I am currently a student teacher and have noticed that science is not a prevalent subject in my 2nd grade classroom. The students are only given science instruction once a week for 1 hour. It has me a bit surprised since I thought it would be a more loaded subject. I know for other subjects, such as social studies, the content is integrated into our reading and math lessons. What are good ways to integrate science concepts in the classroom during other subject times? Any help is appreciated!
Integrating science into language arts and math is as easy as integrating social studies. You can gather a ton of ideas from the "Picture Perfect Science Lessons" books by Karen Ansberry and Emily Morgan. There are also some new picture books through NSTA that are great for your language arts lessons. However, instead of integrating science into ELA and Math...you might consider the opposite. Using a lesson from "Picture Perfect Science Lessons" create a science lesson and integrate ELA/Math into that lesson. It is much more authentic. It allows richer discussion. By doing science, students are using their reading strategies in an authentic situation. They are seeing how math works in the real world instead of in isolation. You will also notice that students are much more engaged and begin to see how all of the different subjects work together instead of in isolated time frames. Hope this helps a bit.... Centers/Stations are also a great way to incorporate science when low on time.
Thank you for posting this. I hear many teachers have the concern of not being able to fit science in the way they would like to if at all. I love inquiry learning when it comes to science and I wish there was more time for the students to take more control of their own learning.
I have the same question as you! I feel science time in the classroom is often time that is taken away from especially in the lower grades. I like the idea of incorporating it in stations and centers especially!
Just like any other subjects that can be combined in the classroom, science is not excluded. Science is all around the students daily lives and many readings or excerpts can relate to science. On the elementary school level, it's easier to connect subjects because the science level does not require too much intensity. Math and science are a great combination at a higher level in the classroom because the subjects correlate in general. The lack of focus on science subjects in the classroom is unfortunate and as educators we don't have a choice about how long we can teach a subject. All subjects are equally important for students to be well rounded and understand their potential outside the classroom.
I agree that science can be integrated to different subjects in the classroom. Especially in elementary science, students are more inclined to learn about the subject being taught when they can apply it to the real world. They can get hands-on experiences, both in and out of the classroom, and that can help with getting a more in-depth understanding of the material.
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