Celebrate Spring With Life Cycles of Plants and Animals

Spring is a wonderful time for your students to experience the life cycles of plants and animals. I remember our first grade teachers hatching chicks. We would go into the classrooms early in the morning to see if they had begun to hatch. It was so exciting to watch the students observe the miracle of life. In this post, you will learn different ways to celebrate spring with the life cycles of plants and animals.

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Exploring the Life Cycle of a Plant: Engaging Springtime Fun

It's spring and flowers are beginning to bloom. It's warming up and your students are anxious to go outside and explore. This is the perfect time of year to focus on life cycles, or - more specifically - the life cycle of a plant. 

Nature Hunt

Take your students outside on a nature hunt to identify the parts of the plant. Students can record their observations. As students learn about the life cycle of a plant, they can color and cut out each phase and put them in the correct order.

Vocabulary

As students learn vocabulary related to plants, they can create their own mini-book.

QR Codes

Put QR Code task cards at centers so they can view videos and learn more about plants.

PowerPoint

This fun interactive PowerPoint explains the parts of the plant, life cycle, seeds, pollination and how plants are useful.

Video

This Claymation video is a wonderful way for students to understand the life cycle of a plant. These are so easy to create.

For all of these life cycle of a plant activities, drop by my TPT store. You're going to love the life cycle of a plant resource (or the other bundles it's included in)! 

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STEM with Inventions and Inventors

There are so many ideas for your students on inventions. With the focus on STEM, I want to share some of my classroom resources.

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Gumdrop STEM Activities in the Elementary Classroom

I always purchase gumdrops as part of my Christmas decorations. They are so colorful and add a sweet touch to your home. I have a few ideas for using gumdrops in your classroom. They include STEM activities that are so much fun.

You don't need much to do these activities... just gumdrops, toothpicks and an imagination. Students can do this activity and then create their own models.

Give each of your students 25 toothpicks and 11 gumdrops. Just stick the toothpicks in each gumdrop to form the base. I like using different colors so students know how many are in each layer.

Add pressure to the top to see how this triangular structure can handle compression. Try creating a square structure and compare. Which structure is stronger? Students will see that the square structures collapse easily, giving way at their joints. Students can record their results and reflections from this activity. Now, give the students more gumdrops and toothpicks. They can work in groups to see which structure is the strongest.

Try an experiment with gumdrops. Add water to a clear container and vinegar to the other. Record observations.

I've used lifesavers to make stained glass creations but have never used gumdrops. One thing I HIGHLY recommend is to spray a little Pam on the foil and around the sides of the cookie cutter. My creation stuck to to the foil and cookie cutter. It looks like the gumdrops haven't melted. But, if you press on the gumdrops with a wooden spoon, they will blend together. If you turn the design over, you will see more of a stained glass look.

This graphing activity is so much fun. You need larger gumdrops to do this activity. I actually found gumdrop wreaths that will work perfectly. Students can work in pairs by taking turns stacking their gumdrops. Record results and compare with the rest of the class.

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Learn About Life Cycles

There's so activities you can do with your students as they learn about the apple life cycle. I've combined a life cycle PowerPoint with bunches of other activities. These are fun for any elementary grade level.

1. Apple life cycle PowerPoint - Take the students step-by-step through the life cycle. And, learn about Johnny Appleseed. I've included vocabulary, too.

2. Graphing - Students can graph their favorite variety of apple. I was so surprised at how many varieties there are! And, they can graph their favorite way to eat apples.

3. Play games - I've provided you with and apple games for your centers.

4. Let's cook - You have to cook apples if you're learning about apples!

5. Investigations - Use different measurements to learn more about apples. Do apples sink or float in water? How many seeds are in my apple? How much does my apple weigh?

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Earth Day - 6 Outdoor Activities

As a child, I remember being outside playing with friends and exploring what nature had to offer. Earth Day will soon be here and I want to share some fun outdoor activities so your students can explore and appreciate their surroundings. Spring is a wonderful time to take your students outside to observe insects, flowers, etc. and learn what they can do to "Save Our Earth."

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