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Overview: In this literature-linked lesson, young children use magnets attached to a soda straw to attract paper fish with varying characteristices including dots, color, and shapes.
Booklink: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss, Beginner Books, Random House, 1960. ISBN 0-394-80013-3
Science Activity Link: Young children learn that fish with paper-clips made with iron are attracted to a magnet. They also observe and describe their fish by properties including number of dots, color, and shapes on the fish's tail. Finally, they classify or group their fish with other fish having similar characteristics (red fish with red fish, blue fish with blue fish, etc.)
Objective: Children will observe and infer that fish with paper clips made with iron are attracted to the magnet. They will identify and describe the properties of the fish including numbers of dots, shapes on the tails, and colors. They will classify their fish in schools of fish that have the same properties as their fish.
Science Processes and Content: Processes-observing, describing, inferring, and classifying. Content-magnets attract objects made with iron, objects have properties which can be observed and described, and objects can be grouped by similar properties.
National Science Education Standards: Unifying Concepts and Processes, (1) Science as Inquiry, (2) Physical Science, (4) Earth and Space Science, (5) Science and Technology
Materials: 4 small magnets, 4 soda straws, 4 pieces of string approximately 3 feet or 92 cm in length, one tall box, 25 steel paper clips, variously-colored (red, blue, yellow, green, etc.) note cards or paper, a marking pen, and cellophane tape
Procedure:
1. You may want to begin with Dr. Seuss's book, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Since it is one of Dr. Seuss's longer books, you may want to read parts of it over several days. In any case, when you read it, encourage the children to observe and describe colors (blue hair, etc.), shapes (star, etc.), and numbers by counting (number of humps on a wump, etc.).
2. Next, prepare your fish. Cut variously colored papers (in the colors you want your children to recognize) in the shape of a fish. Fish shapes of about 3 inches or 8 cm long work just fine. Cut one fish for each child in your class, plus 5 more. For instance, if you have 20 children, cut 25 fish. So now you have 25 fish, maybe 8 are red, 5 are blue, 6 are yellow, 4 are green, and 2 are brown. You choose the colors.
3. Use the marking pen to mark the fish on both sides with dots, the same number on each side. Some may have 5 dots , some may have 10. Keep in mind that your students will be counting them. Then on both sides of each fish's tail draw a shape that you want the children to be able to recognize--circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, stars, diamonds, etc.--one shape per fish.
4. Now add a paper clip to the front of each fish so the clip runs from the head towards the tail. Five fish will not have paper clips so that you can have the children infer why they were not "caught".
5. Next, construct the fishing poles, 4 of them, using a soda straw as the pole. Use tape to attach a magnet to a string, then tie or tape the other end of the string to one end of a soda straw.
6. Scatter the fish in the bottom of the box. Line up your children in four lines, one on each side of the box, so that 4 children can fish at one time. Demonsrate how they should drop their magnet into the fishpond, catching just one fish. If they catch more than one, have them throw back the extras. Once a child catches a fish (this goes fast!), have him pass his pole to the next child in line and return to his seat to observe his fish--counting the number of dots and identifying the fish's color and the shape on its tail.
7. After all children have fished, have them describe the properties of their fish (dots, shapes, colors).
Now ask them to carefully observe the color of their fish and to join together in a group with other children who have the same color. Explain that they have classified themselves into a group of fish, which is called a school. You can have them try several more classifications, e.g. by shapes on the tails or by numbers of dots.
8. After the "school" groupings, gather the children back at the box. Ask them to observe the fish that were not "caught" and infer why. Point out that the fish in the box do not have paper clips on them. Those that were caught have paper clips. Those that were not caught, do not have clips. Explain that magnets attract objects with iron in them. The paper clips on the fish are made of steel which contains iron. Those fish were attracted.
9. This is a great time to have children explore the classroom with magnets, finding objects that magnets stick to and objects that do not. It is also a good time to read to them parts of books on magnets, books like, What Makes a Magnet.
Related Books:
What Makes a Magnet? by Franklyn M. Branley, Harper Trophy, 1996. ISBN 0-06-445148-8
Shapes, Publications International, Ltd., 2002. ISBN 0-7853-7056-0
Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert, Harcourt Brace and Company, 1988. ISBN 0-15-262610-7
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