End of Year Science Activities

Make school fun.

The end of the school year is an exciting time for both teachers and students. Teachers can see their year of hard work paying off, while students can look forward to summer vacation and the next school year. Towards the end of the school year, students tend to lose concentration very easily. Keep them learning even when grades have been turned in with fun science activities.

Oil Spills

Teach your class why it is important that we use less gas. Explain to your students that in order to get so much gas here, oil is shipped in. Then show them TV clips of oil spills and animals that are caught in the spills. You will now teach them how oil affects a feather. You will need liquid soap, water, vegetable oil and a feather.

Start this off by allowing students to study the feather. Have them drop it on the floor and watch how slowly it falls. Then have the class dip the feather in water and watch how it falls. It falls at nearly the same pace as the dry feather. Now have your class dip the feather in oil. They should drop it and watch how fast it falls. Point out to the class that this is what happens to birds when they are soaked during an oil spill. The birds can't fly and have a hard time moving. This puts their lives in danger because they can't hunt or run from danger. Now, have the class put the feather in a bowl of water and tell them to try and clean the oil out. They won't be able to. Explain to students that, like this, birds can't clean themselves when they get full of oil. As a final part of the activity, add liquid soap to the water and tell students to clean the feather. They will be able to get the feather clean, but it will never go back to its original condition.

This activity teaches students how spills can harm wildlife and birds. The oil carried in tankers are worse than vegetable oils. Inform students that the best way to prevent oil spills is to not rely on oil so much. Encourage them to talk to their parents about walking more, rather than driving, especially short distances.

Gardening with Waste from the Kitchen

This activity will teach students to be environmentally friendly. You will grow a garden using plant scraps. This will also teach them the science behind plant growth. Each student will need a knife, a glass, a fresh pineapple, water and a pot of soil. Part of this activity will be done at home, so students can learn throughout the summer.

To make a pineapple plant, have each student cut of the top off the fresh pineapple and trim off the flesh and strip off the lower leaves. She should have a 1-inch strip of exposed stalk. Tell them to take it home and let the stalk dry out for five days. Send them home with directions so they don't forget. After the time has passed, put the stalk in a glass of water for three days. When roots begin to grow at the bottom of the pineapple, plant it in the pot of soil. The whole family can take turns watering the pineapple once a week. Your students---and their whole family---will learn that the stalk, which is normally thrown away, can actually be used!

Magic Balloons

Students will have fun with this activity. Use this game to teach kids about static electricity. It will be so much fun, they will be very excited to go home and share their new knowledge with the rest of the family. Give each student one balloon and tell them to blow them up. Tell them to then rub the balloons on their shirts, then take the balloons and stick them to the walls. You should have a wall of balloons that are stuck to it! Explain to your students that when they rubbed the balloons on their shirts, they created a negative charge, which is simply static electricity.

References

• Education: Indoor Gardening with Kitchen Waste
• Education: Make a Balloon Magically Stick to the Wall
• Education: Third Grade Activities
• Education: How Do Oil Spills Harm Wildlife