Measuring Change & Growth Through a School Year: Time Capsule Ideas

Measuring Change & Growth Through a School Year: Time Capsule Ideas
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Closing the Time Capsule

Before completing this time capsule, make sure you have completed all the other lesson plans in this series. Once those are complete, explain to your students that they have created a time capsule which they will open again at the end of the school year and compare results. Ask students to complete the following activity before sealing their time capsules.

Ask students to make a written list of answers to the following questions.

  • What’s your favorite color?
  • Who is your favorite singer or band?
  • What is your favorite television show?
  • Who is your favorite politician?
  • What do you plan to be when you are an adult?
  • What is your favorite activity?
  • Who is your best friend?
  • What is your worst subject in school?
  • What is your best subject in school?

Once students answer these questions, ask them to place the items in the manila envelope that serves as their time capsule. They should then seal the envelope and turn it in to you, the teacher for safe keeping.

Opening the Time Capsule

Through the school year students will find themselves naturally developing new interests and hobbies. Their eating patterns and levels of activity may change as well. About a week before school ends, repeat all of the time capsule lesson plans in this series, including this one. Once those lesson plans are complete, you should have a complete record of the students’ results. During the last week of school ask students to open their time capsules. Students should look through the results from the first series of lesson plans and compare results. Discuss the various ways the students changed and how the students feel about these changes. Students should have some obvious changes and probably some changes that will surprise them. When the comparisons are made, students should also discuss what they could have done differently, if anything to make themselves change in a different manner.

This post is part of the series: Back to School Science: Build a Time Capsule

This series was created so students could see the changes they go through in one school year. This is a fun back to school science lesson plan series that students and teachers alike will enjoy!

  1. Back to School Lesson: Track How Your Students Change Throughout the Year
  2. Measuring Growth in the Human Skeleton
  3. A Muscular System Lesson
  4. Measuring Human Growth and Development
  5. Measuring Lung Performance in Your Students