1st+Grade+STEM

toc __//**First grade can tie in Fairy Tales, Myths, Fables, and poetry in with their lessons.**//__

**__Life Science__**
Possible stories are:

Jack and the Beanstalk The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Stephen Krull Gingerbread men series Old MacDonald The 3 Little Pigs (could build house the pigs couldn't blow down- students could use place value blocks to build a house)

The Old MacDonald idea would work best because you can tie in animal habitats, growing things, change over time, etc. You could tie in the other stories as well. The Media specialist probably has some resources. Ramona found a book called Mathematics and Literature by Marilyn Burns that might incorporate math nicely. Students could graph the number of animals on the farm. Word problems would also be easy to tie in here (How many more cows than pigs? How many legs altogether? etc.) We also need to stress the correlation between the farm and the grocery store. (Where eggs and meat come from, etc.) Can also tie in weather (need reports for crops, etc.)

Project would be students building a farm and growing plants in groups. The entire class could make one farm or each group could make one. Epals to correspond with other rural areas. Can also move field trip to farm to fall time of year. Students could make an excel sheet with weather by teacher compiling collection of weather pictures and students dragging and dropping the pictures in. If Google spreadsheet is used it would automatically update.

Non-living/Living things could also be included.

Skip counting could be included by placing animals in farm in groups of 2, 3, etc.

Recognize that some organisms which formerly lived are no longer found on earth- this could be a stand alone lesson. Could do a "dig" or make fossils. Sallie suggested the Smithsonian Magazine- need to check web- has "digs" around the US. Sallie will get the magazine for us. Horses could also be traced back because they have evolved so much over time. Could bridge this with the farm unit to discuss what used to be here (Dinosaurs) with what is here now. Product could be electronic picture book of Now and Long Ago. Could also do Voicethread which would be easier for 1st grade. Kidspiration is a good tool to tie in here as well.

Life cycles also tie into the farm unit. The Ox-Cart Man is a great story that ties in with this too. =  =

__**Earth Science**__
Universe, Day/Night sky comparisons- Could look for Google image of this. The following link has numerous rhymes that could be used:

http://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/moon/index.htm

The Man in the Moon and Star Light, Star Bright could be focal points here.

Celestia is a good technology resource to use here. Could have students make a rocket and use the geometric shapes in Math to build it. This could tie in with the nursery rhyme by asking how the cow could get over the moon. Also, what time of day wold it jump. Space museum in DC could be a resource here to look for rockets "long ago" and now to compose and decompose. Students could build a 2-D rocket and identify what the shapes are. They could also use different objects to build a 3-D shape. (toilet paper rolls, etc.) A rubric could be used (eg- use 5 objects from home to build a rocket, etc.) Telling time to quarter hour could be used to track sunrise and sunset.

Effect of sun on land will stay with this unit.

__**Physical Science**__
Properties: Could use gingerbread men for the properties unit. Use of standard vs. non-standard measurements when mixing gingerbread men could be used here. Patterns could be used to decorate them. Solids and liquids and changes that occur in mixtures tie in well here. Also temperature- What happens if temperature is too high or not high enough.

//**Properties of soil could be added to beginning for farm unit (0107.7.1)**//

Forces: Jack and Jill would be a good rhyme to include here. BBC has a good virtual lab on push and pull for forces. Project will be that Jack is going up the hill and needs to get his bucket up there. How will he get the bucket there? (wagon, etc.) Also need to do with different surfaces (rocks, smooth, etc.) Now add Jill to wagon? How does this change things? Could begin with box and hope that students suggests wheels. Could lay out materials and allow students to choose. Probability is a good concept to include here.

We will need to refer to extensions in Delta kits to add to these lessons.