A Kinesthetic Demonstration for Locating Earthquake Epicenters part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Teaching Materials Collection
A kinesthetic activity for students to understand the technique for locating the epicenter of an earthquake. It is performed indoors and outdoors in three lessons.

Rock Characteristics Exploration at Minnehaha Falls part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a field investigation where students observe and develop ideas about rock outcrops and rock characteristics.

How does weather change? part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a field investigation where students gather temperature and weather data in the a.m and p.m. and develop a new, experimental question to predict temperature over the course of the year.

Observational Skills: Observing and creating sketches of an outdoor environment part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
In this series of activities, students observe and sketch the environment outside their school using their senses. Students create a classroom book using one of their sketches.

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.

Stream Study: An Investigation of an Aquatic Ecosystem part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a field study where students gather data on a stream based upon their protocol. They will correlate their data with another group and present their results to the class. They will develop and defend in class a new experimental question for a spring study.

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.

Water Quality part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This is a field investigation in which students test water quality in 2-3 areas using their own testable question.

Measuring and recording the weather around us using a science notebook in second grade. part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a field investigation where students measure, record and describe weather conditions using common tools (rain gauge, thermometer, and barometer). They will compare their observations to Weather.com (online) and the local newspapers to compare their findings, and record these observations.

Investigating Macroinvertebrates: How Clean is Our Lake? part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This 3-part lesson begins with a field activity beside a lake or stream where students collect and identify macro invertebrates. During the second and third portions of the lesson, students conduct research to answer questions that they have regarding the macro invertebrates that they have identified and then based on the types of macro invertebrates found make a general determination of the cleanliness of the lake.

What sizes are the planets and how do they move around the sun? part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This is an activity to help students understand the abstract concept about how planets move around the sun and their relative size compared with other planets in the solar system.

Identifying the sun as a source of light by observing shadows. part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a kindergarten field and classroom investigation where students make observations, collect data and share conclusions that shows they understand that the sun is a source of light.

Investigating Neighborhood Wetlands part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is field investigation where students map a neighborhood wetland and generate various watershed questions. Students identify engineered structures in or around this wetland and consider how flood water can be controlled.

What Happens to Water When it Hits the Ground? part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Students will test the percolation rates of 6 different soil samples. Three of the samples are measured sand and clay and three are collected from the schoolyard and wetland.

Adventures in ABC & 1, 2, 3 part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is an indoor/outdoor activity that incorporates both literacy and scientific observation to make an ABC book based on Antler, Bear, Canoe by Betsy Bowen. Family participation is encouraged.

A Rocking Walking Tour: Investigating Architectural Rocks in downtown St. Paul, MN part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This is a guided inquiry field investigation in an urban setting. This investigation focuses on making observations, recording information, asking questions, and identifying the types of rocks used on buildings in downtown St. Paul, MN.

Mapping the Glaciers part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This earth systems field lab begins with an in-class guided inquiry experience which uses Minnesota Geological Survey 3-D maps of the upper Midwest to determine where they believe glaciers may have had an influence. They will determine this by looking at landscapes and compiling their own evidence from the maps. They will also offer evidence for a hypothesis they generate which involves the direction that the glacier was traveling. The two-day lesson ends (after student presentations on their findings about glaciers) with a field investigation of one of our parking lot snow banks. Students will compare and contrast what they know about glaciers, with one of our parking lot snow banks, determining any similarities with how the landscape may have appeared during the Pleistocene.

Using Benthic Marcoinvertebrates Captured by Rock Baskets to Determine Biodiversity in a River. part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
In this ecology investigation, students will build and place rock baskets to collect benthic macroinvertebrates in a local waterway. They will observe and identify their macroinvertebrates and use the data to determine the pollution tolerance index for various areas of a river.

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.

Backyard Science...The Five Senses part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This lesson uses centers to reinforce the five senses incorporating backyard science in the wonderful world of nature.