Investigating Static Electricity: Creating Lightning on a much smaller scale part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a guided exploration of how static electricity works and how it relates to lightning.

Investigating topography caused by Glacial Lake Agassiz and glacial river Warren in the Big Stone Lake area. part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a field investigation where students will observe the topography of Big Stone Lake and generate questions about the history of this area.

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.

What sizes are the planets and how do they move around the sun? part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection

Who Wants To Live Here? Water Sampling At Our Local Pond and Stream part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a field activity where students will perform various water quality tests to determine the types of organisms that live in a local pond and stream, and the characteristics that those aquatic environments seem to have that the organisms favor.

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.

Thematic Obsevational Drawing Ideas for Primary Students part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This is a thematic chart of items a teacher can easily find to create a weekly Observational drawing exercise.

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.

Investigate Effects of an Oil Spill part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a classroom chemistry lab where students will test different cleaning methods that could be used in oil spills. They will see the effects how oil spills damage animals and the environment.

Schoolyard BioBlitz: Monthly Observations of Plants, Insects, Weather, the Sun and Moon part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
In this field lab students will go outside and observe a particular area of the schoolyard. Students will design investigations to complete outside and will use outdoor observations to provide evidence for our indoor activities.

Snails: Population Calculation in an Aquatic Environment part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
In this field investigation, students will identify and determine the population size of snails in an aquatic environment.

Investigating Weather: A House of Seasons part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is a classroom activity where students will create a collage of pictures based upon precipitation/water during each season.

Determing the health of an acquatic ecosystem by identifying macroinvertebrates part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This lab activity allows students to indetify macroinvertebrates and determine the health of an acquatic ecosystem.

Soil vs. Rocks part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This lesson will extend the learning on rocks with the Foss kit, Pebbles, Sand, and Silt to include soil. Students will perform the soil sifting activity like the one designed for rocks in the Foss it. Through their work, students will complete a Venn diagram of soil and rocks as a class.

Experimenting with Angular Diameter and Distance (study of Outer Space) part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This is an activity on apparent sizes and apparent angles, related to understanding how distance affects what we observe in outer space (the sun, moon, stars, or planets).

Investigating Soils part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This guided inquiry is a laboratory investigation on soil textures where students gather and analyze data, compare findings and develop new experimental questions.

Going Through A Phase: The Changing Patterns of Our Moons Appearance part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is an investigation of the Earths Moon phases and its position in the sky.

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.

Looking at Minnesota Geology part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
This activity is used to help students describe various rock types.

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.