Do We Say "Fall" or "Autumn"? Doing Science Investigations Using Leaves

October is just around the corner.  October means football (Ohio State, of course), cooler weather, and gorgeous leaves. (It is also the month my husband and I were married.) In October, we see the leaves turning colors, and the deciduous trees shedding their leaves.

Another name for fall is autumn, a rather strange name to me. Through research, I discovered that the word autumn is from the Old French autumpne, automne, which came from the Latin autumnus. Autumn has been in general use since the 1960's and means the season that follows summer and comes before winter.

Fall is the most common usage among those in the United States; however, the word autumn is often interchanged with fall in many countries including the U.S.A. It marks the transition from summer into winter, in September if you live in the Northern Hemisphere or in March if you live in the Southern Hemisphere.  It also denotes when the days are noticeably shorter and the temperatures finally start to cool off. In North America, autumn is considered to officially start with the September equinox. This year it was on September 22nd.

With all of that said, the leaves in our neighbor's yard have already begun to fall into ours which aggravates my husband because he is the one who gets to rake them. Maybe focusing on some activities using leaves will divert his attention away from the thought of raking leaves to science investigations.  

Remember ironing leaves between wax paper?  We did that in school when I was a little girl (eons and eons ago).  Here is how to do it.

1. Find different sizes and colors of leaves.
2. Tear off two sheets about the same size of waxed paper.
3. Set the iron on "dry".  No water or steam here!
4. The heat level of the iron should be medium.
5. Place leaves on one piece of the waxed paper.
6. Lay the other piece on top.
7. Iron away!

You can also use this activity to identify leaves.  According to my husband who knows trees, leaves and birds from his college studies, we "waxed" a maple leaf, sweet gum leaf, elm leaf, cottonwood leaf (the state tree of Kansas - they are everywhere), and two he doesn't recognize because they come from some unknown ornamental shrubs.

$5.50

Maybe you would like to use leaves as a science investigation in your classroom. I have one in my Teacher Pay Teachers store that is a six lesson science performance demonstration for grades K-2. The inquiry guides the primary student through the scientific method and includes: 

1. Exploration time
2. Writing a good investigative question
3. Making a prediction
4. Designing a plan
5. Gathering the data
6. Writing a conclusion based on the data. 

Be"leaf" me, your students will have fun!

Making Butterflies from Recycled Materials - Earth Day Ideas

When one of my granddaughters was in kindergarten, she came home one day with egg carton caterpillars.  I know most of us have made one of these in our lifetime, but to her, this was the best craft ever!

She told me that her teacher was raising butterflies in her classroom, and soon the butterflies would hatch.  Anticipation and excitement reigned until the day she came out of school telling everyone that one of the butterflies had hatched.  However, much to her chagrin, the teacher was going to let it go.  My granddaughter just couldn't understand why or how her teacher could do that!

But, here is the good part!  She got to make a cocoon out of a toilet paper cylinder.  She covered it by gluing on white cotton balls.  Then she made a butterfly out of tissue paper and a small plastic bag tie.  She put the butterfly inside the cocoon and then pretended to have the butterfly hatch!  This was done over and over and over until the cocoon was no more.  Luckily, I was able to get pictures before both were literally destroyed!

Now, what does all of this have to do with math?  I contemplated all the ways to use recycled products to make items for the classroom.  Thus Trash to Treasure was created. It is full of art ideas, fun and engaging mini-lessons as well as cute and easy-to-construct crafts all made from recycled or common, everyday items.

$8.00

Find out more than 14 ways to use milk lids for math. Did you know that you can practice math facts using clear plastic containers? Learn how to take two plastic plates and turn them into angle makers. How about using two plastic beverage lids to make card holders for kindergartners or for those whose hands are disabled? Discover ten ways to use carpet squares as well as nine ways to use old calendars. How about playing hop scotch on old carpet squares? Were you aware that butter tubs can become an indoor recess game to practice addition or multiplication facts? These are just a few of the fun and exciting activities that use recycled items found in this resource entitled Trash to Treasure.

Because these numerous activities vary in difficulty and complexity, they are appropriate for any PreK - 4th grade classroom, and the visual and/or kinesthetic learners will love them.