Science Labs & Student Instruction - Girard

🌱 Survival Scientists

What Living Things Need to Thrive

Students bring science to life as they explore how plants and animals work together to survive. Through hands-on investigations with real organisms, they uncover patterns in nature and discover how living things depend on their environment.

Survival Scientists – Standards

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🎢 Push, Pull, Play!

Engineering Motion on the Playground

Turn recess into a science lab! Students explore forces and motion, how pushes and pulls affect movement,—and what makes a playground work.

Push, Pull, Play! – Standards

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🌦 Storm Chasers

Exploring Weather in Action

Students become meteorologists as they investigate wind, rain, severe weather, and the sun’s role. Through hands-on models and experiments, they discover patterns in weather, how it impacts our daily lives, and how to stay safe during weather events.

Storm Chasers – Standards

🚣 Wild About the Outdoors

Active Adventures in Nature, Teamwork, and Exploration
Students dive into a full day of outdoor fun with activities like canoeing, archery, Gaga Ball, and more. Through hands-on experiences, they develop teamwork, confidence, and an appreciation for the natural world—with flexible options to include environmental learning

🐻 Why Animals Look the Way They Do

Exploring Traits, Survival and Animal Design

Students get up close with live animals as they investigate why animals look and act the way they do. Through hands-on exploration, they discover how inherited traits and unique body features help animals survive in their environments.

Why Animals Look the Way They Do – Standards

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🔊See it. Hear it. Understand it.

Exploring Vibrations, Sound Waves, and Light in Action

Students dive into the science of sound and light through hands-on investigations. They explore how vibrations create sound, visualize sound waves, and discover how light travels and helps us see the world around us.

See it. Hear it. Understand it. -Standards

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🚀 Mission to the Moon

Exploring Space Patterns, Seasons, and Life Beyond Earth

Students step into the role of space explorers as they investigate patterns in the sky, including the sun, moon, and seasons. Through hands-on learning, they discover why daylight changes throughout the year and explore how astronauts survive and work in space—connecting classroom science to real NASA missions.

Mission to the Moon – Standards

🚣 Wild About the Outdoors

Active Adventures in Nature, Teamwork, and Exploration

Students dive into a full day of outdoor fun with activities like canoeing, archery, Gaga Ball, and more. Through hands-on experiences, they develop teamwork, confidence, and an appreciation for the natural world—with flexible options to include environmental learning.

🔍 Mix it, Heat it, Change It!

Discovering How Matter Looks, Feels and Transforms

Students explore the world of matter through hands-on investigations as they sort, test, and experiment with different materials. They discover how objects can be alike and different, and observe how heating and cooling cause matter to change in exciting and sometimes surprising ways.

Mix it, Heat it, Change it! – Standards

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🌿 Nature’s Perfect Partners

Exploring How Plants and Animals Live, Adapt and Work Together

Students investigate the diversity of living things across different habitats as they explore how plants and animals are uniquely designed to survive. Through hands-on exploration and an engineering challenge, they discover how these organisms work together—especially through pollination and seed dispersal.

Nature’s Perfect Partners – Standards

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🌍 The Great Shake Up

Exploring Earth’s Changing Landscapes and Powerful Forces

Students investigate how Earth’s surface can change suddenly and over time through hands-on exploration. They model and observe forces like shifting land and erosion, then apply their learning through an engineering design challenge to better understand how and why Earth is constantly changing.

The Great Shake Up – Standards

🚣 Wild About the Outdoors

Active Adventures in Nature, Teamwork, and Exploration

Students dive into a full day of outdoor fun with activities like canoeing, archery, Gaga Ball, and more. Through hands-on experiences, they develop teamwork, confidence, and an appreciation for the natural world—with flexible options to include environmental learning.

🧬Born to Survive (Spring Only)

Exploring Genetics, Traits, and Survival of the Fittest

Students explore the science of genetics as they investigate how traits are passed from parents to offspring using interactive models like Punnett squares. Through engaging games and activities, they also discover how adaptations help organisms survive in different environments—bringing natural selection to life.

Born to Survive – Standards

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🪂 Mission: Safe Landing

Engineering Parachutes That Protect and Deliver

Students become engineers on a high-stakes mission to design a parachute that can safely carry cargo to the ground. Through teamwork and hands-on testing, they apply the engineering design process to build, evaluate, and improve their designs for a successful landing.

Mission: Safe Landing – Standards

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🌦 Weather Around the World

Exploring Climate, Storms, and Global Weather Patterns

Students investigate how weather varies across the globe as they compare climates, storms, and temperature differences in different regions. Through hands-on exploration and an engineering challenge, they use critical thinking to understand how and why weather impacts our world.

Weather Around the World – Standards

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⚖️ Forces in Action

Exploring Motion, Balance, and Building for Stability

Students get hands-on with physics as they explore how balanced and unbalanced forces affect motion. Through interactive experiments and a bridge-building engineering challenge, they design, test, and improve structures—discovering what it takes to create stability.

Forces in Action – Standards

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🤖Mission: Code & Control (Sphero)

Coding, Controlling, and Creating with Robotics

Students launch into coding as they learn how to program and control Sphero robots. Through hands-on challenges, they explore how coding is used in everyday life while building skills in sequencing, problem-solving, and creativity—culminating in designing their own coded tasks and challenges.

Mission: Code & Control – Standards

🚣 Wild About the Outdoors 

Active Adventures in Nature, Teamwork, and Exploration

Students dive into a full day of outdoor fun with activities like canoeing, archery, Gaga Ball, and more. Through hands-on experiences, they develop teamwork, confidence, and an appreciation for the natural world—with flexible options to include environmental learning.

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🌿 Low Ropes Course

Building Teamwork, Confidence and Communication Through Adventure

Participants work together through hands-on challengs close to the ground, using communication, problem-solving, and group support to succeed.

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🏢 FlexPlex Indoor Course

Adventure – Rain or Shine

Indoor challenge experiences featuring climbing walls, crate stacking, and high elements—perfect for winter or inclement weather.

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🧩 Portable Team-Building

Bring the Challenge to You

Facilitators deliver engaging, ground-based challenges at your location—perfect for staff development or student groups. Activities are customized to build cooperation, confidence, and communication.

🌿 Built to Survive

Exploring How Plant and Animal Structures Work

Students investigate how internal and external structures help plants and animals survive. Through hands-on exploration and dissection, they uncover how specific body parts and features function—revealing how living things are designed for life in their environments.

Built to Survive – Standards

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🔊Waves in Action

Exploring How Sound and Light Energy Travel

Students investigate how energy moves through sound and light waves using hands-on experiments. They explore pitch, wave size, and reflectivity while discovering how energy travels and interacts with the world around them.

Waves in Action – Standards

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🕵️ Code Breakers (Sphero)

Creating Secret Messages with Sphero Robotics

Students dive into coding as they program Sphero robots to complete missions and deliver hidden messages. As they experiment with movement, color, and timing, they discover how coding can be used to communicate and solve problems in exciting ways.

Code Breakers – Standards

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🌧 Erosion Engineers

Understanding and Preventing Soil Movement

Students investigate the forces that cause erosion and how it can be accelerated or reduced. By designing and testing solutions, they apply scientific thinking and engineering strategies to protect soil and stabilize the land.

Erosion Engineers – Standards

🚣 Wild About the Outdoors

Active Adventures in Nature, Teamwork, and Exploration

Students dive into a full day of outdoor fun with activities like canoeing, archery, Gaga Ball, and more. Through hands-on experiences, they develop teamwork, confidence, and an appreciation for the natural world—with flexible options to include environmental learning.

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🌿 Low Ropes Course

Building Teamwork, Confidence and Communication Through Adventure

Participants work together through hands-on challengs close to the ground, using communication, problem-solving, and group support to succeed.

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🏢 FlexPlex Indoor Course

Adventure – Rain or Shine

Indoor challenge experiences featuring climbing walls, crate stacking, and high elements—perfect for winter or inclement weather.

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🧩  Portable Team-Building

Bring the Challenge to You

Facilitators deliver engaging, ground-based challenges at your location—perfect for staff development or student groups. Activities are customized to build cooperation, confidence, and communication.

🌟 Stargazers & Sunlight 🌟

Exploring Light, Stars, and What We See in the Sky

Students investigate how light travels and what affects its strength using tools like light sensors, solar panels, and telescopes. Through hands-on exploration, they discover why the sun appears so bright, how light changes over distance, and what determines the visibility and brightness of stars in our night sky.

Stargers & Sunlight – Standards

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🌊 Planet Water 🌊

Exploring How Water Connects Earth’s Systems

Students investigate how water moves through and connects Earth’s systems—from the atmosphere to the land and living things. Through hands-on exploration, they examine water availability, pollution, and tides, while discovering what makes water “healthy” and why it matters to our planet.

Planet Water – Standards

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🧪 Matter in Action 🧪

Exploring Changes, Reactions, and Conservation in Mass

Students step into the role of scientists as they investigate how matter changes through hands-on experiments. They explore physical and chemical changes and uncover the principle of conservation of mass—discovering how matter behaves and interacts in the world around them.

Matter in Action – Standards

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🧭 Mission Sphero – Find the Way 🧭

Navigating with Sphero Through Coding Challenges

Students take on the role of programmers as they guide Sphero robots through pathways and obstacles using code. Through hands-on challenges, they explore how coding is used for navigation and problem-solving while building skills in sequencing, logic, and creativity.

Mission Sphero – Find the Way – Standards

🚣 Wild About the Outdoors

Active Adventures in Nature, Teamwork, and Exploration

Students dive into a full day of outdoor fun with activities like canoeing, archery, Gaga Ball, and more. Through hands-on experiences, they develop teamwork, confidence, and an appreciation for the natural world—with flexible options to include environmental learning.

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🌿 Low Ropes Course

Building Teamwork, Confidence and Communication Through Adventure

Participants work together through hands-on challengs close to the ground, using communication, problem-solving, and group support to succeed.

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🏢 FlexPlex Indoor Course

Adventure – Rain or Shine

Indoor challenge experiences featuring climbing walls, crate stacking, and high elements—perfect for winter or inclement weather.

———-

🧩  Portable Team-Building

Bring the Challenge to You

Facilitators deliver engaging, ground-based challenges at your location—perfect for staff development or student groups. Activities are customized to build cooperation, confidence, and communication.