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Elementary Science

Pre-Service Teacher

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Sara Turley Sara Turley 60 Points

Hello! I am a pre-sercice teacher wondering what advice other teacher have to give me on the art of science in Elementary school classroom? Anything from fun activities, to what not to do, what has worked well in the passed. I am all ears!
Kassi Dean Kassi Dean 2335 Points

Hey Sara,

Perhaps you could use a teachers guide book to make sure you cover all of your bases standards wise and gradually customized the activities you do based on what you see other teachers do, your own ideas and experiences, and your students' interests.

 
Tariah Brooking Tariah Brooking 2063 Points

Hello! My name is Tariah Brooking, I am a senior at East Central University, and also am a pre-service teacher. My dad was a biology teacher, and he always did fun projects with the cell! He let the students make cakes for a representation, clay models, cardboard models, whatever they felt would represent a cell the best way. It would get very creative! Also, it was fun. Another thing you could do, is have your students put on lab coats, and act as scientists they could find clues for science, have magnifying glasses, etc. Whatever makes them feel like they are in charge, or have an important role, is fun to them!! 
Kathy Renfrew Kathy Renfrew 37148 Points

Wow Sara!

Your question is huge. So no matter the age my planning always begins with the standard. And when I say the standard, I am thinking about the three -dimensions of NGSS. I think all of our science teaching should start this way. next I think about what phenomenon, question or problem will engage the students in the necessary learning around the standard. Sometimes it might be toy, a picture book, a video clip , or a flower in a vase. I encourage students to ask questions about the phenomenon and use those questions to build my instruction.

I am alao wondering about the grade of the students because although the basic planning is the same there, I might plan differnt investigations with a first grader than  a fifth grader.

 

Hope this is helpful.

Kathy
Megan Doty Megan Doty 11847 Points

Hi Sara,

I would encourage you to browse through the resources here in the Learning Center, especially the journal articles for elementary. They are full of helpful ideas that can give you a groundwork to build up your idea bank. You can see all the articles from Science and Children from 2018 at this link:

https://learningcenter.nsta.org/browse_journals.aspx?journal=sc&year=2018

Let me know what you find!

-Megan
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