Investigating Soil Composition - Soil Soaks Up Water part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a classroom quick lab where students explore sand, soil, and water in relation to absorption and permeability.

Observing,Comparing and Classifying Rocks part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activitiy is a lab experience where students observe, compare and classify rocks. Close examination of a variety of rocks reveals their differences and can also spark questions regarding their origins.

Creating understanding how metamorphic rock is formed part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity gives a visual representation of how we are able to see the different layers of metamorphic rocks.

Radioactive Dating: Looking at Half-Lives Using M&Ms part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This is an activity that students will use M&Ms to gain a better understanding of radioactive dating and half-lives.

Growing & Observing Crystals part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity requires students to design an experiment to determine the best conditions for growing crystals. Students then are asked to conclude what the ideal conditions may be, how this information is useful, and who may want to know it. It is a great way to continue using scientific process skills within a Geology unit.

The Incredible Journey- A Walk Through the Water Cycle part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a classroom investigation where students predict, explore and evaluate what happens to water as it travels through the water cycle.

Make a Model Fossil part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a combination outdoor/indoor lab where students will collect natural materials from the environment and use them to create both a mold and cast model of a fossil. Students will learn how a fossil is formed and why scientists use models to help them understand how things work and develop.

2-Day Investigating Soil Samples: observing and identifying soils part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is designed for a primary classroom (outdoors & indoors) investigation where students collect and investigate soil samples and describe the soils, looking for similarities and differences. Students develop a method of recording the data colleted and can present the information gathered.

Comparing Soil Samples from different locations part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
In this field investigation, students compare various soil samples taken from specific locations. Students compare samples, record data, create a chart or graph, and journal.

How Wind Affects Various Objects part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a center investigation where students learn about wind force using a fan/wind tunnel and objects.

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.

Ice Cream Model -- How Glaciers Formed the Minnesota Landscape part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a teacher demonstration of an ice cream model representing glacier movement across Minnesota. Teacher/student questions and discussion should be encouraged during the demonstration.

Investigating Three Main Ingredients Needed to Create a Cloud in a Bottle part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This is a hands on activity for creating and observing a cloud in a bottle.

Earth History: Crayon Rock Cycle part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This is a classroom activity in which students develop understanding of the rock cycle using wax crayons to model the processes that form the 3 types of rock; sedimentary, igneous & metamorphic.

Watershed: Exploring Run-Off and Infiltration in the Classroom part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a classroom based inquiry activity where students will observe how water changes when it is moved through a variety of different mediums. Eventually, the students will take this model to the larger ideas of watershed in the community.

High and Low Pressure part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a hands on lesson where students will explore high and low air pressure.

Modeling Earth's Seasons by Rotation and Revolution part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
The students will discuss, define, and demonstrate the Earth's rotation and revolution around the sun, which models the seasons.

Let's build the Earth!: The structure of the Earth's crust and interior part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a active learning activity where students will observe and represent the layers of the Earth from the core to the lithosphere.

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 the Water Cycle: Evaporation part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is an outdoor lab in which students investigate the process of evaporation, record their findings, and use the data to make connections to the environment around them.