Discovery Bottles! & a freebie

I had the amazing opportunity to work with 2 other fantastic Kindergarten teachers over the summer to re-write my district's Science, Social Studies, and Health curriculum.  We were updating lessons to include newer technology, writing new ones to include more rigorous state standards, and were always looking for ways to make the learning hands-on and FUN!  One of my colleagues suggested the best things EVER to use in lessons about making observations and asking questions: DISCOVERY BOTTLES!

 They are filled with all kinds of goodies, and the kids went absolutely crazy over them.

 

We used the discovery bottles in several lessons teaching the concept of making observations and asking questions.

My SuperKids used their "science eyes" to make observations of the bottles and their contents.  While looking at the bottles, the students used the sentence stem: "I observe ____________."

 

After making observations and recording them, we learned that scientists must ask questions to continue learning.  We played a game called Observation or Question!  The students picked a bottle, drew a card with either an eye or a question mark, and then either made an observation ("I observe _____") or asked a question ("I wonder _______").

 

My little scientists did a fantastic job recording their observations and drawing realistic pictures!

 

CLICK HERE to download the recording sheet for free for 1 week only at my TPT Store!  (After a week, it will be available for $1.) Be sure to leave me some comment lovin' if you download.  :)

 

If you want to make your own discovery bottles, here are the ingredients we used:

• #1: Light Karo syrup and various objects (little toys, plastic letters, paper clips...)
• #2: Water, glitter, and blue food coloring
• #3: Water, red food coloring, vegetable oil
• #4: Water and various items that either sink or float
• #5: Water, laundry detergent, glitter
• #6: Rice and various objects
• #7: Shampoo and ocean animal beads
• #8: Soil and water

Make sure to hot-glue the lids so they can't be opened!  ;)   I hope your kiddos enjoy making observations and asking questions!