Biology is quite a popular subject in middle school. The main reason behind this is the exciting activities and experiments kids get to perform. These activities help your kids learn the basic concepts of biology in the easiest and fun ways. This article has listed five such activities that will make biology for children easier and more fun than ever!
5 Best Biology Activities For Middle School
#1. Fun Demonstration of Capillary Action Using Paper Towels
When you spill any liquid on the floor, what is the first thing you reach out for? Paper napkins, right? They absorb any liquid quickly and make the surface nice and dry. But what makes them do so? Why are paper towels the best absorbent? The answer is due to capillary action.
In our first activity, we will learn how capillary action works to make paper towels highly absorbent. Here, your objective is to make water move from one beaker to another using paper napkins.
What You’ll Need
#. 3 Jars/Containers
#. Food Colours
#. Paper Towels
Directions:
#1. Line up all the containers on a flat surface and fill two of them 3/4th with water. Now, to make the experiment fun, add a few drops of food colouring to both containers. It is best to use the colours which, when mixed, give the third colour.
#2. Take a paper towel and fold it four times lengthwise. Now, put one end of this folded napkin in one coloured container and let the other end hang on the empty container. Repeat the same process with the second coloured container. Let the jars sit for 4-5 hours or overnight, and keep checking them in between.
Explanation:
Paper towels are highly porous. The pores act like capillaries or fine tubes that absorb water. Two properties make this happen: adhesion and cohesion. Due to adhesion, water molecules get attracted to the walls of fine capillaries and stick onto them.
According to the property of cohesion, the water molecules stick to each other and make the water travel along with the folded paper towel against the gravitational force, moving from one container to the other.
After 4-5 hours, you will be able to see some colour in the empty container. Try this experiment using different colours and different types of paper towels to understand the capillary action deeply.
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#2. Learn Osmosis With Gummy Bears
We all love eating gummy bears, but have you ever considered using them for your science experiments?
Solute refers to a component dissolved in a solution. For example: in a sugar-water solution, sugar crystals are the solutes. The more sugar you put in the water, the more you increase the concentration of the solution.
Water molecules move from a lower concentration of solute to an area with a higher concentration of the same. This movement of water molecules is referred to as osmosis. To understand the process of osmosis and its working, we will see how gummy bears react when they’re soaked in different solutions.
What You’ll Need
#. Two Jars, Bowls
#. Gummy Bears
#. Salt
#. Measuring Cup
#. Ruler
#. Water
Directions:
#1. Add ½ cup of water to both of the jars/bowls and add around 1 tablespoon of salt to each and mix well.
#2. Put gummy bears in each bowl and leave them soaked for 6-7 hours or overnight.
#3. Notice the changes in the soaked gummy bears, next morning and compare them with dry ones.
Explanation:
The solute concentration present inside the gummy bear is higher than the concentration of solutes in the saltwater solution. Therefore, the water moves from the salt solution to the gummy bear, causing it to swell. Next morning, you will find that the gummy bears have doubled in size.
You can repeat this experiment using different types of solutions like sugar solution, fruit juice, etc., to check how osmosis works for different solutes.
#3. Grow Your Butterfly
Butterflies have one of the most amazing life cycles. It grows from a humble caterpillar to a beautiful and colourful flying insect. When a mature butterfly lays eggs, they hatch into larvae or caterpillars. These little crawling insects then grow, eat and shed their skin multiple times resulting in the formation of the belly. Once they reach the right age, they shed their skin one final time to reveal a body part called the chrysalis.
Chrysalis then hardens quickly and changes into a beautiful butterfly. When the time comes, the butterfly cracks the chrysalis and hangs out on it until its wings become dry and hard. Once it happens, it is free to fly and live its life.
Now that you know how a butterfly is born, how about witnessing this life cycle with your eyes. Let’s grow a larva into a butterfly!
What You’ll Need
#. Caterpillar
#. A glass jar with some garden soil
Directions:
#1. Find a caterpillar from the garden. Place it into the glass jar, half-filled with soil and lined with paper. Make sure to poke some holes on its lid to allow airflow. Put some leaves with your caterpillar, so it doesn’t die of hunger.
#2. Observe and keep writing down the changes with each passing day. Observe the caterpillar closely and see how it is changing and growing.
#3. Once you notice the growth of the chrysalis, wait for a day or two to let it harden and then transfer it into a mesh container.
#4. Once your butterfly comes out from the chrysalis and its wings are strong enough, let it fly!
#4. Perform Owl Pellet Dissection
Unlike other birds, when an owl eats food, it directly goes from its mouth to its gizzard where further digestion takes place. The food is then broken into digestible and indigestible groups. The indigestible parts, such as furs, bones, pebbles and sand, are grouped into an oval-shaped pellet, which the owl excrete after some hours of eating.
Since the owl swallows its prey as a whole, you can find most of its bones intact in the pellet.
What You’ll Need
#. Owl Pellet
#. Tweezers
#. Hand Gloves
#. Face Mask (Optional)
#. Newspaper
#. A wooden stick
Directions:
#1. Take the owl pellet on a sheet of paper and observe it carefully. Look for any feathers, bones, furs and other easily identifiable material. Before starting the process, consider wearing gloves and put on your face mask to deal with the smell.
#2. Use a stick or waste spatula to break down the pellet and turn it around to see what’s in there.
#3. Pick the bones, if any, using the tweezers.
#4. Observe these bones closely and identify which bird, shrew, mole, rodent they came from.
#5. Grow Your Own Herbs From Cuttings
What’s a better biology project than growing herbs? In this project, you’ll be growing herbs from cuttings and watching them grow before your eyes. Basil, mint and thyme are great herbs you can use for this activity.
Directions
#1. Get your cutting from any nursery or your neighbour (with their permission).
#2. Chop off the extra leaves at the bottom of the cuttings. This is an important step because the leaves will eventually rot and spoil the cutting.
#3. Place the stems in a glass of water and wait for the roots to grow. This will take around 7 to 15 days, depending on the type of herb and the environmental conditions.
#4. Once the roots have grown enough, take your herbs and plant them into the soil. The soil should be rich and fertile.
#5. Water your plant daily and watch it thrive.
Conclusion
So, these are some of the most fun biology activities for kids to learn from and enjoy. If you want your kids to participate in real, practical education rather than simply memorising from their books, then Real School Of Montessori is the right platform for you to stop by. They believe in providing high-quality virtual education through interactive live sessions.
The Real School Of Montessori helps kids develop a clear vision and achieve their goals. No need to believe what we are saying, check out their free demo class yourself!
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