Introduce Science Vocabulary with Creative and Engaging Activities

In science class, students need to understand lots of unfamiliar vocabulary words that may leave them feeling confused. Introducing some of these words at the beginning of a unit can help your students’ comprehension of the material and boost their confidence. Through playing games, asking students to illustrate new words, and having students find connections between different terms, you can help your students feel more comfortable with new scientific terms. 

One vocabulary game that my students enjoyed is charades. It plays on different intelligences than other science activities, so in addition to teaching science vocabulary, the game motivates some students who might be less engaged with other approaches. Another game we played is similar to charades but involves drawing rather than acting. An earlier blogpost I wrote has more details on these games:

Low-Prep Games for Teaching Vocabulary

After reviewing new vocabulary words, you can ask students to illustrate the words in some way. By doing this, you can create a colorful display of student work that also serves to remind students of the meaning of challenging science vocabulary. Here is a link to a blogpost that explains more about illustrating words related to plant cell organelles:

Illustrating Science Vocabulary: Plant Cell Organelles

Hexagonal thinking is an approach to teaching new terms that was created by Betsy Potash. Her lessons mostly center around language arts, but this technique can also be applied to teaching vocabulary in other subjects, including science. Hexagonal thinking involves working in a group to discuss how words in a list relate to one another. Of course, in order to discover connections between the words, students need to understand the definitions of these words. Hexagonal thinking can be used to introduce a unit or to provide a summary after a topic has been covered. To learn more about hexagonal thinking, you can read this blogpost:

Hexagonal Thinking:

Connections and Discussion in Science Class

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Back-to-School Activities for Building Classroom Community

In the first days of school, you may want to select activities that help build community in your class as students ease back into academic life. I will share several such activities that my students have enjoyed in the past. 

A very simple activity is to give students Venn diagrams to complete about themselves. This can be done with student pairs, as with deskmates, or with groups of three using a three-circle Venn diagram. It helps to brainstorm with the class some categories of information that could be written in the Venn diagrams, such as hobbies, talents, sports, music, family members, pets, and favorites: foods, colors, animals, places, seasons, weather. As students fill out the Venn diagram, they get to know each other better and find some things they have in common. A blogpost I wrote earlier has more details about using Venn diagrams in the classroom:

Classroom Icebreaker / Getting to Know You Activity: Venn Diagrams

A popular game I have used is Two Truths and a Lie. Each member of the class, including the teacher, writes their name along with two true facts and one lie about themself. The teacher reads each paper, and everyone guesses which is the lie before the student reveals the correct answer. Students love this game because they see how much they already know about each other while being surprised by things they never knew about their friends! It also provides new students with an opportunity to introduce themselves to their classmates. One year I used this game to reveal to my class that I was pregnant!

To beautify your classroom with student art at the beginning of the school year, have them create collages about themselves using images and words from magazines. Making collages encourages students to learn more about their classmates' interests and style. As they work, they talk about the images and words they are using and help one another find pictures in the magazines. This activity takes a little preparation, but asking parents and other staff members for magazine donations makes it fairly easy. Here is a link to an earlier blogpost about making collages:

Beginning of the School Year Activity: Decorate Room with Student Collages

A game similar to Two Truths and a Lie is Snowball Fight. In this game, everyone writes three true things about themself but omits their name. After crumpling up the paper, the class has a "snowball fight" for about ten seconds (or longer). Everyone then picks up a piece of paper and opens it. You may have students walk around the room and find the person who wrote their paper. Another variation is to ask students to take turns reading their papers aloud as the entire class attempts to guess who wrote it. To help students keep control of their bodies during the snowball fight, you can make a rule that students need to be touching their chair or desk as they throw their snowballs. It's helpful to know your students a bit before trying this game to be sure that students can handle the snowball fight.

One last activity I will mention can be used to preview vocabulary for a coming unit while decorating the classroom with student art. This involves giving groups of students vocabulary words to illustrate. Within the group, individual students can choose which word to draw so long as the group includes all of the words. Here is a link to a blogpost I wrote about this activity:

Illustrating Science Vocabulary: 

Plant Cell Organelles

I hope these activities give you some ideas for beginning the school year, and I hope that you have a great first week of school!

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Classroom Icebreaker / Getting to Know You Activity: Venn Diagrams

Venn diagrams can be used as an icebreaker to help students get acquainted at the beginning of the school year. I have also used Venn diagrams as a team-building activity when beginning a group project. Venn diagrams are a simple, low-prep yet effective way to help your students get to know one another.

The format is very simple. You can use a two-circle Venn diagram for pairs or a three-circle Venn diagram for groups of three. When beginning a group project with teams larger than three students, you can break students into smaller groups and pairs. Whether I plan to have students work with a partner or in a small group, I always prepare a few copies of the alternative form of the Venn diagram in case the number of students present that day is not divisible by two/three.

After I tried having students draw the Venn diagrams themselves, I found that giving them copies of pre-made Venn diagrams works best because it is tricky to draw intersecting circles with spaces large enough to write. I have either drawn the circles myself to photocopy or found Venn diagrams online.

To begin the activity, ask each student to write his/her/their name just outside of one of the circles. Partners and groups of three talk about themselves- their interests, families, backgrounds, likes, and dislikes. In the space where the circles intersect, they write the things they have in common. Students note ways in which they are unique in the area where the circles don’t intersect.

Keep in mind that some students will begin conversing without much prompting, while others will need a little support. It can help to write suggested topics (favorite foods, hobbies, talents, number of siblings, pets, etc.) on the board and circle around to prompt students as they work.

When students finish, you may want to have them share with the class what they have learned about one another. I often ask pairs and groups to share one way in which they are alike, and one thing that made each student unique.

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Beginning of the School Year Activity: Decorate Room with Student Collages

At the beginning of the school year, two common priorities for teachers are classroom decor and getting to know their students. One beginning of the school year activity I have used does both of these things. 

The simple activity of having students make collages that express their personalities was shared with me by Ann Davis, who at the time was a parent of one of my students and working towards a Masters in Expressive Arts Therapy. My students and I were fortunate to benefit from her enriching activities, which helped students reflect, build self-esteem, and connect with one another. The collage activity she taught me is one I started using at the beginning of the school year. It invites students to express their individuality, and in doing so, provides an opportunity for members of the classroom community get to know one another better. 

To prepare for making collages, I begin collecting magazines and other paper media with a variety of images. Emailing parents and asking students to bring in magazines is very helpful. I put out a box or other container to collect the magazines as they come in. Be sure to preview donated magazines before making them available to students though- one year I got a donation of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue! Once you have have a good collection of magazines, some cardstock paper, glue, and scissors (optional), you are ready to begin making collages.

With all of the materials available to students, I let them peruse the magazines to look for images that reflect their personalities and preferences. They find images of things they like to do, their favorite foods, pop culture of interest to them, places they have been or dream of traveling to, and other favorite things.

Students may rip or cut images, and I suggest to them that ripping the paper creates a nice transition between two images in a collage. Students sometimes choose to add words and phrases that they like. They “sign” their collages by spelling their names using letters found in the magazine text. 

Once the collages are done, give them time to dry before putting them in a pile so that they don’t stick together. I have done this activity right before a prep period so that collages can be left on student desks, or I dedicate a separate space for them to dry. Be aware that some students will finish relatively quickly, while others will want more time. I have early finishers assist peers in finding images they are looking for. (I also frequently make announcements to the class when a student is looking for a particular image so that everyone can help look for it.) For those who need more time, I provide the materials during a study hall or student free time.

Displaying student collages is a nice way to decorate the classroom and make students feel more at home in the space. The collages spark conversations between students about the images and words they chose, encouraging them to learn more about one another. There are many possible ways to display the collages, and after trying several different methods, I settled on hanging them from a wire placed high on the classroom wall and keeping them on display for the entire school year. I was lucky to have help with this from my husband Parthiv and art teacher Andrew, who both graciously assisted with installing the wires along with hooks to support the wires. Once this was done, I hung the collages using clothespins.

It was fun putting my students' collages on display, knowing that they would enjoy seeing their work when they entered the room. Thanks to the simple artwork my students created, my classroom always had a bit of decoration with a personal touch. 

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