Second Grade Science Experiments, Math Manipulatives, Landforms, Oreo Spiders and FREEBIES!

I'm really excited because today, I am linking up with Deanna Jump and other bloggers for my FAVORITE chapter in this Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites book study! It's all about manipulatives, experiments, labs and models! I could go on all day about this one! Read on to see how I use this strategy in my second grade classroom! This post is heavy on the pictures, but I hope they will give you some great ideas! You can also pick up a few FREEBIES along the way!

When I think of manipulatives, experiments and models, science and math come to mind most often. 

I like this quote from the book Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites: 

When learning is active and hands-on, the formation of neural connections is fascilitated and information is much more readily remembered than information learned from an abstract viewpoint, where the teacher is doing the work, while the students watch. (Gregory & Perry, 2006)

In math, I try to begin each new unit with some concrete work with manipulatives to build the foundations before moving on to any pencil/paper tasks. The use of manipulatives and models also creates interest and gets students motivated to learn more! When a worksheet is necessary, I like to also have the students model with manipulatives at the same time! 

Comparing handfuls with greater than and less than symbols using counting bears.

Making ten- addition sentences with Skittles on a ten frame mat.

 Judy clocks to model time while using task cards.

Partitioning shapes and modeling fractions of a set of 12 jelly beans.

Making the transition from observing and identifying coins with play money to the paper task- using coins on top of the worksheet.

I am fortunate to have a classroom FULL of manipulatives and models to use as teaching tools. When I model concepts, the students can model along with me!

We made pipe cleaner number racks for subitizing and fact practice.

  These are just a few of the models and manipulatives we use and those that I could easily find a photo of for you!

What are your favorite math manipulatives? 

 Science is my favorite subject to teach! I try to bring hands-on experiments and inquiry into our themes every chance I get. As with anything, I wish there was MORE TIME! Here are some experiments that my class just loved! 

We planted amaryllis and paperwhites this winter. It was really neat to see the roots and the bulb. You don't have to have a green thumb for these. They grow without any TLC. This came as a planting kit and they had already sprouted without soil or water!

We do lots of experiments with candy and other fun seasonal items. Be sure to click on the links to grab some FREE lab sheets! Yes, they are a worksheet in a sense, but it is helpful for the students to draw and write their observations and conclusions. It grows more dendrites! 

Gummy bears experiment and lab sheet.

Candy hearts experiment and lab sheet.

At Halloween, we also experimented with candy corn. You can grab a copy of the lab sheet too for next year!

In some subjects it is also possible to build your own models! Talk about growing dendrites. Creating is at the top of the taxonomy!

 We built Oreo spiders as we learned about the body parts!

When studying landforms, we build salt-dough models on pizza rounds, paint them and label them.

The best of all worlds for me is combining both math and science concepts with models, manipulatives and experiments into a great STEM activity like this one!

Penny rafts STEM challenge.

My big TAKEAWAY from this chapter was that I need to keep doing more of these types of activities. I hope to work the same ideas into other subject areas. 

 Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed this post and can take away some new inspiration for implementing ideas for strategy 7 in your room! 

:)