You’re starting a new and exciting job teaching science, but you aren’t sure how to get kids excited about science. The following are a few helpful tips that’ll make this goal more attainable.
Taking it Outside
One thing you can do is go outside. You can find science in nature, and you can use that to your advantage. Kids can learn about living organisms, or you can teach them about foraging. If you take science outside the classroom, you allow your kids to connect your lessons to everyday life.
This is exciting for kids who think science is not something you can take outside a book or classroom. Ideally, you want to go to a nature preserve where your kids can be guided by an expert. Doing this could help support the nature preserve by raising awareness since the kid’s parents are going to hear about the experience.
Let Them Create it
It would be a good idea to allow your students to create science. Something is exciting about being able to create nature in the palm of your hands. This is the reason kids get excited when they see their hairs stand when learning about static electricity.
You can take things much further with bigger projects. One of the most popular is the volcano project, but there’s so much more you can do in the comfort of your classroom. You could create stream tables in your classroom to help the students learn more about this world’s ecosystem. You’ll get to explore some of the biggest questions kids have about this natural world.
Take it Home
Another thing you can do to make science exciting for your kids is to allow them to take the lessons home. You are going to be asking them to experiment at home so that they can bring it back to you. Teach them a few things about science, and let their little minds figure out the rest.
You can come up with a list of interesting and safe experiments that your kids can do. Ask them to see which one interests them the most so that they can do it at home. Most likely, their parents are going to help, which is going to make this experience more fun for your kids. Have your kids present their experiments in your classroom. Doing this makes them little teachers at least for the day, which is exciting as well.
What Lies Beneath
A fun way to teach your kids about science is to lead them to discover what lies beneath. There’s so much science in everyday things that kids aren’t aware of that you can teach them. For example, you can teach them why a cake rises when you bake. This fun experiment doesn’t open up their eyes to things they didn’t know before, but it’s also just tasty.
You also teach them about magnets and how powerful they are. To most kids, a magnet is something you place on the fridge, but you know there’s much more to it. You know magnets are so powerful they can lift heavy items. Show them how and see their eyes brighten with excitement. Kids who don’t like science will see they can’t escape it because it’s everywhere.
Ask Questions and Wonder
General wonderment is going to help you get your students excited about science. You want to get them to see there’s always a question to ask. Talk about things you don’t know but are excited to learn about. Doing this is going to get your kids excited about their questions.
You also want to ask your kids about everything. If you treat your kids like scientists, they are going to start thinking they are. Ask them about their experiments, work, and why they like the superheroes they like. Every question you ask is important, and make sure you follow up. If you treat kids like their opinion matters, then their curiosity should grow.
These are some things you can do to excite your students about this subject. It might be a good idea to talk to other teachers in your department who have a little more experience to see what they’ve got to offer you.
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[…] take place because they don’t understand the world around them. Understanding the world means thinking like a scientist. Scientists analyze events; they look for cause and effect. And they make changes to prevent […]