Do you love to teach science? Maybe when you think of science, you get a headache when thinking about all the fun things you could do, but are not sure how to make them work.
What holds you back from teaching science in the elementary classroom? And I don't just mean incorporating science topics through articles during our reading block. I mean truly taking a few hours each week to teach science curriculum. Here are some possible reasons we might not be fully teaching science. Do any of them fit you?
Not enough time
No curriculum
Boring for students
Too much planning
Not enough hands-on activities
No money to spend on materials
If any of these ideas sound like you, I am going to encourage you to think differently and read on to find some ideas of how you can fully teach science in the elementary classroom, with engaging hands-on science activities, and without having to spend hundreds of extra dollars outside of the classroom.
Scheduling in Science Time
Your schedule is probably already pretty full of reading, math, and intervention. But you can fit in teaching science in just a short block of time. Do you have one 40 minute period available each week? Or can you squeeze in 20 minutes each day? Think about where you might have between 1-2 hours each week and.....surprise, surprise, you can fit science in in just that short time each week!
Schedule #1 - 40 minutes on Tuesday and 40 minutes on Thursday
Schedule #2 - 20 minutes each day, Monday through Friday
Schedule #3 - 30 minutes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Planning a Science Lesson
So you have just 20 minutes each day to fit in a short science lesson. How is there possibly enough time to teach content, do hands-on activities, and assess students understanding? Well consider that your schedule didn't have a science time before, so you might need to consider setting heavy assessment aside. We know that students become more well-rounded individuals when they have access to curriculums outside of reading and math, i.e. science, social studies, art, music, etc. I might recommend using the hands-on activities that you complete as your assessment of student understanding.
Here is a possible lesson format you can use each week to engage students in science instruction. The 5E model allows you to create an effective lesson, using each 20 minute period of instruction to touch on a new E in the plan.
Monday - Engage (Introduce the new science topic with a short video or a fun picture book. You might consider doing a small demonstration or experiment in front of the class as well. Make sure you touch on key vocabulary on this day as well to prepare students for their exploration in the days ahead.)
Tuesday - Explore (Provide students with articles, online interactive activities, or station activities to explore the content. The goal of this day is to make sure students are learning a concept. If materials and funds are limited for station activities, Legends of Learning online is a great choice for interactive activities, games, and content related to all the NGSS standards for both elementary and middle school. My students have loved engaging in these activities both for learning and review.)
Wednesday - Explain (On this day, have the students participate in an activity to show their learning so far. You might do a whole group Kahoot or Quizlet activity. Maybe have them work on a vocabulary activity to practice using the science vocabulary words. Anything that allows them to engage more with the content, but also start to demonstrate their understanding so that you know where to go for the next day.)
Thursday - Elaborate (Use the next day to review. You might offer additional articles to read or videos for students to watch. Maybe you complete a new demonstration in front of the class, or read another picture book related to the science topic. Use this time to extend learning for the students and review any misconceptions they had on the previous days about the topic. Remember not to introduce too much new content on this day!)
Friday - Evaluate (Give the students a hands-on activity. Have them create a poster, do an experiment, make a slide presentation...anything that allows them to be creative, hands-on, and showing what they know!)
Hands-On Activities for Science
How do you fit in hands-on activities in 20 minutes? Keeping activities simple, and somewhat structured for students is really important in fitting them in in the time you have, as well as not spending too much money outside the classroom. Below I have pictured numerous ideas for activities I have used in the classroom. Most of these activities cost me very little or nothing at all. You can do almost anything with paper and colored pencils! Each of these activities I have been able to use for an assessment of my students understanding of concepts.
Looking for more ideas?? Check out some of my printable, minimal prep resources below. These are available for upper elementary, covering a variety of life science, physical science, and earth & space science topics. They align directly with the 5th grade NGSS standards, but many can be adapted to fit grades 4 or 6 science topics as well!
