Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, Halloween SCIENCE based activities

We all love celebrating Halloween but we don't often know why Halloween is celebrated. These resources cover some of he historical aspects of Halloween and El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). The activities are linked to areas of various science curricula but is on the whole a cross-curricular resource for use around October 31st/November 1st.

Suitable for all ages as you can select appropriate activities for your age group

The topics covered include:
The history of the Day of the Dead, Halloween and All Saints Day
Ofrenda and the classical elements, earth, wind, fire and water
Marigolds and their significance (plant dissection)
The monarch butterfly and its significance (life cycle of a butterfly)
The cyclical nature of agriculture (intensive farming, organic farming, hydroponics etc.)

Each resource has multiple activities including basic discussion tasks and more detailed research based tasks. Where possible I have added ideas for alternative ways to carry out the activity in-case you wish to use it as a tutor time activity or whole lesson plan

I hope this to be a multi-national resource as we all celebrate in different ways and our beliefs and traditions are all influenced by different historical events.