Investigating joints: Naming and identifying joints in the human body part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Short Description: This activity is a classroom investigation of human joints. Students will identify joints and use their science notebooks to record their findings using drawings and words.

Catapults: controlled investigations part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a controlled investigation of a catapult system.

Beginning Scientific Inquiry with Water Kits part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a scientific investigation focusing on inquiry after using the Foss Water Kit. The students will pose a question, create a procedure and produce a poster showing their findings.

Comparing the Simple Structure of Plant and Animal Cells part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
The lesson is designed for fourth grade students using scientific investigation to identify and compare the basic parts of a plant and animal cells. This activity consists of several steps over a period of several days. It includes student use of microscopes for observations and journals to collect data to identify and classify the basic parts of plant and animal cells. The assessment has an individual component and uses student work.

What is a Bird? part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a mini-lab for primary students to identify the unique characteristics of birds.

Sensory Butterfly Garden part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This is an activity in which students use their senses to describe their garden. This is a guided inquiry lesson.

Investigating Speed and Velocity part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
In this activity students will conduct an investigation on speed and velocity by designing a roller coaster model.

Plant Science Inquiry: From Seed to Flower part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a first grade life science activity where the students practice inquiry skills by developing questions about seeds, planting them and noting details about how they change as they grow.

FOSS Variables FOSS Lifeboat Investigation: Developing Investigable Question, Investigation (Experimentation), and Communicating Results part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is an extension of the FOSS Variables Lifeboat investigation. Students choose a lifeboats variable to investigate, write up an experiment based on the variable to be tested, test the variable, and create a lifeboats investigation poster to share their results.

Investigating the water cycle "snow fun" part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
In this activity students collect snow in a cup, predict how much water will be in the cup when the snow melts. Students are exposed to evaporation as the water "disappears" over time and try to stop this from happening.

Measuring and Comparing Matter part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a lab investigation where students gather data about the masses of various solid objects found in a classroom. The students graph their data, compare their data, and draw conclusions about what kinds of materials contain more matter than others.

Inquiry: How herbs change based on growing conditions part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Students will create and investigate testable questions about how basil changes based on growing conditions.

How Does Water Get Polluted? part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a hands-on modeling of the effects of pollution on our ground and surface water. Students will observe and record their observations as pollution is placed on the ground in their model and it is rained upon.

Looking at Clouds: Identifying Cumulus, Cirrus and Stratus Clouds part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity involves student teams classifying clouds into the main categories, making a poster of their findings, having a poster session and learning the vocabulary terms cirrus, stratus and cumulus.

Investigating Ordering Planets: Math Connections and Number Sense in Science part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This set of activities is designed to help students develop an understanding of scale/distance and ordering the planets from the sun, understanding Earth's position in the solar system, and developing new ways of determining "order."

Investigating Variables : Passengers Supported by Lifeboats part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Short description This activity is a lab investigation where students develop an investigable inquiry question, construct a fleet of boats, collect data about how many passengers (pennies) each will hold before sinking, interpret their findings, and will share methods and results during a poster session.

Guided Leech Activity and Record Keeping in a Science Notebook part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a teacher-directed investigation where students observe leeches, create questions and determine which ones are investigable. Together, teacher and students design and carry out a test for their question and record the information in a science notebook.

Investigating Earth materials: Collecting and Classifying part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a field collection investigation where students gather earth materials and make observations about their collection that leads them to discuss the nature of Earth surface and how it is changing.

The Five Senses - Differentiated Lesson for ESL/Special Needs Students part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This guided inquiry activity is designed to help students understand that people get all of their knowledge from their senses, and that is why our senses are so important.

Magnify It part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is an introduction to a magnifying glass as a science tool.