Kindergarten - Day and Night. Here's a pretty straightforward lesson from UEN, lots of good stuff here with a few literature connections to boot. It would be great to have them draw pictures of day / night activities, and write to describe them underneath.
First Grade - Here's our indicator: "Communicate observations about plants and animals, including humans, and how they resemble their parents." Here's a great lesson I found with a lot of activities. I especially like the matching cards, where they notice traits of the parent, and try to see which offspring match which parent.
Second Grade - We're reaching the tail end of rocks here. Instead of a specific idea, I'll just link you to this page on UEN so you can look through and see if there's something you haven't gotten to yet.
A great science practice that fits in here would be "Engaging in Arguments from Evidence." Have the kids argue what kind of rock, igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic, a given sample might be. They don't have to be right, but they do have to find some kind of evidence to argue their opinion.
Third Grade - Here's another one for this indicator: "Predict, measure, and graph the temperature changes produced by a variety of mechanical machines and electrical devices while they are operating. " Observe the temperature difference between an incandescent bulb and a fluorescent or LED light bulb. While they both output the same amount (roughly) of light, the incandescent puts out a lot more heat. Meaning, it gets a lot hotter. Now we know that fluorescent bulbs are supposed to be more efficient - how can we use this observation to confirm that one bulb is more efficient than the other? (Hint: all that heat uses up energy. We don't want a light bulb to get hot, we want it to put out light. So the heat is wasted energy, or inefficiency.)
Fourth Grade - Have the students explain in writing how a water molecule gets from an Arctic iceberg to the water fountain. This process is more complex than it seems, and will really expose what your students know and don't know about the water cycle. Give them a word bank with the following: Evaporation, Precipitation, Condensation, Ocean, Ice, River, Rain, Snow, Runoff. Include a picure or diagram of the water cycle, if your students would benefit from that kind f scaffolding. Use one your kids are familiar with, or this:
Fifth Grade - We'll be on heredity from now until the end of the year. This week, I want to highlight a really amazing program that can bring heredity right into your classroom. It's called BioEyes, and they'll bring a live zebrafish experiment right to your classroom. The kids take a week to follow the development of the zebrafish embryos by watching them develop through a microscope. It is really cool, and a very authentic science experience. It's a national program, and we have a partnership right here at the U. If you're interested, contact Judith Neugebaur j.neugebauer@utah.edu. You'll be psyched!
Sixth Grade - Here's an indicator: "Explain the relationship of the size and shape of a vibrating object to the pitch of the sound produced." No better way to do this than to make instruments. Take a look at the flute below - doesn't get much easier than that. You can also make a simple xylophone, or string instrument.
That link is self explanatory. If you want to get daring, pick up a piece of 10' length of 1/2" conduit from Lowe's for about $2.50. That stuff makes surprisingly good keys. Cut with a hacksaw, but watch out for burrs. Or try a Diddly Bow, which is basically a one string guitar. Check it out here:
Make on of each, and have a class band!
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