You can use Pixie to help meet your K-2 science standards. Students can explore existing Pixie activities that teach and assess student understanding of the five senses, animal classification, and life cycles. You can also extend observation, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills with student-created projects that incorporate painting, matching, writing, storytelling, narration, and more.

You can use Pixie activities to assess student understanding on a topic. For example, after teaching students about the difference between living and nonliving things, have them complete a sorting activity to evaluate their comprehension. If you have an interactive white board, complete the activity as an entire class. When students drag a sticker to classify an item, prompt them to explain their choice.

After learning about a pond habitat, have students create a page that shows their understanding of that complete habitat, including plants and animals.

One of the most important skills young students need to learn is scientific observation. If you are studying weather, have students look outside to observe the weather each day. Using pictures and weather vocabulary, have them describe the weather each day. Use a classroom computer or an interactive white board to chart the weather for one week or even a month.

Primary grade science students learn that observing plants and animals helps identify seasons. After learning about each season, have students paint what a tree or animal looks like during each of the seasons.

While learning about the life cycle of a plant and the environmental requirements necessary for its growth, students often grow their own bean plants. Students can record their scientific observations using text and pictures. They can record their observations over time and print them to add to a scientific journal or combine all of the entries together to create an online journal!

Students love to be part of the action. Asking them to become an animal they are studying is motivating and a great way to help them write in the first person. Having students paint images, show cycles, and build stories from scratch helps them construct their own knowledge.

Having students paint an animal body around their face also helps them develop scientific observation skills. Rather than having them paint the animal from memory, have them find two or three photographs they can model their work after. Students can add a text box to write a descriptive paragraph about themselves. To extend this project, have students write a story about their life as an animal and illustrate each page in the story. They can print their masterpieces to share with their class or combine them into an online storybook.

Constructing their own models and diagrams requires higher-order thinking skills and helps students organize information. This type of project work also helps you assess their comprehension. For example, after studying the water cycle, have students paint the cycle on their own. It makes a great final assessment because it contains few clues to the correct content. Students will need to have a thorough understanding of the water cycle to complete this activity!

You can find more science lesson ideas for Pixie in the Recipes4Success Lesson Library.