We know you save every empty shoebox, paper towel roll, and soda bottle just in case the right class project or craft comes along. So let us help you put those hoarded 2-liter soda bottles to work!
Start by removing the labels and the sticky residue left behind. The trick is soaking the bottles in warm water, which will get most of the label off, and then using either white vinegar or peanut butter (yes, peanut butter—smooth, not chunky) to remove the sticky residue.
Worm Farm
You will need a 2-liter bottle, 16-ounce water bottle (empty), sand, dirt, rocks, worms, tape, and black construction paper. Cut the tops off of the two bottles. Be sure to save the top of the 2-liter bottle. Put about one inch of rocks with a little dirt in the bottom of the 2-liter bottle, then place the smaller bottle inside the larger bottle, and begin layering sand and dirt around the smaller bottle. Once you have the dirt filled most of the way to the top, add three to five worms, and tape the 2-liter bottle’s lid back on top (remove the cap). Now, you’re ready to watch the magic happen. Worms work best in the dark, so cover the bottle with the black construction paper and check back in to see their progress. Encourage students to keep a journal to record what they see and discover.
Punctured Plastic Bottle Experiment
This experiment demonstrates how air pressure controls the flow of water. To demonstrate this, you will poke a hole near the bottom of a 2-liter bottle, cover the hole with masking tape, and then fill the bottle with water and put the cap on the bottle. Click here to download this experiment and activity from our Hands-On Experiments books.
Before you toss your
TV Guide, People, or Every Day with Rachael Ray in the recycle bin, read these tips for repurposing old magazines. That pile of magazines has great activities to support your math lessons!
Magazine Math
- Have students cut colorful pictures from magazines and paste them onto a piece of construction paper use this template <free download>. Underneath the collage of magazine clippings have students write a math word problem related to the picture they’ve created. Have students carefully proofread their work for errors. Also have them answer the word problem and write the answer on the back of the activity. Then have students share their word problem with a classmate to solve. Post the colorful word problems on your bulletin board for an eye-catching math board.
- Go on a magazine scavenger hunt! You can modify this concept for any subject, but for the sake of math related activities, focus on your current lesson plan. For example, have students find: a line longer than two inches, a number in words, a percent, a pie chart, a bar graph, a date, a cylinder, a right angle, and so on. Instruct students to find an example of each in a magazine, cut out the example, and glue them to a piece of construction paper. This would also make for a colorful math bulletin board!
- Start clipping and saving the recipes printed in magazines for your next fractions lesson. Provide each student with a recipe. Challenge students to double, triple, or cut the recipe in half. For a hands-on approach, give students only three measuring cups, for example: ½ teaspoon, ½ tablespoon, and ¼ cup. Have students determine how to make the recipe with just those measuring tools. If the recipe calls for 3 cups of flour, how many ¼ cups will you need?
- Local city magazines are typically free and easy to find, plus they are always packed coupons to local restaurants. Provide each student with a coupon and ask them to identify how much they must spend in order to redeem the coupon and if they spend x amount of money, how much will they save by using the coupon? To give students a hands-on experience, give each student different amounts of play money. Have them deduct the coupon’s discount amount from their stack to see what 10% looks like versus deducting $10.
Real estate advertisements are also common in local magazines. These advertisements often market a square foot price (i.e. $0.50/sf). Ask students to determine how much a building would cost of if the square footage was 7,000 sf. Or if the square foot price and the total price are listed, ask students to determine the size (sf) of the building.
- Save the postcard-size blow-ins that sell magazine subscriptions. See example below. Give each student a postcard. Ask students to find, or determine using math, the following information from the postcard: magazine name, regular subscription price, single magazine price, number of issues, and special subscription price. Have students determine the savings per issue, the price per issue with savings, the annual price of the in-store magazine versus the subscription price, etc.
Save in the Classroom
- Have parents donate a book to your class library in lieu of bringing cupcakes on their child’s birthday. Write the student’s name, birthday, and year on the inside cover so you and all of your students will know who the book was celebrating.
- Use plastic plates as individual dry-erase boards for each student--they are reusable and less expensive than a personal white board (and you can usually find them at the dollar store!).
- Invest in fade-proof paper to back your bulletin boards. It will last all year.
- Apple, Disneyland, Barnes & Noble, and many of other retailers offer teacher discounts--be sure to ask about them!
- If you’ve used your teacher discount to purchase an iPad, take advantage of the thousands of digital children’s picture books that you can read to your students from your iPad. For a low price, you’ll have these books forever with no torn pages.
- Don't be shy--ask for donations! One of our Facebook Fans, Lisa, suggests this site: Donors Choose.
