This is the second blog in a series of Conversations about Science with scientists, science educators, researchers, and teachers, written for classroom educators.
Can you do science activities without breaking the bank? Suggestions for elementary school teachers who want to bring science experiences and practices into the classroom.
Naomi: Cindy, something that teachers often ask is how to teach early science without breaking the bank on materials? Many teachers say they love teaching science, but it costs a fortune to buy all the consumables needed for regular experiments and hands-on learning activities, as well as things like animal care. Do you have any suggestions?
Cindy: The first thing I would ask is what kinds of experiences are we talking about that are costing so much money? One thing I’ve found is that one-shot activities often require specialized materials—sometimes expensive materials. I’m thinking of a preschool activity, like making a volcano, right? You have to do this elaborate papier-mache volcano, when really the goal is to teach children that when you mix different things, you get some kind of result or reaction. But you have all this peripheral material that you need to purchase to get there.
I suggest trying to reframe the question. Instead of thinking about “How can I afford all the things that I need to buy in order to teach this lesson?” start by looking at the materials we have on hand, or that we have easy access to, including regular household materials. This could include flashlights, large pieces of cardboard, or paper towel tubes—these are great for rolling explorations and for sound explorations. Can I use those materials to teach what I know is important, whether it’s based on standards, certain curricula, or my own knowledge of what students at that age should be learning?
For example, when teaching about force and motion, you can use large, sturdy pieces of cardboard and things to support them at different inclines. Add in some regular playground balls, and you have enough for a three-week investigation of force and motion. You can look at what impacts how far and fast they roll, such as the sizes, shapes and weights of the balls; the steepness of the incline; and the texture of the incline surface. You can use little hand towels or tin foil to create different surface textures on the cardboard.
You can also do things with collisions, by having the balls roll into items of different weights and different shapes and seeing what causes things to fall down or stay steady. And again, that’s with very cheap materials that you’ll find in pretty much every school.
In both preschool and early elementary classrooms, teachers can create “building” areas, maker spaces, and/or spaces for water and sand exploration using a variety of available, collected, and recyclable materials. They can then think about how they might use those areas to support physical science exploration with their young learners.
Naomi: Cindy, this is all great information for someone who has some idea of what they will be doing in the classroom, but what about the teacher who is really starting from scratch? Knowing that you can do science without spending money you don’t have is a great start, but then what? What suggestions do you have for a teacher who is just getting started with science in the early elementary classroom?
Cindy: I suggest talking to other teachers, coaches, or the science specialist at your school or program—people who are really passionate about doing science—and see what they recommend. There are also lots of science resources out there for early educators, such as articles and blog posts in English and Spanish on the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC’s) Be a scientist yourself and do some research on the topic of doing science with young children!
I also suggest keeping it simple and starting with physical science. Life science (the exploration of living things) tends to be very, very popular with teachers (and students love it). It can be very challenging, however, because it means keeping living things alive, waiting for them to grow, change, or move, and engaging a lot with the outdoors. That has its own challenges of weather and accessibility.
Physical science explorations, on the other hand, can be done inside or outside, in any type of weather, at any time of year. Plus, children get very engaged, because they can act directly on objects and materials and immediately observe what happens.
One physical science experience very popular with children of all ages is exploring force and motion using balls and ramps, such as the one I described earlier with simple inclined cardboard and other materials (balls, marbles, aluminum foil, paper towel rolls, etc.).
Another one is designing and building structures using all kinds of blocks (e.g., wooden, foam, cardboard) and recyclables of different sizes, shapes, weights, and textures, and made of different materials. How can you use the materials to: build a strong and stable tower? Create a barn for animals? Build an office building or school?
And I would look for other resources that can be part of a physical science exploration, such as water and familiar objects that sink, float, or stay suspended in water and/or flashlights and child-made paper shapes to explore shadows that stretch or shrink.
I do strongly encourage teachers to try things out first, before doing an activity with a classroom full of children. Exploring ahead of time yourself helps build your own knowledge of the science and it helps you predict what children might notice and wonder about.
For example, when teachers explore sinking and floating on their own in advance, they will be better equipped to choose interesting objects they want children to test; key vocabulary they want to introduce, use, and model and questions that will support children’s scientific thinking. They might ask children to think about why one object sinks right away (a marble) while another sinks very slowly (a dry sponge) and encourage them to wonder what will happen if the sponge is wet when they put it in the water. By exploring in advance, teachers can bring their own prior knowledge to bear to support children’s explorations. It enables them to use a guide-on-the-side approach that is so effective in supporting children’s explorations. Teachers can extend this activity and further support children’s science and language learning by encouraging them to share and discuss, not just their predictions, but also why they think that will happen. Teachers can add a literacy component by helping children chart their predictions and reasoning and using the chart after the exploration to reflect on how their thinking has changed based on their observations.
Naomi: These are great suggestions, and so many of the materials needed are already in classrooms. This reminds me of something I’ve heard you say in the past, that teachers don’t necessarily know that there is science embedded in the everyday activities that they are already doing.
Cindy: Yes, and you don’t have to be a science expert to give children science experiences as part of your regular curriculum. So many teachers worry about what will happen if the children ask a question and I don’t know the answer? My response is: You look for the answers together. You’re modeling how to ask and answer questions, and this is part of science exploration. For example, which ball is going to knock more stuff down? What will happen if we fill a floating container with water? Or maybe the question is something you can look up together, using an online resource or a book. It’s not about knowing the right answer; it’s about knowing that there are different ways to find an answer.
I want to encourage teachers to be curious and persistent, along with their young learners. Teachers can collect information from peers about different kinds of activities, or do a little exploring on places like YouTube to find some suggestions for age-appropriate science explorations. If you’re going to do science, it helps to have a plan and idea of what you want your young students to take away from the experience. Is it something about gravity (force) and slopes, or about the density of materials? Whatever you chose, modeling for your students that you are exploring questions about these things together can help to shape awareness that science is not about having answers, but instead about discovering ways to answer a question.
Suggested Resources:
CAESART’s Productive Prompts to Support K–2 Student Engagement with Physical Science: Short, productive prompts to spark curiosity and deepen science discourse in your K–2 classroom explorations of physical science.
Early Math’s Preschool Data Toolbox: Teacher-facing app plus digital teacher guide, available in the Apple and Android stores or online, that provides lesson plans for a series of data-focused investigations. This can be a great starting place and model for K data collection and analysis.
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC): NAEYC supports and advocates for high quality education for children from birth to eight.
- Science page: Articles by teachers and others about teaching science and STEM.
- Early Childhood Science Interest Forum (ECSIF) – Monthly forum for advancing science in early childhood.
National Science Teaching Association’s (NSTA’s) Science and Children journal: peer-reviewed practitioner journal for elementary-level science teachers.
PBS KIDS Play & Learn Science App: Free early and elementary learning science app that includes and models activities about earth, physical and life sciences.
PreK – Elementary Data Resources: List of data activities, lessons, and resources for the classroom compiled by EDC’s Oceans of Data Institute.