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Science Finale: An End of Year Science Notebook
Let’s be honest. You’re busy and tired at the end of year. Me too. So are the students. Even if you made it to the last week, there are so many meetings and so much paperwork, you need students to...
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Science Thinking Maps
Thinking Maps® are visual representations for different thought processes. They’ve been around for decades, but are a BIG deal in some districts right now, so I wanted to go over a few ways to use...
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2nd Grade NGSS Notebook
It’s been a year since my last NGSS Notebook, but do to a popular request, I have an new one! The 2nd Grade NGSS Interactive Science Notebook is complete and ready for you! Which states have adopted...
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A Different Kind of Post: About Little Ari
Today’s post is a bit different. There aren’t any tips for teaching science or classroom management. This post is about Little Ari, a first grader in Alabama. I’m in the center of the front row...
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Surviving Back to School: Interactive Notebook Tips for 3-6
Welcome to The Science Penguin! I’m thrilled to be part of this blog hop where upper elementary teachers are offering Back to School Survival Tips and hosting giveaways! We are giving away over $1000...
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Scientific Method: Easy Contests to Teach Students About Fair Tests
In my experience, many elementary students struggle to grasp the idea of controlled variables (constants) and why they are important for fair tests. {See my post about teaching variables with paper...
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NEW: Science Notebooking Videos
I’m working on some YouTube videos about science notebooks and would love for you to check them out! Teaching Student to do Quality Work Teaching Output: Sentence Stems Teaching Output: Personal...
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Ice Cream Science
Hi guys– sometimes I see an activity so cool that I bug my friends to send me pics and write a post for me. Luckily, Charitie from Chapel Hill ISD was excited to share this with all of you! Thank...
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Engage Your Students in Science
How can you get your students interested in the science lesson for the day? Be excited about what you’re talking about. 5th graders will see through fake enthusiasm, but acting a little crazy can be a...
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Intro to Science Notebooks Video
I have a new video today for teachers who are new to using Interactive Science Notebooks. Questions Answered: What are science notebooks? What are science notebooks NOT? What should be included? What...
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My Visit to Johnson Space Center {Part 1}
I got the opportunity to go to Johnson Space Center for a behind-the-scenes tour and to learn about what NASA has to offer educators. Today, I’m featuring pics and information from the tour. (Part 2...
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7 Ideas for Teaching Space
This is my latest “7 Ideas for” post. In these post, I share 7 of my favorite science activities for upper elementary students. This time, it’s all about our solar system! 1. Sun-Earth-Moon System...
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Life Cycles in a Snap
A combination of quick activities, video clips, notebook fold-ups, and animal observations will help you teach your life cycles unit in a snap. The unit is geared toward 2nd grade, but perhaps...
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Picture Book Science: Bugs and Bugsicles
This is the fourth post in my new blog series, Picture Book Science Lessons. Each post contains a favorite picture book for teaching science concepts and activity ideas to accompany the book. Topics:...
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5th Grade Science STAAR for 2016
I spent the past couple of days studying the 2015 Released Science STAAR. Yeah, I’m cool. During that time I took information that I previously shared on The Science Penguin, combined it with some...
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Do I really want teachers to spend 2 days studying a test?
I spent a couple of days reviewing the 2015 5th Grade Released Science STAAR test and putting together a program to disseminate information about the test to my blog readers. Every year I do the same...
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More Than a Test Score: 10 Ideas to Cope
January rolls around and in the upper grades, there is no escaping The Test. A dark cloud can settle over the school and there is no escape. Deep down I know this, but it can be so hard to remember...
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Captivating Science for Primary Scientists: Groundhog Day
Will the groundhog see his shadow? Will there be 6 more weeks of winter? Groundhog Day brings up a great topic for young learners: shadows! Science Day: 30 Investigations for K/1 includes a fun...
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Picture Book Science Lesson: Manfish
This is the fifth post in my new blog series, Picture Book Science Lessons. Each post contains a favorite picture book for teaching science concepts and activity ideas to accompany the book. Topics:...
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Step on it! A life-sized food web
This is a fun idea to add to your unit on ecosystems. {See more ecosystem notebook pics, oceans unit, and 7 Ideas for Ecosystems.} Make a life-sized version of an ocean food web for students to...
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