For a flower and plant curriculum, tongue depressors can be used to help students learn more about the anatomy of a plant. Provide the students will all the various parts of the plant cut out from construction paper, and use the tongue depressor for the stem. Have the students glue all of the parts of a flower onto the tongue depressor in the appropriate places and label them with the proper terms. Hang the flowers around the room as a colorful decoration.
Have the students construct five different rafts by gluing together tongue depressors. The first raft should have four tongue depressors, the second is made with six, the third uses eight, the fourth gets 10 and the fifth will have 12. Have the students glue a paper cup in the same place on each raft. Students then float their rafts in water and place pennies in each of the cups -- one at a time -- until each tongue depressor boat sinks. Have the students document which one holds the most pennies, and then have a discussion speculating why. Have the students determine what was different in the boat that held the most pennies.
A science project for younger students, preschool to first grade, is to create a plane using the tongue depressors. To make a plane, affix two of the tongue depressors together to make a "T" shape -- the students can decide where the intersection should be to make it more their own. The students then decorate their planes with craft supplies. Create a runway for the students to "fly" their planes, and have them measure the distance each plane flew. Have the students then compare planes that flew similar distances and see how they are alike.
A hands-on visual of erosion will help students to better understand how erosion works. Mark the tongue depressors in one-centimeter sections, and color each section with a different color. This will help the students distinguish different amounts of erosion. Be sure to use the same colors in the same order on each tongue depressor. Take the children outside and have them create their own "mountains" from mounds of dirt. Have the students place the tongue depressors along different areas of their mountain from the top to the base. Have the students pour water from a watering can over their mountain, and observe the changes. What colors were showing before the water, and then after, and is the soil more deep or shallow?