• Teachers plan a variety of activities for students to help them learn about science.microscope image by Goran Bogicevic from Fotolia.com
  
  Classroom teachers plan many activities for students to complete during science class. Students work together or observe as their teachers demonstrate experiments that show kids what science is all about. Students learn about the basic concepts of science when they get to experiment with household items to see how the world around them works.
  
  

Sink or Float

• Young students learn about basic science concepts by exploring with hands-on activities. Students learn the difference between objects that sink and those that float with this exploration, outlined on the Education website. Teachers begin by preparing a science station for students to explore. When students go to the science station, they take a data sheet with two columns. The first column has a place for students to guess if each item sinks or floats. The second column is for students to indicate the results of their observations. At the science table, teachers set out a large bowl of water and a container filled with a variety of objects to look at, such as a paper clip, a bar of soap, a block or an eraser. When students go to the science station, they try each object and observe whether they sink or float. Students
  record their results and share them with their classmates.
  
  

Flubber

• Students explore the basic chemistry of polymers by creating a fun new substance to play with. Polymers are substances made up of many parts. The Science Café website explains how to make "Flubber" using everyday household objects. This is an activity for students to watch as the teacher demonstrates. Using a large container, a teacher combines 1 ½ cups of warm water and 2 cups of white glue. The teacher can add food coloring for an added punch. In another container, the teacher combines 1 1/3 cups of warm water and 3 teaspoons of Borax. Students watch as the ingredients of each container are mixed thoroughly. The contents of the small container are slowly poured into the large container. Teachers will lift and move the mixture over and over again. The sticky "Flubber" is now ready to feel and play with.
  
  

Bending Light

• Elements of light are explored by students in science class. Students are able to see for themselves that light bends with this activity from Reeko's Mad Scientist Lab website. Small children know that when reaching for a bathtub toy submerged in the water, it is not always exactly where it seems. This is because of the science of refraction. Student teams can see the effect of refraction by starting with a glass filled 2/3 full with water. Teams place a pencil vertically in the water. Each student looks at the pencil from the side. They will see that the pencil still appears straight. Next, teams lie the pencil on it's side. When students look at the pencil from the side, it will appear to be bending in the water. Students can do this same activity with other objects in the water.