Free cross-curricular real-life lesson plans and building projects

Hello and welcome to the Omschool! Teacher Omi (Grandma) here with more ways to get free lesson plans from everyday tasks. A good curriculum should be practical, hands-on, goal-oriented and feature real-life. activities. Today's free lesson plans come from building/ assembly projects for household materials. These do double duty in that students are creating real-life items they will use everyday and homeschool families get value added being able to cross one more project off the to-do list! Assembling building projects is cross-curricular, requiring STEM, math, tool use, fine motor, reading, following directions, process thinking and often problem-solving skills (plus probably others I've not thought of!) 

So what kind of building projects are we talking about? Well, most of us order a lot of things online and have them shipped. And even if you purchase in store, many items come in pieces and must be assembled. Furniture, shelves, containers, toys, decorations, you name it...most everything states some assembly required. And these assembly building projects make excellent free printable STEM lesson plans for students. Next time you buy something that comes in pieces, students to building projects. Usually, you don't have to write separate lesson plans or even provide materials! Everything comes right in the package! And if instructions aren't written as well as they could be, this is extra learning as students are required to "think outside the box" and come up with solutions.  What better problem-solving activities could there be?

Oh and even more value added if instructions are written in several languages. Students can learn to translate and compare words in different languages. You might have them make a chart of how different phrases, words, materials or processes are called in various languages. I suggest making photo copies of instructions for each student involved in the projects. 

The building projects example I'm using is this desk I built (or assembled) recently. Everything was labeled, parts by number and hardware by letter. The step-by-step instructions were wordless and showed pictures. Most steps were very clear but the keyboard tray assembly was not. I had to redo it several times till I got it right. The set came with tools so I had everything I needed. I would recommend using your own if possible. We used our power drill which made it easier. Older kids could be taught to utilize one if available. Let children discuss how to organize materials for easier construction (placing parts in numerical or alphabetical order). For building projects with many different fasteners, students might sort them into an egg carton. Be sure to save little zippered bags from fasteners for other repurposed uses. Also, save any spare parts in case something breaks. 

Here's a site with free printable paper buildings and structures for further STEM extension. Some of the free printables aren't working anymore (this is a really old site I used 15 years ago when I was writing lesson plans for Yahoo!) But there are enough to provide lots of printable activities and hours of learning. Stay tuned for more free printable lesson plans. 

Cats Mordecai and Moishe (not shown) were very helpful in the building project and Mord thought you would like to see him sitting on his handiwork!  

Make a pet baby tornado: fun, easy, free science activities and recycled crafts

 Hello teachers and homeschool friends, "Omschool" teacher Omi (grandma) here with easy, free recycle bin crafts for science lesson plans. Today we're making pet baby tornadoes. This science experiment is easy for all ages from toddler on up. It's perfect for a highchair craft. The pet baby tornado is free to make with items from the recycle bin. You just need water, a clean glass jar with lid and a tiny drop of dish soap. 

To find baby tornado, just shake round and round to create a swirling in the water, called in science talk, a vortex. This is the force that drives a whirlpool and also the force that is generated by the drain in your sink or bathtub. Water doesn't just fall down the drain, it swirls round and round as it goes down. 

I realized after I made my pet baby tornado video that it was difficult to see him clearly. So I tried adding a little food coloring to make baby tornado show up better. You can also add some glitter if you  have some, to show how things floating on the surface are pulled into the vortex. 

 

Extend your science fun with some cross-curricular connections. Make a book about baby tornado. Research tornados and the force they create. Draw your tornado and maybe make up a song about him (her!) 

Here are free printable tornado lesson plans from A to Z Teacher. And here are some more free printable tornado lesson plans from Teach Engineering.