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Best resources for teaching science as a first year teacher

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Anita Johnson Anita Johnson 45 Points

Hello!  I am a graduate student at Xavier University for Early Childhood Education and I have never been the greatest at science.  I was wondering what some great resources are for teaching science in the younger grades?

Pamela Dupre Pamela Dupre 92369 Points

Anita, you are in the right place! Use the Explore All Resources tab and you can find pretty much anything you are interested in. Go to:

http://ngss.nsta.org/

and browse those classroom resources. You just have to jump in and try out some of the lessons/experiments on family and friends to build up your comfort level with science. Find a teacher you feel comfortable with and ask them to show you some things to get you started and ask to observe their class!

Pamela Dupre Pamela Dupre 92369 Points

Anita, I came across something that you might find beneficial. 

https://www.gotscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Science-experiments-5-9.pdf

 

Originally developed in collaboration with the Marie Curie Alumni Association as part of its My Science Super Heroes project, this downloadable e-book from Science Connected has 27 pages of science experiments for adults and children to conduct together using items commonly found around the home or hardware store. The experiments cover a range of topics in physics, biology, chemistry, and Earth science, and with sections explaining What’s It About, What You Need, Useful Words, What to Do, and Science to Know, each experiment provides enough guidance for teachers or parents to successfully conduct the activities in the classroom or at home. Titles include Demonstrating the Forces of Flight; Make It Move: Measuring the Static Friction of a Shoe; How Do Different Materials Affect Temperature?; How Are Colors Created?; How Can You Turn Saltwater Into Drinking Water?; How Can Geckos Climb Walls?; How Does a Solar Cell Create Electricity?; and How Is the Aurora Borealis Created?

Megan Doty Megan Doty 11847 Points

Hi Anita,

I have to agree with Pamela - this is a great place to locate resources! When you click on 'Explore All Resources,' you can type in a search term and then filter down the results to find those related to younger grades. You could also look for content resources if you need to refresh your own understanding! Check out the Science Objects and/or SciPacks for content support.

I would also check out the Early Childhood or Elementary Science forums to get ideas and discuss with other teachers of younger students. They can be found here:

Early Childhood: http://learningcenter.nsta.org/discuss/default.aspx?fid=ryclPO3p1E8_E

Elementary Science: http://learningcenter.nsta.org/discuss/default.aspx?fid=XrnnSpYKObw_E

I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any specific topics that I can help you find resources for!

-Megan

Stephanie Alfaro Stephanie Alfaro 220 Points

Hi Anita, I'm semi new to this website but after doing some research I can tell there is loads of helpful resources for teaching science to lower grades. There are many resorses in teachers pay teachers, pintrest, google, etc. but this website has been helpful a good website that I found here was Get Caught Engineering there are lessons that not only include science but combine other subjects as well! 

-Goodluck with Graduate School 

Brenda Velasco Mizenko Brenda Velasco 2695 Points

This is definelty the right place as others have mentioned! If you teach weather or climate at all, here is a great resource from NASA:

https://climatekids.nasa.gov/

Also for climate, there's a resource called Globe which has training opportunities, lessons, interactive maps..etc.. I'm doing a whole research project on weather this summer so I have lots of resources!

https://www.globe.gov/

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