TEACH PRESCHOOL SCIENCE
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      • Stems - Making Daisy and Clover Chains
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      • Parts of Our Body and How We Use Them
      • Our Heart
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      • Follow That Scent
      • Stop That Germ!
      • Interesting Tools That Doctors Use
      • We Need Healthy Teeth
      • Keep Those Muscles Moving!
    • Physical Science Index >
      • Blowing Bubbles
      • Magnify!
      • Ways to Measure Time
      • Magnetic Attraction
      • Ramps in Motion
      • Ice Melting
      • Sink or Float a Boat
      • Sponges and water
      • Dropping Things Through the Air
      • Static Electricity
      • Battery Electricity
      • Properties of Soap and Water
      • Weights and Balances
      • How Can Heat Change Things?
      • Tools Can Help Us Do Things
      • Lifting with Levers
      • Earth and Sky Science Index >
        • Shadow Chasing
        • Sun Effects
        • The Night Sky
        • Kinds of Clouds
        • Dressing for the Season
        • Classifying Rocks
        • Colors of the Rainbow
        • Who Has Seen the Wind?
        • Rain
        • Snow
        • Litter Hunt
        • We Can Take Care of the Earth
      • Wheels
      • Predicting How Simple Machines Will Work
      • Computers and Other Devices
      • Discoveries With Straws
      • Different Ways of Making Light
  • Teaching Notes
  • Links
  • Contact

Discoveries With Straws


Core Learning Experience + Supplies and Equipment

  • ​Build with straws: set out straws, scissors, tape, glue, yarn, and ask the children to connect the straws to build something. They will discover what works and what doesn’t work. Older children can be directed to try to build a square; a box; a house; a pathway etc.
  • Try to make a boat that floats on water with some straws and tape. Try it out.
  •  Older children can be shown how to use paper clips to join straws, to make more stable structures. (See web site below).

Possible/Expected Discoveries

  • ​Because of the intrinsic strength and structure of drinking straws, they can be used in a basic exploration of the principles of structural engineering.
  • I have 3 straws to make a shape. What shape could I make? How about 4? Could I make a circle with straws? How?

Extended Learning and Other Curriculum Areas

  • ​​Straws can be used for other interesting explorations. Investigate what can be done with a straw and a glass/bowl of water. 
  • Press one end of a straw flat. Cut each side of the flattened end to form a V. It doesn’t take too many tries to make a loud oboe-like sound. Feel the straw vibrating. Cut the end shorter to change the pitch.
Preschool science activities - straws

Activity Packs and Printables

Websites

​http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/educator/act_straw_ho.html (connecting straws with paper clips)

Books

USEFUL LINKS

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Teaching notes
Resource links

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Privacy Policy
This site is sponsored and supported by the preschool themes site www.KidSparkz.com
Activities written by (c) Susan Portman
Pre-K, Kindergarten, First, Second, Third, Homeschooler - TeachersPayTeachers.com
Copyright © 2005-2023 Teach Preschool Science - Permission granted to reproduce for personal educational use only. Commercial copying or selling is prohibited. No part of this resource may be uploaded to, or published on, any other site for any reason.
  • Home
  • Lesson Plans Index
    • Life Science Plants and Animals >
      • Comparing Leaves
      • Exploring Pumpkins
      • Shucking Corn
      • Earthworm Observation
      • Parent and Baby Animals
      • Collecting Ants
      • Spider Season
      • Visit to a Pet Store
      • Living and Non Living Things
      • Animals Come in Many Shapes, Sizes and Colors
      • Ways Animals Move
      • Animals Need to Eat
      • Difference Between Wild and Tame Animals
      • People Can Use Products Provided by Animals and Plants
      • Animal Coverings - Hair, Fur, Feathers, Scales and Skin
      • Animals Live in Different Places
      • Metamorphosis and Change in Biology
      • Nocturnal Animals
      • Egg Science
      • Exploring Fish
      • Tree Skin Bark
      • Roots Growing Potatoes in Water
      • Stems - Making Daisy and Clover Chains
      • Flowers
      • Digging in the Dirt
    • Life Science People Index >
      • Parts of Our Body and How We Use Them
      • Our Heart
      • Our Hands
      • Our Feet
      • Fun With Balance
      • Sound Search
      • Sense of Touch
      • Exploring the Sense of Sight
      • Follow That Scent
      • Stop That Germ!
      • Interesting Tools That Doctors Use
      • We Need Healthy Teeth
      • Keep Those Muscles Moving!
    • Physical Science Index >
      • Blowing Bubbles
      • Magnify!
      • Ways to Measure Time
      • Magnetic Attraction
      • Ramps in Motion
      • Ice Melting
      • Sink or Float a Boat
      • Sponges and water
      • Dropping Things Through the Air
      • Static Electricity
      • Battery Electricity
      • Properties of Soap and Water
      • Weights and Balances
      • How Can Heat Change Things?
      • Tools Can Help Us Do Things
      • Lifting with Levers
      • Earth and Sky Science Index >
        • Shadow Chasing
        • Sun Effects
        • The Night Sky
        • Kinds of Clouds
        • Dressing for the Season
        • Classifying Rocks
        • Colors of the Rainbow
        • Who Has Seen the Wind?
        • Rain
        • Snow
        • Litter Hunt
        • We Can Take Care of the Earth
      • Wheels
      • Predicting How Simple Machines Will Work
      • Computers and Other Devices
      • Discoveries With Straws
      • Different Ways of Making Light
  • Teaching Notes
  • Links
  • Contact