Lower Elementary (LE; 5-7 years old)
Week 1 (Jan. 6-8)
Soil Properties: Testing different kinds of soil to measure and compare their different absorption, air and pH properties.
Week 2 (Jan. 20-21)
Plant Dyes and Imprints: Learning about natural dyes found in plants and investigating how different kinds of fabrics absorb homemade natural dyes.
Week 3 (Feb. 3-5)
The Water and Rock Cycles: Learning about the water cycle by creating a simple visual aid to individually observe the process of the water cycle. Students will also engage in an active exploration of the transformation that creates the 3 different types of rocks found on Earth and creating a model of each type of rock
Week 4 (Feb. 17-19)
Parent and Offspring: Learning and classifying the function of animal parts, and matching offspring to their parents based on inherited traits.
Week 5 (Mar. 3-5)
Surviving in my Home: Learning and categorizing the properties and adaptations of living and nonliving things within different types of habitats.
Week 6 (Mar. 17-19)
Biome Competition: Active description of the 7 main biomes found on Earth before matching and categorizing animal cards to their corresponding biomes.
Week 7 (Mar. 31-Apr. 2)
Light Energy: Exploration of the different wavelengths that natural light is made up of, and investigating how light can travel through some types of materials but not through others. Students will also create their own bath-bombs to learn about objects with fluorescent characteristics
Week 8 (Apr. 14-16)
Electrical Energy: Learning about closed and open electrical circuits using batteries and conductive clay to light up an LED light.
Week 9 (Apr. 28-30)
My Neurons: Learning the function of different brain cells and how they actively communicate with each other through the modeling of a neuron and its parts
Week 10 (May 13-15)
My Senses: Explore the gustatory and tactile senses through five different activities that will highlight the use of one sense at a time
Upper Elementary (UE; 8-11 years old)
Week 1 (Jan. 6-8)
Storms and earthquakes: Learning about storm preparedness and the extreme weather events that result in a tornado, and creating an earthquake withstanding structure
Week 2 (Jan. 20-22)
Rivers: Exploration, modeling, and manipulation of a river using natural materials
Week 3 (Feb. 3-5)
Humidity and Transpiration: The use of a natural biological substance to make a hygrometer, and use a real psychrometer to use for a weather forecasting investigation. Students will also observe transpiration in real life on a humid versus not humid day.
Week 4 (Feb. 17-19)
Food Webs: Creating 3D food webs that can be observed in their environment as they review the process of photosynthesis and identify predators and consumers within their food webs
Week 5 (Mar. 3-5)
Genetics: Learning about and classifying inheritable traits and learned behaviors, and applying knowledge to a Traits Bingo game.
Week 6 (Mar. 17-19)
Heredity: Perform a combination of heredity exercises across second and third generations of a fabricated species, and translate DNA sequences into expressed physical traits.
Week 7 (Mar. 31-Apr. 2)
Light Energy: Investigation and comparison of fluorescence and phosphorescence materials; and utilization of light energy on reflective materials
Week 8 (Apr. 14-16)
Electrical Energy: Building an electrical circuit using insulated copper wires, LED lights, batteries and crafting materials to build a symbol that represents their holiday season traditions.
Week 9 (Apr. 28-30)
Sleep: Identification of qualitative and quantitative descriptions of sleep stages performing an interactive board game.
Week 10 (May 12-14)
Microscopy: Learning about motor neurotransmission and advanced use of a light microscope to identify fine structures used for touch perception.
Middle School (MS; 11-14 years old)
Week 1 (Jan. 6-8)
Barometric Pressure: Design and build a homemade barometer to test the relationship between humidity and atmospheric pressure.
Week 2 (Jan. 20-22)
Flower Color Pigments: Using chromatographic methods to analyze and compare the pigmentations of different red and/or yellow flowers.
Week 3 (Feb. 2-5)
Traits Inventory: Documentation and analyses of one’s physical traits compared to immediate and distant family members; and active completion of a chart that will determine heritability of certain familial physical traits.
Week 4 (Feb. 17-19)
Organic materials: Performing an active exercise that demonstrate how easily germs can spread, and comparing the shell composition of organic versus non-organic labeled eggs.
Week 5 (Mar. 2-5)
Bacterial Staining: Performing a gram stain on mouth bacteria to measure and label gram-positive versus gram-negative bacteria.
Week 6 (Mar. 17-19)
Balloon Car: Designing and building a functional car with recycled materials that uses potential and kinetic energy to race.
Week 7 (Mar. 31-Apr. 2)
Declines: Comparing and manipulating various variables, such as friction and mass, that will affect the speed and performance of a car going downhill.
Week 8 (Apr. 14-16)
Inclines: Manipulating the inclination angles of a ramp to explore the total energy required to mobilize a car and calculate its speed.
Week 9 (Apr. 28-30)
Lobe Function: Create a model of the different brain regions, matching and interpreting each region’s main function through trivial cues, and engage in a balance race.
Week 10 (May 12-14)
Sensory Circuits: Manipulate and restrict the tactile system to test and compare their limits at individual stations.