GEMS Treasure Boxes

Laura Lee Muchmore & Jennifer Bryant

     The GEMS Treasure Boxes Guide is designed for grades K-3, and is designed to teach both scientific and mathematical skills using collected "treasures" that students bring from home.  Students are introduced to the project and given a letter to take home to their parents describing the types of "treasures" they need to collect.  Students will have approximately 1 week to gather their collectibles.  Items such as bottle caps, buttons, keys, and shells will be suggested to the students.  A 1 1/2" by 1 1/2" piece of construction paper attached to the parents' letters will serve as a size guide for the "treasures."  After the initial collection activity, there are 5 more activities that allow students to observe, explore, sort, and classify the different  "treasures."  This unit should take roughly 6 weeks to complete.  There are many extension activities and opportunities to intergrate the science and math lessons with literature and social studies as well.  Students in 2nd and 3rd grades will be introduced to Venn diagrams, charts, and treasure maps.  The younger students will be taught valuable and age-appropriate organizational and logical thinking skills.  The collected "treasures" are the foundation of the unit, and all of the activities build upon one another to ensure that the students apply their prior knowledge to each successive activity.