Respiratory STEM: Constructing Lung Models

We wanted to make the human body more interactive and more STEM based. I think all of us have seen the lung bottle made out of a water bottle, balloon, and straw, right? Rather than presenting the model to the students and have them identify the parts, I decided to challenge my students to building a working lung model. The problem they were provided was to inflate a balloon inside of a bottle without touching the balloon directly.

We spent a little time planning after they had read about the respiratory system. I gave them two days for construction. The first day, many students were trying to simply place a balloon in the bottle, attached to a straw. They thought it would be as simple as blowing in the straw. Boy, were they surprised!

I encouraged my students to think about how their bodies work, hoping they would think of the diaphragm. The picture below were the top contenders from each class. It was so cool to see their creativity and to help them conceptualize the respiratory system.

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Nitrogen and Carbon Cycle Foldable

I was inspired to create foldables for my 6th graders on the carbon and nitrogen cycles after viewing one created by the blog " The Inspired Classroom ". She had created a much cuter one for the water cycle. Please forgive my pictures, descriptions, and handwriting. :) If you would like a free copy of the nitrogen foldable or carbon foldable , you can find it at My Teachers Pay Teachers.

Biomes Foldable

I had way too much fun making this. My students are going to be learning about these biomes next and I created this example of the finished product and one with the pictures/words without the cuts. I photocopied the sheet and shrunk it to 75%. The students will cut it out, fold down the extra space on the left side, and glue it in their notebooks. Underneath each tab, they will write characteristics of the biomes. I am clearly on a foldable kick! Thank you snow days. :) I did create a digital version of this for you to download on my Teacher Pay Teachers. It's free!

Rubric Maker

I am a huge fan of project-based learning! As a result, I create lots of rubrics. Sometimes I write them myself and other times, I like to find premade ones to help me clarify the assessment piece. A co-worker in Colorado introduced me to Rubistar years back. It's free and pretty user-friendly. They have several premade categories and criteria, but you can alter them to fit your needs. The website is old, but don't let that throw you off.

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