Many of
the activities linked on this page still use Flash. HTML5
activities are being posted here as more of them become available on the
world wide web. |
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If a site uses HTML5, you will see this symbol next to the link: |
Click on any of the subject areas to quickly get to that section of the 4th Grade Page. |
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Color, Light, & Sound | ||
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Classifying
Living Things -In this
activity, you will see a large grid of green square tiles. Each
tile will have a different plant or animal on it. See if you
click on the correct tiles that belong to the category shown in
each round of the game. When you think that you have clicked on
all of the correct tiles, then click the "GO" button on the bottom of
the screen. You will then find out if you got them all
correct. BE SURE TO PLAY THIS ACTIVITY MORE THAN
ONCE!!! When you find out your final score, be sure to click
the "Play Again" button for more fun.
Animal
Classification Game
-Before playing this activity, be sure to click on
"Animal Classes" for an overview of animal classification before playing the
games on this site.
Click here for the overview of the animal classes.
Classification
of Vertebrates
-See how well you know the basic characteristics that
each class of vertebrates have in common. If you're having trouble with
this activity, be sure to
review the basic characteristics of each class of vertebrates.
Animal
Classification Game
-This is another fun game that tests your ability to
place each animal into the correct animal group. Again, if
you're having trouble with this activity, be sure to
review the basic characteristics of each class of vertebrates.
Fun with Venn Diagrams (Java) -Did you enjoy our Venn Diagram activity in class? In this activity, take the Venn Diagram challenge! See if you can figure out the rules of the Venn Diagram by placing the correct sizes, shapes, & colors into the appropriate circles. When you think that you have finished, be sure to select the rule for each circle by selecting from the drop-down menu. Once you have selected the appropriate rules click the "Check Rule" box to see if you were correct. Good luck! If you enjoyed this activity, why don't you try your hand at these other math Venn Diagrams:
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Walking
with Beasts- Camouflage -Whether you are a
predator or prey, your color and color pattern can help you survive depending on
the environment that you live in. Try different combinations of colors and
patterns and see how they look in different environments!
Evolving
Butterflies! -In class, we learned that certain
butterflies that are either poisonous or distasteful have evolved to have
patterns and colors that warn others that they are not good to eat. This
game is an interesting similulation of how this type of evolution works.
Brains
vs. Prawns! -This is a really cool activity that
comes from the University of Exeter in England. Prawns are a type of crustacean
that is closely related to shrimp. The chameleon prawn is a small species
occupying several seaweed species in shallow rock pools throughout the United
Kingdom. They get their name for their ability to switch between being
green or red to camouflage. Some types of chameleon prawns can take on an
intermediate brown color, while others are largely transparent with only a few
visible stripes. The University of Exeter is interested in understanding more
about prawn coloration and its ability to survive when seen against native and
non-native species of seaweed. Using this game to help them in their
research, you are a prawn predator. Click on each prawn as fast as you can
find them!
Spot
the Ladybirds! -Like some species of butterflies,
ladybugs (also called ladybirds in England) use warning coloration to warn
predators that they are either distasteful or poisonous. See how quickly you can
spot the ladybugs in this research game from the University of Exeter.
Dazzle
Bug -This is another game that tests your ability
to see how well you are able to spot insects that camouflage.
Bird
Beak Adaptation Game -Do you
remember
playing the bird beak adaptation activity in class? This game
will really
test your ability to figure out what type of beak works best for
different ways
of feeding!
Click
here for an even more challenging version of this game!
Build a
Fish
-We learned in class that all birds have a
certain design to their beak that enables them to capture specific
types of food. But the survival strategy of having a specific
body design can be applied to just about any creature out there in the
world! In this activity,
see
if you can design a fish with the right adaptations to survive. Try
different combinations and see which ones work together.
Mare's Build a
Fish
-Here is another activity that puts you in charge of
designing a fish that best suits its environment. What I particularly like
about this activity, is that it lets you choose from 6 different environments.
Be sure to click on "instructions" before playing this activity.
Design
a Caterpillar
-Have you ever spotted an unusual looking caterpillar
and wondered why it had such an unusual color or appearance to it? This
activity will allow you to design different caterpillars that live in different
environments. As you are designing each caterpillar, ask yourself the
following questions: "Who is the caterpillar's enemy?" "How can the
caterpillar avoid being eaten?" "Can it blend into its surroundings?"
"Can it scare away or startle its enemy?"
Design
an Insect
-This is a fun
activity that gives you the opportunity to design an insect in which you get to
choose different common types of wings, mouths, and legs. You also get to
choose the color of these body parts as well. Once you've designed your insect,
test it in different types of environments and see how well it survives.
Food Chains
-This activity
provides a nice overview of the basic parts of a food chain. Once
you've
reviewed the basic parts, see if you can put all of the plants and
animals in
the correct spots for 3 different habitats: a woodland area, a river,
and a
seashore habitat.
The
Food Chain Game -This activity starts out
REALLY easy and then gets more difficult as you go along. See if
you can correctly place each organism in the correct spot for each food
chain.
Click here for the flash version.
Producers, Consumers, & Decomposers
-All living things need energy in order to survive. Play
this activity to learn how organisms can be classified by how they
obtain their energy.
Click here for the flash version.
Carnivore, Herbivore, or Omnivore Part 1
-As you learned in the activity above, organisms that do not make their
food directly from the Sun's energy are called consumers.
Consumers have different names based on the type of diet that
they eat. Click on this activity to learn more!
Carnivore, Herbivore, or Omnivore
Part 2 -Once you've played the game above, let's see how you
do with the selections of animals in this second game!
Click here for flash version.
Build
a Food Web
-In this activity, your job is to build a food web. Move
each arrow from the predator and place it directly over what it eats. If
you are correct, the arrow will lock into place. HINT: Feel free to move
the pictures around on the screen so that you can easily see all of the feeding
relationships!
Food
Chain Challenge- The Savanna -How familiar are you with the
African Savanna ecosytem? The African Savanna ecosytem is a tropical
grassland with warm temperatures all year long. Be sure to use the left
and right arrows to explore this habitat.
Click here to see a
short video about the animals that live in the Savanna ecosytem!
Food
Chain Challenge- The Tundra -How familiar are you with the
Arctic Tundra ecosytem? The Arctic Tundra is the coldest biome on earth.
It supports only the hardiest of plants and animals. Be sure to use the
left and right arrows to explore this habitat.
Click here to see a short video about the Tundra ecosystem!
Food
Chain Challenge- The Woodland Habitat -How familiar are you
with the Woodland ecosytem? If you've done any exploring in our forests in
the United States, you might already be familiar with some of the plants and
animals that live in this ecosystem. Be sure to use the left and right
arrows to explore this habitat.
Make an Ocean Food Web -In
third grade, you got a chance to learn about ocean habitats when you
took your field trip to Sandy Hook. In this activity, see if you
can correctly place each marine organism in its feeding level in a
giant ocean food web. Be sure to use the hints and pay careful
attention to the arrows drawn in the food web. For best results,
start by determining what producers belong at the bottom of the food
web and work your way up from there!
Food
Chain Reaction -A lot of people don't realize just
how much the survival of each plant and animal affects the balance of a
food web. Play this game to learn more.
How
Wolves Change Rivers (Movie) -In 1995, the
US Fish and Wildlife services reintroduced wolves back into Yellowstone National
Park. This fascinating short film explores how the reintroduction of
wolves has had a far-reaching impact, not just on the entire ecosystem of
Yellowstone, but even on the land and rivers themselves.
The
Minibeast Identification Game -Scientists oftentimes use what's called a dichotomous key to
classify living things. See if you can follow the flow of this
chart to correctly identify the various minibeasts in this activity.
Life Cycle Games
-See if you can
correctly place the various life cycle stages of three different organisms in
this game.
Life
in the City -You might not think that the city would
be a habitat that would support a great diversity of life. This
activity takes you to a city park and gives you a closer look at the
surprising world around us!
Natural
Selection Simulation -This is a
simulation of how animal traits evolve over time. This is a bit advanced
for 4th graders, but it is really cool nonetheless!
Who
Wants to Live a Million Years? -Why
do giraffes have long necks? Why do polar bears have thick
fur? In
this activity, you will learn about Charles Darwin's theory of natural
selection. After doing so, play
the Survival Game and see if you can survive for a million years!
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Mixing Light
Beams and Mixing Paint -This activity
allows you to create an almost infinite amount of colors by mixing
different amounts of red, green, & blue light beams. Be sure
to click on the "Mix to Match" button and test your ability to match
the color given by controlling the various amounts of these 3 light
beams. Also, be sure to check out the Mixing Ink/Paint
section as well!
Color
Vision Simulation
-Have you ever stopped to wonder why certain things around us are the colors
that they are? This simulation will help you to better understand that the
colors that we see are actually the reflection of certain speeds of light back
to our eyes. This simulation will also help model what happens when we use
different colored filters.
Interactive
Optical Illusions -Certain patterns
confuse our eyes and our brain. Scientists are still riddled by
why some of these illusions trick our brain. There are over 30 interactive
optical illusions on this page. Which one is your favorite?
Why is the Sky Blue? -This is an age-old question that I get asked all of the time. This website does a good job of explaining why the sky is blue and why we have the different colored sunrises and sunsets
Other Great Websites about Light & Color
Sound
Beats -In class, we learned that pitch (highness
& lowness) is controlled by the frequency of the pitch. This sound
experiment
allows you to listen to sounds that have a
similar frequency. When you play two pitches that are similar in
frequency, you will hear pulses (or beats) due to the interference of
the sound waves.
Sight
vs. Sound Reflexes -Which will you respond to
faster, seeing something flash on the screen or hearing a sound? This
activity will explore this question by letting you design your own
experiment. The results just might surprise you?
Dangerous
Decibels Virtual Exhibit -If you're not
careful, you can actually do permanent damage to your ears if you don't
take care of them. Remember, you're only born with 2 good
ears. If you don't take care of them, you could suffer from
permanent hearing loss. This site has a lot of great activities
to learn about how you can protect your ears.
Other Great Websites
about Sound
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Layers of the
Earth -This site does a great job of quickly
explaining the three basic layers of the Earth.
Test Your
Soil IQ -Let's see just how well you understand the
basics of soil and why soil is so very important to us. See if you are a
soil expert by getting all 8 questions correct in this activity.
"The
Dirt on Soil"- Soil Safari -Get ready to take the
pilot's seat of the Earth Ship as you travel on a microscopic safari through the
soil beneath your feet! Your help is desperately needed in this area where
a toxic chemical is making its way through to the underground water. Your job
is to discover what kind of soil organism can actually eat this
toxic chemical. Can you find this organism in time to save the meadow?
Let the adventures begin!
Soil
Composting -Plants need soil that is enriched with
nutrients. You can help enrich the soil by composting. In this
activity, decide which items get recycled, and which items need to be put in the
composting bin.
Fossil
Fun!- Burying Bodies -A lot about what we have learned about the Earth's history comes from its
fossil record. This activity helps you understand what are the perfect
conditions in order for a fossil to be formed. Click and drag the dead
beast in this activity and place it in different parts of the picture to see
what happens!
Making
Fossils -A once living organism must go on a
lengthy journey before it can reappear at the surface as a fossil. It's
very rare that all the conditions are right for this strange process to
happen. This website does a very nice job of giving you an overview of the
types of fossils and how they form.
Layers
of Time -This is a really cool game. Using
the fossils found in each layer of rock, see if you can correctly place the rock
layers in order from the oldest layer (being on the bottom) to youngest layer
(being on the top.) When doing this activity, be sure to use the fossil
clues in each layer to help you match layers of rock that belong together.
Journey
Through Time -This is also a really cool activity.
Take a journey through time to look at some of the creatures that lived on our
planet millions of years ago.
How are Fossils Formed? -This site gives you a nice overview of how dinosaur fossils formed. Be sure to click on the other tabs to continue your adventure.
Shape
it Up! -In science lab, we explored how the Grand
Canyon was formed by the powerful eroding force of water. This activity
explores how wind, water, volcanoes, and glaciers have an impact on the shape of
our land over time. Be sure to play this game more than once!
Although you might get the same landform with the same erosional force, it might
be showing you a different length of time!
The Water Cycle Explained (Video) -Click on the various parts of this interactive to learn more about all of the processes that are involved in the water cycle.
Water
Cycle Diagram -Click on the various parts of
this interactive diagram to learn more about all of the processes that are involved in
the water cycle.
Water
Cycle Game -This activity is a great way to
learn about and remember all of the important parts of the water cycle.
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How much do I weigh on Mars? - Go to the weighing station to find out! As you learned in third grade, gravity is the force that pulls things towards the center of the Earth. When we weigh something, we are actually measuring this force! Your bodyweight will be different, depending on what planet you're standing on!
Planet
Size Comparison -You might be wondering
why Pluto is no longer considered a planet in our solar system.
Several of the reasons as to why it lost its planetary status all have
to do with the fact that it is not very large. In fact, Pluto is
even smaller than our Moon! This activity does a great job doing
side-by-side comparisons of our planets. Just make two selections
and then click on the "compare" button.
Solar System Jigsaw Puzzle -In the first level of this game, see if you can put all of
our planets in their correct place. The second level tests your
ability to place all of the moons found in our solar system in the
correct place. Don't forget to play the third level of this game
called the "Hardware Level." This level tests your ability to
correctly place all of the probes & telescopes found in our solar
system.
Name
the Planets -Do you know your solar
system? Warm up with this activity! Click and drag the
correct name over the correct picture. This activity came out a long time
ago! How do I know that?? Well... scientists don't even consider Pluto to
be a "planet" anymore. Due to its small size, we now consider Pluto to be
a dwarf planet.
How Much
Light Pollution is in Our Sky? -This
site will give you a great idea as to how much light pollution there is
in our area. It will also give you a little bit different
perspective of the night sky depending upon what latitude you place
yourself in the world. If you move the other slider closer
towards the street light, you will see how much more of the night
sky that you are missing out on!
Mr. Nolde's Pictures from the Nov. 8th 2003 Lunar Eclipse -As we learned in class, eclipses of the moon are more commonly seen. If you ever get a chance to witness a lunar eclipse, I highly recommend documenting its progress with a digital camera just like I did!
Mr. Nolde's Pictures from the Oct. 27th 2004 Lunar Eclipse -Here is my second attempt at documenting a lunar eclipse. This time, I was able to do some more experimenting with the shutter speed to capture more of the red & orange colors when the moon was completely eclipsed by the Earth.
Solar
Eclipse Animations -Did you know that
there are actually three types of solar eclipses? Click here to
see animations of all three types of solar eclipses.
Other Great Websites about the Solar
System
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Balloons
and Static Electricity -Have you ever rubbed a balloon against a wool sweater and then
attached the balloon to a nearby wall? What really happens when we do
this? This website provides a great visual as to what happens to the
electrical charges when we do this.
The
Hidden Dangers of Electricity -Every year, tens of thousands of people in the U.S. are
killed or injured from contact with electricity. Play this game
to learn more about how you can protect you, your friends, & family
from the dangers of
electricity. See if you can get a
perfect score of 16,500 points by being able to correctly identify each dangerous
electrical situation in all three of the neighborhoods in this game. Good luck!
Power
UP! -Your mission in this activity is to provide enough power for your city
without running out of money or making too damaging an impact on our
environment. BE SURE TO CLICK ON THE "?" in the upper left corner of the
screen to learn more about how to play! What might surprise you in this
activity, is that almost ALL power plants have a negative impact on our
environment. It's just that some power plants have a more negative impact
on our environment than others. The most interesting thing that I learned from
playing this activity, is that it is a difficult job as a city planner to keep
spending costs in mind while still trying to do what's ultimately best for the
health of our planet.
Make
the Safe Choice -Making the wrong
decisions when it comes to electricity could cost you your life!
Test your ability to handle electrical hazards in the home by playing
this game. See if you can get a perfect score of 12.
The
Blobz Guide to Electric Circuits -This is
a great website that lets you explore how & why electrical circuits
work. This guide has five sections. Use the buttons on the
bottom of the screen to jump to each section. Click on the "?" to
learn more about each section, and be sure to play the activity that is
found in each section as well.
The
Fusebox-Building Circuits -This activity
on building circuits has 3 different levels. Level one allows you
to build simple circuits. Level two lets you build series
circuits. Level three is all about building parallel circuits.
Conductors & Insulators
Experiment -Did you enjoy our experiment
testing different materials to see whether or not they conduct
electricity in science lab? If so, you're going to LOVE this
activity! There are even a few items that might still surprise
you! Just click on the pickle to start the activity.
Magnets & Electromagnets Around
the House -Find as many of the magnets and
electromagnets as you can in this house. I think that you will be
surprised just how many magnets and electromagnets are found in many common
items around the house.
Build an Electromagnet -Try to build the
strongest electromagnet that you can by picking up all 500 iron filings!
In this experiment, you can change the type of wire, the wire thickness, the
number of coils, the type of current, and how much current. Only when you
use the correct combination of these five ingredients, will you be able to pick
up all 500 iron filings!
The
Circuit Construction Kit -This
is one of the best interactive sites that I've seen on electricity. This
site allows you to build all of the circuits that we have built in class plus
much, much more!
Other Great
Websites about Electricity & Magnetism
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The
Skeleton Games Tutorial -Before playing both levels of this game
linked below, please go
through the skeleton tutorial first. Click on each bone and carefully read the
description that appears in the white box to learn more about each bone.
When you have finished the tutorial, play skeleton games listed below!
The
Skeleton Game Level 1 -Be sure to go
through the skeleton tutorial that is linked above. When you have finished the tutorial, play
this game and see if you can get a perfect score of 25/25! Once you've
gotten a perfect score on the 1st skeleton game, see if you can get a perfect
score of 25/25 on the second skeleton game linked below.
The
Skeleton Game Level 2 - Once you've gotten a perfect score on the
1st skeleton game, see if you can get a perfect score of 25/25 on the second
skeleton game.
Digestive
System Games -Before playing both levels of this game, go
through the digestion tutorial. Click on each part of the digestive system
and carefully read the description that appears in the tan-colored box to learn
more about each organ. When you have finished the tutorial, play digestion
game 1 first. See if you get a perfect score of 10/10. Once you've
gotten a perfect score on that game, see if you can get a perfect score of 10/10
on the second game as well. Once you've done that, then you're ready to
play the quiz game! See if you can get a PERFECT score of 20/20!
Please keep in mind that some organs are used more than once in the
quiz!
Build
a Skeleton -In this activity, you will get to build the
skeletons of 4 different animals. You will start with an animal that has
an exoskeleton instead of real bones. As we learned in class, lobsters
really don't have bones that protect their body, but have a semi-hard outer
covering called an exoskeleton. As you are building each one, think about
the similarities that you see in each animal's skeletal system.
Bones
of the Human Body -See if you can
correctly label this human skeleton by clicking on the correct place for each
question asked.
Bertie's Body -Bertie
had his vital organs out for spring cleaning but, unfortunately, the
doctors forgot to put them back in properly. Can you help Bertie
by putting them back in the correct places?
The Crazy Calcium Caper -It is so very important
to make sure that we get enough calcium in what we eat every day.
Play this game to discover how we can do this!
What Makes You YOU? -Did you ever wonder what makes each of us different from one another? This movie will give you a clearer understanding of what genetics is and why we are all different.
Changing
our Perception -We
know how to put one foot in front of the other. With a bit of
practice, our brain has learned how to perceive the world in the
"correct" way. What happens when our "correct" world of
perception is changed? Try to see how fast you can work the
typewriter in this experiment!