I’ve seen so many “back to school activities” for students that focus on Language Arts skills. Why not add a science element to your first day of school activities? Try these science back to school activities to get to know your students and have engaging science review!
Don’t miss the FREE Back-to-School Science Teacher Toolkit at the end of this post!
#1 Back to school science activity: My Science Selfie
Have your students take a “science selfie”. On the student science selfie handout, have your students sketch who they are as a scientist. Simply asking them, “How do you see yourself as a scientist?” will start the conversation of what scientists do. This is one of my favorite getting to know you activities for science classrooms.
includes reviews for Food Chains, Types of Energy, and more…
Continue your back to school science review by having your students focus on food and related food chains. Ask your students what their favorite food is but also their favorite food’s food! Start the discussion about food chains and what animals eat. Your students sketch and explain their answer on their own science selfie handout. There are also prompts for their favorite form of energy, measuring how tall they are, and describing their favorite inherited traits.
#2 Back to School Science Activity: My Summer of Science
When your students come back to school, they’ll want to share their summertime adventures! Have them share the experience in a visual way and make connections to science concepts with this science Instagram activity. After having your students create a picture and caption about an activity they participated in during their summer, have them write a paragraph connecting the experience to a science concept.
Not only will you and their classmates get to know them through their summer experiences, but this is also a great time to discuss and review concepts like matter and energy, force, motion, and energy, earth and space, and organisms and environment.
Share examples like getting a new puppy, the plants and animals students may see in their own backyard or while camping, or watching the moon from their window! What a great way to have students review prior knowledge while having an opportunity to share some of their summer experiences!
#3 Back to School Science Activity: What do you Want to know?
Start the school year by having your students ask questions! Science is all about wonder and inquiry. By sharing their own questions about science, you’ll get to know your students and what they are curious about. In addition, your learners will also get to know each other. Have students put their questions on sticky notes to display on large paper or the board. The rest of the students can check out the notes and see what their classmates want to learn about. They’ll find out what they have in common. If you have some flexibility in your curriculum, address these “wonderful” questions. You may also consider providing books and other resources to help your students discover their scientific interests.
These getting to know you activities for science classrooms will help your elementary students get to know each other and review scientific concepts at the start of the school year. Check out the “science selfie” activities to explore not only what makes a scientist and food chains but also inherited traits, measurement, and energy. There are so many ways you can introduce science early on. Which of these science getting to know you activities will you try in your classroom?
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