One of the most important aspects of being a science teacher is getting your students involved and engaged in the material. This is part of the 5 E’s learning cycle. In this blog post, we will touch on the engagement part of the learning cycle. Some may believe that this is hard to do when you are on a budget, but below you will see ideas on how to get your students engaged on a budget!!
- DEMOS
The first way you can get students engaged with the material is through the use of demos. An example of a demo you could do in your classroom is the Cartesian Diver demo. All you need for this experiment is a water bottle, ketchup packet, and salt! During this experiment, you will be able to explain and show how buoyancy and density work. Your students will be filled with curiosity on how the ketchup packet is sinking and floating. You can foster wonder through the use of this experiment. You will also be able to aid your students with questions that get their brains thinking!
- BRAIN BUSTERS
Another great way to get students engaged on a budget is through the use of brain busters. These could be found free online, or you can even make some up yourself. This will get your student’s minds thinking as a catalyst for the day.
https://logiclike.com/en/science-riddles
This is a great site for free science related brain teasers to use in your classroom!
- KAHOOT
If your school/ students have access to a computer or phone you can play Kahoot. This is a free and easy-to-use platform to really get the students engaged in the class. They can play on teams or individually. https://kahoot.it/
- PLACES WITH AFFORDABLE MATERIALS
- Family dollar
- Dollar tree
- Five Below
https://www.edutopia.org/classroom-student-participation-tips
- YOUTUBE
YouTube is one way to get your students engaged in the classroom. This can be done in many different ways. You can either show your students clips and then have them interact with the video. For example, the video could ask questions or be a brain teaser. You could also have your students make their own YouTube videos to share with the class!
- Interactive whiteboards
This is one way students can engage with each other in class. They can post to the whiteboard and then the whole class or just the teacher will be able to see what each student has to say. You could use this as a great tool to study with as a class.
Hey Allie, I enjoyed reading through your thoughts covering the engagement portion of the 5 E’s learning cycle. I agree that demonstrations are a great way to question students about the different phenomena that are occurring before their very eyes. What types of questions were you thinking of asking to help aid student wonder during a demonstration?
Hello! I think of these 5 resources I would use Kahoot. I really enjoyed Kahoot whenever I was in high school, so I think my students will enjoy it as well. I think to incorporate it into instruction is to use it as a lesson review and then you can go over which questions were missed. You could also see if an individual student is struggling with the material.
Hi Allie, this is a wonderful post! on top of the resources you mentioned to engage your students while on a budget I love how you incorporated a place to gather cheap and manageable resources, I know Five and below will be one of my favorites when it comes to planning activities like this. My question for you is which of these 5 resources do you think you’ll use the most in the classroom, and how will you incorporate it into the instruction?