Past projects 3
Time to Stretch That Brain!
Funded Nov 1, 2023One of my students' favorite units is Crime Scene Investigation. Unfortunately, many of the items that are used in that unit are consumables so I have to purchase new kits every few years. Thankfully, I was fully funded to cover the Cookie Jar Mystery, an age appropriate crime where my students can use logic and deductive reasoning skills along with forensic science to solve a mystery.
Many of the other items that I purchased I have used with my 1st and 2nd grade students. This is the first year I have worked with these smaller humans and I needed to beef up my supplies to encourage their visual thinking skills along with their creativity.
Finally, my speed cubes (aka Rubik's cubes) are a hit! Children from all different ability levels love to play with them.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Lesko
This classroom project was brought to life by Nevada Department of Education.Sheep Brain Dissection
Funded Nov 30, 2021My 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade gifted students absolutely LOVED the sheep brain dissection! When they saw the brains for the first time, they all commented on how much small they were. After I gave a quick overview of how to use the dissection tools, I let the kids begin cutting through the corpus collosum and identify different parts. The cerebellum (arbor vitae) is always a hit! For about 20 minutes, every student was engaged and fascinated
After the clean-up, we brainstormed words to describe the brain and put it into a poem. This is what the 3rd graders came up with.
Smooth, squishy, soggy
Small, thick, bumpy
Chunky Chicken
Chunky Chicken”
With gratitude,
Ms. Lesko
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 4 other donors.Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime
Funded Oct 21, 2021My students are having a blast trying to solve the mystery of who broke the cookie jar. Last week, they looked at hair and pollen samples to see if this trace evidence could help lead us to the perpetrator. This week, we are testing blood samples (simulated, of course) to find what blood type each of the suspects are to compare that to the sample found at the crime scene.
What I love about this kit is that it is a child-friendly way to use the science behind crime scene investigation. Other kits that I have used in the past included content that wasn't geared towards elementary school-aged children.
I am thankful that I have been able to provide my students with the hands-on experience of solving the crime.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Lesko