More Project Ideas For Teachers 31 to 38
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Decorate the Cultural Turkey
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"Around Thanksgiving time I always photocopy the outline of a turkey. I send the turkey home with students. I then challenge students to talk to their parents about their cultural background and dress the turkey in a traditional outfit representing their cultural background.
A great way to stir some inspiration is to share turkeys that I have created to represent my cultural background. The project makes for great fun for all!"
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"Postcard Learning"
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For years, I have been using postcards as a learning tool. In the past I just used them in certain units, but now I use them to introduce just about every social studies unit I do. I found a few Internet postcard exchanges with other classrooms throughout the world as well. This summer I sent about forty different postcards to myself and I even use electronic postcards too.
I have a postcard display in my room and once we receive a postcard, students do research to learn about person who wrote it and their homeland. I always write culture specific words and phrases in the messages that are sent. Students have a great deal of fun uncovering what is being communicated.
I find using postcards to be a vital part to my classroom. I would encourage other teachers to give it a try.
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"C a R d B o A r D Slippers"
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-Cut out two long oval pieces of card long enough and wide enough for a child's foot.
-Cut out two rectangles to fold over near the top ends.
-Staple rectangle underneath on one side and again over and under the other side. So the rectangle goes over the oval shape.
-Decorate to suit.
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"Research Scavenger Hunt"
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"This is great for the end of the school year (especially if your media center is air-conditioned and your classroom isn't). Using the research worksheets provided on this site, I had the students work in teams of three to find the necessary information. They could use the Internet, reference books, and other sources, as well. They loved doing it, and it was a great way to keep cool while letting them out of the classroom."
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Expeppermint Lab!
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"Objective: The learner's will observe the effects of temperature and torsion on the visible configuration of certain groups of molecules by using the metric system to prepare four homemade candy canes.
- 156 grams Sugar, 9 grams creme of tartar, 43 grams corn starch, 59 mL water, and 15 mL vanilla into a pot. Mix well and then heat to 128 degree Celsius. DO NOT MIX WHEN HEATING!
- Once at temperature, add 5 mL peppermint and mix gently with Silicone spatula.
- Pour half out on buttered wax paper (newspaper under that).
- Add 3 drops red food coloring to the other half and mix gently.
- Pour other half out and let cool for a minute.
- IMMEDIATELY fill pan with water and place candy in them. Use the spatula in water to help boil off candy (easy clean up if done correctly).
- Get hands lathered with butter and begin folding candy. When cooled enough, form into four strands of white (honey color due to vanilla) and four stands of red (roughly 3 inches long). Curl the cane if you'd like and let cool completely!
- Enjoy a handmade treat!
A great lab for the holidays while adding metric measurements and a taste of chemistry! "
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"Making Invisible Ink"
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Making invisible ink is relatively easy. All you need is milk or lemon juice as "ink," paper and something to write with such as a small brush, an old but clean fountain pen, or even just a Q-Tip. Providing that the paper is white, and providing you use your "ink" sparingly, the message is pretty much invisible to the eye. Be sparing in your use, though. Too much "ink" will cause the paper to buckle up a bit and the writing will show. And be sure that your writing implement is very clean and doesn't leave traces of some old ink or paint.
Now take the paper and carefully heat it up over a burner on the stove. Obviously, don't let the paper catch fire.... pretty soon the message will turn up as brown writing.
How it works is really quite simple. There are chemical compounds in the milk and lemon juice that have a low burning point. These are carbon compounds such as those that make caramel. When you hold the paper over heat, these compounds scorch and turn brown before the paper does, so they leave their mark and reveal the writing.
At least 5 different kinds of the invisible ink can be made, using white wine, vinegar, lemon juice, apple juice, milk, iced tea, and orange juice. And if you have time, see if other types of acidic fruit juices also work. Have fun!
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"Letters Home"
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"This week I planned a great activity that ties in Veterans Day. I'm having students imagine they are away at war. They are writing a fictional letter back home. They are to tell their friends and family what the conditions are like and what they miss most. Some students really got into and made fully 5-page stories. To prepare for this activity, I had students do a web quest on the conditions of war time."
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