What makes things move? part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Theresa Porter; Theresa Porter
This activity is an inquiry approach to teaching what force is. Students will learn what push, pull, gravity, and friction are.

Air Is Matter part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Caroline Sorensen
This is a series of investigations about air and its properties. How air exists all around us, and things it is capable of doing.

Creating understanding how metamorphic rock is formed part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Adapted by Sherrie Seidensticker, Jeffers Pond Elementary, Prior Lake Minnesota, adapted from the book titled 204 Sticky, Gloopy, Wacky, and Wonderful Experiments by Janice VanCleave's.
This activity gives a visual representation of how we are able to see the different layers of metamorphic rocks.

Observational Skills: Observing and creating sketches of an outdoor environment part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Daryl ("Tish") Monjeau Bancroft Elementary School Mpls., MN
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.

2-Day Investigating Soil Samples: observing and identifying soils part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Debra Ose Northside Elementary Benson, Minnesota Originally created
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.

How Wind Affects Various Objects part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Tina Beeler Lincoln Center Elementary South Saint Paul, MN
This activity is a center investigation where students learn about wind force using a fan/wind tunnel and objects.

Investigating Three Main Ingredients Needed to Create a Cloud in a Bottle part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Gwyn Curran, Homecroft Elementary School, Duluth, MN based on an original activity from the SAK kit, Weather, p.1. and lesson by Craig Wolter, MnSTEP Elementary Earth Science Institute 7/25/08
This is a hands on activity for creating and observing a cloud in a bottle.

Watershed: Exploring Run-Off and Infiltration in the Classroom part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Stephanie Kennelly Garlough Environmental Magnet School West Saint Paul, MN A series of lessons worked into MinnAQUA curriculum
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.

Measuring and recording the weather around us using a science notebook in second grade. part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Jen Froisland Chanhassen Elementary, Chanhassen, MN.
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.

What sizes are the planets and how do they move around the sun? part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Akbar Rasheed Muhammad Saint Paul Academy and Summit School Saint Paul, MN 55104 Based on original activity from Sally Spooner, Sunset Elementary School, Cody, Wyoming
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.