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OMG! There are so many things it is hard to choose one. I teach elementary so disregard if you are teaching middle or high school. I usually begin by asking them if I can cut a hole in a sheet a paper big enough to walk through. I ask them to try it first with their own paper. They can't do it. We take a vote of who thinks it can be done and who thinks it can not be done. I keep asking them why they think it can't or can be accomplished and we discuss their reasoning. I then demonstrate the "trick." https://allfortheboys.com/home/2014/09/03/quick-trick-walk-through-a-sheet-of-paper.html Then we see how many people we can fit inside the paper circle. I've gotten 25 students including me as long as we are careful not to tear the paper. They get so excited. The real reason I do this is to get them excited but also to question things and be able to start asking why or how? As scientists we have to prove things. This is a great way to get them engaged and thinking about proving what they state as a fact.

Hi Chanel! I think there is so many activities to chose from that will help you excite your students. Try to incorporate some hands-on and engaging activities with your class! This will get them excited to act out the experience and actually be able to perform the task. I will attach a link to a website that has a lot of great hands on activity ideas! https://www.education.com/activity/science/

Talor shared a great site. Start practicing you activities and add a new one each month to build up your repertoire.

Hi Chanel! I am a pre-service teacher studying Elementary Education at the University of Northern Iowa. I have the opportunity to teach a few lessons on science in classrooms that students really have an interest in. One of the lessons that I had the opportunity to teach is a ramps and pathways lesson which also integrates Engineering. In this lesson, I asked students the question " how do I get this marble to roll from one end of the ramp to the other?" and then held up a piece of a ramp and a marble. Then students investigated this and other questions they had with blocks, ramps, and marbles. They loved this lesson which spanned over multiple days and really worked on finding questions they were interested and then exploring how to answer it! Hope this gave you an idea! -Megan

Hi Chanel! I am a preservice teacher as well, but have planned and taught about 10 different science lessons. Throughout these experiences, I have learned some strategies that help students get excited about learning science. First, students enjoy hands-on learning activities. For example, I taught a unit on life cycles and plant reproduction. To help students learn the parts of the flower, they dissected a real flower. During the dissection they were able to observe, through sight, smell, and touch, and identify the different parts of a tulip. Other activities include observing plant growth in varied lighting conditions, doing a "matter walk", etc. Second, incorporating the arts, such as drama and art creation, into a science lesson improves excitement. For example, when teaching students about the process of pollination, they engaged in a bee role play. During the role play, students "buzzed" to a "flower" (which was a cups with a white, paper flower on top) and drank the "nectar" (cheetos). Then they "buzzed" to another "flower" where the left their "pollen" (the cheetto dust on their fingers) on that flower. Other activities include creating a mural painting of a butterfly, constructing a 3D flower diagram, etc. Finally, incorporating the use of science journals during a unit of study or throughout the year helps students feel accomplished. Science journals are an essential learning tool when teaching science. It is a place where students can record their ideas, observations, and final conclusions. Provide guidelines, but allow students the freedom to choose how they want structure their journal. Allow students to engage with the journals at their academic level. For example, struggling students can include pictures and word descriptions, while more advanced students can write short paragraph explanations. This type of differentiation allows all student to feel successful, which will improve student excitement in relation to science.