When I taught professionally, I had to keep an emergency substitute file with lessons. (Yes, there are always unscheduled emergencies, such as the time I was stuck on the ice in my yard waiting for a tow.) Home-school families also confront unscheduled emergencies which disrupt lessons, such as the baby has an ear infection, won’t stop screaming, and you can’t cope with school at all. Create instant lessons!
My classic combination for emergency lessons is a video, an article, and a set of questions. For younger kiddos, ask them to write three facts and state what they learned. Explain that this is also a handwriting exercise. My advice is to print the articles, worksheets, puzzles, etc and put them in a folder marked Emergencies, along with a few materials, such as cotton balls, ketchup packets, coins, a magnet, and a magnifier. There is enough material below to declare a science day.
NCW Celebrating Chemistry is geared toward middle school, which means upper elementary students should be fine with this material. One example is Into the Woods. Each issue has articles, puzzles, and activities. Just print the articles, leaf matching activity, and word search. The kiddos can copy the new terms and definitions. Some Celebrating Chemistry issues have activities children can do independently, unlike the syrup lab in the Into the Woods issue. I imagine you really don’t want the kiddos to cut up your house plants, for the sake of science. Even without a video, any NCW issue (scroll down) should buy you at least 30 minutes—especially if the kiddos copy vocabulary, write facts, and summarize articles.
Textiles: Fabulous Fibers is a booklet from ACS’s National Chemistry Week for kiddos. They will want to dye yarn with Kool-aid. Read and do Are you stronger than a cotton ball? until the antibiotics kick in and the baby stops screaming. The related video is under Kids Zone 2022.
Older kids can watch How is Leather Made? or Textiles 101. Read the Chemistry of Knitting. Crochet Chemistry has the article and teacher’s guide. Generally, I only use the comprehension questions from the teacher’s guide. Yes, there is an answer key to the questions.
Otzi the Iceman: Here is the article and questions. Watch the NOVA video. Younger kiddos may want to read this Britannica summary or visit the South Tyrol Museum’s Otzi website. Can’t get enough? The Smithsonian has an Otzi learning lab.
Money: Let’s start with coins. Watch Money and Magnets before you read The Captivating Chemistry of Coins. Here are the student questions. Younger kiddos might enjoy the NCW issue, Marvelous Metals. Tell the children they can clean copper pennies with vinegar and salt or Ketchup; however, they need to find the pennies by themselves. Here is the U.S. Mint’s Coin Classroom, with videos. Ask the younger kiddos to hunt for change and count it. Here are counting money worksheets to print.
Currency is another interesting topic. Here is the currency academy. Cash, Currency, and Counterfeit (guide) and Counterfeiting Countermeasures, are fascinating. Here are U.S. currency videos. HST has a Counterfeit Money Project kids can do independently if they have a magnifier. Ask the kiddos to hunt for yours when they are searching for coins. If you have a hand-held microscope, paper currency is fascinating under the microscope.
Candy: The Sweet Science of Candy has both the article and questions with a key. Watch this Modern Marvels video, How Delicious Candy is Made. How Candy is Made is only nine minutes, perfect for younger kiddos with The Sweet Side of Chemistry: Candy. Print the article and word search; save the sour candy, Skittles, and gum activities for a rainy day. Plan to make the Potato Candy or Buckeye recipe when you have more band-width.
Are things especially dire? Watch Bill Nye episodes with Movie Worksheets.
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