2023 - 2024 Muddy Sneakers LIVE! Online Virtual Programs Guide

VIRTUAL PROGRAMS GUIDE 2023 - 2024
MUDDY SNEAKERS
LIVE! ONLINE
Muddy Sneakers is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit outdoor science education program
serving North Carolina’s fifth-grade public school students.
To learn more, visit www.muddysneakers.org.

VIRTUAL PROGRAMS GUIDE OVERVIEW
3
4
5
6
CONTENTS
FORCES & MOTION
Forces of Nature
The Newton Challenge
INHERITANCE &
ADAPTATION
Turtle Quest
Red-Tailed Hawk Family Tree
BIOMES & ECOSYSTEM
RELATIONSHIPS
Oceans Away
Buzzing Numbers
Virtual Aquatics Study
8 MATTER
Detail Detective
Matter Mysteries
9
TERRESTRIAL
ECOSYSTEMS
Virtual Log Study
Terrestrial Trails
LIVING SYSTEMS
Heart of a Whale
Super Special Systems
10 WEATHER
Density Experiment
Weather Wise
11 ENERGY
Test Your Nest
Amazing Amphibians
12
PREPARING FOR YOUR
VIRTUAL SESSION
What is Muddy Sneakers LIVE! Online?
Muddy Sneakers LIVE! Online virtual sessions
are hour-long, interactive sessions facilitated
by a Muddy Sneakers Instructor.
What's in this guide?
This guide provides an overview of each virtual
program available. For each topic, you'll find
information about Session Choices, including:
Description
NC Standards Met & Supported
Materials Needed*
How to use this guide:
Each Muddy Sneakers partnership includes a
predetermined number of Muddy Sneakers
LIVE! Online virtual sessions.**
At the beginning of your partnership, your
school's Lead Teacher will schedule sessions
for each participating class. Use this guide to
select the session(s) you'd like to join.
Virtual programs are always being
added! To see what's in store for
the future, visit our website at
muddysneakers.org.
*Links to materials are provided to your Lead
Teacher at the beginning of the school year.
**Sessions can be added for an additional fee.

FORCES & MOTION
OPTION 1
FORCES OF NATURE
Students explore Newton’s second law of
motion (F=ma) by observing ballooning spiders.
Then, they virtually travel to a lake and a river
habitat to find examples of forces and motion,
calculate speed, and explore motion graphs.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.P.1.1, 5.P.1.2,
5.P.1.3, 5.P.1.4
SUPPORTS:
Math: NC.5.NBT.3,
NC.5.MD.1, NC.5.MD.2,
NC.5.NF.3
ELA: W5.3, W.5.6, SL5.1
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2
OPTION 2
THE NEWTON CHALLENGE
Working in small teams, students are tasked
to complete a series of challenges related to
force, motion, friction, speed, gravity and
motion graphs.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.P.1.1, 5.P.1.2,
5.P.1.3, 5.P.1.4
SUPPORTS:
Math: NC.5.NBT.3,
NC.5.MD.1, NC.5.MD.2,
NC.5.NF.3
ELA: W5.3, W.5.6, SL5.1
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2
3

INHERITANCE & ADAPTATION
OPTION 1
TURTLE QUEST
Students embark on a quest to explore life as an
eastern box turtle. They design box turtle
characters by choosing inherited and acquired
traits, then join an adventure full of obstacles
where the outcome depends on their traits.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
standards
MEETS:
Science: Science: 5.L.3.1,
5.L.3.2
SUPPORTS:
Math: NC.5.NF.3
ELA: W5.3, W.5.6, SL5.1
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2
OPTION 2
RED-TAILED HAWK FAMILY TREE
Students observe traits of a red-tailed hawk.
Students listen to a story, read by a red-tailed
hawk, while creating the hawks family tree.
Students are tasked with solving what traits the
hawks siblings could have based on the previous
generation. Students explore the concepts of
inherited traits versus acquired traits.
4
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.L.3.1, 5.L.3.2
SUPPORTS:
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2

TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
OPTION 1
VIRTUAL LOG STUDY
Students virtually explore a decomposing log
ecosystem. Students practice categorizing
discoveries as biotic, abiotic, producers,
consumers, and decomposers. Students connect
those terms to food chains and the energy
pyramid.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.L.2.2, 5.L.2.3
SUPPORTS:
Science: 5.L.2.1
Math: NC.5.NBT.1,
NC.5.NBT.3
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2
OPTION 2
TERRESTRIAL TRAILS
Students take a virtual hike to identify abiotic
factors, producers, consumers and
decomposers. They use that information to
model another hike in the classroom, working in
small groups to find organisms (using the printed
organism cards), categorize them as producers,
consumers or decomposers, and discuss where
they fit in a food chain and energy pyramid.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
CLASS:
One set of organism cards
(color copy if possible)
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.L.2.2, 5.L.2.3
SUPPORTS:
Math: NC.5.NBT.1,
NC.5.NBT.3
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2
5

BIOMES & ECOSYSTEM RELATIONSHIPS
OPTION 1
OCEANS AWAY
Students draw and label parts of an aquatic
ecosystem they have visited, then travel virtually
to three different aquatic ecosystems (in the
Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, & Gulf of Mexico),
watching videos and exploring the concepts of
predator/prey, survival, and interconnectedness.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.L.2.1, 5.L.2.2,
5.L.2.3
SUPPORTS:
Math: NC.5.NBT.7
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2
OPTION 2
VIRTUAL AQUATICS STUDY
Students explore two NC aquatic ecosystems
and determine the water quality of each based
on the organisms discovered. Students explore
the interactions between organisms found in
both aquatic environments.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.L.2.1, 5.L.2.2,
5.L.2.3
SUPPORTS:
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2
6

BIOMES & ECOSYSTEM RELATIONSHIPS
OPTION 3
BUZZING NUMBERS
Students role play as farmers. Students will
choose plants to grow and calculate how many
bee hives are needed to pollinate the plants. As
farmers, students will face obstacles to their
farm and need to adjust for losses from the
obstacles. Students explore the ecosystem
relationships involved with farming (pollination,
predators, pests). This is a math-heavy activity.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.L.2.3
Math: NC.5.NBT.5
SUPPORTS:
Math: NC.5.NBT.7
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
*This activity requires more than one class period of work and a
teacher/Muddy Sneakers check-in a week prior to set up.
7

MATTER
OPTION 1
DETAIL DETECTIVE
Students find evidence of the water cycle by
observing a video clip of the Great Smoky
Mountains. Then, they examine a small natural
object to record observations, collect data and
explore chemical and physical changes.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
Small natural object
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.P.2.1, 5.P.2.2,
5.P.2.3
SUPPORTS:
Math: NC.5.MD.1, NC.5.NBT.6
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2
OPTION 2
MATTER MYSTERIES
Students are tasked with solving a mystery.
Students listen to a story narrated by an
organism that lives in North Carolina. They will
collect clues to determine what type of
organism is telling the story while exploring the
water cycle, chemical changes, and physical
changes.
8
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.P.2.1, 5.P.2.3
SUPPORTS:
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2

LIVING SYSTEMS
OPTION 1
HEART OF A WHALE
Students conduct experiments testing changes
in their pulse while performing different physical
exercises beside their desks. They explore the
relationship between their cardiovascular and
respiratory systems, then compare human heart
rate and size with those of other organisms.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.L.1.2
SUPPORTS:
Math: NC.5.G.1, NC.5.MD.2
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
OPTION 2
SUPER SPECIAL SYSTEMS
Students explore the six body systems by
comparing other organisms' structure and
function to humans. Students make
observations, draw pictures and have discussions
about all of the body systems.
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.L.1.2
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
SUPPORTS:
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2
9

WEATHER
OPTION 1
DENSITY EXPERIMENT
In small groups, students conduct an experiment
demonstrating the concept of density. They
hypothesize what will happen when water and
oil mix, and make connections between density,
fronts, weather patterns and weather maps.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
EACH GROUP OF 2 - 4 STUDENTS:
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.E.1.3
SUPPORTS:
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
Clear jar/cup of water (1 drop of food coloring optional)
¼ - ⅓ cup of vegetable oil
3 - 5 small natural items to test density
OPTION 2
WEATHER WISE
Students explore three topics (wind, clouds and
severe weather). Students guide the learning by
choosing which topics and questions to answer
first. Students then explore weather instruments
and how cricket songs can help estimate the
temperature of their environment.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.E.1.1, 5.E.1.2, 5.E.1.3
SUPPORTS:
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
Math: NC.5.MD.2, NC5.NBT.6
10

ENERGY
OPTION 1
TEST YOUR NEST
In small groups, students explore the three
methods of heat transfer, conductors, and
insulators while building a nest. They run an
experiment to explore how nest design and
materials can impact the way heat is transferred
to an ice cube.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student sheet
Writing utensil
EACH GROUP OF 2 - 4 STUDENTS:
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.P.3.1, 5.P.3.2
SUPPORTS:
Nest building materials (cloth, sticks, leaves, bowl etc)
Math: NC.5.MD.2, NC.5.G.1
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2
2 ice cubes, each cube in a zip lock bag (1 cube per bag)
OPTION 2
AMAZING AMPHIBIANS
Students learn about a local amphibian (either a
waterdog or hellbender, depending upon the
school's location). Students explore the
concepts of heat transfer as it relates to lakes
and rivers, in addition to other examples of heat
transfer in nature like nests and reptiles sunning.
materials needed:
STUDENTS:
Student Writing utensil sheet
standards
MEETS:
Science: 5.P.3.1, 5.P.3.2
SUPPORTS:
ELA: W.5.6, SL5.1
Art: 5.V.2.2, 5.CX.2.2
11

PREPARING FOR VIRTUAL SESSIONS
TEACHER CHECKLIST:
Tech Help:
Confirm logistics, including dates, times, and links.
Set up classroom technology for a Muddy Sneakers Instructor to join class virtually (either
projecting the session from teacher computer onto a large screen, or connecting students
on individual devices).
Supply appropriate materials & links to any students joining the classroom virtually .
Print out or gather required session materials for students .
Ensure at least one classroom teacher/chaperone is present during sessions.
An optional tech check is available at the beginning of the year to ensure you and your team
are comfortable using the technology selected.
If technology is a challenge for your school, contact us to discuss options!
Partnership fees are underwritten by generous donations from
foundations, businesses, and individuals. Please join us in thanking
those who make Muddy Sneakers possible in your community.
Muddy Sneakers, Inc. is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization (tax identification
number 26-0338084) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations
are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
www.muddysneakers.org