!). If you want to encourage kids to test things out, experiment, and use logic and creativity to solve their problems, this series is the best!

You can grab a free Zoey and Sassafras science journal at the bottom of this post.

 

The Great Sneeze Experiment

In this simple experiment students will collect data on a "sneeze" that has not been covered and a "sneeze" that has. 

The Great Sneeze Experiment Materials: 

• Paper, construction or butcher paper are good choices
• Painter's tape, or another tape that will be gentle on walls
• Water
• Food colors or paint (optional)
• Spray bottle
• Small towel
• Markers
• Ruler or tape measure

The Great Sneeze Experiment Procedure:

Tape a piece of paper up about kid's chest level on the wall. (We used re-used paper from packaging.) Mark a place to stand a short distance away from the wall. 

Fill up the spray bottle with water. If your paper is dark, using plain water will work just fine. You can also experiment with different colored water. If more than one kid is using the same piece of paper, colors can be helpful to tell whose "sneeze" is whose.

Standing in the spot marked on the floor, hold up the spray bottle at chest level and spray once. It's optional but fun to let out a big "ACHOOO" sound when you do this. 

Draw a circle* around all of the spray drops on the paper from the "sneeze". Measure how wide the circle is. Note this on a data sheet. 

*This step is important if you are using plain water for your experiment. The wet spot will evaporate and dry fairly quickly, so note your results!

Now, cover an arm with the towel and position your spray bottle as close to the same position as possible. Spray behind the towel covered arm. This represents sneezing into your elbow. Let out another "ACHOOO!" 

Again, circle any spray from the "sneeze" you see on the paper. Measure the spots and note them in a data table. 

The Great Sneeze Experiment: Results

What did you find out? I don't think I want to be in the way of that uncovered sneeze! If you are completing this experiment as a class, compile all the data before discussing it. 

Some discussion questions: 

• What does covering the sneeze do? 
• How is this experiment like real life? 
• How is it different from real life? 

More Zoey and Sassafras Science Investigations!

We love Zoey and Sassafras! Here are two other Zoey and Sassafras inspired experiments to try. 

• Design your own insect investigation, inspired by Zoey and Sassafras: Dragons and Marshmallows. 
• An apple food preservation experiment inspired by Zoey and Sassafras: Monsters and Mold.        

Free Zoey and Sassafras Science Journal!

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Building Science Skills with Compare and Contrast Picture Books

Kids love animals and have an innate desire want to categorize and sort things into groups. Why not combine these passions to build early observation skills in science? I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to review this year's Compare and Contrast books from Arbordale Publishing. I'd love to share this engaging book series with you along with resources and activity ideas for science class. 

 

In this post you will find information about Compare and Contrast books, written by seasoned zoo and aquarium educators, as well as links to an infographic activity and how to use graphic organizers to build science skills in observation and categorization.

 

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

Animal Compare and Contrast Books

 

The newest compare and contrast books from Arbordale Publishing feature dazzling photos of animals. In many cases the pictures give a glimpse of something we would not have an opportunity to see otherwise. We especially loved the images of turtles in Turtles: A Compare and Contrast Book.  You can preview the turtle book here. (Recommended for ages 4-9, grades K-3)

 

 

 

 

Each book in the series is well organized. For example, Birds: A Compare and Contrast Book is organized by feature and adaptation. I think this makes this series perfect for the classroom or at home because students can find interesting information in a way that is logical and scaffolds off of their prior knowledge. You can preview the bird book here. (Recommended for ages 4-9, grades K-3)

 

 

 

 

While the turtle and bird books focus on one group of animals, others compare and contrast two similar yet different types of animal. These are wonderful for finding out why we may confuse two types of creatures and what actually makes them different from one another. These titles include: Alligator or Crocodile?, Black Bear or Grizzly Bear?, Hippo or Rhino? and Octopus or Squid?.

We definitely learned some interesting things we didn't know before from this book series. 

 

Did you know? 

• There are 16 subspecies of Black Bear in North America. All subtle differences in DNA.
• In addition to eight arms, squid have two tentacles covered in suction cups and hooks.
• Black rhinos can grab onto things with their prehensile upper lip.
  

And many, many more interesting facts, but I don't want to spoil them all! 

 

I loved that each book contained additional learning material, activities and ideas in the back. You could read the book just for fun, or turn it into a deeper learning experience with these extensions. 

 

I believe the Compare and Contrast series would be an excellent addition to any classroom or home library. Engaging images, interesting and understandable content on topics kids get excited about.

Comparing and Contrasting for Preschool

Little ones love to sort! After a Compare and Contrast book read-aloud, get out a big sheet of paper (we love big paper rolls!) tape it to the floor and draw some sorting circles. Grab some animal toys (our Octonauts made it into the mix!) and have the kids sort based on color, type or however they choose. 

 

 

This is excellent practice in making observations, looking carefully, comparing and contrasting. 

Create an Infographic with Elementary Students

 

Use the Compare and Contrast series to have students design their own infographics. Using this template, kids can illustrate and write about an animal they have read about. Bits of information comparing their animal to another are explained with text and information. Once everyone is done the students can become the teachers and share their illustrated information with their peers.  

 

Grab the infographic template worksheet here. 

 

Graphic Organizers

 

Here is a great article on using graphic organizers in literature-based science instruction. After reading a compare and contrast book help students organize and process new information by using a graphic organizer such as a T-chart or Venn diagram. 

T-charts are an easy way for young students to organize information when comparing two things. Circle the kids up and get out the chart paper to have them help you populate information into two categories. 

 If you're looking for another book to inspire some STEM learning in the elementary classroom, check out my post: Poetry and Engineering Inspired by Nature.

Poetry and Engineering Inspired by Nature!

I am thrilled to be reviewing Karen Ansberry's new book: Nature Did It First: Engineering Through Biomimicry, as well as sharing some related STEM activity ideas. In this wonderful new picture book you'll find short poems highlighting the impressive adaptations of plants and animals followed by the story of how these adaptations have inspired engineers to solve a human problem. Nature Did It First is the perfect introduction to nature inspired STEM engineering challenges.

This post contains affiliate links, meaning I receive a small commission from purchases made through these links. Please see disclosures for more information. As well as links from Amazon.com you will also find links to Bookshop.org, an online book store that works to support local independent book stores. Shopping through Bookshop links can help you support book stores in your area! 

Nature Did it First: Engineering Through Biomimicry

 
The author of Nature Did It First, Karen Ansberry, is a former classroom teacher and co-author of one of my favorite elementary science curriculum resources, Picture-Perfect Science Lessons. Ansberry is a master of combining science concepts, story and engaging STEM activities. (Not to mention an awesome facilitator for science education professional development, I have been lucky enough to attend her workshops, they are great!)

We really enjoyed reading Nature Did It First: Engineering Through Biomimicry at our house. It is the perfect mix of fun little poems and really interesting information about how animals like geckos and kingfishers and plants like burrs have influenced engineers to solve human problems. I also really like that there are materials and additional resources available for teachers at the end of the book and online, including a free STEM lesson plan found here.

What is Biomimicry?

First of all, what is biomimicry anyway? If you break down the word, into "bio" and "mimic" you probably can figure it out. Biomimicry is the process of designing nature-inspired solutions to human problems. It is mimicking what we find in nature to help us in our daily lives.

Nature Did It First: Engineering Through Biomimicry explores 7 interesting plants and animals and how their natural features inspired engineers in their designs.

Nature Did It First! 

As I read this book to my daughter, I was surprised by many of the ways that animal and plant behavior or physical adaptations have been incorporated into designs in the human world.

Did you know that gecko toes have inspired the development of adhesives?

Did you know that the fins of humpback whales helped engineers design more smooth and efficient windmill and water turbine blades? 

How about this- did you know that the slippery surface of a pitcher plant inspired a material that helps ketchup slide out of bottles more readily?

These are just a few of the wild ways humans have been inspired by nature! You'll find several more fascinating examples when you read Nature Did It First: Engineering Through Biomimicry. This book would be a fantastic introduction to a STEM lesson at school, or the perfect read-aloud for nature-loving children at home. I highly recommend it!

Adaptation and Biomimicry Activities

To get children learning and thinking about the different features of animals, send them on an animal adaptation scavenger hunt! Read about the adaptations of sloths, anteaters and armadillos in this post, then download a FREE adaptation scavenger hunt card (link at bottom of post) that you can use to search for household items that have similar features or uses as these animal adaptations. [If you prefer, you can also download this scavenger hunt for free on my Teachers Pay Teachers page.]

How is camouflage used in the natural world and human world? Explore some fun camouflage science activities and find some related book suggestions here.

Children and students can design an animal in the amazing adaptations art activity included in my International Sloth Day post here.

Don't miss the awesome STEM challenge and teaching materials available in the back of Nature Did It First: Engineering Through Biomimicry and free downloads for grades K-2 and 3-5 found at the book's webpage here. 

In this engineering challenge, students will study nature, brainstorm a problem that can be solved by an idea from nature, brainstorm and design an invention, build a model and share their creation. An added language arts component could be to write a poem about the natural idea they investigated, similar to the wonderful poetry in Nature Did It First: Engineering Through Biomimicry.

Many, many thanks to Karen Ansberry for sharing her wonderful book with me! 
 

T. Rex Tracks: A Math and Science Activity with Turtle Trails Publishing

I am thrilled to share this guest post from my friend Carla from Turtle Trails Publishing. You may also know her from the excellent learning activities she shares at Preschool Powol Packets and Teaching Without Chairs. Your kids are going to love getting outside and trying this dinosaur-themed STEM activity!

Tyrannosaurus Rex is one of the most popular dinosaurs of all time for a lot of reasons, but how much do you actually know about this dinosaur? I have an awesome science + math activity you about T. Rexes for you and your kiddos today!

Hi! My name is Carla Mae Jansen, and I recently finished writing A Dinosaur Made Me Sneeze, a picture book about the rock cycle (more on that below!). Anyway, since I’ve been working on this book we have been doing a ton of dinosaur activities lately--partly because the book is on everybody’s minds and partly because we all love dinosaurs! Seriously, I think there’s a part of me that will be seven forever.

Anyway, today I’m excited to share this T. Rex Tracks activity with you! It’s a low-prep, easy to do dinosaur activity that has your kids use science reasoning and math skills to create T. Rex “tracks!” 

Simple Supplies:

1- Track Markers (masking tape OR paper OR sidewalk chalk if you’re outside!)
2- Measuring tape or rulers

Easy How To:

1- To begin, ask your kids to guess how tall their legs are. Most kid legs will be 2-3 feet high. Tell them that most T. Rex legs were about 11 feet high! Measure 11 feet high along a wall, and see where the T. Rex leg would be! The rim of our basketball hoop was right at 11 feet...and yes, my 7 year old can climb straight up to it!

2- When we did this, I told the kids that since T. Rex legs were so tall, their steps were HUGE! But before we looked at T. Rex steps, let’s see what kid steps look like. Let the kids work in teams to mark a set of kid “tracks” showing at least 10 steps.  Is this different if they run?

3- Ask your kids how many kid steps they think would fit inside of one T. Rex step (or stride). If you have paper, write down their guesses. Since we were outside, we just talked about it.

4- Ask the kids how they can figure out how many kid steps fit inside on T. Rex step. It might help them to know that T. Rex steps when walking were about 5 feet long and when running were about 12 feet long!  According to our measurements, my 4-year would have to 6 steps to keep up with a T. Rex, my 7-year old would have to run 4 steps for every 1 T. Rex step, and my 10 year old would have to run 3 mighty leaps to keep up.

How close were their guesses from #3?

T. Rex Fun Fact: Some researchers believe that T. Rexes could have run up to 20 miles per hour, but would not have run faster than that because if they were to fall going any faster the crash would have killed them!

To finish off the fun, we read A Dinosaur Made Me Sneeze!

This is my new dinosaur-themed, science-based picture book!  It’s a delightful rhyming story that introduces rock cycle science (complete with vocabulary like “sedimentary,” “igneous,” “metamorphic,” and more!) with fantastic characters and a hilarious story! It showcases the changes that the Earth and rocks on the Earth make as years go by. You can learn more about it, see some of the illustrations, and more HERE! I really hope you love it!!

I hope you have a “roar-some” time with your T. Rex tracks!! 

Thanks again for letting me join you, and happy educating!

Carla Mae Jansen

Carla Mae Jansen is an educator, author, and mom who lives in Virginia, USA. She loves going rock-hunting, eating chocolate, and exploring new places with her family. She has a master’s degree in teaching science, and is always looking for something new to learn! You can follow along with her publishing adventures at Turtle Trails Publishing.

Save the Bees! Bee Citizen Science Projects for School or Home

Empower your children or students by showing them some activities that can work toward solving the world's declining bee populations. Whether you are studying pollination, planning an Earth Day project, or teaching an insect unit, understanding the importance of bees to all ecosystems and our food supply is important and interesting at any grade level. In this post you'll find some children's book suggestions for learning more about bees and a bunch of ways you can contribute to professional science through easy bee citizen science projects.

This post is part of the 2019 Storybook Science series on the Inspiration Laboratories blog. For more activities linked to great children's books as well as other citizen science projects to try, check out the list of posts in the series here. 

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

Picture Books for Inspiring a Love of Bees

Bee & Me is a delightful wordless picture book by Alison Jay. It is the fictional story of a girl who meets a bee and cares for it in her city apartment. It eventually grows bigger than the girl and longs for flowers. They travel to the country to collect flower seeds and spread them around the city. The following spring the city is in bloom from sidewalk to roof tops.

Although the story is fantasy, it is a nice entry point to learning about the needs of bees and their part in the life cycle of plants. The end pages have suggestions for attracting and learning more about bees. Another bonus about this cute story is that it has no words, so you could share it with a wide variety of ages from readers to non-readers alike. This is just one example of some of the great new picture books that can inspire STEM activities with kids.



Another bee book I am highly anticipating is the unreleased, "Next Time You See a Bee" by Emily Morgan. The books in the "Next Time You See..." series are well written, engaging non-fiction stories that make great read-alouds for home or the classroom.

Kids Help Professional Scientists: Bee Citizen Science

Citizen Science is a method of crowdsourcing scientific research. Through the participation of volunteers, more data can be collected than might be otherwise. There are many kid-friendly citizen science projects. 

There are so many ways people of all ages can contribute to science, whether it is local or online. Here are several ways to monitor and identify the bees in your area with kids. Contribute your observations to a science project and be part of an important scientific process. 

Through Bumble Bee Watch go on a scavenger hunt for bumble bees. Snap a photo and submit it for identification. Grab a bumble bee field guide and have kids try their hand at identifying the bees.

With the Great Sunflower Project you can learn how to attract and count pollinators in your yard, and even get discounts on pollinator friendly seeds. Make observations to count how many pollinators visit your yard or observation area, then submit your count!

In the fall, take The Goldenrod Challenge. Team up with others to see how many different bees you can spot on goldenrod flowers and report your findings. 

If you live in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri or Ohio you can observe and count bees for the BeeSpotter project.

Visit PollinatorLive for all sorts of different pollinator citizen science projects as well as resources for teachers.

More Bee and Pollinator Activities

If you are looking for more activities to keep the bee and pollinator learning going, try out the following:

Communicate like a bee and code directions into a bee dance! 

Learn how to plan and grow a garden that is attractive to pollinators.  

Find more insect citizen science projects for kids here.

Learn how to build a colorful insect hotel with this project from the STEAM Kids book. (Especially great if you've got plastic straws you are trying to use up before transitioning to paper straws!!) 

Story Book Science

Be sure to stop by Inspiration Laboratories for the full list of Story Book Science activities! You'll find more citizen science, STEM challenges, environmental science and space science themed books and projects this year.

Awesome STEM Picture Books and Activity Ideas

Two of my great loves are children's books and STEM. I truly believe that integrating an engaging picture book with a great hands-on activity is a educational win. In this post I've put together some activity ideas to accompany some wonderful new picture books in the STEM disciplines.

These activities will be great additions to units you may be teaching at school, or could be used to follow your children's interests at home. They would also be great to use in your library sponsored STEM club, summer camp or after school program. There is something here for everyone, from preschool through early middle school!

In addition to this post, you should check out my video resource on how to use just about any picture book for a STEM activity! Find the "Using Picture Books to Teach Elementary STEM" video here. 

This post contains affiliate links, meaning that I receive a small commission from purchases made through these links. Please see disclosures for more information.

STEM Books and Activities for Early Childhood and Elementary

CRASH! BOOM! A Math Tale by Robie H. Harris, illustrated by Chris Chatterton is a cute picture book that follows the thought process of a little one building with blocks. I love it because it is something that most children can relate to as they have experimented with blocks themselves. A great introduction to early math concepts like shapes, the area of surfaces, and nonstandard units of measurement.




Activity ideas for CRASH! BOOM! A Math Tale:

• Challenge kids to see how many blocks it takes to build a tower their height. Ask them to make a prediction before they begin!
• Nonstandard units of measure: Use blocks of different size to measure various items (i.e. How many long blocks does it take to go from one side of the room to another?)

Bee & Me by Alison Jay is a sweet and fanciful wordless story about a girl who befriends and helps raise a bee in the city. The bee misses flowers, so they go collect seeds in the country and spread them around the city. This story introduces the importance of bees in a gentle, kid-friendly way. It very quickly became a favorite book at our house!



Activity ideas for Bee & Me:

• Plant a bee-friendly flower garden. You'll find ideas for a pollinator garden here. 
• Learn about pollination. 
• Design a bee hotel! There is an easy project in the STEAM Kids book. 
• Try a bee citizen science project.

Anywhere Farm by Phyllis Root and illustrated by G. Brian Karas is a fun story illustrating the idea that you can grow food just about anywhere. It also hammers home the needs of seeds and plants.




Activity ideas for Anywhere Farm:

• Design a creative container garden!
• Build a germination jar and watch plants grow
• Investigate where our food comes from
• Measure and graph plant growth
• Sort seeds
• Monitor the light your plant is getting with a light meter or the water in a pot with a moisture meter to add in some technology. 

The Girl With a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague by Julia Finley Mosca and illustrated by Daniel Rieley is another wonderful story of triumph over adversity in the "Amazing Scientists" series. It follows Raye Montague's path to becoming the first to create a computer generated design of a U.S. Naval ship. With rhyming, kid-friendly text the story of this remarkable engineer is accessible for the elementary crowd.



Activities for The Girl With a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague:

• Explore Computer Assisted Design (CAD) with Tinkercad 
• Design a to-scale blueprint or model
• Learn about amazing women in STEM with this biography project

STEM Books for Upper Elementary and Middle School

Animals by the Numbers by Steve Jenkins is another of his beautifully illustrated book featuring animals. Each page shares an infographic containing fascinating facts like the number of wingbeats per second for various flying animals, or how many hours a day different animals sleep. Lots of great information presented in a visually stunning way!



Activity ideas for Animals by the Numbers:

• Research an animal and create an infographic poster
• Research an animal and create a digital infographic
• Design a fictitious social media profile for a researched animal or animal group 

Counting Birds: The Idea That Helped Save Our Feathered Friends by Heidi Stemple, illustrated by Clover Robin is the true story of the inception of the Audubon Christmas Bird Count and how citizen science really got started.



Activity ideas for Counting Birds: The Idea That Helped Save Our Feathered Friends:

• Participate in an Audubon bird count
• Keep track of birds at a feeder, collect data about the species and number and then graph it.
• Log in to eBird and contribute your bird observation data to scientific research.
• Use an app to learn bird calls and a field guide to learn bird identification.
• Install a wildlife camera and photograph birds at a feeding station, analyze their behavior

Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover by Markus Motem is a fun look at the "life story" of one of the Mars rovers. Really understandable and informative text paired with engaging illustrations.



Activities for Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover :

• Give an engineering design challenge of any sort
• Jump start a unit on space exploration and the solar system
• Build robots
• Try some coding
• Research a planet and decide what criteria a rover or space probe would have to meet to travel and work there

Astronaut-Aquanaut: How Space Science and Sea Science Interact by Jennifer Swanson is a book teeming with information, photos and inspiration about space and sea research and exploration. Although it is not meant to be a read-aloud book, kids who love the ocean and outer space will pour over the pages chock-full of images and information.

Activities for Astronaut-Aquanaut: How Space Science and Sea Science Interact:

• You'll find several hands-on activities sprinkled throughout the book
• Train like an astronaut with NASA
• Check out this review and activity ideas on Growing With Science. 

This Book Stinks!: Gross Garbage, Rotten Rubbish, and the Science of Trash by Sarah Wassner Flynn is literally jam-packed with images and information. Sometimes the most disgusting is the most interesting to kids, and this explores all aspects of the real-world issue of waste!


Activity ideas for This Book Stinks!: Gross Garbage, Rotten Rubbish, and the Science of Trash:

• Recycling challenge- supply some recyclables and challenge students to think of how many ways they could reuse and repurpose them
• Explore upcycling with Terracycle
• Build a model landfill and see what happens to the garbage
• Build a worm composting bin
• Set up a mini-makerspace with recyclables as the supplies to work with
• Study materials science and trace an item back to its beginning

More Book Linked STEM Activities!

• Here Comes the Garbage Barge -landfill model
• The Dandelion Seed -Seed engineering design challenge
• Zoey and Sassafras: Monsters and Mold -Apple experiment
• Surviving Like a Shark -Food Pyramid game
• Women in STEM Biography Project