Individual Activities Available at the IRC
U.S. Constitution (5th grade)
Description: 5th grade students are immersed in the Constitution through 7 interactive centers. The stations strive to reach all learning styles, incorporate a variety of technology, and maintain high student interest.
Rock On! (4th & 6th grade)
Description: 4th and 6th grade students pair up to explore how rocks and minerals evolve on our planet. This hands on exploration engages kids with rock and mineral specimens, gameboards and computers.
Kindergarten Construction (Kdg)
Description: Kindergarten students experience 5 construction sites with Math, Science, Language Arts, and Social Studies concepts.
Write It Out (3rd grade)
Description: 3rd grade students create a compare and contrast paragraph about the Midwest and Southeast Regions.
Light and Sound (4th Grade)
Description: 4th grade students use the scientific method while interacting with engaging light and sound centers.
Colonial Williamsburg (5th grade)
Description: A once a month 5th grade activity in coordination with the televised Colonial Williamsburg program.
Celebration of the Books (8th Grade S.A.G.E.)
Description: 8th grade S.A.G.E. Students present their interpretations of 6 novels in a variety of activities and projects.
Simple Machines (2nd and 5th Grade)
Description: One 2nd grade class and one 5th grade class combine to build and experiment with simple machines.
Other Individual IRC Student Activities
Amazing Math Race (7th Grade)
Description: 7th Grade students review Fractions, Decimals and Percents by racing through three centers. The centers include an interactive PowerPoint, a wall-size numberline, and a CPS (e-instruction or "blue clickers") quiz with student response data available to teachers. View a quick movie of the Amazing Math Race.
1st Grade Buddies
Description: 1st grade students explore math centers with a Jack and the Beanstalk theme. The 5 centers address money recognition, place value, number sense, graphing, shape recognition, and spatial relationships.
View a quick movie about 1st Grade Buddies.States of Matter (2nd Grade)
Description: 2nd Grade students explore the concept of solids, liquids and gases as they experience 8 hands-on stations. Parent volunteers facilitate as the students explore states of matter stations.
Kindergarten Life Science in the Greenhouse (Kindergarten)
Description: Life Science comes alive for Kindergarten in the IRC Greenhouse. Students explore 5 hands-on science centers in this newly created activity. Students experience seeds, plants, living and non-living, shapes, parts of a plant, and needs for keeping plants living. All UCS kindergarten students will participate in this activity. View a quick movie to see Life Science in the Greenhouse.
Fraction Fun (4th Grade)
Description: 4th Grade students visit the IRC to work at 8 fraction based centers. The centers are standards based, and use a variety of manipulatives including technology. Students discover fractions in a variety of fun ways. All 4th grade students have been scheduled to visit Fraction Fun. View a quick movie of the Fraction Fun centers.
Rocko The Rock's Traveling Rock Show (4th Grade)
Description: Let Rocko introduce you to some of Michigan’s rocks and minerals. Rocko has samples of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks as well as some great minerals and fossils. Learn how geodes form. Check out the calcite crystals. See petrified wood. View geology through the eyes of our sponsors: Miss Minnie, Uncle Iggy, Mad Meta and Aunt Sadie. On January 10th and 11th you can invite Rocko with the creator of this activity to visit your classroom. Rocko is a self-contained kit that includes a full set of samples, directions, PowerPoints, question sheets, data sheets, answers, and websites to visit. Register for Rocko at ircinfo@ucs.misd.net.
Silkroad (7th Grade)
Description: 7th Grade geography students will travel the Silkroad. Students will be submersed in the rich history as they explore the 23 foot long traveling exhibit on loan from Cranbrook. Hands-on centers will invite students to explore artifacts reflecting the art, religion, economics, and cultures along the route.
Time Travel Through Michigan (4th Grade)
Description: Treat your Fourth Grader students to a journey back in time as they explore artifacts from Michigan's past! From Nov. through May this traveling exhibit will be available for 4th grade classrooms throughout the district. Activities in the suitcase include a landmark tour, farming tools of the past, an auto assembly line with legos, the French voyager's game, and the a scavenger hunt through the streets of old Detroit. Visit the Time Travel website for schedule information.
Jack and the Beanstalk (1st Grade)
Description: 1st grade students explore 6 math center with a Jack and the Beanstalk theme. The centers address standards based activities with the following skills: money recognition, place value, number sense, graphing, shape recognition, and spatial relationships.
Dinosaur Recovery Bureau (D.R.B): Dino Dig (2nd grade)
Description: Your second grade students will become “agents” of the D.R.B. They will learn about paleontology and dinosaurs as Director of the D.R.B., John Ribbing, leads your expedition at the IRC dig site. Students will learn techniques used by paleontologists as they “dig” in search of bones of a juvenile Maiasaura. Your “agents” will record data collected during the dig in their logs. A 6 feet tall, 7 feet long juvenile Maiasaura will be reconstructed from the bones found. The Director, along with your “agents,” will hypothesize the cause of death and name the dinosaur. You may decide to stay after your dig to work on other related stations such as a Video Conference.View a quick movie of Dino Dig in action.
Electrifying Encounters (6th Grade)
Description: 6th Grade students work at 7 hands-on, standards based electricity and magnet centers. Students build circuits, explore parallel and series circuits, investigate conductivity, magnetic polarity and more.
Heart, Lung, Eye Dissection (Collaboration with St. Joseph Mercy Hospital)
Description: Students learn the structure of these important organs and the role they play in the human body. Students also participate in stations that reinforce and supplement concepts learned during dissection. Teachers may collaborate with experts from St. Joseph's Hospital or other local medical facilities.