Students get tired as we near the end of the year. With this in mind, the following teaching strategies will keep them focussed all the way until the Christmas break!

Science songs: teaching science through the power of music!

Can you teach science through songs? Music is a fun and accessible way to inspire learning. Why not add a musical flair to jazz up your STEM lessons? Engage kids with catchy melodies and clever lyrics for more effective learning. Get your students involved, then watch them teach themselves!

Creating short Instagram videos as a student STEM challenge

BYOD in action… As we all know, students love smartphones! Why not take advantage of the content creation apps available on smartphones to get students to create informative short science videos they can upload onto Instagram? Make it a challenge and watch them engage!

Create a student science podcast

Help students spread their ideas! Podcasting also offers yet another opportunity for your students to engage with their world digitally. Armed with a microphone and a recording device, your students could be sharing their ideas and insights gained as they conduct science at your school and beyond!

Science you can do with a leafblower!

Bring out the power! Who doesn’t science when it’s super-sized!?! A leaf blower is such a ubiquitous tool for the home and kids know it put out a fair bit of air … why not use it to teach kids about air pressure in some fantastic science demonstrations that’ll certainly gran their attention.

Teach classification with Lego & other simple stuff

Teaching kids to sort things logically So you want to teach your students how biologists classify organisms but you’re a bit short of materials to use? Get creative! You don’t have to have a bunch of museum quality specimens on hand to teach kids how to group things, just enough variation between materials for them to start learning the basics.

How to teach science using role-plays

Using role-plays to grab the imagination! Role-playing in education has been used for years as a tool for kids to understand the world around them. By combining play, games and simulation in scenarios that teach science, students get a real feel for what it is like to be working in the real world.

Ideas for citizen science for your students

Help scientists, help the world The rise of citizen science projects has helped working scientists extend their reach through simply having more people on the ground contributing to data. Joining in citizen science projects not only teaches your students scientific thinking, it also teaches them to care for their world.

Ideas for using drones in science education

Bring out the drones! The advent of drones has been heralded a potential game-changer in certain industries, why not use these a way of teaching scientific concepts?

Create a class STEM pitchfest just like Shark Tank!

Students… pitch me your ideas! The business pitching TV show Shark Tank and it’s competitor Dragon’s Den have certainly captured the public’s imagination in the past year or so. Why not take this idea into your science classroom and create a STEM pitch fest?

Scenarios that spark students interest in science!

Scenarios always grab attention and fire up the imagination in students! Creating a scenario that challenges students to solve a mystery or puzzle is always great fun. When this is combined with a concrete timeline to get the study done and a requirement for the student to present their findings, you’re bound to get the most out of your students!

Happy teaching,

Ben Newsome

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