Halloween Science

Middle school classrooms are scary places……especially on Halloween. Here are 3 activities to keep your ghouls entertained.

SPIDERS! – This week long mini unit explores the characteristics and classification of spiders. Each day includes complete lesson plans and everything you need to implement the lesson.

• Day 1 – spider fact or fiction, spider anatomy
• Day 2 – spider research
• Day 3 – spider species picture walk and invertebrate identification activity <– try this mini unit by downloading a free copy of the invertebrate identification activity! 
• Day 4 – review, crossword puzzle
• Day 5 – STEM activity building a spider web

Zombie Digital Escape Room – If you’re still working remotely or if you need to keep your kiddos socially distanced, engage them in group work that can be completed separately but together. A digital escape room with a Halloween theme will help them practice communication and problem solving skills, build relationships, and develop a growth mindset if it is appropriately challenging. This one is designed to save the world from zombies but there are thousands of variations on the theme.

Halloween Themed scientific literacy – If games aren’t your thing, or if you need to have seat work in the lesson plans, use the Halloween theme to engage students in a close reading of informational text. I have two on hand – one on spiders and one on bats – that I can bring out for enrichment purposes, sub plans, or for early finishers. They are engaging and help students practice reading and analyzing informational text to build scientific literacy.

Halloween Themed Hands on Activities – There are, of course, hundreds of labs you can do with candy. My school has a no-candy policy, and, for pandemic purposes, it is more strictly enforced this year than others, so that’s a no-go for me. Instead, try these two activities:

• Fake Blood STEM project – Students compete to create the most realistic fake blood using a pre-measured goody bag of materials such as corn syrup, food dye, and cocoa powder. Keeping a lab notebook makes it more of a scientific method inquiry than just a random mess making session. Voting on the best blood is one of the most memorable moments of the year.

• Apple mummies – Fun project that takes a week or two from beginning to end so you’ll need to plan in advance. Students select materials to mummify an apple slice and then use measurement skills to compare the water content before and after a week of mummification. Stickers or candy to the person whose apple lost the largest percentage of water.

Halloween Themed Worksheets

Any topic can be turned into a Halloween themed worksheet. Here are two I have used:

 

 

What’s your favorite Halloween project for middle school science?