Kindergarten Science Lesson- Push and Pull Mini Golf Course Experiment

Do you need the perfect culminating experience for your Kindergarten Push and Pull Unit? If you have other lessons to teach push and pull to your kindergarteners, then this hands-on/minds-on lesson is a fabulous way to bring all of that learning together in one final push and pull extravaganza! If you do not have other push and pull lessons, then please consider looking at my Kindergarten Push and Pull Bundle, as this lesson is just one in a Unit on Pushes and Pulls and it is much cheaper to buy the bundle than each product individually (see the link below).

This lesson will have your students building their own miniature golf course and then golfing in it in order to observe the way pushes and pulls are used to in the golfing process. They will examine changes in speed, changes in direction, when to use a gentle push, when to pull, and how their pushes and pulls impact the results of the game. It assumes some discussion of push and pull has previously taken place, but the lesson dialogue does help with how to address background knowledge. (In my bundle, this lesson is recommended as the final lesson in my unit and I absolutely think it is best left as the final lesson in any unit).

If you believe kindergarteners can and should be exposed to opportunities where the bar has been set high for their learning AND where scaffolds have been put in place so that bar is attainable, then this is the lesson for you! Your students will love the experiment and they will amaze you with their learning and their work.

After (or during, depending on your teaching style and your students' needs), your students will record data, answer questions about pushes and pulls, and make a claim about pushes and pulls that is supported by their data. The lesson and materials are all structured in ways that fully support your students in these processes, however, so don't worry if this sounds like a lot!

You will need some materials to make this experiment happen, so let's get that out of the way...

YOU will need to provide:

- a golf ball/group (I recommend 2-4 students in ONE group) (ping-pong balls are an alternative)

- a golf club/group (I recommend 2-4 students in ONE group) (yardstick/metersticks are an alternative)

- the big classroom wooden blocks or the big classroom cardboard blocks that look like bricks- these are best for building the golf course

- one paper or plastic cup/group (I recommend 2-4 students in ONE group)

- masking tape

- you need SPACE- perhaps a multi-purpose room, or depending on your school, maybe you are able to sign out the gym or cafeteria for use for a portion of the day. Perhaps there is a very low traffic hallway or corner of the school you could commandeer? I was able to make it work in my classroom by simply moving my furniture to the perimeter of the room for this experience.

Included in this resource, you will RECEIVE:

- 3 recording sheets

- a Scientist's Log that asks students to make a claim based on their observations from the experiment and support it with some evidence from their data (a simpler, more kindergarten friendly version of a CEI- Claim, Evidence, Interpretation).

- an answer key for the recording sheets

- a full materials list with more details than above and set-up instructions as well as tips and tricks

- step by step lesson instructions including dialogue ideas, questions to ask, and entry points for connecting to prior knowledge

- this resource is activated in TPT Easel so you can project the student pages in Student View to model the recording for your students

- The number of pages is listed as 3 + 4 because there are 3 student pages and 4 lesson plan pages (there are also: 1 page detailing the directions, 1 page of photos, and 1 page detailing the materials)

This lesson is a hit, year after year. I have to force them to stop and clean up to move on to other things at the end. This is the last of 4 lessons in my Bundle. This lesson can stand alone if you have the rest of your unit already worked out. They love predicting what will happen if they do X or Y with the club or the ball or a block and they gain understandings as they try to discover WHY or WHY NOT their predictions were correct.

Check out the Push and Pull Bundle!

Thank you for considering this product.