7th Grade Life Science at the Observatory: Life Throughout the Universe part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This classroom activity will show students that there is a lot we don't know about science, for example life throughout the universe. It will hopefully encourage students to question what we know and don't know, and exploration and study of the unknown.

Nature Stories: Promoting Environmental Awareness through Culture and Exploration. part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity uses a cultural story to excite kinesthetic homework, nature journaling and daily adventure in a child's own back yard or kitchen flower pot.

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)

Classroom Phenology: Using the Environment as a Source of Data and Observations part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a classroom and schoolyard investigation where students collect daily temperature and precipitation readings, weather observations, and weekly phenology reports in a phenology binder and in nature journals. Students then analyze this data and compare to recorded values in the Weatherguide calendar.

Utilizing Scientific Inquiry in Creative Writing part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Students will utilize factually observed or researched information in a creative high interest-writing project.

Phenology and Weatherguide Calendar part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a field observation and also an in-class discussion/share. Students share observations made outside and are aware of changes in the natural world.

How Do Living Things Change With the Seasons? part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This classroom activity is an inquiry based lesson where students observe and measure temperature changes in order to determine which fabrics are best at keeping in heat.

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.

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.

Observing Leaves and descriptive writing part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
In this activity students will explore leaves using inquiry and their senses.

Exploring Effects of Oil Spills on Birds part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity allows children to explore the effects of oil spills on birds.

White Bass, A Taste of Home? part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Hmong students will study white bass and it's management in St. Paul.

Daily Science Vocabulary Review with the Smart Board part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
An elementary review activity for chemistry vocabulary, tools, and concepts used with the classroom science curriculum.

Ecosystem Study part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Students will explore and create a healthy ecosystem, once established they will then introduce additional variables which may harm the ecosystem and determine which hazards should be avoided.

Minnehaha Falls: Observing Changes in Nature through Drawing and Writing part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
The activity is a field trip to Minnehaha Falls where students will observe and record their findings in a science notebook.

String Scientific Notation/Metric System Demonstration part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Short demonstration on scientific notation by asking students to place numbers on a number line using string and notecards.

Critter Catalog-Creating a Field Guide to Minnesota Animals part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity will help students learn about Minnesota animals and characteristics that distinguish them from one another.

Famous Scientists part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This lesson is a presentation of famous scientist throughout history where the students will learn and take notes about the contributions and discoveries made in science.

Investigating Decomposition Processes of a Plant part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Students observe the decomposition of a pumpkin under controlled circumstances. These observations are used to take notes and develop questions.

Connecting the story "Diary of a Worm" to a daily activity diary part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
In this activity, you will read the book "Diary of a Worm" and then your students will create their own diary.