Flippyity Flaps

Warning: I went a little crazy with hyperlinking. Once I started... I just couldn't stop. You've been warned.

One of my goals for science is to make using our textbook more exciting.  It's common knowledge that textbooks don't possess much of that "cool factor".

I've always been a fan of Dinah Zike's Foldables, but until recently I hadn't quite figured out how (or when) to use them.  Then, my wheels starting turning.  As part of of plants chapter, I wanted my kiddos to be able to recognize the process of photosynthesis, but I didn't exactly have gobs of time to spend on it. I knew in my mind, I wanted my students to create some kind of photosynthesis foldable. After a few failed google searches, I decided to use my own noggin.

Using an awesome foldable resource I snagged from Pinterest, I decided on a "Six Door" foldable.  A Teacher's Treasure has several great options and ideas for foldables here.

In the top three boxes, students listed the three things necessary for photosynthesis to occur: water, sunlight energy, and carbon dioxide. On two of the bottom flaps, we wrote what plants produce as a result of photosynthesis: oxygen and sugar. One of my students even suggested writing "produces" at the bottom to remember! Brilliant!

Finally, in the last box we wrote the definition of photosynthesis.
Not too shabby!

On the inside of the flaps, using our books as a resource, students described what happened with sunlight, carbon, water ... and so on and so on.  My kids loved it! It was probably because they got to fold, cut, and color. Oh well, I'll take it!

I've been a follower of Eve's Science Notebooking blog for awhile, but it took my brilliant coworker to stumble upon her Flip and Flaps post for the lightbulb to turn on!

As I mentioned earlier, I am always looking for ways to make the textbook seem "cool". Although, one student DID tell me that he took his book home every night to read... I'll assume he is the minority.

So! After reading this post on Flip and Flaps, Erin (my brilliant coworker) and I put our heads together and whipped up some flippity flaps for the week! Using Microsoft Publisher as Eve suggested, I created a little interactive textbook activity for lesson four. I asked my students today what they thought and I received cheers! Let's keep in mind... they got to color and glue again.

On the cover of the flip flap, I created a parts of the flower review based on this photo.  On the inside, students sneakily had to reread the text to fill in the blank and answer various questions.

I'm Learning So Much about Flowers!

How DO plants grow?

Erin (my brilliant coworker) recreated this leaves, stems, and roots flip flap for our kiddos to review the functions of each. Once again, my kids were in love with science (or their scissors, colors, and glue).

Now, before I part for the evening I must inform everyone of something extremely important happening this weekend. The University of Missouri will be playing the kU jayhawks (yes, that is grammatically correct) at THE MIZZOU Arena this Saturday. There's only one thing I have to say:

MIZZOU-RAH!