How to Setup Science Experiments for Kids Lesson Plan

Developing a lesson plan that revolves around teaching kids how to set up a science experiment is not difficult to do. All you have to do is focus on breaking things down into easy to follow steps. Just like any other type of lesson plan, teachers will need to include information that will guide them through the class period.

Goals and Objectives

Setting the goals and objectives for a science lesson plan will help you to stay focused. For this lesson plan the goals and objectives will be to teach elementary aged students how to set up a science experiment following written instructions. The extended goals and objectives of this lesson plan will be to prime students for developing and setting up their very own science experiments.

Introductory Activities

During the first part of class an introduction to the day's learning activities needs to be delivered. This introduction is going to focus on explaining what a science experiment is, what common science tools are and how science experiments are designed. Activities that can be used for this part of class include video presentations, lectures and printables.

Guided Study

The next part of class will be dedicated to guided study. In this portion of class teachers will demonstrate how to set up an experiment following written instructions. The instructions can be projected on a large screen so students can follow the steps as the teacher sets up the activity. The teacher will also want to explain common problems that develop when setting up a science experiment, such as the contamination of slides or experiment equipment. The teacher will want to go over the steps needed to prevent contamination.

Independent Study

The third part of class will be the independent study activity. In this segment of class students will be given the chance to set up their own science experiment using written instructions. For this activity students will need to be broken into teams of two to four students. Each group will be given a set of written instructions that contain graphics that illustrates how the science experiment will look when it is set up. The graphics will also illustrate what various pieces of equipment look like.

Homework

While students do not particularly enjoy homework, teachers need something to grade and something to validate that the student learned the concepts from the lesson plan. Homework for this lesson plan will be a worksheet. This worksheet can be a simply terminology/definition activity, it can be a matching activity or it can be an ordering activity (place the steps of setting up an experiment in order).

Conclusion

While science experiments are done sparingly in elementary school, they are done with more frequency as a student advances in grade level. Learning how to set up a science experiment in elementary school will enable students to develop and set up their own experiments later in their school years. It will also prepare them to complete their own science fair projects starting in the third grade.

Written by :

Shimo