CONNECTIONS ACADEMY BLOG

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Learning to read music can improve your math skills. But can music help you learn science, too? The answer is – YES!  

This hands-on Musical Water Glasses activity for elementary or middle school students incorporates the elements of STEAM learning – science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. It can be done at home with ingredients you probably already have in your house. Use it to supplement home learning—like online school students who are enrolled at Connections Academy, or for homeschool projects, or as just for fun with your student!  

 

Musical Water Glasses STEAM Activity

Here are some things your student will learn how to do in this activity: 

• Use measuring cups – and learn about fractions 
• Create secondary colors from primary colors with food coloring 
• Understand and manipulate sound waves 
• Play different songs on the musical scale 
• Experiment with new concepts 
• Fun Fact: Did you know that sound travels about up to five times faster in water than in air? Because humans have evolved to hear in air, noises underwater sound muffled.  

 

Supplies Needed for this STEAM Activity

Here is what you will need for the Musical Water Glasses STEAM activity: 

• 8 identical water glasses 
• Water  
• Measuring Cups 
• Red, yellow, and blue food coloring 
• 1 plastic spoon 
• 1 sheet of paper 
• Tape 
• Something to write with 

Download the Musical Water Glasses STEAM Activity

Although this STEAM activity is simple, it’s a great way for your student to gain science skills, practice math, and learn about music. Because this activity can be used to teach many different lessons, you can easily adapt it for different online school or homeschool age groups. 

 

Extend this Learning Activity

Get the most out of this at home learning activity and see if you can pique your student’s interest in STEM. Here are additional STEAM experiments and observations to try: 

• Fill the glasses by increments of ¼ cup. What do the glasses sound like now? 
• Take two glasses and fill each with ¼ cup of water. Add one tablespoon of water to the second glass. Do the glasses sound the same or different when you tap them? Keep adding a tablespoon at a time until you can distinguish the notes. How many tablespoons of water does it take? 
• Encourage students to experiment with different types of glass tappers, like a metal spoon, a wooden spoon, and so on. Do different tappers produce different sounds? Which one makes the clearest sound? 
• Another interesting way to produce sounds is to gently glide your finger around the edge of the glass to produce a higher-sounding frequency (your finger should be slightly wet). 
• Cut a balloon and make a tight, drum-like head over the glass (or a cup, if you prefer), creating tension by securing the balloon over the glass or cup with a rubber band. Then have your student tap on it with the eraser end of a pencil or pen. 
• Try the activity using different types of glasses. You can use regular drinking glasses, wineglasses, and mason jars, for example. Which type of glass makes best sound? 
• Give your student a list of songs with simple tunes and have them figure out how to play them on the water glasses. This activity also teaches problem solving.  

 

Why STEAM?

By making STEM and STEAM fun, according to research, “we are preparing our students to work in fields that are poised for big growth.” In fact, the top four skill areas needed to succeed in the jobs of the future include: 

1. Critical thinking and problem solving 
2. Communication 
3. Collaboration 
4. Creativity and innovation 

For online school students, encouraging STEM and STEAM activities lets you and your child discover together if they have a knack discovery, creativity, and problem-solving. Talk to your student after these activities to learn about what they liked or found exciting. It might be useful information for you so you can encourage them to try other STEAM at-home learning activities like designing robots, building Rube Goldberg Machines, or making their own fossils!  

To learn how you can be more involved in your children’s education by having the flexibility to customize more STEM and STEAM activities into their day, check out these five sample online school schedules and see if we’d be the right fit for your family. 

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One of the many great benefits of online school is that learning can be done from virtually anywhere.  This is especially true for Physical Education (PE) class, which is a subject so many elementary school students look forward to in their school day.  

What’s not to love? Whether held in your home, in your backyard, or at a local park, students get to play sports and other fun games in PE class, which is good for their overall health, can improve their mood, and can help them focus when it’s time to go back to their academic lessons. 

While physical education requirements for online elementary school students vary by state, the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that children and adolescents get at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day.  

Whether you need homeschool PE ideas, PE lesson plan ideas, or are enrolled in a virtual school and need to meet PE class requirements, here are eight fun outdoor PE games that can be done in your own backyard that will help get your elementary student moving. 

 

1. Obstacle Courses

Obstacle courses are fun for kids of all ages and can be done with one or multiple students. They can also be completed when the weather turns cooler or if there is snow on the ground! Get creative when building the course with things found inside your home and vary the course activities.  

• Lay hula hoops on the ground so students can jump from hoop to hoop.  
• Fill a container with water and have students run with the container during part of the course. 
• Add 10 jumping jacks or have students run around a tree as part of the course.  

Fun obstacle courses should use several different muscle groups and improve coordination, making them wonderful outdoor PE games.  

 

2. Simon Says

Simon Says has been around a long time, but still holds up as a fun outdoor PE activity for kids of all ages. In this game, someone is chosen as “Simon,” and they direct students to complete various physical activities, such as hop on one leg or run around the house. If Simon doesn’t say “Simon Says” before giving instructions, any student that does what they’re told is “out.”  

In addition to getting kids active, this game promotes good listening skills!  

 

3.  Beanbag Toss

Beanbag toss can be played with a traditional wooden beanbag board or with any open-ended container, such as an old coffee can, small wastebasket, or even a laundry basket. Here are the steps to get started with this PE game: 

1. Simply have your student stand a short distance from the container and have them gently throw the beanbag into the container.  
2. If they make it in, have them step back to make it challenging.  
3. If you have multiple students and want to make it more competitive, set up three different containers at different distances, and award points to the player based on which container they get the bags into on their turn.  
4. Play until one of the players scores 21 points.  

 

4. Snowball Toss

This fun PE game is a variation of the beanbag toss that can be played when the weather gets cold! Have your students make snowballs, then find containers to throw the snowballs into, just like the beanbag toss. You can also have them aim their snowballs at trees, moving the student farther and farther back to see if they can still hit the tree on their turn. 

 

5. Backyard Volleyball

This can be played with a traditional volleyball or an inflatable beach ball. For younger students, you don’t even have to set up a net. Simply create a line with either chalk or string. Students can volley the ball back and forth across the net or line, and score points up to whatever number you choose! 

 

6. Hopscotch

Hopscotch is another fun outdoor PE game that has stood the test of time. To start the game: 

• Simply draw numbered squares from 1–10 on your driveway or sidewalk in a board pattern using chalk.  
• Your student tosses a stone or other marker to the first square, then hops on one foot into each empty square. 
• At the last square, they turn around and go back, leaning over to pick up the marker. 

• On the next turn, the student tosses the marker into the second square, and hops through the course the same way.  

This is another fun game that can be played with one or multiple students! 

 

7. Tag

This game works well if you have multiple students or are part of an online school learning pod. One person is chosen as “it,” and they chase the other students around, trying to catch or tag them. Once another person is tagged, they become “it.”  

This game has several variations, including freeze tag, where once the person is tagged, they freeze until everyone has been caught, and infection tag, where once the person is tagged, they join the person who is “it” in catching the others. Every time a person is tagged, they move to the “it” side to catch the others.   

 

8. Races

Racing is a fun outdoor game for kids that really gets the heart rate up and is great exercise. Races can be done with any number of students and can also be done when the temperature drops. Just be sure to dress appropriately when holding PE class outside in the winter. Races can happen with students simply running from point A to point B, or you can add variations, such as a sponge race, balloon or snowball relay, or sack race.  

 

More PE Ideas

If it does get too cold to hold PE class outside, there are still ways to stay active! Check out these indoor physical fitness activities for online elementary school students.  

Aren’t sure how to schedule PE class into your online student’s school day? Here are some tips for establishing schedules and building a routine in online school. 

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There is a special energy in the air as the first day of school approaches. Whether it’s the traditional first day of school, you’re transferring schools, or your student wants to get a “fresh start” in terms of their study habits, it’s important to make sure they have everything they need to start the school year off right. 

What does a calculus tutoring app, a digital library card, and an online planner have in common? They’re all great digital study tools designed for 21st-century learning. As a K–12 online school with over 20 years of experience ourselves in digitizing the learning experience, we’ve compiled an ultimate list of online study tools that will help your student study better, get organized, learn more, and develop critical skills for the (unknown) jobs of the future. 

Whether your student is enrolled in a brick-and-mortar school, homeschooled, or new to online school, here are 11 of the best online study tools and resources to help your student get organized and crush the 2021–2022 school year!  

 

11 Best Online Study Resources for K–12 Students

 

1. Hoopla 

Android, iOS, and desktop. Free.

Recommended for students in elementary (with parental guidance), middle, and high school.

Does your elementary student have an insatiable reading habit? Or maybe your middle schooler is looking for a documentary on science? Whatever their need, they can access your local library anywhere with Hoopla. By using your local library card, Hoopla lets you digitally borrow eBooks, audiobooks, movies, music, and more from your computer, mobile phone, or tablet. It’s like having  a public library at your fingertips. 

 

2. Pearson Prep 

Android, iOS, and website service. Free. 

Recommended for students in elementary (with parental guidance), middle, and high school.

Digital flashcards are some of the best study tools, but this is not just your average digital flashcard tool. Pearson (the parent company of Connections Academy) has designed Pearson Prep. It is an intuitive, free website and mobile app that helps you create online flashcards. Its intuitive interface learns to automatically prioritize what you don’t know (yet), customize your study sessions, and lets you decide when you’re ready for exams—helping you study with confidence. 

 

3. iStudiez 

Android, iOS, and desktop. Free with paid upgrade available.

Recommended for students in middle and high school.

One of the highest-rated student planner apps, iStudiez is a great online study tool. It lets you color-code your classes, add fun icons, and toggle views so you can plan your time for the upcoming day or week. It can even calculate your GPA for you with its GPA tracker tool. Just input grade and point value as you receive graded assignments back. 

 

4. OneNote 

Android, iOS, and desktop. Free.

Recommended for students in middle and high school.

A text-based notes tool that lets you search and find your thoughts quickly. Microsoft’s OneNote lets you jot down notes, add an image or table, and create to-do lists all on the same page. For organizational purposes, you can add tags to anything, and it syncs across devices and platforms. This makes it one of the best note-taking apps out there for students, and we all know note-taking is an important study aid. 

 

5. Pearson Writer  

Android, iOS, website service, and internet browser extensions. Free 30-day trial with paid upgrade available.

Recommended for students in middle and high school.

Be a better writer with everything you need all in one place. Whether it’s acing an essay or improving writing skills, let your middle and high school student try this digital study tool for writing. Pearson Writer has proofreading software, online study guides for research, writing, and grammar, helps you cite sources, manage writing projects, and even provides writing tips. There’s a web version and mobile app, as well as internet browser extensions. It’s free for the first 30 days, and then $9.99/month after that. 

 

6. Forest 

Android, iOS, and internet browser extension. The mobile apps are $1.99, and the browser extensions are free.

Recommended for students in elementary (with parental guidance), middle, and high school.

The Forest app is a productivity app that capitalizes on the pomodoro technique—a time-management system that recommends people work with the time they have (instead of against it). The pomodoro technique recommends your student to break up their school day into 25-minute chunks, which are then separated by five-minute breaks. Referred to as pomodoros, these intervals and their accompanying breaks help instill a sense of urgency. They get your online student to take breaks away from the computer, and they remove the burnt-out, digital fatigue some students may experience at the end of the day. This productivity timer gamifies the experience by “planting a tree” and watching it grow on your phone or internet browser. If you leave the app, (i.e., get distracted) it will wither and rot away. Over time, you can grow a forest, earn coins, and even plant real trees. This makes a great online study resource for students of all ages, and is great to keep in mind as online students plan their flexible school schedules. 

 

7. Aida 

Android and iOS. Limited use is free with paid upgrades available.

Recommended for students in high school.

For the mathematically inclined high school student, calculus is infamous as an imposing challenge. Aida is the first tutoring calculus app that not only guides you to the answer, but it helps you understand how you got there. This online study aid uses AI to monitor you “showing your work,” helping you find the steps you got right, and which ones you need more practice with. Over time, it learns and adapts to your strengths and weakness, and if you ever need extra help, it has a video library with 200+ tutorials. A limited interface of the app is free, and all access plans start at $2.99/month. 

 

8. Cold Turkey 

Desktop. Free with a paid lifetime access upgrade available.

Recommended for students in elementary (with parental guidance), middle, and high school.

School from home requires focus. Download Cold Turkey onto your computer and block websites, applications, and games during set blocks of time. This is one of the best study websites for students in that it will boost their productivity, reclaim their free time, and will keep them (almost) 100% distraction-free. Of course, it can’t make any promises that your pet Fluffy won’t be a distraction here or there. 

 

9. EasyBib® 

Free website service with paid upgrades available.

Recommended for students in middle and high school.

This bibliography generator makes citing your sources a breeze. The free version of the Easybib online study tool provides Modern Language Association (MLA) support, and the paid version includes 7000+ writing styles, including the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) and American Psychological Association (APA.) It even includes plagiarism checks, grammar review, and live expert checks within 24 hours for real-life feedback on your work. 

 

10. Desmos 

Free website service.

Recommended for students in middle and high school.

This free graphing calculator is one of the best study tools, and it’s on a mission. Desmos wants to make math available to billions of students around the world by providing their free graphing calculator. Whether you don’t have access to a graphing calculator, or need one in a pinch, this math study resource is a great addition to your online school toolbelt! 

 

11. Project Gutenberg  

Free website service.

Recommended for students in middle and high school.

This online study resource provides free eBooks for texts that are no longer under copyright. Need a copy of Hamlet, like, yesterday? Project Gutenberg is a great study help website for students. It currently has over 60,000 free eBooks that are available on the site, and more are being added all the time. 

 

Still need help with studying?

While the list above is a great list of online study resources for your K–12 student(s), there still might be nuanced lessons or hard subjects they’ll have to tackle. 

Whether your student is enrolled in a virtual school, is attending a traditional brick-and-mortar school, or is homeschooled, check out this article on study help tips for tough classes.   

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