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As many of you know some students are not science people and do not like it what so ever. What is a way to make science more fun to them and get full class participation for all students so that a lesson goes smoothly?
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I have found that when a science lesson is hands on, that students get extremely excited and want to participate in the lesson. Also, it helps if the teacher models her own excitement about the project. That will usually get student interest in the lesson.
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In college my favorite part about my science class is that it is HANDS ON! Something that is hands on and lets you explore has your attention. You are not simply memorizing something, but you are discovering on your own with your teacher assisting you.
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It might be helpful to try to get a sense of other topics your students may be interested in. Finding ways to integrate topics such as history, social justice or literature into your lesson could help engage students in science through subjects they may enjoy more. For example, I've had students who've expressed to me that they really liked history and English classes because they make the topics into a story. So when the class was to learn about standing waves the following week, I found a way to incorporate some historical context and story-telling into the lesson. Even something as simple as standing waves can have a really complex and interesting story behind it if you just dig a little deeper. Attached is the lesson plan I made as a one-day activity to help engage students about standing waves. I hope you find this helpful!
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I think it is very important to get children up and moving around throughout the day and science is a great subject for children to start using their hands and applying what they have learned. I have also learned that students do better when they can learn in the way that best fits them. I think the better you know your students the easier you will find it to engage them. For example, if your student really enjoys reading and you have a science activity that is reading an article then the student who really enjoys reading is going to love that activity. In contrast, if you have a student who hates reading they aren't going to do it no matter what you try to do. It is important to differentiate for every student so they are getting the most out of each lesson. Overall I think science is an important subject to get students to do hands-on activities in because there are so many options. My biggest advice to you would be to use your resources, you would be surprised what schools and the community offer for resources.
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One tip I have is to use video clips to introduce a topic, along with a song that everyone learns to sing, that has instructional value
regarding a science topic.
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This can be a challenging part of teaching science. However, from my experience I have found that students, even students I wouldn't expect to be invovled, get invovled with hands-on activities. They really love when they can actually see and manipulate whatever you are teaching them about. It's also important to make the learning relevant to them. This can also be challenging, but it gets easier the more you get to know your students. For example, I teach oceanography and a student totally unintrested in the subject, but he was interested in engineering; I tailored an activity for him where he looked at a ship that had been flipped over in a harbor and had him think about how engineers would need to take in consideration the ocean to get the ship out.
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Hi, Breana! I agree that there might be a couple of students who might not favor science. Overall, I think when science is presented in a more inquiry-based approach this leads to student to get naturally excited and take ownership in their own learning! The learning center has a lot of webinars and resources to this approach that has been so great to me! I hope this helps!
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One of the activites I found that my students liked the most (even the ones who don't like science) was building roller coasters. We watched roller coaster POV videos as the hook of the lesson. We talked about the science concepts and then we built them. They loved it. I gave out small prizes for the coolest name, highest hill, most creative, and class favorite. I try to find activities that connect the science to their everyday life which halps them to feel more engaged.
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Hi Breana,
It is very important to get all students engaged in science learning. Even though some students may not enjoy science as much as others, we know they still need to learn it. It is our job as teachers to create engaging and interesting science activities while still teaching based on standards. To do this, find out what your students are interested in. If they are really interested in sports for example, try to bring in sports examples into lessons. This will show students that you care about them as well as interest them into science. Another simple way to make lessons more engaging for the whole class is modeling excitement. If you as the teacher think something is just so awesome, students will match that interest. Teaching is like being a magician and putting on a show.
Good luck!
-Breeyn Gryp
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Young children are mostly attracted to physical activities, games, colors, and so on. So look for attractive props and resources available to you and put them to the best use.
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In my opinion, in order to get the students ready to learn science material we need to be excited and enthusiastic about what we are going to teach. Not everyone likes the same subjects, so we should try every mean possible to try and find a common ground, something that every likes or something that is fun. I would suggest trying something new everyday until you discover what works best. In my personal experiece, anything hands on or competitive has always been fun for everyone is the classroom environment.
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I beleive that if children are involved more likely than not they want to be hands on. In science class it may be easier to create projects for learning in a hands on way. Even as an adult I feel thats how I learn best. Students at a younger age are eagert to be involved in an experiement when they can get thier hands dirty.
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As I reading this post, I agree with everyone in the comments saying that students seem to be more interested in science when the experiments and investigations are more hands-on. When students have the materials in front of them and can physically see the experiment or investigation it allows them to create a connection to science while also making memories in the classroom.
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As many have said, I agree that hands-on activities and experiments make science more fun, and students have an easier time understanding information when they get to discover concepts for themselves. I think that a good place to start is learning about the students and their interests. Tying their interests into classroom lessons motivates students to learn more and participate. After lettting children discover interests for themselves, you can then create different experiments and activities based on that topic. Teachers can also leave materials around the room during the day for students to look at and play with during free time. This could lead to interest in a new toic.
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Growing up, I could tell when my teachers were truly passionate about what they were teaching. Their passion and enthusiasm would radiate throughout their lesson plans and teaching. They made learning hands on and brought science to life in the classroom. They showed me science can be fun. There was a time when I was not interested in science class, especially when it was very textbook and assessment focused, but a few of my teachers were able to teach these topics in a way that rekindled my natural interest in science. It is important to remember children are naturally curious about the world around them. I think it is beneficial to use this natural curiosity and your passion for teaching to propel their learning. I always loved when my teachers got creative and incorporated a wow factor, whether that was through unique experiments, engaging field trips, special guests, or even transforming the classroom into outer space or the ocean! Emphasizing relevance can also keep students engaged and actively participating, especially when the lesson may directly relate to their lives outside of school.
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Hi Breana,
Students will learn to love science if they are able to wonder and ask questions freely. They should be provided hands-on activities to aid their learning. Also if you make the topic connect to their own life and prior learning then they will be able to enjoy it more.
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I believe that children are more engaged in the lesson when it is hands-on. The best thing to do is to provide activities that students appreciate, such as a cooking lesson for those who enjoy snacks. Allow them to investigate; allowing students to take on the role of scientist will make science much more enjoyable!
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Hello Breana,
Just like almost everyone else said, I believe hands-on experiments are the best way to keep the students engaged. There is no doubt that it is also much more fun than reading facts from a textbook. Especially when it comes to science, students need to see the different phenomenons in front of them and test them out to really understand them. When we start off a lesson with an experiment students are interested and intrigued. If they start off with hands-on they will be willing to learn everything behind the cool experiments.
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Breana,
The string of responses and input about engaging more students is full of concepts and ideas you can use in your classroom. I want to respond to your last comment about making the lesson go 'smoothly'. Very few of my lessons go smoothly because I am constantly reinventing my units and lessons. If I am teaching the same lesson year after year because it ran 'smoothly' it means I am settling for mediacracy or for what is easy. I view my classroom as an ongoing experiment. By constantly changing how I do things in my classroom I keep things fresh...for me and my students. I take risks. Try new things. We make a mess and discuss what worked and what did not work. I ask students for feedback and make changes according to their responses. Nothing we do will be perfect for every student, because each day/year is different and the students are different. By trying new things, collaborating with colleagues, and asking for help we grow our craft and take positive steps to make our classroom relevant, creative, fun, messy, moving, engaging, and what some call a place for active research. These are the things that should direct our instruction year after year.
Do any of you agree or disagree?
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
|
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
|
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
|
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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I totally agree! I know with gardening dirty hands and messes are part of
it. I had teachers that did not like working in the garden because the
children’s shoes got dirty- solution- if you don’t want dirty shoes in the
hall bring rain boots and wash them off before returning to class. There
is always things to change, ways to improve, but the most important thing
is starting. I also ask the children how could we improve next time? What
could make it better and more fun. Their little minds get to thinking!
Yeah, they are reasoning and don’t even know it. Just have fun- a little
mess is good for all of us. To be honest, the clean-up crews don’t like my
room. I just don’t know why? Haha--
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Based on class lectures, I have been advised to connect with the students and make things culturally relevant to them. For instance, get to know your students and their interests and then get creative with making the since topic relevant to them.
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I think that in general, the best way to get students to have fun is to model having fun doing science! If the students see you not enjoying the activity, then they probably won't!
A question I have is what are some of the most fun science lessons that you can remember, that have stuck with you for years?
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I usually start with a quick video clip, a demonstration to catch attention, a group inquiry, of a mystery question. This way they buy in to the fun and then are already in deep when you have to work.
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I think that demonstrations are another great engagement tool. There are many inexpensive things (such as a Newton's cradle) that students love to interact with, yet can help demonstrate concepts.
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Investing in some manipulatives that can be used over and over would be a good idea. Having games for even the boring things such as vocabulary. There is a game called "SWAT" in which students swat the correct vocabulary word on a Powerpoint or other type of document projector. This activity is fun and competitive and really gets students remembering vocabulary. You can also make the questions more difficult and less difficult to differentiate based on students needs.
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I like the idea of adding games to the mix to get student interaction and involvemnent with the material up. This SWAT games also seems like it would be a good way to get their brains going first thing in the morning classes. I have played a similar game that gets the students up and moving around. They will stand all in a row and be given questions. Usually it is used as a review and gets the students really excited and competetive.
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I think one of the best ways to make science more fun to them and get
full class participation for all students so that a lesson goes smoothly is by making sure the lesson is engaging, making the lesson inquirized can create an
engaging lesson that forces the students to participate and stay engaged.
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One thing I do, is ask show an ambiguous picture of the content I'm about to teach. I then ask them what's happening and where is it? They have to write their thoughts down first, then share and justify their thoughts. If the picture is intriguing, it gets them really hooked.
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I have found that is a really good way to introduce new topics too! It gives the students a chance to explore the topic and see it in a variety of ways. Science is definetly the best subject to show pictures in order to engage students in a topic. There are many different options for every topic.
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I believe students will be more engaged in science if it touches topics that they are interested in. For instance, planning lessons on science experiments on make-up (targeting high-school girls) would be interesting or the science in working out (gym, muscles, etc.) for both males and females. Basically target interesting topics first then get into other things. Not all topics will catch the attention of all students, but you'd be surprised what things you can come up with to teach in your lesson plan by simply surveying students. Science is in everything (:
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It is extremely important to get the students to see a connection to the material in order for them to understand it. It is really helpful if that connection can be something that will peak their interest. You made some very good points of using make-up for girls and working out for boys! Working out and everything that goes in to building muscle and burning energy can be extremely interesting and intriguing to both boys and girls I believe.
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I think that all students can enjoy science and be science people. Children are naturally curious and they like to explore their interests. Design and adapt lessons so that they are hands on, engaging, and require problem solving. Many students do not enjoy science because they just read a textbook and do worksheets. This isn't benefiting anyone. Provide them with opportunities to be problem solvers and engineers. Try starting a lesson like this instead of telling them the facts or about a certain theory. Let them figure it out on their own first and then have a class discussion. After this, you can add to their learning and tell them the facts and why things happen the way they do. Another thing to remember is to act excited about science yourself, even if you don't like it. Build it up and have fun with your students!
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On top of making the lesson hands on, I always found that making a lesson relatable or personal keeps students' interest up. Most students want to know why they should care about something. Try to answer that question before it comes up.
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In my pre-service science education class, I have learned that presenting students with a science phenomena is a great way to start off a lesson. Students become interested in figuring out the answer or solution to this phenomena, and want to continue with the lesson. I have also learned that students want to learn more when they are able to develop their own experiments that revolve around the original science topic presented. Students can develop their own question they want to answer, and then come up with an experiment to find the answer. Students enjoy exploring themselves and coming up with what they want to learn about. I think students are much more motivated to learn about science when they are not told what they are going to learn and how they are going to do it. Science is such a fun subject and I think every student can enjoy it if it is gone about the right way.
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Phenomena is a reallly great way! This is something that you can refer back to during the whole lesson and that they can expand upon. I agree it can be more fun for the students to learn if they feel like it is in their control. They feel they have more freedom to do what they want but are still under the teachers control.
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While in school, I did not enjoy science class. I hated the idea of having to go to that class every year because all we did was read out of textbook and complete worksheets. When I entered college and began my pre-service courses, I changed my views about science and how the subject should be taught to students. I have now been teaching science for 12 years and I love it. My students enjoy the class because we learn using hands-on activities. Anytime a student can be involved in learning a concept they are more likely to understand the concept and retain the knowledge.
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I think that it is important for students to have choice in the activities they are doing. I recently observed a small science center here on my campus at the University of Northern Iowa that was full of choices for students to participate in. There were options of pattern blocks, making a harmonica out of different materails, pendulum and blocks, light tables, tops, and many more activities. If you give students many different stations of activities that are engaging for them, they are able to work their brains through these activities, when they just think they are having fun, they are actually actively participating in learning different science concepts. You can move throughout the classroom throughout the different stations and talk about the different aspects of the centers to get their brains working even more.
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I found that starting class with videos that seem to 'defy science' always caught all my students attention. For instance when we talked about light waves, we watched a video showing a picture behind a cup and after water was added to the cup, the picture would reverse. Students would call out 'thats fake', 'no way is that real', and other related things. It really grasped everyones attetion. After that we would have a discussion about it and then later allowed for students to discover it for themselves. Some other ways to get students into science is to let them use their Funds of Knowledge. Funds of Knowledge is basically the knowledge they gain from outside of school. For instance, letting your students choose a sport to show Newton's Laws of Motion or letting students even just choose which way they want to submit an assignment (e.g. PowerPoint, essay, poster, etc.). Getting to know your students Funds of Knowledge also allows for you to better plan lessons around your students. If you have access to computers, I've noticed students love getting on their computers to complete assignments and simulations.
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I am a teacher in training so I do not have much experience with science in the classroom, but from what I remember, attempting to incorporate more hands on lessons and allowing students to get involved really helps students who do not particulary enjoy science. I was not a science person growing up, but when I was given the opportunity to design my own experiement based off of my interests, science became more enjoyable.
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I am currently a student teacher, from what I have observed and learned in my classes I feel using hands-on activities is a great way to get students involved and engaged especially those students who are not incredibly interested in science.
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I agree that hands-on is a great way to get students engaged. Using stations or escape to get the students up and moving is helpful as well. The only difficulty I have seen with stations is if a group finishes before the time to rotate is up. I also had students draw biomes in a Frayer diagram. Many of them got excited because they could use their knowledge from Minecraft to know what to draw. They were able to tie in their video games to science and it helped them remember the vocabulary.
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I think it mainly depends on the student's age level, however I've yet to meet a student who isn't a fan of classroom demonstrations and heavy references to your phenomena. The 'dry' parts of the science lesson (calculating data, graphing, etc.) have to be hidden well enough that students are too engaged to realize that they're working. I've found that this approach also works best for lower level students who may become frustrated with the scientific process since it gives the students a fun break from the standard classroom setup.
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Hello!
I tihnk one thing that could really help students get involved with science is planning as much hands-on as possible. Students learn best when they are active and engaged. Give them something they can connect to as well! Make it relatable. I also recommend having some teacher excitement. If you are excited about the lesson that day, they will be too! Do your best to get their brains thinking in a way that gets them up and moving! Allow some time to work together as well. They will feel like real scientsits, doing work in the field with thier colleagues. Play the part!
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I think you must add some fun or make gamifying thing in the lession. This is the only way to make a person attention towards a particular topic/ subject.
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I guess gamifying the learning process will harm the ability of students to solve problems and overcome obstacles. Students should learn by themselves or hire someone to help them. I struggled with essay writing, so I decided to hire a pro-writer, and I chose one from the top10 essay services reviews: https://essaypaper.review/top10-essay-services-reviews/ that suited my needs and provided me necessarily feedback. That helped me to improve my weak points, ideas and skills. In the end, I started to feel confident at writing and had a great time. So students have to feel the same, but they should work.
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To make science fun for students, make sure they are hands-on! Students absolutely love when they are doing an activity/experiment. Relating to the Next Generation Science Standards, students are more let go performing their activities rather than following a step-by-step process. By keeping students engaged and creating solutions to their questions, students are more engaged in Science! A student does not want to read out of a textbook all day to then take notes. A student would much rather perform activities that can answer the same question that can be found in a textbook/article. Not only that, it sticks more with the students when they are performing an activity. Students learn and even remember more from an activity than from a sentence.
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Hands-on is fine, but without the minds-on it becomes mostly play. We're not the farm team for future scientists - we're trying to get ALL kids to be self-motivated questioners who can then 'play' with the question to make satisfactory progress satisfying their curiosity. Suggesting kids design/do a (controlled) investigation is a great way to damp curiosity. The minds-on approach builds a conceptual structure of ALREADY KNOWN patterns of description and cause-and-effect. We're not trying to get them to create NEW knowledge at the frontiers of science. We're trying to get ALL of them to use what science has already discovered for flexible, self-motivated problem solving. The pitfall for us is distinguishing between the few generic transferable concepts that science as we know it depends on (e.g. cycle; evolution; interaction/force; the 7 NGSS crosscutting concepts) and the vast quantities of content information (e.g. plate tectonics; the fields or disciplines of science).
Try this: Get kids to ask any WHY question. Then have them list the entities (things, substances, waves) involved in the phenomenon they're asking about. Then have them 'list' the properties of those entities that change during the process (there are 13 that cover 95% of questions). Then have them approximate the time it takes for those changes to occur. Then have them identify the field of science that deals with all the factoids of the phenomenon. You'll be surprised how deep kids get into their questions. HINT: The game involves NOT answering the question. To get into that arena, you then ask what (known) pattern of cause-and-effect would be most useful for explaining their question. There are only about 20 known causal patterns that cover ALL of NGSS, and give kids the intellectual toolbox to satisfy their own curiosities to their own satisfaction.
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Finding a way to help your students make a connection to what they are learning always gets them excited. It makes the lesson feel personal and something they can relate to, which always makes a topic more interesting. I also agree that when students have the materials/experiment physically in front of them, it helps them become more interested and finds room for that crucial connection.
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A good way to get students to interact in class participation is by creating class activties such as kahoot, quizlet and create projects.
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Three points: (1) The way to get students to interact and learn science is by having them DO science. (2) To keep students engaged in learning and excited about science, we should present science not as facts to be memorized but as a process of exploration and discovery. (3) There is now a substantial body of research on how children learn and how they learn science best. The most positive outcomes occur when inquiry-based pedagogical methods are used in the classroom. I'm sure others will suggest various resources for this. I am a strong proponent of the Phenomenon-Based Learning (PBL) approach, which is ideal for eliciting the kind of creative curiosity that makes students want to learn. It builds knowledge of, and interest in, science as a result of observations of real-world phenomena, or perhaps some interesting toys, gadgets, et cetera. The idea is to teach broader concepts and useful thinking and performance skills rather than asking students to simply memorize facts. (Memorizing facts is not science.) What happens is, students, working in groups, will investigate an interesting phenomenon, discuss it with each other, and, motivated by their own curiosity, explore and discover how it works and what sorts of science are involved. So the approach to learning is based on reasoning, curiosity, and creativity.
https://my.nsta.org/resource/115143/science-101-how-can-i-make-science-fun-and-have-students-learn-more-by-using-phe
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Science was not fun for me. When It comes to learn or do some valuable out of it. So I always go for the online learning and, Find the best articles such as https://thirstymag.com/most-popular-non-alcoholic-drinks-students/ Where I got to know about the non-alcoholic drink which benefits to students while they take a sip or consume a single glass.
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if your student really enjoys reading and you have a science activity that is reading an article then the student who really enjoys reading is going to love that activity. In contrast, if you have a student who hates reading they aren't going to do it no matter what you try to do
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Building off of what many other people before me have posted, I agree that modeling excitement for the lesson and choosing relatable topics are key for making science fun for the students. I have always loved science and looking back, I can see that a lot of my love for the subject comes from watching my dad's excitement with it. He's a great teacher in many subjects, but you could always see his excitement and interest level increase with anything science related and I think that made me want to explore science concepts even more.
I also found that I learned best when the teacher related concepts to my own life. I didn't even have to relate to the concept or topic itself, but even the lesson style could be relatable. For example, one of my health science teachers had us throw a blue and a red ball back and forth with a partner as we talked through the circulation of blood through the human body. We exchanged the different colors as the blood became oxygenated or deoxygenated. While the topic itself wasn't necessarily exciting, the lesson made it more relatable because we were physically and verbally engaged in working through the circulation!
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This is perfect. When you are excited the kids seem to get more excited. When you do not like something or find in unintersting the kids can tell right away.
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I think it requires an individual approach to each student
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I love finding things that students are interested in at the time. For example, I have found so many chemial reactions taking place on viral Tik Toks and they love to see those happen. It is something they are familar with and alot have seen. I also like relating Newtons laws to sports because alot of my population understands that.
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Unfortunately, in many colleges students are very overloaded and they have no desire to study science further. Not all colleges also offer opportunities to work and study. Some specialties such as physics can be very difficult to study and require additional attention. In such cases, I recommend studying the subject https://quizzes.studymoose.com/flashcards/physics according to these quizzes, which helps to learn the subject better. It is a great way to practice and hone your skills. Thanks for the post, the topic is very interesting.
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