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I love gardening. My first year of teaching, I had a center in my classroom with a fluorescent light hanging from a stand on a table. I had potting soil and seeds under the table. I placed a stack of newspaper with illustrated directions on how to fold the paper to make a planting pot. We even learned on the first day how to fold the paper and we discussed why following directions is important. During that year my students learned how to grow plants with seeds, plant cuttings, leftovers from the cafeteria, etc. They also learned that they had to be consistent and committed in order for their plants to thrive. We recorded, made drawings, and measured what we grew in a journal. We learned that peanuts grow under the ground. One little girl told me she thought she could make them grow on top of the ground. I went to the local feed store and bought peanuts for her experiment. As the plant grew, she would dig up on side to examine the roots for the legumes. Once peanuts appeared, she would dig them up and put them on top of the dirt. After a few days they would be buried under the soil. That's how we discovered tropisms. Find something you are passionate about, be willing to be a learner as well and not the expert, and when a student wants to find out something that intrigues them, allow them to do so if it is in your power. You can't do it all, but you can do a few things at a time. Each year add something new to your content knowledge. Many times, it is the children that will inspire you. Another helpful idea, find out what the parents, grandparents, or other family members do for a living. They may be able to be an expert that can come to class to share with the students and give them an enriching experience you would otherwise not be able to provide.

Hi Victoria! I am also a pre-service teacher and I am curious as well. However, most science classes I have observed have students watching videos and completing worksheets on the information in the video. So while yes, observing teachers is important, I have found little inspiration from doing so. I believe science is incredibly important to foster curiosity in children and I believe it is my duty as a teacher to help students in that regard. I have found that finding the student's interests and building on that helps create a meaningful learning environment. If they are engaged in something they are curious about, the learning will be meaningful. I hope this helps! Best of luck to you!

I am responding to Ashley Gonzalez. I agree with you that there is very little "science" happening when the content is being taught predominantly with videos and worksheets. I do use video clips rarely, however, showing time-lapse video of germination or pollination is not something I can easily replicate in class. Perhaps you need to ask around and find out who does actual science labs either in your current school or one in the district. Don't hesitate to move up to middle school if need be. I promise you there are some real science teachers out there that are really doing science!

[color=#000000][size=3][font=HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif][size=4][font=Verdana, sans-serif]What seems to work best is an approach based on exploration, not memorizing a list of facts. And the exploration approach is more like what real scientists do. That's why I've been recommending the Phenomenon-Based Learning books sold by NSTA Press. The elementary version is targeted at grades 3-5, but many of the activities can be used at lower levels. Here’s a link to it: [/font][/size][/font][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=3][font=HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif][size=4][font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font][/size][/font][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=3][font=HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif][font=Verdana, sans-serif][url=http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781936959389][color=#196ad4]http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781936959389[/color][/url] [/font][/font][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=3][font=HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif][size=1][font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font][/size][size=4][font=Verdana, sans-serif]You can see a free chapter: Go to that link and scroll down, under “Details,” you can see a link to read a sample chapter (on electricity). And if you click on that link, you get not only the sample chapter, but also the table of contents and the Introduction. The Introduction is very informative in describing how to present the activities in ways that will be both fun and educational for all types of students, along with suggestions for methods of assessment. [/font][/size][/font][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=3][font=HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif][size=4][font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font][/size][/font][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=3][font=HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif][size=4][font=Verdana, sans-serif]There are kits of materials designed to go with the book that are sold by Arbor Scientific. You can see them here: [/font][/size][/font][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=3][font=HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif][size=4][font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font][/size][/font][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=3][font=HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif][font=Verdana, sans-serif][url=http://www.arborsci.com/nsta-es-kits][color=#196ad4]http://www.arborsci.com/nsta-es-kits[/color][/url] [/font][/font][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=3][font=HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif][size=4][font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font][/size][/font][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=3][font=HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif][size=4][font=Verdana, sans-serif]The kits are expensive, but they give you enough materials for dozens of activities and would be a great investment for any school, even without the books. [/font][/size][/font][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=3][font=HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif][size=4][font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font][/size][/font][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=3][font=HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif][size=4][font=Verdana, sans-serif]Have fun![/font][/size][/font][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=3][font=HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif][size=4][font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font][/size][/font][/size][/color] [color=#000000][size=4][font=Verdana, sans-serif]Iris[/font][/size][/color]

I totally agree that you should go visit other teachers. Even if they are in a different grade. Most activities/experiments can be modified to fit the grade you teach.