- Determine which angle of the sun's rays is the strongest, by recording the temperature every day at the same time in your classroom. Place three thermometers in a window. One should be set at a 90-degree angle, one at a 45-degree angle and one should lie flat on the windowsill. After recording the temperatures for a period of time between one and two weeks, discuss the results to determine how the angle of the sun's rays affects temperature.
- Place a green leafy plant in a glass filled with water. Color the water a dark color using food coloring. This will help you identify its path through the plant as the plant's roots bring the water through the stem and to the leaves of the plant. Instruct the students to draw a diagram, illustrating the path based on their observations of the water traveling through the plant.
- Perform an experiment in class to determine the boiling point of water. Place a burner in front of the class, and fill a pot with 4 cups of water. Place a thermometer in the water to record its temperature. Ask your students to note the temperature at which the water boils. Repeat this experiment, but add a teaspoon of salt to the water. Discuss how the salt has changed the boiling point of the water.
- Before this experiment begins, ask each of your fifth-grade students to draw a rainbow. Ask students to show the colors and the width of each color band as accurately as possible. After the students have completed their drawings, shine a light through a prism, projecting the rainbow onto a sheet of white paper. Trace where each color starts and stops, and label it. Analyze which colors are the most present and least present in the rainbow, and choose the student's drawing that was most accurate.
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