School started on Wednesday and I am tee-totally worn out now that it is Friday! I have a great new group of 4th graders and am looking forward to watching them learn and grow this year!
As one of two 4th grade science teachers, I am always looking for new ideas. I think I hit the JACKPOT! One of the terrific ideas I got this summer from either bloggy friends or pinterest... (can't remember which since I stalked both on a daily basis) was the Saving Fred experiment for my 4th grade science classes. WOW! What fun and a terrific team building and problem solving activity! The plan I followed comes from here.
The goal is to save fred (a gummy worm) by retrieving his life preserver ( gummy life saver) from under the boat (clear plastic cup) using only 4 paper clips. Fred is stranded on top of the cup!
See what I mean... Poor Fred!But never fear..... I am happy to report that ALL 20 Fred's were saved today at Huntertown Elementary, thanks to some amazing 4th grade problem solvers!
A SAVED Fred!After the students completed the experiment, they completed a flowchart, in their Interactive Science Notebooks, showing the steps they took to save Fred. They then had to include a written description, and answer questions about problems they encountered.
All I can say is this is a definate repeat experiment for next year! I can not wait to get all my photo releases in so I can post pictures of the kids. If you could have only seen their faces! And of course each pair wanted their picture taken with Fred once he was saved! I do admit that their affection for Fred did not last long... he and his life preserver ended up in their tummies! What fun!
Awesome! A fan suggested this activity to me on my facebook page and I am going to try it. Did you make the worksheet or did you find it some where?
ReplyDelete~Lorraine
What a SUPER fun activity!! I think I'll use this activity the first week of school too with my 4th graders--thanks for sharing!! :D
ReplyDeleteWhere do you get most of your science activities? I am always looking for new things that aren't in our book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing--great idea!
Lorraine- Where I typed The plan I follwed comes from here. The word here is hyperlinked to take you to where I got the directions and worksheet. I really need to change the color of my hyperlinks. :-)
ReplyDeleteMrs. P- I get a lot of my ideas for experiments from the internet. Blogs, teacher websites, pinterest, and of course google searches.
ReplyDeleteBecky, I tried clicking on the word here and it didn't take me anywhere. This looks os fun I want to do it too!
ReplyDeleteMarisa
iDream.iPlan.iTeach
I don't know why the link isn't working... it works on mine. Anywho, here is the link for you! :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sd41.k12.id.us/Staff/abosworth/Biology%20Documents/Basics%20of%20Life/Labs/Save%20Fred.pdf
That link didn't work for me either, but I found it elsewhere http://6sci.pbworks.com/f/Save+Fred+ebook.pdf
DeleteThanks for the great find!
Thanks for posting the full link. Don't know why I couldn't get the link to work...maybe it's my browser. Thanks again!!
ReplyDeleteMarisa
iDream.iPlan.iTeach
Looks like fun. I am going to try this with my class this year. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThis looks great! What are the general rules? How many students do you have in a group? Thanks for sharing. This is awesome!
ReplyDeleteThis activity looks like an excellent one for the first week of school. Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know I nominated you as one of my top blogs! Thanks for sharing your ideas.
ReplyDeleteYou are a Top Blog!
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ReplyDeleteGood and another post from you admin :)
ReplyDeleteDo you still have directions, the links aren't working for me. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI can't seem to make the links work for the "Fred" activity. HELP!! This looks like a GREAT activity!!! Thanks!
ReplyDeletePlease fix the link this activity looks great!
ReplyDeleteI would also love the directions. I believe that the website that you have hyperlinked is no longer working or the link is no longer updated. This is a great activity that many of us would love to do if you would not mind posting the directions?
ReplyDeleteI would also LOVE to do this activity the first day of school!! Please post directions!!
ReplyDeletePlease, please post the link again! I would love to try this as well. The link above is no longer working.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Lynda
LOVE IT!! Please post the link again!!!
ReplyDeleteHi everyone, I found this when I googled.
ReplyDeletehttp://6sci.pbworks.com/f/Save+Fred+ebook.pdf
I just took the picture and recreated the Work sheet myself.
ReplyDeleteManaged to track down the flow chart, this site has it! https://extension.purdue.edu/4h/Documents/Volunteer%20Resources/Science%20Made%20Easy/Save%20Fred.pdf
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love this team building activity. It could be a first activity into establishing science experiment group norms and more. Thank you for sharing. The original link didn't work but I tried links that other people shared on this thread and bingo. Thank you again.
ReplyDeleteMerci beaucoup ! Thank's a lot from France.
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