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Hello everyone! I am currently in my last few stages of getting my teaching licensure, but I am still very nervous when it comes to teaching science! Science was never my strong suit in school, but I do not want my future students to see that. I want my students to enjoy science as I plan to do while teaching it. Does anyone have suggestions or tips on what I should do to make my science lessons exciting and engaging, or even websites that give examples of fun science lessons? The grade level I am aiming for is K-2nd grade. Thank you for all your help!
Brittney :)
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Hi Brittany!
Congratulations on getting close to completing your teaching credential. I think you are already ahead of the game - you are curious and motivated to make your lessons fun!
I would definitely recommend this site, the NSTA Learning Center, and the resources here. There are tons of free resources for helping you develop your lessons and many professional development opportunities. This is a place where you could possibly find a science teaching mentor. The forums are fantastic and a place to get lessons from other teachers try them out and share your experiences. Also as you get to know teachers through the forums you can see the public resources that they aggregate through their collections.
You are also welcome to mine my collections for ideas. I have developed many to help support cohorts of elementary school teachers and they are public pre-reviewed resources. Just search my profile and scroll down to view my collections. http://learningcenter.nsta.org/discuss/profile.aspx?mid=Y7WnpNBq0Ys_E
here is one collection that you might find useful: http://learningcenter.nsta.org/mylibrary/collection.aspx?id=pYVPpRz5lZQ_E
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Hi Brittney-
Check out www.howtosmile.org you can search lessons by grade. There are also tons of great resources through NSTA from the Science and Children Publication http://www.nsta.org/elementaryschool/
I write about many science activities for your age group on my blog: www.shareitscience.com
Don't worry about not being an expert in the sciences. As long as you are enthusiastic, your students will be. There is nothing wrong with admitting to kids you don't know the answer to something, and finding the answer together!
Good luck!
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Thank you for the resources
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I am in a first grade classroom, and I will say, science is so great if it's hands-on and relatable to them. If you are going to teach light energy. Show them what it means to turn off a light, and how that means the light energy has stopped. Teach them the difference between natural light energy and man-made energy through the things in your classroom. Hope this helps!
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STEM scopes is a great resource. The website contains 5E lesson plans that are ready for use.
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Definitely use the NSTA learning center! I think that you should just make sure prepare yourself throughout each unit in order to be knowledgable about what you are teaching. Also, STEMscopes is a really great source. It provides with many ideas for 5E lessons, different activities for all learners, setup videos, etc.
Good Luck!
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I highly recommend STEMscopes, they have a variety of different resources that you can include in your science lesson plans.
Good Luck!
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Hello,
I am currently student teaching and I have used brain pop Jr. and smart exchange. Brian pop has a lot of cook videos that you can use to engage the students and you can also find tons of activities on smart exchange. Hope this helps!
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I like your idea of bringing cooking into the classroom. Many students do not know that when we are in the kitchen cooking we are experimenting with flavors, what compliments others, measuring, mixing, and experimenting with temperatures and how long it takes to cook something. I think this is a great way to have a hands on learning experience in the classroom. This is also something that will help the students make connections to their home lives when their family members cook.
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Use Stem Scopes and Science Fusion
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Hi! I too am getting closer to finishing my training for teaching. I am in my student teaching year. As opposed to many other universities and programs, my student teaching goes a full year, spending only 3 days at the elementary, and 2 days at the university. Anyways, I am in a course about science teaching that has us create 5E lessons to help make it more engaging for students. You have probably heard of this lesson plan style. It is good to get students much more interested in the content you're teaching.
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