Ideas for the Classroom

Introduction:

This section describes a variety of activities that you might wish to consider doing with your class (examples of images enclosed). This is a just a small subset of specimens that can be used, so I also want to encourage teachers/parents/students to other specimens. Indeed, I certainly want to encourage “playfulness” with the microscopes and not just rigid activities. For example, let the kids wander into the school yard or around the class room and let them find samples that they are interested in examining with the microscope. Putting the kids in control allows them to explore and discover. Too often, science curriculum is rigid, emphasizing labs with expected answers. It is also important to encourage “playfulness”, and emphasize that this is an important attribute of being a successful scientist.

This is a small sub-set of what one can do. This collection of ideas represents things that I've tried, ideas from other websites/books (see "Other Resources"), and ideas from elementary school teachers.

Around the School (K-5 grades)

Art (3-8 grades)

Cells (4-8 grades)

Coins and Money (2-4 grades)

Embryogenesis and Development

Everyday World (K-5 grades)

Fruit Flies and Genetics (4-8 grades)

How Big Is It?

Human Body (K-5 grades)

Invertebrates (2-8 grades)

Language Arts (2-5 grades)

Optics (4-8 grades)

Osmosis in Action

Patterns in Biology

Rocks and Crystals (2-8 grades)