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Hi, everyone, I was wondering how often everyone teaches science in their classrooms? I know many school districts vary on whether they require science to be taught or not, so if it is not required, are you still incorporating it into your week? Thanks!

I am currently in the student teaching process right now, and throughout my program I've only seen schools allot 30 minutes of instruction for science and social studies. I also do not see too much, if any cross curriculum between science and any other subject. If you do not have a lot of time to teach science, I would try incorporating science into the math curriculum in order to fit it in. I believe you should have at least 45 minutes worth each day set aside for science because depending on the subject matter, the lesson could be longer one. By not having science instruction in lower elementary grades, it makes it more difficult for the students to pass the state wide science assessments because they haven't had much instruction time. The same goes with history. I would try and fit science in math and social studies in English in order to hit every subject in the most effective way.

As a student teacher, I have seen science done differently in my two placements. In my first placement, kindergarten, the students did not begin science until a couple months into the school year; however, they engaged in science for about 45-50 minutes everyday at the end of the school day. In my second placement, fifth grade, the students have science every wednesday for 2 hours at the end of the school day. In my first placement, the students had a little bit of science tied into literacy in the second half of the school year as they began a non-fiction unit, where the books were science focused. In my second placement, the students do a great deal of non-fiction articles, often where they pick the article, and several of these articles are science related. I think the level of science engagement depends on the school and the teacher!

As a current student teacher, I have see science taught in two different grade levels. In my second grade class we did science once a week for 2.5 hours. I liked having a large block of time for science especially for the younger grades. I think sometimes with a small block of time it is hard to get students involved in hands on activities, or by the time everything is set up, it is already time to clean up and move onto the next activity. In the fourth grade class I am student teaching in, my students alternate time between science and social studies. For example, 2 weeks of science (4 days/week, for 1 hour/day), then two weeks of social studies. This seems to work fairly well, however students go a couple weeks at a time without being exposed to any science.

Science is taught daily in my classroom. Sometimes there is not enough time for a full lesson, so the lesson is broken down into 2 days. The students are normally introduced to the content on one day and have an activity that they continue to build on for the next day and sometimes even the whole week. We recently made booklets about habitats and food chains. The students really enjoyed incorporating art into the lesson, both through art works that exemplified the habitats and having the chance to recreate them.

I am currently student teaching in a 3rd grade classroom in San Diego, CA. We try to teach science about 3-4 times a week. My guide/master teacher loves science so she puts forth a lot of effort into incorporating it into our daily routine.

As a student teacher, I have seen science done differently both semesters. In my first semester, I wasn't aware of a specific time dedicated to science at the school. My teacher did not care to teach science often since the students attended a program called "School in the Park" in which students traveled to Balboa Park in San Diego They would get some science instruction there during their time at the Rueben H. Fleet Museum, a science museum. This last semester, the school dedicates every Wednesday to about 2 hours of science instruction. Sometimes we will run longer than 2 hours, but for the most part, Wednesday is our main science day. At this particular school, it seems that Wednesdays are everybody's science day. I think it really depends on the school.

I am a 6th grade math/science teacher. I have an hour block for science each day. Therefore, I teach science 300 minutes per week. Unfortunately, with the added pressure of math test scores, there are days that math trickles into my science block. I know that there is a connection between the two, however sometimes it just doesn't seem to connect. Any help making sure that science becomes more of a priority among key holders would be appreciated.

I agree, Kathy. Rather than trying to integrate science into math and reading, it seems better to have students use and apply their skills in reading and math to science investigations and other activities. (Same goes for social studies and art, too.) The theme, big idea, or standard in science provides a context for using the skills.

We are required to teach 1 hour of science each day. I also teach math (in which we have to teach 1 1/2 hours). I love being able to teach science for that long each day because the students really enjoy learning about science.

I devote two 30-minute sessions for Science per week in my general lesson plans. But I have also made an effort to integrate Science in my Literacy block so I can gain more class time. I try to plan labs/experiments during the 30-minute sessions and focus on reading/writing science related content during Lit. block.

I am fourth grade self contained in Texas. I teach Science every day for at least 30 minutes a day. Our students start state assessment in Science in the 5th grade.

You can find Science articles that can be implemented into your literacy block. There are many articles on this site as well as on readworks.org. There were many times I was able to look up the subject and use the passages to help teach Science and Reading skills.

In 5th grade, we teach Science daily - most days we have a 60 minute block. In Florida, 5th grade is tested at the end of the year with the FCAT 2.0 Science test.

I teach 5th grade and we rotate classes. I teach science to 1 class twice a week for 40 minutes. I also try to integrate science in my reading groups throughout the week.

2nd Grade in Texas and we teach 45 minutes daily. Our students also attend science lab once a week for 50 minutes.

We flip/flop science and social studies for 50 minutes about every 3-4 weeks. There are science kits that come to our school from the district, so we have to manage our time when we get them. It still is not enough time, but since we are allowed to integrate our areas of learning, we can make more time. It really helps. I know that our district did have some low preforming schools that only taught reading, writing, and math. Sad!

I teach 5th & 6th grade science for 1 hour every day. Our 5th & 6th grades are departmentalized.

I teach science to my third graders every day for 50-60 minutes.

I teach Texas Fourth grade math and science. I teach science for 45-50 minutes each day for 5 days a week.

I teach third grade science and math to two classes. I teach science for 45 minutes Monday- Thursday.

When I teach Science it is for an hour every day.

We have 30 minutes to teach STEM at my school. Reading and math are our main focus though, so sometimes our STEM time runs short. I am going to work harder this year to make sure my students get their STEM time in. It is so hard though, even with a set schedule.