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.

Newton's Second: Having A Ball With Motion part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Susan Van Kekerix
This activity is a field investigation where students design and test a gravity ball launcher, record their observations, and share their findings in the large group setting.

Investigating simple plants part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Claire Torrey
Students will observe simple plants, develop an investigable question, and form an investigation. They will document their investigation in their science notebooks.

Make a Model Fossil part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Anne E. Flynn St. Charles Borromeo School St. Anthony Village Minnesota Based on an original activity from Harcourt Science 2006. Page 215
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.

Investigation a food web: producers, consumers, and decomposers part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Sandra Ahlberg Prairie Elementary Worthington, Minnesota
This activity is a field investigation where students list plants and animals they observe. Students will organize their data as producers, consumers, or decomposers and create a food web showing how they affect each other. They will predict what will happen if the food web becomes imbalanced by extinction or over population.

Insect Investigations part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Jaime Souza, Audubon Center of the North Woods, Sandstone, MN, based on a recent Bio-blitz that I participated in at the July MnStep in Sandstone
This activity is a field investigation or bio-blitz where students are collecting as many different types of insects as they can. Back in the lab, they will record their findings, sort and classify the insects found. This will lead into a class discussion on biodiversity and the importance of insects and their benefits all living things.

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

Investigating Flight with Paper Airplanes part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Ellen Gevers Lincoln Elementary White Bear Lake MN
Students will determine a testable question and create an experiment related to flight of paper airplanes. They will gather and record data and present their findings to classmates.

Investigating Macroinvertebrates: How Clean is Our Lake? part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Joan McKinnon
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.

Plant Field Study: Adaptations of Plants for Survival in Different Environments part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Diana Magner Hill City Elementary Hill City, Minnesota Based on a lesson in Macmillan McGraw-Hill science textbook , grade 5, Chapter 2 – Plant Structure and Functions, Lesson 3 – Roots, Stems and Leaves
This is a field investigation where students observe plants in a school forest setting . Students then compare adaptations of plants from different parts of the forest.