How do you teach SCIENCE?????

[teach25]

I am a first year teacher in 5th grade. I have to teach science (my most disliked subject) and I have very few resources (money) to buy stuff to do experiments with. I have tried handing out study guides and everything else, but my kids still seem to bomb the test....How do I bring my test grades up without giving them the exact test to study by??

 

[phoebe611]

have them create test questions

One thing that helped me in the past was to have the students get together in small groups and create test questions from the chapter. It really gives you some insight to what they feel is important and may be on a test. Many of my students can memorize facts, but cannot apply them to other situations. Maybe you could create real life situations that cause them to reflect on the new material to solve the question. Of couse hands-on activities are always good too. I don't have money to spend on project materials and my school doesn't provide much, so I have students demonstrate projects for the class since it is easier for a child to gather a few materials than me try to purchase tons of stuff for many projects. Good luck.

 

[Teach4]

How To

Well, probably the best way to teach Science is with the hands-on materials but there are things you can do fairly inexpensively.

The first thing I would do is check out books at the local library that involve kitchen chemistry, at home science projects, etc. Often these projects use things that can be found around the house.

Another thing to do is approach local stores and businesses for donations once you have figured out the items you need. Small businesses are often happy to help!

Next, what about hands-on activities that can be done with paper. For instance, my fourth grade class and I recently made a cloud book using white paper, construction paper, and 3 cotton balls per student. Almost all of them remembered the cloud names and descriptions for the test. The teacher next door to me does that kind of thing all the time in social studies - flip books, etc. and she has great luck retention. So, I've sort of been modeling myself after her.

Lastly, buy some materials but make sure they can be used and reused. For instance, we did a demonstration about the surface of the earth and how much is covered in water. I needed two small pieces of clay and a paper clip for each student. When we were finished I collected all the clay and paper clips in baggies and plan to use them again next year.

Hope this helps!

 

[teachjam]

science

I have tried a different approach this year. Science Fridays. Each student takes home my science bag that has books with experiments.
There is a journal to record their materials used, the directions for setting up the experiment, and the steps to do it. Then the conclusion. Each student demonstrates their experiment every Friday. They LOVE it.

It has worked well with my third graders. 5th grade should have NO problem. You could even ask for volunteers for certain experiments that are used in your textbook and assign a day for them to be done for "EXTRA credit or points." Then they take responsibility for it. You could assign 2 students for the same exper. to assure that it gets done.

Hope this helps.
teachjam

 

[hescollin]

Hands on Science.

Make edible rocks...helps students see the difference in the three types of rocks. Igneous rocks---melt chocolate chips in microwave, (melted rock or magma) have a piece of wax paper on each desk and put a spoonful of melted chocolate on each wax paper for students to watch it cool and harden. *****Make Gumdrop Metamorphic rocks....Give each student 2 pieces of wax paper, give each student three different colored gum drops (cut into nine or ten pieces)---put the pieces of gum drops between the pieces of wax paper and have the students press the gumdrops together)remove the wax paper and discuss how heat and pressure make metamorphic rocks. Sedimentary Rocks...make and eat Rice Krispies. *****Make pet rocks Students bring a rock about the size of an egg. Use for experiments, do rocks sink or float. Be sure and have at least one rock that floats. Than make their rocks into Pet Rocks (teacher uses super glue ---to glue on two wiggly eyes.) Pet Rocks are their reading buddies and listen to students read. Students must read to their rock fifteen minutes each night to keep their rocks alive (we use this as part of our Book-It reading activity) (******Hard boiled egg cut in half with a red hot candy put in the center of the egg yolk = the different layers of the earth. Shell is the crust and is approximately 6-40 miles, the white represents the mantle and is approximately 1,800 miles, the yolk represents the outer core and is approximately 1,375 miles, the red hot is the very very HOT inner core and is approximately 1,750 miles. Read the book "The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth" this explains the layers of the earth and the composition of each. These are not my ideas they have been gathered here and there and put into my collection of ideas and activities.
Rock Odyssey. Just type that name in on a search and you should be able to find it. It's only $20.00. It was funny, informative, and helped them on their test.
WELCOME TO SCIENCE!! websites for science lesson ideas. These 2 sites are by middle school science teachers. They have lots of lesson ideas, lab ideas, classroom management ideas, and links:
http://www.sciencespot.net
http://www.middleschoolscience.com/
This one has lots of facts in kid-friendly terms:
http://www.chem4kids.com/
These are both just inherently interesting for kids...fact of the day ideas, extra credit report ideas..:
http://www.grossology.org/
http://whyfiles.org/
Have fun with science!!
scientific method = "5 Point Star Method". The points on the 5 point star are the steps to the scientific method. (1) hypothesis (2) gather materials (3) test the hypothesis (4) answer the hypothesis (5) conclusion of the experiment (what you learned through the experiment)
Butterfly bracelet. ! pipe cleaner, 1 white pony bead to represent the egg, 1 red pony bead to represent the head of the caterpillar, 3 green pony beads to represent the caterpillar's body, a glitter bead to represent the chrysalis (I used a brown bead--Hungry Caterpillar book), and 1 butterfly bead at the end.
Water cycle bracelet:
Each child will need a piece of gimp or string or pipe cleaner and six beads-light blue for rain, green for grass, dark blue for a puddle, yellow for the sun, clear for evaporation and white for a cloud.
Story: One day the rain started to come down from the sky. It landed on the grass. The raindrops made a puddle. The sun came out and warmed up the puddle. The droplets evaporated and went into the sky. so many raindrops got together that they make a cloud. Then the rain fell from the cloud. It landed on the grass. The children move the beads as the story is told.
To make a backbone: Use a pipe cleaner, wagon wheel pasta and gummy life savers. String on to the pipe cleaner alternating pasta and gummy saver. It's cool and the kids always love it!
If you want more ideas please send me an e mail and ask for science hands on ideas. I have lots more on the computer that I am willing to attach and share. Petunia in Kansas