IIM - Independent Investigation Method - Research Project!

For the past few weeks, my class has teamed up with Mrs. Shore's third grade class to start a research project about the rainforest.  We are following IIM, or the Independent Investigation Method.  We have been careful to document all the steps of our research in a powerpoint presentation that we can share it with our parents and our school when we are finished.  We are also going to become published authors when we put all the information we have learned into our own books via Student Publishing!  Here are some of the photos of our project so far!

First, we discussed the vocabulary of IIM and research.  Then we started learning about our topic.  Here is Mrs. Shore reading a book about the rainforest.  We set up a rainforest discovery station with books, photos, and even stuffed animals so that we could learn as much as possible!

We started keeping a glossary of words we are learning as we read about the rainforest.  Here are photos of a 3rd grade glossary and a 1st grade glossary.

We generated questions about the rainforest because there was still so much we wanted to know!  We sorted the questions into topics.  

Here are are 5 Big Questions to answer!

Next it was time to start our research!  First, we talked about plagiarism.  This video really helped explain about why it's important to credit someone else's work.  

We started by siting our sources.  We will record all our sources on this list.  

Now we are working on taking notes.  We discussed what notefacts should look like and have practiced putting information in our own words in a shortened way.  

Now that we are doing our actual research it is almost time to put everything we are learning together into a product!  The class is so excited to become published authors!  Check back for updates on our books!

Butterfly Life Cycle

We have gotten two little caterpillars from our science teacher.  We voted on names and chose Mario and Lexi.  I could not find the observation journal I have used in the past for charting the changes in the life cycle, so we are making a powerpoint version together as a class. 

Every few days we will take some pictures of our caterpillars and add them to our power point.  The kids will describe what they observe happening and compare to previous observations.  I will post an update later on in this project!

Plants and Seeds

We have started to study life cycles, beginning with plants.  We dissected some lima bean seeds to observe the beginnings of the roots and leaves.  Then we wrapped some additional beans in paper towels and put them in a plastic bag taped to the window.  Some are starting to sprout!

We are watering and observing our lima beans every few days to see how they change.  Some of the beans have gotten a little moldy.  I do not have a green thumb, so I'm not sure what I should have done differently.  If you have any advice, please comment!

Water Cycle Song

When we were learning about water and the water cycle, I saw a great activity idea on pinterest.  It is a water cycle song sung to the sound of She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain.  Here are the words:

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

It  goes up as evaporation,

Forms clouds with condensation,

Then comes down as precipitation

Yes it does!

We added sound effects and body movements and practiced many, many times.  Later, the class performed it for the science lab teacher.  

I took a video of the students singing it, but removed it to protect their privacy.  Sorry!

Clouds flipbook

We have been studying seasonal changes and weather patterns in science.  This week we focused on clouds.  We read books and watched videos about different kinds of clouds and the weather they bring.  After making a graphic organizer together as a class on the board, the kids made these cute flip books.  They labeled the outside flap with the name of the cloud, described it underneath, and made a picture using cotton balls.  I love the cute things they wrote!

Soil Layers

This week in Science we are teaching about earth materials and products that come from the soil.  This activity was great for my kids because it was hands on.  We discussed each layer of soil and the composition of that layer as we added layers to our cup.  Afterwards, I had them describe the layers to me as a formative assessment.  I have attached a video below of one of my sweet kids explaining her soil cup!

We used marshmallows for the bedrock, because they are chunkier.  Cheerios served as our subsoil.  The children left some whole and crumbled some near the top of the layer.  They used chocolate rice crispies for the topsoil and mixed some mini m&ms in for the humus.  They topped it off with gummi worms!

I expect that they will remember the soil layers and their compositions better after completing this activity.