There was a time when teaching virtually seemed like a foreign idea. Now my days are spent looking for digital science activities to teach virtually. This week I am teaching interdependence virtually with these science activities to bring back the magic of science to my kids!
Like most teachers, the pandemic of COVID-19 made my science curriculum take a whirlwind. I was scramming for ways to make science engaging and fun. Thankfully, there are a plethora of science resources that have made the transition to distance learning manageable.
In this post, I am sharing digital science activities to teach the flow of energy in organisms.
Interdependence Standards
These next weeks in science, my fourth graders will be learning about the interdependence animals have with each other. There are four standards in our Interdependence Unit.
This week’s goal is to hit the standard L.17.2, which means my kids needs to explain two things to show mastery.
- First, explain that animals, including humans, cannot make their food.
- Second, understand that when animals eat plants or other animals, the energy stored in the food source is passed to them.
Interdependence Digital Activities
Science can be a tough subject when kids lack the background knowledge to understand concepts at grade level. For these reasons, resorting to different types of visuals, especially teaching virtually, is my primary teaching tool.
Table of Contents
Merge Cube
First, I want my fourth graders to explore before going into the vocabulary and heavy stuff of our lesson. For this exploration, I am going to be using the Merge Explorer App and Merge Cube.
The Merge Cube is a new teaching tool I added to my science instruction this year. To learn more about Merge Cube, visit this post here.
This exploration will look different from what we do in class but it will include the rich observations and discussions we have in class. The lesson I chose for this is titled the Ecosystem Food Web module in the Merge Explorer App.
Generation Genius
To continue to build on their knowledge of interdependence, I included this video from Generation Genius. These videos are part of a paid subscription that I highly recommend! Dr. Jeff science videos are engaging and breakdown science concepts for the kids to understand it.
Part of the subscription includes lesson plans, activities, and questions. I will be using questions from the lesson plan to guide the discussions and make connections to our observations from the Merge Cube activity.
Digital Science Tutorial
Right after, the kids will dive into learning new vocabulary by completing this science tutorial. I am linking the tutorial here, and the best part is free!
In this tutorial, they will answer questions related to the topic explored with the Merge Cube earlier. By using the Merge Cube before the tutorial will give them background information, this is the top reason I love having them exploring with the Merge Cube first.
All the things they discussed and observed will start to make more sense and come together through the different activities.
Self-Grading Google Form
To check for their understanding, the kids will answer a series of questions related to the main two goals of the lessons online.
By this point, the information they gathered from the exploration, video, and tutorial will come together to help them answer the questions.
You can grab these questions over here. I have compiled these questions in Google Forms and as PNG. File so you can add them to other learning platforms such as Canvas.
Wrapping It Up!
By the end of these activities, my fourth graders will have a strong understanding of the importance and connections of the sun’s energy.
Teaching science virtually has changed the learning process and the way I teach this unit. One thing that has not changed is building my fourth graders' understanding of the world through engaging activities and visuals.
