Food Web and Chains Activity using Differentiated Tiering by Level of Challenge and Complexity part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
By using this tiered assignment students at different levels are able to review characteristics of living things by either creating a food web or food chart.

Scientific Observations: A Schoolyard BioBlitz part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a classroom and field activity where students learn about and practice scientific observations in the classroom and then complete a field activity by making and recording scientific observations on school grounds.

What are communicable diseases and how can we prevent some of them? part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Students will learn that microorganisms can get inside one's body and they may keep it from working properly. Students will learn that vaccinations help to prevent some diseases but not others.

Investigating simple plants part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Students will observe simple plants, develop an investigable question, and form an investigation. They will document their investigation in their science notebooks.

Compare and Contrast deciduous and evergreen tree leaves to aid in tree identification part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity consists of classroom lessons where children observe tree leaves and compare and contrast those leaves leading to an understanding of the terms deciduous and evergreen (and also coniferous). They then use that learning to help them identify the kind of tree based on samples on a chart.

Investigating Osmosis using water and gummy bears part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a classroom lab where the students gather data on the affect water has on gummy bear candies and develops an experiment based on a new question regarding a not plain water solution. Students will perform calculations and graph their results.

Investigation a food web: producers, consumers, and decomposers part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a field investigation where students list plants and animals they observe. Students will organize their data as producers, consumers, or decomposers and create a food web showing how they affect each other. They will predict what will happen if the food web becomes imbalanced by extinction or over population.

Save an Animal Board Game - Impact of Human Activity or Natural Disasters part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This student activity engages the students' thinking by listening to a story, brainstorming ideas in small groups about how human activity or natural disasters could possibly impact an animal's environment, and then reinforcing that thinking using a board game called Save an Animal.

Learning About Bird Migration part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a classroom introduction to bird migration. Students will acquire new vocabulary, sharpen their map skills, and discover the scientific reasons some birds migrate.

Investigative Case - Living in an Alkaline Environment part of Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience:Investigative Case Based Learning:Examples
Living in an Alkaline Environment is a three-part interactive activity that explores the ecology and diversity of life in alkaline environments.

Mystery Box Scientific Method Inquiry Lab part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
A lab activity that develops methods other than sight to collect information.

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.

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.

Bioinformatics part of Microbial Life:Teaching Methods:Teaching with Data:Examples
This exercise contains two interrelated modules that introduce students to modern biological techniques in the area of Bioinformatics, which is the application of computer technology to the management of biological information. The need for Bioinformatics has arisen from the recent explosion of publicly available genomic information, such as that resulting from the Human Genome Project.

Investigating Starch in Foods part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a classroom experiment where students gather data on which foods contain starch. They use observation and develop their own hypothesis to create a question they would like to discover about starches.

From Seeds to Plants part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a classroom activity to invistigate seeds and plants.

Observing Cell Division part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This is a classroom activity in which students observe and describe cells in stages of division. They share observations about what they see in the cells, then formulate questions and do research concerning the changes that take place in cells during the process.

Tulip Growth and the Parts of the Flower part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This is a field and classroom activity in which students will observe tulip growth and identify and describe the parts of the tulip flower.

Describing Fall Leaves Through Words and Music part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This is an integration of science leaf observations with musical composition for early elementary students.

Investigating Biological Classification: Organization of All Living Things part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Students will investigate the organization of all living things through and learn how to classify through process of classifying their own shoes. Students will complete the classification of a Jaguar and write their own pneumonic device to remember the order of biological classification. (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species)