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Hi!! I did a 5E Lesson on the solar system. The students enjoyed the topic. You can also do it on solids, liquids, and gas which is another lesson they enjoy or on plants.

I observed a science lesson in one of my field placements over camouflage. The teacher introduced the concept of camouflage to her first graders and asked why animals use it. My teacher used a moth as an example and how it uses camouflage to hide from predators. She gave each student a moth cutout and told students to camouflage it around the room. For example, my teacher has a red cloth in her classroom and she colored her moth red and taped it to the cloth. Once students camouflaged their moth, she had students look around to find each others. The students really enjoyed the activity and learned a lot too! Hope this helps! Allison

Hello Caroline! An interesting science lesson that you could do with first graders would be over living and nonliving things. It is very interesting during the engage portion of a science lesson to hear students talk about what they think are living and nonliving things. Also to help students get a better understanding of living and nonliving things look into books that go over the topic such as Living and Nonliving by Abbie Dunne. Additionally, look into bringing objects and allowing students to explore and question if the object or thing is living or nonliving. Good luck and hope this helps!

Hey Caroline!

I am in a science methods course right now, and we are creating a unit plan. Our unit plan focuses around a phenomenon that we simply brainstormed about, looked for, and then created our lesson around. Our specific lesson was for third graders, and it used the phenomenon of giraffes with short necks and giraffes with long necks. We were working in the standard area of heredity, and we wanted to show them an example of how giraffes inherit different characteristics, just like humans. We also wanted them to start to visualize how microevolution works via the differences in neck sizes. The unit plan is based upon a 5E lesson plan, but each lesson is one of the E's. The first lesson was solely about engaging them in the phenomenon, and then we worked on the rest from there. Ultimately, I think if you search for a phenomenon that seems intriguing, you can't go wrong! Students are so curious, so I would suggest letting them learn based off of their own inquiry rather than listening to a lecture. 

Hi Caroline! I am a senior at the University of Northern Iowa currently working toward the same major as yours. A few weeks ago, I was fortunte enough to teach a kindergarten science lesson at an elementary school. Although it was kindergarten and not first grade, I think the topic would be just as exciting. The lesson was over venus fly traps and their unique characteristics when it comes to their needs. The kids got a chance to explore and be engaged by all sorts of different plants and relate those plants to the venus fly trap. The kids loved the lesson and you could make the lesson all your own! Good luck in your endeavors! 

Hi Caroline,

I'm Rachel Bronson and I'm a senior at the University of Northern Iowa majoring in Early Childhood Education. In the fall semester of this year I had the opportunity to work in a first grade classroom. Unfortunately I did not notice any science being taught, however many of the students were asking me questions regarding science topics. Some of the topics that they were interested in include the solar system, the plant cycle, and marine animals! I think that any lessons surrounding these topics would be both fun and engaging for your students. However, I think it would be best to talk with some of your students to get an idea of what they are interested in learning about! 

I hope the lesson goes well for you!

Rachel Bronson

Hello Caroline, 

I am Mackenzie Laven and I am attending The University of Northern Iowa and in a science methods course. Within this class, we are putting together a mini-unit of lessons dealing with one topic. My group is doing our lessons over plants and their different characteristics they have within living in different habitats. I think it was a really good idea because it can be something that is hands-on in dealing with plants and can get many different activities out of it. We were lucky enough to get to teach one of the lessons within our mini-unit and the students loved it. We brought in real plants from the desert and rainforest habitat to have students look at very closely to explain the different characteristics these two different plants and how they survive in their certain habitat. It was really cool to see what students came up with and their minds thinking about different plant attributes. More of our lessons include having them make their own plant out of materials we bring in to understand why these plants have these characteristics to survive. We also have them creating books over a certain plant in habitat and what attributes it has to protect itself. I hope you enjoy these ideas and introduce your students to plants in different habitats and learn and teach all the fun characteristics plants have. 

Hello Virginia, That is a great lesson idea. The food cycle helps teach about nutrition within the science content. The 5E is a very helpful tool to have in a lesson plan because, in my opinion, I have found it helpful to make sure I have gotten all the aspects of a lesson. My students and their learning are my main priority so I want them to get the most out of my lessons. Great job!

I recently worked on a lesson plan for parts of a plant, and having them grow a plant is such a great idea! I think the students would have so much fun with that! Definitely will be adding it to my next lesson plan! 

Hi Ashley,

I am a future teacher, and I really like this unit and am interested to see what other activities you have used or know of that pertain to animals using camouflage. Also have you ever used this lesson to branch off into the topic of reasoning for certain patterns of animals like the stripes one a bee?