Triops Life Cycle Awesomeness {with freebie}

Hey everyone!  I've missed you!  I'm back, after a week.  I've been super busy running all over the school.  I wanted to share this science activity that I started with my kiddos this week.  They have been looking forward to this for two months!  They have been so patient too!  

Well, it all started with this:

Have you ever seen these little guys before?  Don't they look so sweet and cuddly!?  Ya right, I know they look absolutely terrifying I mean the stuff nightmares are made of, right!

Okay, back in October during our rock unit we were investigating some fossils. I found some trilobite fossils and then low and behold I found this little package for sale in a scholastic book order.  These snugly little triops are ancient relatives of trilobites!  So... I purchased them with some of my teacher scholastic book club points.  You can get them here though.

This website has lesson plans, worksheets and loads of information to help you teach your students all about these ancient creatures!

Wowwy, wowwy, wowza!  My little darlings were SO excited when they came to school on Friday and saw this on the shelf! 

 Our school bought an aquarium for us from Wal-Mart for only $25.  It even has a light attached to the lid.

You have to use pure natural spring water.  So I bought some at Dollar Tree.  My students loved helping pour the water in the aquarium.  After the water gets to the right temperature we poured the capsule that contains the eggs into a cup.  I did this under the Elmo document camera and projected it onto my GIANT smart board.  

Can you see the teeny tiny eggs?  They are in suspended animation, that is just one of the cool words your kiddos will learn.  

Did you know I have a GIANT smartboard?!  They didn't look so tiny on this baby!  ;)

Here is the what the aquarium looks like today.  After  two days we still didn't have any triop babies.  I was getting a little worried! So, I took my lamp from my library and removed the shade and set it up behind the tank.  This warmed up the water quite a bit.  

  

Then today one of my students noticed we had FOUR little babies!!!  My students couldn't wait to have a turn at looking at them with the magnifying glass!   They are SOOOO small!  They are suppose to double in size every day!  

Today my students worked in their packet/booklet that I created for them.  You can use it too if you decide to take on this engaging project!

I copied the front and back onto 11 x 17 paper and then fold it down the middle hamburger style!

Then I made two of the journal pages and copied those onto the 11 X 17 paper, front and back.  That way you can slip them inside and staple it for a booklet. 

  My students are going to observe and record their findings daily.  

{Click the scientist to snag your FREE copy!}

It comes with three different covers and some surprises!

I made this cover in case you are doing a different project and want to use the journal booklet.

  Spoiler alert: it includes a life cycle of a butterfly coloring page! .  Hurry, go check it out!

Let me know what you think!

Life Cycle of A Frog

Wahoo!!  I have been on spring break since Friday and I don't have to go back to school until the 2nd of May!!  

Anyway, I am sure you're starting to catch a pattern in my posts.  Can you tell I LOVE science, project based learning and nature???  I promise it's not all I teach, just my favorite to blog about right now.  Our math curriculum is Saxon and reading is Houghton Mifflin and even though I add fun extra ideas to those lessons, science is where I really get to be creative in my teaching.  

Part of second grade core in Utah is life cycles. I know the life cycle of a frog is very popular to teach. Since I already have several animals that I take care of and was not willing to take on another this is what I did.  

I bought these cute little life cycle sets from Oriental Trading.  You get the frog and the butterfly set for only $5.99.  Click here to order them.        

Then as a class we read this book.  I put it up on the projector with my Elmo document camera and we read it together as a class.  Click on the picture to order it from Amazon.  

Then as a class we made an extra desk in our class look like a pond.  We used paper, some fabric that looks like water, rubber frogs, fake flowers, and a plastic bowl.  This was the first day. My students kept adding to it for the next couple of weeks.  They really loved creating this habitat.

So then over the next week and a half to two weeks I switch out the life cycle pieces so the students can see it change. The life cycle set from Oriental Trading doesn't come with a frog egg so I just use a marble.  It's a lot bigger then an actual frog egg but it's what I had laying on my desk.   They loved it and can you believe it Mrs. Matsuda had no idea that they were switched.  They were actually growing and changing.  I was just as surprised as they were!!!  ;)

There you have it folks.  Our adult frog.  He has come out of the water.  My kiddos were so surprised when they came back from lunch one day to find the pond empty and an adult frog on the edge of the water.  

Is this something you might try in your classroom?  What other fun activities do you do with the frog life cycle?