E H B T I G S ’ IDEA? T A H W

Activity and Book Guide In Ivy and Bean: What’s the Big Idea? the second graders in Ms. Aruba-Tate’s class get the bad news about climate change: it’s hot and it’s happening. At first, they blame the scientists, but then they learn that science is the key to solving the problem. In fact, Ivy and Bean and their fellow second-graders decide to work on solutions to global warming for the Emerson School Science Fair. Cool! (Well, no. Hot, actually.) Ivy and Bean and the other kids do a lot of thinking and experimenting, and

they come up with some great ideas. Some involve ice, some involve vacuum cleaners, some involve . . . well, you can read it yourself. Celebrate Ivy and Bean: What’s the Big Idea? by holding a science fair in your classroom, bookstore or library. Use this activity and book guide to help create an energetic, earth-friendly— and yet explosion-free — event!

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Activities and Fun Stuff Inspired by Ivy and Bean: What’s The Big Idea? This guide will help you organize a day of books, science and fun no one will forget. The following activities build upon each other and, if done in order, reinforce important environmental science skills and concepts. They are designed to transform your classroom, bookstore or library into an Ivy and Bean-inspired science lab.

What’s the Big Idea? Start off your science fair by introducing global warming to the kids. Gather everyone around in a circle. Read the chapter “Just Deserts” from Ivy and Bean: What’s the Big Idea? aloud.

What I’m Wearing Show and Tell Some materials found in clothing like fabric and ribbons are biodegradable, and some materials like plastic and metal and not biodegradable. Explain that a biodegradable material is something that can be broken down by living things into a simpler component. Hand out green and pink pads of sticky notes. Ask the kids to look at what they’re wearing. Have them pick out an item that is biodegradable and place a green sticky note on it. Then have them find something that is not biodegradable and place a pink sticky note on it. Go around the room and have everyone show their items and tell if they are biodegradable or not biodegradable. Materials Needed ·  Green Sticky Notes

·  Pink Sticky Notes

One Hand Wonder Ivy and Bean decide to even the playing field between humans and animals by tying their hands together. It didn’t actually help the animals, but it was a good idea. They learn that hard way that two hands are better than one! With their hands tied together Ivy and Bean had a very hard time getting away from Katy and Sophie W. Let everyone find out how having two hands makes life a lot easier. Have kids partner up. Tie one of each partner’s

hands together. Then hand out a set of old clothes to each team. Ask each team to race to see who can put on the clothes the fastest. Materials Needed ·  Rope cut into 12-inch pieces ·  Old adult-sized clothes: t-shirts, jackets, hats, sweatpants, shorts, shoes, etc.

What’s Cool? Photocopy the enclosed What’s Cool? worksheet (on recycled or scrap paper only!) Pass them out to the kids. Instruct them to read the statements about some activities on Pancake Court. Ask kids to think about whether or not the actions were good for the earth. Then have them write all of the things good for earth in the Super Cool! column, and all of the things bad for earth in the Uncool! column. When everyone is finished, discuss what Ivy and Bean can tell their neighbors to do to turn their un-cool activities into super cool activities. Materials Needed ·  What’s Cool? Worksheets · Pencils

Trashcan Wars A great way for kids to help the earth is for them to look at trash in a different way. By reusing things in different ways, kids can recycle things almost everyday. After all, one girl’s trash is another girl’s treasure! Divide kids into teams. Give each team some trash, scissors, tape and glue. Have them turn the trash into something useful in 15 minutes or less. The team with the most useable and helpful object wins. Materials Needed ·  Recycled cardboard tubes, egg cartons, plastic bottles and tubs, newspaper, etc ·  Masking Tape

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What Endangered Animal Am I? Ivy and Bean are afraid that because of global warming the whole world will turn into a desert. They don’t want all of the polar bears, frogs, newts, and squishy things to die out. Have each child pick a slip of paper with an endangered animal written on it. Then have everyone take turns acting out the noises and movements their animal makes while the other children guess which animal they are. Materials Needed ·  Hat or box ·  Slips of paper with the following endangered animals written on them: Koala Alligator Elephant Penguin Tiger Panda Bat Polar Bear Shark Falcon Monarch Wolf Cheetah Butterfly Eagle Leopard Sea Turtle Whale Lion Snake Frog Rhinoceros Dolphin Gorilla

What’s My Big Idea? Ms. Aruba-Tate tells her class that scientists are experimenting and trying to find solutions to global warming. They haven’t found a solution yet, but they’ve found lots of little ones. Each little idea is a step toward a big solution. Now that everyone knows about global warming, have the kids create their own ideas to help just like Ivy and Bean! Ask questions to help inspire them: What kind of a machine would fix global warming? How can we help the animals? What might be a source of clean energy? What could you NOT do that would help the Earth? Once the kids have their ideas ready, pass out old newspapers, cardboard, crayons, markers, dry macaroni, buttons, and other small household items. Have the children draw and decorate a poster showing their solution to global warming. Materials Needed · Newspaper ·  Paper Scraps · Markers/Crayons ·  Old Magazines

Ice Cube Toss

(outside activity) Ivy and Bean tried to solve global warming by tossing ice cubes in the air. That didn’t work out too well, but tossing ice cubes can still be fun! Divide everyone into two groups. Have both groups line up and face each other. Give each child in one line an ice cube. Have her toss it to the person across from her. After her partner catches it, she takes a step back. Tell the kids to continue tossing the ice cubes back and forth and stepping farther apart. If a team drops their ice cube or it melts, they’re out. The last team with an un-melted ice cube wins! Materials Needed ·  Ice cubes

Meltdown

(outside activity) Ice melts fast, so for a quick way to show kids how, if global warming continues, the polar bears’ homes could melt away! Divide the group into pairs. Give each pair of kids an ice cube. Have the first teammate run the ice cube until his hands get too cold. Then he passes it to his partner. Continue passing and rubbing the ice cube until it melts. The first team to melt their ice cube wins! Materials Needed ·  Ice cubes

·  Glue Sticks ·  Misc craft supplies: buttons, macaroni noodles, pipe cleaners, etc…

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What’s Cool? Read the following sentences about some recent activities on Pancake Court. Decide if each activity was good for the earth or bad for the earth. Then write all of the things good for earth in the Super Cool! column, and of the things bad for earth in the Un-cool! column. When you are finished, draw a picture of one of the activities. ·  Nancy asks Bean’s mom for a ride to the mall so she can buy some new Uggly boots. · Bean dribbles her ice cream all over her legs and the park bench, and she then puts her napkin in the trash. ·  “Who knows what’s inside the faucet?” says Sophie W, so she always gets a new plastic water bottle when

SUPER COOL!

Ivy & Bean: What’s the big idea?

she wants a drink. ·  In Ivy’s mom’s office, the computer, the cell phone charger, the modem, and the CD player are always plugged in. · Ivy is planting an herb garden so she can use the herbs for potions. · Bean has decided never to brush her teeth again (think carefully about this one)

· Mr. Columbi washes his car every single day! · Crummy Matt is going to lie on top of the sprinkler until the hose bursts. ·  Bean and Ivy sleep outside on Bean’s trampoline. It’s pretty out there. ·  Mrs. Trantz doesn’t like the way her apple tree looks, so she digs it up and sticks a birdbath there instead.

UN-COOL!

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Ivy and Bean and Me: Discussion Questions That Get You To Thinking Answer the following questions about what you think about Ivy and Bean: What’s the Big Idea? and some of its themes.

·  Ivy and Bean experiment a lot to find a solution to stop global warming. What things have you done to help the earth?

·  Ivy and Bean want to stop global warming because they love nature. What are your favorite things about nature?

·  Ivy and Bean get inspired to help the adults feel happy in nature. They think this will make them want to stop hurting the earth. Do you think this was a good idea? Why?

· Bean’s sister Nancy and her friend Mischa say they don’t care about nature. They call it boring and say they don’t have time for it. What’s the problem with their bad attitude about nature?

Ivy & Bean: What’s the big idea?

·  If you could be any animal in the world, what would you be? Write a paragraph about how you would spend your days.

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Dress up drawing Ivy and Bean need your help! They are going to check out some endangered animals in the wild, but have absolutely nothing to wear. Ivy is going to the desert and Bean is headed to the beach. Using a piece of scrap paper, sketch out ideas for an outfit for each girl to wear on the trip. Then, when you’ve designed two perfect outfits draw Ivy and Bean wearing them below.

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Ivy & Bean Science Fair! In Ivy and Bean: What’s the Big Idea? everyone tries to come up with the best way to solve global warming and help the earth. Ivy, Bean, and the other kids in Ms. Aruba-Tate’s class have some really great ideas.

Clean Energy

Life in a Bottle

Wasted energy is a big problem in the fight against global warming. By making “clean energy,” we can make less pollution. With the next three experiments, you can make your own “clean energy” with a few simple tools and steps.

Help kids make their own mini-environments with plastic soda bottles, seeds, and small plants. Cut off the top of a plastic soda bottle. Fill the bottom with dirt. Then poke a hole in the soil with your finger. Sprinkle seeds into the hole. Lightly water the seeds daily. Observe your garden every day of the week. Draw a picture of any changes you see. Label each change with the day.

Lime Battery MacAdam made a battery of a lime, a penny, and a paper clip. He wants cars to run on limes instead of gasoline! Now, you can make one too. Straighten out a paper clip and stick it into a lime. Then push a penny into the lime as close to the paper clip as possible without them touching. Touch the tip of your tongue to the paper clip and penny. You should feel a little tingle or zap. That’s electricity! Materials Needed · Lime · Penny

·  Paper clip

Can Drive Watch a can move all by itself. Place a can on its side on the ground. Rub a balloon on your head. Then hold the ball about an inch from the can. The can moves by static electricity! Move the balloon around and the can will follow it. Too bad we can’t get cars to drive by static energy! Materials Needed · Balloon

Materials Needed ·  Plastic Soda Bottles ·  Planting Soil

· Seeds

Melting Magic Polar bears live on ice caps. But global warming is making the ice melt. See how fast ice can melt when something warms it up. First, fill up a glass with water. Place an ice cube in the water. Then, put a piece of string on top of the ice cube. Sprinkle some salt on the string and ice cube. After a minute, lift the string. The ice cube is now stuck to the string. This is because the string melted the ice cube with its heat. It’s amazing how fast it melted. Now imagine how fast the hot sun can melt ice! Materials Needed · Glass · Water

·  Ice cube · Salt

·  Empty can

Water Motion The oceans are a Turn on the faucet in a sink. Rub a balloon on your head. Then, hold the balloon close to the flowing water. The water will move to the balloon! Materials Needed · Balloon ·  Faucet with running water

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Stapled Sea Creatures

Really Cool Recycling Activities

Bean gets into trouble for using a stapler to staple the drapes, but you can use a stapler to make your own stuffed animals. Fold a large piece of butcher paper in half. Draw a fish, whale or dolphin. Cut along the outline so you have two shaped pieces. Color in and draw the details on your animal. Then staple around the edge. Be sure to leave about a 5-inch opening on one side. Stuff the opening with crumpled newspaper. Finally, staple the opening closed. Make your sea creatures come to life by acting out what would happen if the oceans all dried up from

Recycling is a great way to help the earth—if we can turn old things into new things, we won’t use up the earth’s resources as much. That would be good. Okay, so let’s see what kinds of new things we can make out of old (and sometimes yucky) things. It will only be a little bit gross. All of these projects turn something old into something new. That involves a lot of design and decorating. So you’ll need all types of arts and crafts materials handy. Some of these supplies are: · Markers · Stickers · Crayons · Macaroni · Paint ·  Pipe cleaners · Glitter ·  Ivy leaves ·  Old magazines ·  Dried beans and pictures · Glue

Materials Needed ·  Butcher Paper · Stapler

· Newspaper

Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano For the science fair Ivy and Bean’s classmate Drew made a baking soda and vinegar volcano. Volcanoes don’t have much to do with global warming, but they are fun to play with and watch the foam spurt out the top. Now, you can make one too—why not? First, make a volcano out of mud on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Make sure you mold a hole in the top for the lava to flow out. (It will kind of look like an anthill too!) Then, push the film container into the top of the hole. Put two spoonfuls of baking soda, one spoonful of dish soap, and 5 drops of food coloring to the container. Now you’re ready for the eruption! Add two spoonfuls of vinegar and watch the green lava spurt out all over. Materials Needed ·  Large, rimmed baking sheet ·  Mud or wet sand ·  35mm film container or medicine bottle

Picture This! Have kids turn old cardboard into an Ivy and Bean themed picture frame. Cut cardboard into 5x6 inch pieces (two for each child.) Then cut the center out of one piece, leaving a 1.5-inch border around the edge. Glue three sides of the piece with the border to the other piece. Then decorate the border with some dried out ivy and uncooked lima beans. Have kids put a picture of them and their best friend inside! Materials Needed ·  5” x 6” cardboard pieces · Glue

·  Ivy leaves ·  Dried beans

·  Baking soda ·  Dish soap ·  Green food coloring · Vinegar

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Wrap It Up

Greetings!

Create wrapping paper with—you guessed it—old paper, magazines and newspapers. Spread the paper out in front of kids and have them paint, draw and glitter their way into works of art that can be used for wrapping up gifts to personalize all of your holiday and birthday gift giving.

Ever wonder what to do with all of the birthday, greeting and holiday cards you get? Just cut off the part where the sender wrote you a note. The front of the card is perfect for using as a gift tag on the next present you give. Cut a hole near the top, tie a string and have kids write or draw on the back. Gift tags have never been so chic.

Materials Needed ·  Scrap Paper ·  Old magazines

Materials Needed ·  Recycled greeting cards

· Newspaper · Glue

Perfect Plants

Calling All Cans Gather up old cans and turn them into vases and pencil holders. Let kids decorate old (clean) cans with markers, paint, glitter, pictures from magazines, dried out ivy and uncooked lima beans. The finished product makes for the perfect container for both fresh cut flowers and pencils! Materials Needed ·  Clean cans ·  Old magazines

·  Ribbon or string

· Glue

An old (and clean) half-gallon plastic milk bottle makes the perfect watering can. Ask kids to decorate the bottle with markers, paint, glitter, dried out ivy and uncooked lima beans. Then (you or another adult) poke eight small holes into the cap with the tip of a knife. Fill the bottle with water, and then put the cap back on. Give you plants a drink so they can eat car pollution make more oxygen! Materials Needed ·  Recycled half-gallon milk · Stickers bottles ·  Ivy leaves · Knife ·  Dry beans

Book It! Turn old paper into notebooks and drawing tablets. Use cardboard for the front and back covers—which kids can decorate with markers, paint, glitter, pictures from magazines, dried out ivy and uncooked lima beans. Fill the inside of each notebook and tablet with pieces of scrap paper. Punch five holes down the left side. Then secure it with ribbons or string. What a great way to make the old-new again! Materials Needed ·  Scrap paper · Cardboard · Hole-punch ·  Ribbon or string

· Glue ·  Old magazines ·  Ivy leaves ·  Dry beans

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