Activity 1B: What’s in the Jars?
Overview
This activity requires a jar of water collected from a local outdoor source (ocean, pond, river) and a jar of land (soil and rocks), and allows children to begin the questioning process.
Activity Type
Hands-On
Class Time
60 minutes
Level
Kindergarten
Location
Classroom, Large Space, Outside
Focus Question
- How is water different from the land?
Enduring Understandings
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Living and nonliving things in Alaska waters come in a great assortment of colors, shapes, and sizes.
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Living things move, grow, and change.
Engage
20 minutes
This activity requires a jar of water collected from a local outdoor source (ocean, pond, river) and a jar of land (soil and rocks), and allows children to begin the questioning process.
Put the jar of water in a paper bag. Have students ask questions to determine what might be in the bag. Guide the class with clues as needed, by telling them:
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Living things grow and live in it.
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It is wet.
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It covers over half of our earth’s surface.
Let them think and discuss their ideas, defending their thinking if there is disagreement.
Show the students the jar of water, then show them the jar of land. Begin a discussion by telling them that these are two things that are part of their everyday life and they already know a lot about them. Explain that today they are going to make a list of ways that the water (in the ocean/river/pond) is different from land.” Encourage students to respond with their own ideas. Use chart paper to make a list of all differences. After the class has generated a list of how water is different from land, reread the list.
Explore
30 minutes
Place the jar of water and jar of land at a science center, or for a whole class activity put jars of water and land at each table. Distribute science notebooks and a pencil. Review the list of differences brainstormed by the whole class. Support students to make an observation of the water and the land. Students will draw a picture of the water and draw a picture of the land in their science notebooks. Remind them to include the date and a title on the page. Those students who can write labels and/or words can also add those to the drawing.
Explain
As they finish their drawings and writing they can pair-share their science notebooks. As more students complete the activity, table groups can then share together.
Elaborate
30 minutes
Gather the class together for a story, and read Water by Frank Asch.
The discussion afterward can include questions such as: Where do we find water? What lives in the water around us? How do we know?
Evaluate
Use class discussion and students’ science notebooks to evaluate their understanding.
A possible rubric to use for scoring follows:
Scoring Rubric:
4 | Student drew a detailed picture of the jar of water and the jar of land. Title, date, and labels included. |
3 | Student drew a picture of the jar of water and the jar of land. |
2 | Student drew a picture of the jar of land but not the water. |
1 | Some attempts to draw were made. |
0 | No attempt. |
Curricular Connections
Math. The Globe Toss activity helps students practice counting skills and introduces basic concepts of probability and statistics. Allow students to revisit this activity during center or choice time, and encourage students to collect additional data: are their hands touching mostly land or water? They can compare it with the class data chart.
Language Arts. Students develop speaking and listening skills, and begin to practice writing as they use labels with drawings.
Art. Students draw from their observations.
Additional connections to music and poetry can be made by bringing in a picture of the planet Earth from space, and song “Blue White Planet” by Raffi.
Teacher Needs
Teacher Prep
Read the Teacher Background for more information. Prior to Activity 1B, collect water from a local outdoor water source (ocean, river, or pond). Collect enough to fill 5 jars. (If you plan to do this as a science center activity instead of as a whole class activity, you may need only one jar of water). After completing the What’s in the Jars (1B) activity, place the jars of water in a sunny spot, and save them to use with the Take a Closer Look activity (1E).
For each table group, fill one jar with the water you collected and one jar with soil or rocks representing land.
Prior to Activity 1C, walk possible routes and decide where to take the students to find water in the neighborhood. Arrange for additional adult support as needed.
Science notebooks: Set up a page or two facing pages in the children’s science notebooks for Land and Water comparisons (1B), with spaces for a date, a title, and a drawing of each. Set up a page for making a map and drawing of neighborhood water (1D). Set up a page for recording observations of living things in the water (1E).
Materials List
- 2-10 glass jars with lids
- Water from a local outdoor source, such as a tide pool or pond
- Soil, dirt, and/or rocks
- Science notebooks
Student Needs
Prior Knowledge
Children will have used their senses of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing to explore the properties of water.
It is helpful if students have had prior experiences in their science notebooks. If not, students will need an introduction to science notebooks.
Students need to be able to listen to other children as well as to speak and participate in a large group.
Experience using a magnifying lens. They tend to put the lens next to their eye and lean close to the object being observed.
Vocabulary
Adult, data, detective, diatom, direction, environment, globe, larva, magnify, map, observation, ocean, phytoplankton, plankton, planet, tally, zooplankton
Words for local water, such as: creek, harbor, lagoon, pond, river, sea, slough
Standards
Science GLEs Addressed
- K-12 Standards A1, A2, B1, C3, G3
Ocean Literacy Principles
- The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.