You will need windows to tape your students’ finished skeleton hands to. (Light shines through the art revealing the bones of the skeleton.)

Prepare Cups of Oil

Pour about a tablespoon of oil into a cup for each group of 4 students. You will distribute these during the activity.

Optional Extension for Older Grades

We’ve included a worksheet for students in Grades 3 to 5 to complete after making the skeleton hand. They will have the opportunity to compare the bones in their own arm with the bones in a bat wing.

Each student will make their own Wax Paper Snowflake, but will need a partner to help with a few steps. Homeschool students can work on their own, but will need a partner to help with a few steps.

Snowflakes must dry overnight before students can hang them up or take them home, so plan accordingly.

Prepare the Wax Paper

For each student, tear off two sheets of wax paper, each about 8 inches wide. Each student will need one sheet to experiment with and a second sheet on which to make their snowflake. Enthusiastic experimenters may need additional wax paper for making their wax paper snow.

Kindergarteners may have difficulty cutting wax paper into tiny pieces. If you teach Kindergarten, we suggest you pre-cut wax paper “snow” by following the directions shown in Step 8.

Prepare the Glue (Optional)

Students can share bottles of glue or you can put glue into small dishes and let students use a Q-tip for “painting” the glue onto snowflakes. When students are squeezing glue from a bottle, they usually get more than enough glue on their snowflake printout. But if they are using Q-tips, you may need to encourage them to put on enough glue. Encourage students to use lots of glue. Here's how much we used:

Teacher Tips

Here’s a tip that is not shown in the activity step-by-step video: To make sure all the bits of paper are making contact with the glue, students can use a paper plate to push gently down on the snowflake after they sprinkle the wax paper bits.

Some classes have found that their snowflakes don’t peel off easily or break apart when they try to peel them. If that happens, we recommend you have students cut out their snowflakes rather than peeling them. The snowflakes will still look festive!

Display Student Work (Optional)

If you'd like to display these snowflakes in your classroom, you can use a hole punch and string to hang them!

You will need a sunny day and access to water for this activity.

We recommend students work in groups of four. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Watch This Video

This video shows how to set up a cup of water so that sunlight passing through the water separates into rainbow colors.

Find A Sunny Spot

Make sure that your chosen location will be sunny at the time of day that you plan to do the activity.

If you are working with a class, make sure each group will have space for their own glass. If you can’t find a place that will accommodate students working in groups, you can opt to do the activity as a demonstration and encourage students to try it at home.

Do A Trial Run

Before you try this with a class, do a trial run in your chosen location or in another sunny spot.

• Set up a cup as shown in the video and look for the cup’s shadow. (If you see the shadow, you know the cup is in sunlight.)
• Fill the cup with water and watch for wavy lines of light that have passed through the water.
• Put a piece of white paper on the floor where you see those lines and wait for the water to settle.
• If you don’t see colors, try tilting the cup away from the light, just a little.
• Pay attention to shadows as well as light. You’ll get the best colors if the light passing through the cup falls in a shadow, not in the light.

In this activity, each student makes and colors a paper butterfly and the flowers that this butterfly visits. By doing this, they’ll make a beautiful card that they can give to any special person in their life. You may want to use this as a Mother’s Day activity, but students write their own messages, so these cards can be for anyone special.

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.

This activity can be repeated throughout the year with any object to help focus student observations, spark curiosity, and invite questions for deeper understanding!

Interested in extending this lesson? Check out our "Curiosity Wheel" in the Extensions to extend this activity throughout the school year!

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students will need a partner to help. Students will need a little bit of space in the classroom to spread out for testing their Spider Climbers.

Prepare Yarn

Cut your yarn so that each student will have a piece that is about 6 feet (2 meters) long.

Separate Supplies for Distribution

You may want to separate your supplies for easier classroom distribution. In addition to their Spider Climber template, each student will need the following supplies:

Teacher Tips

If a Spider Climber doesn’t run up its string, make sure that the string is not taped to the inside of the template, and also make sure students are holding the ruler and not the string when they are in the “Fly” role. The climber will only work if the string is able to move freely.

Spider Climbers (Grades K-2)

For the younger grades, we have provided three Spider Climber templates, each picturing a different spider (Jumping Spider, Crab Spider, and Orb Spider). In a class, we suggest giving students a choice of which spider they’d like to color. If students finish early, you can have them color in the other spider templates.

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can complete the activity on their own.

Have Students Gather Leaves

We find that fresh, flat leaves work best. After a few days, the leaves dry out and become brittle and difficult to use for leaf rubbings. If students collect their own leaves and bring them into class, we recommend choosing leaves that are smaller than the size of their hand. If you have trouble finding leaves in your area, you can always use lettuce or other leafy greens from the local supermarket.

Prepare Your Community Tree Trunk

• Cut out the pieces of the tree by cutting along the dashed lines of the Community Tree Trunk printout.
• Arrange the pieces on your wall using tape or sticky dots to hold the paper in place. Watch this video to see how we did it.
• Each student will need a piece of tape or sticker to attach their Tree Branch to the Tree Trunk.

A Note on the "Leaves In My Town Guide"

In Grades 2-5, students will try to identify their leaf using the "Leaves In My Town Guide." The guide can help to identify leaves that are collected from trees. The guide focuses on the leaves of deciduous trees so it does not include any evergreen conifers.

Set up your Launch Station

Students will need space to test their gliders. Depending on the number of students and the size of your classroom, you may want to set up the Launch Station in the classroom, in the hallway, outside, or in any other large open space. In any of these spaces, we suggest indicating a Launch Station Throw Line and Sidelines using masking tape (inside) or chalk (outside).

Our step-by-step instructions show groups of 8 students at a time using the Launch Station (4 students actively throwing gliders while 4 students observe their partners from the sideline). Depending on your available space, you may want to plan for more or fewer students launching their gliders at a time.

Teacher Tips

Launching paper airplanes is really fun, but it can also be a challenge! A large part of this activity will involve paper airplanes failing and crashing to the ground. We see this as an opportunity to learn from failure and improve. It may be worthwhile to have a conversation with your students prior to the activity so that they have these expectations in mind.

Our checklist includes tips on how to get the glider to fly, but some paper airplanes just won’t fly well no matter what you do to them. This often has to do with asymmetry of the wings or messy folding. Starting from the beginning and building a new glider is sometimes the best solution.

For younger students, we suggest focusing on how to successfully throw a paper airplane. Younger grades may have difficulty with folding, so we suggest pre-folding a few gliders so students can test them.

For older students, we suggest that they first focus on proper throwing technique and then move on to advanced engineering. They can fold, twist, or throw their Gliders in different ways to see how that may affect the flight pattern.

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Prepare the Great Gold Finders

The Great Gold Finder will print with two copies of the template on each sheet. Older students will cut these in half during the activity. If you work with younger grades, you may want to pre-cut these to save time. Make sure to cut along the thick black line!

Note About the Video

All step-by-step videos show the Great Gold Finder with the arrow pointing toward the upper right at the start of the trick. While this is what the Magician will see from their perspective, their audience will see the arrow pointing to the lower left. The magic trick will work regardless, but some students may notice and ask you about it.

You will need access to water for this activity.

Prepare a Water Station

Watching the paper flowers open in person is incredibly fun and engaging! If you have time, we recommend that you prepare an extra flower and set up a water station. All you need is a small container (plastic plate or bowl) filled with water. Gently place the flower on top of the water and watch it open! The paper fibers absorb the water and expand, pushing the tips of the paper out.

Experiment With More Flowers (Optional)

You and your students can make more paper flowers if you have time. You can try making flowers with different numbers of petals. You can use different types of paper (e.g. construction). You can place one flower inside of another flower. You can color half the petals with crayon and leave the other half blank. The wax of the crayon prevents the paper fibers from absorbing the water, so you can predict what might happen. The possibilities are endless! Have fun and stay curious!

We suggest students work in pairs. This activity is designed to encourage students to collaborate and help each other by sharing ideas.

Prepare Paper

You can use scrap paper for this activity. Use a paper cutter to cut your 8-½ x 11” sheets in half, making sheets that measure 8-½ x 5-½”. You should have enough pieces of paper so that each student has six pieces. If you don’t have time for this preparation, you can use 8-½ x 11” sheets, but be warned: students can go through a lot of sheets. We use half sheets only to minimize how much paper you need.

Review Extension

We have provided an extension video that demonstrates our invention and experimentation process. This will give you some insights into the process and may be useful for your students as well.

Since this activity is designed to encourage students to collaborate and help each other by sharing ideas, students will work in pairs.

Decide How Many Apple Trappers To Build

We suggest each student build their own Apple Trapper. Each Apple Trapper requires at least ten pieces of paper to experiment with and to construct their invention. If paper resources are limited, students can work in teams and create a single Apple Trapper together.

Prepare Stickers

Cut the stickers in half so that they are about 1.5 inches in length. Each student building an Apple Trapper will need at least 14 of these half-size stickers (or pieces of tape).

Engineering Teacher Tip

The Apple Trapper Inspiration printouts are for students who are stumped or frustrated by the task of building an Apple Trapper. We suggest letting students try building on their own first. You can provide these printouts to those who may need additional help.

Plan the Location of the Apple Orchard (Younger Grades Only)

In the Younger Grades version of the activity, we suggest setting up one large "Apple Orchard" where students can gather around and test their inventions. Each student will make an "apple" from colored construction paper so the "Apple Orchard" needs to be large enough to fit all the "apples." A large table would work well.

We offer two versions of this activity. The activity for younger students — making a skull model that can be used as a mask — involves less construction and requires less precision. The activity for older students — making a skull model/mask with a moveable jaw — requires cutting skills that might be difficult for a younger student.

Background Information for Older Students

At the end of the activity for older students, we ask: “Do you think the paper skull’s jaw works the way your jaw works? What’s the same about it? What’s different?”

The paper skull’s jaw works like a sliding door. Your own jaw has a hinge — like the hinge on a laptop computer or the hinge on a door. If you put your hands on the sides of your head just below your ears, you can feel this hinge moving as you open your mouth.

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own, but will need a partner to help with a few steps.

Prepare Straws

Each student needs a piece of plastic straw that is about 1-inch long. If the straw is too long, the turkey models won't dance. We suggest that you prep straws prior to class to make distribution easier.

Prepare Yarn

Each student needs a piece of yarn about 3 feet in length. Cut enough pieces of yarn prior to class.

Younger vs Older Student Versions

Both versions of the activity have students build a standard Gobble Wobbler. The only difference is that the younger student version uses Post-It tabs as additional feathers instead of paper feathers attached with paper clips.

Teacher Background

Gravity and friction work together to make the Gobble Wobbler dance.

Gravity pulls the turkey and straw downward, but the weight of the turkey pulling on one side of the straw makes the straw tilt so that one end hits the string.

Friction between the straw and the string stops the turkey from dropping — but only for a moment. When the straw pushes on the string, the string pushes back, making the turkey bounce up. That straightens the straw, so it can fall a bit before the pull of the turkey tilts the straw again, and the cycle repeats.

This toy is based on an old toy that physicists call the oscillating woodpecker. You can read more about the physics of the oscillating woodpecker here.

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students will need a partner to play the game.

Basic vs. Advanced Game Versions

In both versions, students play a memory game where they need to find matching cards with food items that bears eat to prepare for hibernation. The only difference is that in the advanced game, students assign point values to each food item and then add up their points at the end of the round.

In the advanced version, students will write the following points on the food cards.

Salmon = 20 | Trout = 18 | Strawberries = 3 | Blueberries = 4
Acorns = 12 | Hazelnuts = 14 | Beetle grubs (larvae) = 8 | Ant eggs = 7

Bonus Round (Optional)

If your students would like to continue playing the game and want an additional challenge, you can tell them that not all bears live in habitats where fish live. How would that change the game? For older students, you can also present them with a hypothetical scenario where humans have built a dam in the nearby river. How might that affect which foods the bears are able to eat? If fish can’t swim upriver to spawn, how will that change the game?

Teacher Background

In the advanced version of the game, students are asked to consider which foods will provide bears with the most energy. Although we do not discuss Calories, below are the approximate Calorie counts for each food item in the game, in case you or your students are curious.

Sockeye salmon (1 pound) — 1066 Calories (208 Calories per 100 grams)
Cutthroat trout (1 pound) — 640 Calories (141 Calories per 100 grams)

Hazelnuts (100 grams) — 628 Calories
Acorns (100 grams) — 387 Calories

Ant Eggs* (100 grams) — 562 Calories
Beetle Grubs* (100 grams) — 370 Calories

Blueberry (100 grams) — 57 Calories
Strawberry (100 grams) — 33 Calories

*This information is based on crickets and caterpillars, edible insects with nutritional values that are more easily accessible.

This is an activity that kids can do in class or at home, solo or with others. No print-outs needed!

This is an activity that kids can do in class or at home, solo or with others. No print-outs needed!

This is an activity that kids can do in class or at home, solo or with others. No print-outs needed!

This is an activity that kids can do in class or at home, solo or with others. No print-outs needed!

This is an activity that kids can do in class or at home, solo or with others. No print-outs needed!

This is an activity that kids can do in class or at home, solo or with others. No print-outs needed!

This is an activity that kids can do in class or at home, solo or with others. No print-outs needed!

This is an activity that kids can do in class or at home, solo or with others. No print-outs needed!

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Creepy Crawly Caution

The observations and experiments in this activity are focused on termites. We think they’re small and cute, but if you have students who are particularly sensitive to seeing any type of creepy crawly, you may want to preview the lesson prior to presenting it to your class.

K-2 Versus 3-5 Activity

There are three experiments for 3-5 students (Shape, Color, and Writing Tool) and two experiments for K-2 students (Shape and Writing Tool). If you’d like to extend the activity to include the Color Experiment for K-2, we have an additional worksheet so students can record their results. You can find the activity steps for this extension here.

Teacher Background

If you are curious, the termites only follow ink from Bic brand pens because a chemical in the pen ink is similar to a scent that termites recognize. Termites don’t have eyes and rely on their sense of smell to know where to go! If you and your students are interested, you can even order termites online and bring them into your classroom for more hands-on experiments!

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Viewing the Eclipse

You can use this interactive map to find when the eclipse will begin and end at your location. Simply click anywhere on the map! If it’s cloudy or you are unable to go outside, you can watch NASA's live stream of the eclipse. The livestream will run from 1 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time on April 8, 2024.