ingridscience

Lay out the skeletons and skeleton images.
I use a deer skeleton just assembled by the class, a snake skeleton (in a display case), mouse skeleton (a jumble of bones in a magnifier box, and one femur leg bone in its own box).
Ask students to find the same bone in the different animals.

Add 4 or 5 bean seeds to a tub of water overnight or for a couple of days, until the seed coats start to split.
The seeds can be planted directly in the soil at this point, or for faster visible results in the jar, sprout the seeds before planting: Layer the seeds between lightly-dampened paper towels and seal in a baggie to keep the moisture in. Sit in a dark place (e.g. wrapped in a dark tea towel) for up to four days, until a root has started to emerge.

Add the potting soil/sand mixture to the mason jar and stir in a little water to make moist but not soggy.
Make four or five dents in the soil and carefully lay the sprouted bean seeds in them (do not break the root tip).

Optionally, have students breathe some carbon dioxide (in their exhaled breath) into the jar, for reinforcement that the plants will need the CO2 contained in the jar.
Seal the mason jar and place in a light, but not hot, place in the classroom.
Within a week, leaves will start to emerge. Speed of growth depends on the temperature of the classroom.

Once visible growth has happened in the jar, the beans can be planted in a garden. Usually about a week.
The contents of the sealed jar will become stinky, and the beans will start to rot, if left for too long. (This happened after two weeks for us.)

Discussion:
The seeds grow into a plant, using only the air and water in the jar, and the energy of the sunlight that hits the jar.
Plants build their structure from CO2 and water. (They also respire, using oxygen in the jar.)
Plants remove carbon dioxide from the air, hence today's focus on reforestation and tree planting.

Students find leaves, rocks and other natural/manmade items from the school grounds.
Use a flat area or picnic tables for students to arrange their items into repeating patterns.

Students in small groups use sidewalk chalk to create a number pattern.
The rest of the class guesses the next numbers in the pattern.

Before class, find an outdoor route extending in a straight line 63m long, from where the model Sun will be (the exercise ball), to where the model Earth and Moon will be. If a gravel field is used, an orbit path can also be traced on its surface.
This activity can be shortened by making the Earth/Moon model, then looking out of the window to see where the exercise ball 'Sun' would be.

In the classroom, show students the Sun (exercise ball), and tell them that if the Sun is this large, Earth is only 5.5 mm wide, and the Moon is only 1.5mm wide!
Distribute the rulers, Earth/Moon images and modelling clay to student pairs. Ask each group to make a model Earth (5.5mm in diameter) and Moon (1.5mm in diameter) from the modelling clay, using the image to guide their colour choice. Students will likely make them too large to start - prompt them to keep removing clay until they are the correct size. Invite students to bring their model Earth and Moon next to the model Sun (exercise ball) to demonstrate how much smaller our Earth is than the Sun. Emphasize that in the classroom, using these model sizes, we cannot place them at the correct distances from each other to show how far apart they are on this scale.
Take the students outside with the model Sun, Earth and Moons, as well as a metre stick/tape measure.
Place the Sun (exercise ball) on the ground, and tell students that, to scale, the Earth and Moon will be 63 metres away from this Sun! Lay down a metre rule/tape measure, so that students can roughly gauge how long their stride needs to be to pace a metre. Then as a class, pace 63m from the Sun. Place one of the Earths at this spot. Look back at the Sun to see how far away it is and how much empty space there is between the Earth and the Sun.
Then place one of the Moons 15cm from the Earth. Indicate how the Moon orbits in a circle around the Earth, one orbit taking one month. At the same time, the Earth is orbiting the Sun, moving on a path always the same distance from the Sun, taking one year to orbit around the Sun..

See this webpage for calculating Sun-Earth-Moon scaled diameters and distances apart: https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/~du/solarsystem.html

Optionally, trace out the orbit of the Earth in the gravel (or make a chalk line), walking around the model Sun but always staying 63m (or thereabouts) from it. Tell students that a season passes as the route takes you ¼ of the way around the Sun (then another season if you able to walk ½ way around the Sun). Complete as much of the orbit as possible.
Before heading back to the classroom, use the model to emphasize how far away the Sun and Earth are, and in turn how far the Earth and Moon are from each other, and how much empty space there is in-between.

As an alternative to placing one Earth and Moon, place the Sun, then ask students to pace 63m away, all in different directions, taking their model Earth and Moon. When the students each reach their spot 63m away, tell them to place their Earth. Then place their Moon, 15cm from their Earth. Each of the Earths show a different part of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Walk between the student groups, tracing a path if possible, to show the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. Tell students that while the Earth orbits the Sun, the Moon is also orbiting the Earth.

Prepare before the class:
Build lego animal for each student pair. See photo for an example, but any simple creature will work. Make a collection of separate lego pieces to hand to students to replace parts of their lego animal - the pieces do not need to be identical for each student pair (as different DNA mutations can result in different physical changes in an animal.)
Cut out Pangea pieces from https://www.amnh.org/content/download/49383/751589/file/dinos_plate_tec…

Introduce the activity:
Ask students to sit in a large circle, next to a student that they will partner with for this activity.
Assemble the Pangea puzzle and place identical lego animals on different parts of the landmass.
Show students the animals on the landmass, called Pangea, in a population (group).
Tell them that over millions of years, the landmass separated into different continents - demonstrate the land masses separating into our familiar continents. The animals move with their landmass. Tell students that once the animals are separated they start to evolve separately from each other. This activity models how that happens.
(Note that, in reality, it is large populations of animals that are separated and evolve as a group, not single animals. But to convey how random small changes lead to different evolutionary paths, this simplification with single animals is suitable for Elementary students.)

Students model evolutionary change:
Tell students that with their partner, they will be an island with their own lego animal - hand out the lego animals to each student pair.
If students are sitting in a large circle next to their partner, it makes it easier for later steps.
Over time these lego animals have changes to their DNA (called mutations) which might make them look a little different.
Tell students that for the first mutation, one of the students in the pair should take off a piece from their animal. Hand a new lego piece to their partner, who should add it in any place on the lego animal that they like.
(By asking one student to remove a piece and another to replace it with another piece, we are trying to remove as much of the "design" and "thinking ahead" of new animals as possible - evolution does not plan or think ahead - it is a blind process.)
Then students can switch roles with the next lego piece you give them: one of them removes a piece of lego from the animal and their partner adds on the new piece of lego where they like.
After a couple of mutation events, ask students to place their animal towards the centre of the circle, so that everyone can see all animals. Comment that even after only a couple of mutations, the animals living on different islands are already starting to look different from each other.
Then continue with mutation events, each time giving all the student pairs similar, but not necessarily identical, lego pieces. Some of the mutations can effect both sides of the body, so students can be asked to remove two legs and give them two new identical lego pieces to replace them (maybe as wings or other appendages).

If appropriate for the age, stress that in reality not every DNA mutation results in a physical change to an animal's body. We are speeding up evolution in this activity, making every mutation cause a physical change.
In addition, if appropriate for the age, tell the students that, in reality, the only changes that are retained are the ones that allow the animal to survive better in their environment. If there is no survival advantage the mutation might not stay. (There are other mechanism that also account for mutation persistence, such as genetic drift, but these are beyond Elementary level evolution.)

Optional addition to a round of mutations:
Tell each student pair an environmental event that happens on their island e.g. flooding, or a cold period. They should make adaptations on their animal that will help it survive this environmental shift. (Again, evolution does not plan like this - in reality, the mutations that make survival more likely will be the mutations that persist.)

Once the mutations (lego replacement pieces) have all been used, stop the activity, and ask student pairs to each show and explain to the class the adaptations that their animal now has and how they help it survive in their environment.
Add real life examples to the conversation as and if these adaptations are showcased:
The evolution of wings from legs occurred with the evolution of birds, about 150 million years ago (Mya), with Archaeopteryx as the intermediate fossil. Wings also evolved in Pterosaurs (flying dinosaurs) 225 Mya, in bats (60 Mya) and in insects (400 Mya) - so flight evolved four independent times through evolution.
The evolution of legs into fins and also tails into a flippers happened when whales evolved from land animals, about 50 million years ago. (Hippos are the closest living land animal relatives of whales.)
(Another major evolutionary event which will likely not be demonstrated with the lego animals, is when life moved onto land: tetrapods (animals that walk on land) evolved from fish, with fins evolving into legs, about 390 million years ago. The discovery of the Tiktaalik in Nunavut was some excellent science that looked for and found the missing link fossil.)

Wrap up and summarize:
In the same way that your lego creatures evolved different features on each of your islands, living things have evolved along separate evolutionary paths from a common relative, when they were separated on different islands or continents. On the separated islands, the different populations respond to different evolutionary pressures (e.g. different climate) which result in the evolution of features that allow survival in each environment.
The longer a population has been separated, the more different it will look from its relatives on another land mass. We find these changes in both fossils and living things that are alive today.
By studying where different animals are found on Earth and the fossils found in each landmass, scientists construct an evolutionary tree of all living things.

To obtain the glockenspiel keys (which are expensive), music teachers replace their collection as the pads wear out.
Old glockenspiel keys that have lost their pads can be repaired: obtain sticky felt pads made to go under the base of chair legs, and cut them to size to replace the glockenspiel pads. To make a cheap mallet, tightly wrap a thick elastic band around the wide end of a chopstick.

Hand out glockenspiel keys and mallets to the students.
Ask students to compare their note to their neighbour - help them hear the higher and lower notes (which can be tricky for a novice ear).
Students may need to be spaced out to hear their own sounds over the rest of the class.
Then ask students if the longer glockenspiel note is lower or higher than the shorter glockenspiel note. Once all students have arrived at a conclusion summarize what they find: the Longer note makes the Lower sound (both start with L).

Relate the glockenspiel length and note change to other instruments:
On a ukelele or guitar or violin, a longer string makes a lower note than when the string is made shorter by placing the finger on it.
Note that the size and tension of the string also makes a difference to the note made, so this comparison should only be made using a single string.
For wind instruments, the longer larger instruments make lower notes than the shorter smaller instruments.
On a piano, the lower notes are made by longer strings.

Discuss how the glockenspiel notes make a sound:
When the bar is hit by the mallet it starts the bar vibrating.
The vibrating bar makes the air molecules around it vibrate. The vibrations travel outwards from the bar until they reach our ears. The vibrating air molecules makes our ear drums vibrate, so that we can then perceive the sound.

Students can visualize the vibrations of the glockenspiel bar by placing small rocks on the bar. (Note: this will chip any paint on the bar.) When they hit the bar with the mallet the rocks bounce up and down. The rocks continue to bounce as the note (and vibrations) linger after the first hit.

This activity adapted from Exploratorium Cuica activity: www.exploratorium.edu/video/cuica-activity-step-step-demonstration.
It is very loud, so best outdoors.

Prepare the cups for the students:
Use the straightened paper clip to make a hole in the bottom of each cup. The hole should be easily wide enough to thread the string through. If the cups are plastic, heat up the paper clip to push it through the plastic without breaking it. (Plastic cups recommended for longer-lasting noise makers.)

Give each student a cup with a hole in it, a length of string, a paperclip.
Demonstrate how to thread the string through the hole into the cup, then knot the end of the string around the paperclip to hold the string in the cup. If necessary, use large rope to model how to tie the knot.

The students hold the cup in one hand and run their fingers of the other hand down the string, pinching the string between their thumb and pointer finger.
They can first try with a dry string, to make sure they all have the motion correct, and to contrast the (lack of) sound made with the next step.
Then they dip their fingers in water, before running them down the string again. A loud squawking sound is made.

Students can put a small rock or bead in their cup and watch it as they make the sound. The rock should bounce around, maybe giving students a clue as to how the sound is made.
The sound is made as the wet fingers slip and grip their way along the string, making it vibrate. This vibration is transferred to the cup (as seen by the bouncing rock). The vibrating cup makes the air inside it vibrate. The vibration transmits through the air to your ear, where it vibrates the eardrum and we sense the sound.

Cups of different sizes make different sounds: the smaller cups make a higher note.
Cups of the same size made from different materials do not make noticeably different sounds.

Distribute sheets to students.

For young primaries use instead of a thermometer to measure how warm or cold water is, or to show how we can measure temperature. (Then show them a thermometer.)

For outdoor activity, all grades, using the sun's radiation:
Allow them to discover that the sun changes the colour of the sheets.
Give them the colour scale (for my sheets, coolest is black, then getting warmer is red, orange, yellow, blue, then black again, so black can either be coolest or warmest).
Allow students to explore the environment with their sheet.
If they need suggestions, see the photos:
block the sun's radiation with your hand/playground structure to make an image on the sheet
use the sheet to measure how warm different playground structures are
use the sheet to measure relative heat given off by differently-coloured walls
use a heat pad to change the colour of the sheet
use tubs of cool or warm water to cool and warm the sheet respectively
use drips of water to make patterns and paint on the sheet

For an indoor activity, older primaries and up, use infra red heat lamps.
Students 'charge' their sheets at the heat lamp (by radiation). Then quickly press the sheets to surfaces and objects in the classroom, where they will lose their heat by conduction.
Or students can heat up the sheets with their hands, speeding it up with friction (rubbing sheet against hands or carpet).

Discuss what kinds of heat transfer heated the sheets up:
Radiation from the sun.
Conduction when the sheet is pressed against a surface or water draws heat from the sheet.

Use the sheets to determine whether something is a conductor or insulator (best done as a class in a circle at a carpet);
All together, press hand on the sheet for 5 seconds, then see the colour change as it heats up.
Then, once the sheets have cooled again, lay tin foil over the sheet and press hands for 5 seconds again - the same heated pattern emerges. Tin foil is a 'conductor' of heat.
Then, once the sheets have cooled again, lay felt over the sheet and press hand for 5 seconds again - no colour as the felt blocks heat from transferring from the hand to the sheet. The felt is an 'insulator'.

Water cools the sheet really fast, and makes awesome patterns if water is dripped or painted on the warm sheet.

Heat sheets and IR detection, including in other animals
Use heat sensitive sheets to show how a tool like this helps us detect subtle changes in heat (show Infra red images) whereas some animals have their own sense organs which can detect these changes e.g. snakes.