1. Practicing Science: Hands-on Activities
Grades K - 5
Observing, Sorting, Measuring
and Comparing Matter
Embedding the Florida Standards
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2. Division of Academics – Department of Science
Can you Guess my Button?
Look at these buttons. Listen as I describe a button.
Here are my clues:
Its shape is a circle.
It has 2 button holes.
Its size is small.
Its color is yellow.
This is my button.
What do my clues describe about buttons?
properties
What properties did I use?
Number of
Session 1 - Engage: Ask: Can you guess my button? Give each one at a time. After you give each clue, ask what buttons can be eliminated.
Make an anchor chart for Properties if you don’t have one that starts a list of categories of properties that can be observed.
Properties of Objects:
Shape
Size
color
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3. How do we tell buttons and other objects apart?
We use our Senses
Sight - Looks
Color
Number of Holes
Shape
Size
Touch – Feels (texture)
Hear – Sounds when dropped
Smell – Odor
Taste
Eyes
Hands and Fingers
Ears
Nose
Mouth
Explore: Ask students: What can we use to tell buttons and other objects apart? After discussion click on the hyperlink: ( ) Ask students what they learned or remember from the video.
Display a senses anchor chart. If you don’t have one have students help you create one. Students can create one in their notebooks. What else can students do?( a foldable, poster…) You can give every group the same button. Ask them to use their senses to tell about its properties: color, shape, number of holes, size and sounds when dropped.
to describe each object’s properties
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4. Division of Academics – Department of Science
Let’s listen to The Button Box to learn more properties that can describe buttons
Properties We Found
Session 2 - Explore: Read the Button Box by Margarette S. Reid to identify more button properties.
Ask - What are properties? How do they help us describe objects? Tell students that objects have many properties we can use to identify and sort them. Ask students if they can name the properties of the objects you are going to show them. Use flashcards or magazine pictures. Ask: What are the properties of this object? For example, if students are shown a picture of a strawberry ice cream cone, elicit responses such as “pink,” “cold,” and “light.”
After the video, call students’ attention back to you.
Hands-on Activity: Prepare a “Property Bag” ahead of time with (non sharp) objects. (Examples: feathers, coins, rocks, marbles, erasers, seashells, small rubber toys, foam shapes, fabric - velvet, corduroy, denim, and so on.) Choose a few students to come up and reach into the bag and choose an object without showing the other students. Have them describe the properties of the object they have chosen. When they are done, have the class guess what the object is before it is revealed. Then show the object to the class to see if they guessed correctly.
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5. Properties of My Button
Explore: Give each group a bag of buttons (one button for each member of the group) and the Properties of My Button worksheet. Each member of the group gets one button from the bag to observe. Then he/she uses their senses to list their button’s properties: color, shape, # of holes, size, texture and luster. *Grade 2 students can measure the width of their button and record it as other for number 8.
Extend: Can you guess my button? game can be played. Two groups get together and can display each group’s buttons. Then one student at a time reads clues for his/her button while the other members try to guess its identity.
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6. Division of Academics – Department of Science
Reflection
Can a button have more than one property?
Explain.
How did you discover the properties of each
button?
Did you use all of your senses? Why or Why
not?
Which of the five senses were important to
your observations of buttons?
Evaluation; Discuss responses to the reflection questions. Have students give evidence for their responses.
Elaborate: Students can write a “properties” button poem following this template:
Buttons, Buttons, Buttons
__________ buttons,
__________, __________ , __________ buttons
Those are just a few.
__________ buttons, too.
Don’t forget __________ buttons.
Last of all, best of all,
I like __________ buttons.
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7. Division of Academics – Department of Science
What are Properties ?
A property is something about an object you can observe with your senses. Color, shape, and size are properties. How something feels is a property. How can you describe a ___________? We use our senses to tell about its properties.
Session 2 – Explore/Explain: Tell students you want them to watch a video to what else they can learn about properties. Click on the hyperlink Properties- (Discovery Ed. Matter Can video). Then call on student volunteers to share one thing that they learned or one thing that they remember from the video. Record their responses on the board. Add new properties to chart.
Students need experience observing properties. Point our the Properties and Senses anchor charts on display. Show students a few objects from the classroom providing them with examples such as a tennis ball. Ask what can you observe using your senses? Record their responses on the board. What can you see? I can see that this tennis ball is yellow and it is round. What can you feel? It feels fuzzy. What else can we observe about this tennis ball using another sense? It makes a thumping sound when I bounce it. Add property words to the chart. Ask again what do we use to tell an object’s properties? Show students a variety of objects, and follow the same procedure in order to help them understand each object’s unique properties and characteristics.
Extension Hands-on Activity: Prepare a “Property Bag” ahead of time with (non sharp) objects. (Examples: feathers, coins, rocks, marbles, erasers, seashells, small rubber toys, foam shapes, fabric - velvet, corduroy, denim, and so on.) Choose a student to come up and reach into the bag and choose an object without showing the other students. Have them describe the properties of the object they have chosen. When they are done, have the class guess what the object is before it is revealed. If no one guesses, all the objects in the bag can be shown and the clues given again.Then show the object to the class to see if they guessed correctly. This can be set up as a station.
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Excerpt from Scott Foresman Gr. 1 Quick Study

8. Division of Academics – Department of Science
How Can We Sort?
We can use our senses to sort matter in different ways. We can group matter by how it feels. Some matter may feel hard or bumpy. We can group matter by shape. Matter can have many different shapes. (Gr. 1 Scott Foresman Quick Study) How can we sort these buttons? We can sort by color: blue - red – green – yellow Matter can be different colors. We can sort by size: large - medium – small Matter can be different sizes.
Session 3 – Engage: Ask students their ideas about sorting. Then click on the hyperlink to watch the video, How Can We Sort? to see what else they can learn. Have them share out something they learned or remember from the video. Ask them if they see any charts on display that will help them sort.
Discuss how to sort the buttons on the page.
Explore Activity: Ask students to sort objects in their desks. Have them sort objects by the characteristics of: category, purpose, and size. Ask students to explain in their own words how they decided to sort each of the objects.
Sorting Discovery resources:
There are many ways to sort.
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9. Practicing Science Sort, Group, Classify
Observe the objects in your basket.
Discuss their common properties.
Decide on a way to sort your objects.
Sort the objects. Name your groups.
Talk about why you classified them as you did.
Can you sort your objects in another way?
Try it.
Session 4: Engage: Click on the hyperlink Sort, Group, Classify . For more examples on how to sort in more than one way.
Explore: Have students work in groups to sort a variety of objects from the classroom by their properties they determine: (Examples: art supplies, blocks, buttons, or toys) Place a set of objects on a tray or in a large baggy- one per group). Students who struggle can sort them by categories you give to them.
Here are additional Discovery Education resources that are hyperlinked:
Video: Different Ways to Sort and Group
Video: Sorting by More than One Attribute
Video: Using Your Senses goes with sorting
Print resource: Many Ways to Sort
Explain/Evaluate: Test their knowledge by asking them to explain how they are sorting the objects. What characteristics are you using to sort the objects? How are the objects similar? How are the objects different? 
Make sure students understand the concept thoroughly, giving them a chance to explain each of their choices in as much detail as possible. Record their answers in order to evaluate.
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10. Division of Academics – Department of Science
Claim Evidence (CE)
Assignment: Think like a scientist to write an answer to this question:
How do you learn about the properties of objects?
Claim: (A sentence that states how you learn about properties of objects.)
Evidence: (Examples of what you do to learn about properties of objects.)
Ask students how they think they should get started.
Go to next slide: Getting started.
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11. Division of Academics – Department of Science
Getting Started
First think about:
Use your resources:
What is a possible claim?
Where can you find your evidence?
What science words will
you want to include?
Where can you find science and other words to help you write?
Classroom charts, word walls and bulletin boards
Science notebook
Observations from hands-on activities and videos
Reading passages
Your textbook
Ask students how they think they should get started.
Ask what is a possible claim? I use my senses to learn about properties of objects.
Ask students what resources they have that will help them? If necessary, point out the anchor charts, word walls, and notes / activities in their science notebooks.
Say let’s see how a textbook page can help. See next slide.
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12. Division of Academics – Department of Science
You can look for help in your textbook. Let’s read.
Science words
Claim: I use my senses to…
Evidence
I can see …
I can
feel…
Have students read under Properties of Matter to find help with the claim.
Then click☐
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13. Division of Academics – Department of Science
CE Samples
Claim: I use my senses to learn about properties of objects.
Claim: I know I can use my senses to learn about properties of objects.
Evidence:
My button
I use my to look
Color – green
Shape - circle
Number of holes – 4
I use my
Feels - smooth
I drop it and use my
I hear – click, click
Evidence:
Here is how I found my pencil’s properties. First I used my eyes to look at my pencil. My pencil’s color is yellow. Its shape is long and round. Second I used my hands to feel the pencil. It is smooth. Then I used my ears to describe the sound it made when I dropped it. It sounded like a plop, plop. Last I used my nose to describe its smell. It smells like wood.
Use CE part of rubric to evaluate.
Providing Feedback
What to Comment on:
Components of the explanation:
- claim
- evidence
- reasoning (grades 3-5)
Science content of explanation
Holistic quality of explanation
How to Comment:
Explicit and clear feedback
Point out strengths and weaknesses
Provide suggestions on how to improve
Ask questions to promote deeper thinking
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14. CER Sample
Claim: I know I can use my senses to learn about properties of objects.
Reasoning:
Here is how I used my senses to observe my pencil’s properties. First I used my eyes to look at my pencil. I can see my pencil’s color is blue with yellow stars. Its shape is long and round like a can. I can see one end is sharpened with a point. Next I used my hands to feel it. It feels smooth and hard. Then I used my ears to describe the sound it made when I dropped it. It sounded like a plop, plop. Last I used my nose to smell it. It smelled like wood. Using my senses helped me learn properties of my pencil.
Evidence:
Pencil’s properties:
Color: blue and yellow
Shape: long and round like a can with one end sharpened and the other end with an eraser.
Feels: smooth and hard
One end feels sharp and the other end feels rubbery.
Sounds when dropped: plop, plop
Smell: woody
Use CE part of rubric to evaluate.
Providing Feedback
What to Comment on:
Components of the explanation:
- claim
- evidence
- reasoning (grades 3-5)
Science content of explanation
Holistic quality of explanation
How to Comment:
Explicit and clear feedback
Point out strengths and weaknesses
Provide suggestions on how to improve
Ask questions to promote deeper thinking

15. Grades 2 - 5 Practicing Science Like a Scientist
Observation, Measurement and Investigation Stations
Observe a Rock
Classify Rocks
Measure a Rock’s Length
Weigh a Rock
5. Measure a Rock’s Volume (Gr. 4 & 5)
6. Bubbles and Fizz (Gr. 4 & 5)
Teacher Preparation ahead of time: Each station needs 5 or more rocks that fit the requirements for the assigned station.
Station 1 Observe a Rock - a variety of five or more rocks so that there is one for every member of the group
Station 2 Classify Rocks - 10 or more rocks that share some properties
Station 3 Measure a Rock’s Length – five or more rocks in different lengths at least 1 cm apart in length
Station 4 Weigh a Rock - five or more rocks of different masses – Weigh them ahead of time to make sure they are not too heavy to be measured with the gram cubes.
5. Station 5 Measure a Rock’s Volume - five or more rocks with a diameter smaller than the diameter of the graduated cylinder being used so they will fit inside it.
6. Station 6 Bubbles and Fizz (Gr. 4 & 5)- at least two rocks need to have the mineral carbonate in them - ex. limestone
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16. Practicing Science: Teacher Reflection
How did you see the Florida Standards being
integrated in the hands-on activities?
Participant Feedback:
Have them share out with the whole group.
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