First Week of Science Activities 

Looking for first week of science activities? I can so relate! I cannot tell you how much I dread the first week of school anticipation. Once I am in the classroom and in the swing of things, everything is fine. I think I build it up in my head too much and am trying to rush from one thing to the next instead of simply slowing down. The first few days back to school for high school students can be hectic and I shouldn’t be adding to it. There is just so much to do that I have had to streamline my plan for what absolutely must get done for the first week. 

Over the years, I have managed to narrow down the most crucial items that need to be completed during the first week of school. This includes the items from our administration as well as what I need for my classes to run smoothly for the semester.

First Day Science Lesson

The first day back to school is very chaotic. If you are a teacher, then you know this all too well. Students are late because they couldn’t find your classroom. There are changes to your roster every hour. As soon as you print one, then there is an updated one being sent to you. The halls are filled with students looking for their room numbers and you have to help control the chaos. 

I do not like to ass to the chaos, but rather calm it. The first thing students do when they come into my room is I greet them a the door. I ask them their name and tell them which seat number they are to sit in. I firmly believe in setting the tone immediately. Once they have found their seat. There is an info sheet that I have them complete until we start class. 

Once the bell has rung and all students have found their seats, I grab their attention and introduce myself. Students have a few more minutes to complete the first-day info sheet and I collect them. 

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Often times the first day is filled with boring syllabus and procedure information which is vital, but I only go over the most important parts. Things I cover tend to be the cell phone policy, makeup/late work policy, and how to find information when you are absent. All other details can be read in the syllabus at their own time.  

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Back to School First Week of Science Activities

Social Icebreaker

My favorite icebreaker to do with high schoolers is called “Nice M&M-ing You”. If you want to know more about this icebreaker then read this blog post on the first day of school activities. I break down how to do this activity along with several other great icebreakers. 

Lab Safety

This is another topic that must be covered, but it can be oh so boring. I started having students do lab safety posters a few years ago and have been doing them ever since. I will give each student a lab safety rule and they must create a poster about it. They write down the rule and create a visual to go with it. There can be super creative with these and the best ones I hang up on the wall. Students can see them and we can refer back to them when doing a lab.  This is one of the most fun first week of science activities. 

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When we do labs during the semester, I always review certain lab safety guidelines as they pertain to the activity. They are more likely to follow the rules if they apply to what they are working on at the time. 

Technology Sign Up

Often times I will reserve the computer lab or the laptops for students to create accounts for technology we will use during the semester. The main one that I have students create an account for is USA Test Prep. I assign these throughout the semester for remediation and review so I need to ensure that they all have an account and are logged in to my class. In the past, I have had them register accounts for all kinds of things I thought I would use, but this was a waste because some of them I ended up not using and just wasted time making accounts. 

Pro Tip: Only have students create accounts for things you actually use. You can always have them make an account later in the semester if you really want to use a program. 

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Experimental Design

Getting students involved on the first day is important because we are not only short on time, but I like to get past the boring stuff and into the fun stuff. Typically I start off my kids with learning about CER (link to CER blog post). I spend most of the first day going over what it is, why we use it, and some examples. I have students also work on some of their own problems to make sure they are really understanding CERs.  

For the next several days I spend time on experimental variables, experimental design, and graphing. I do a few fill-in-the-blank notes for variables and design so that they have information to refer back to when working on the problems. The students are grouped in tables of 4 so they can work together on the experimental design practice. Next, I give them a certain amount of time to complete the problems, then we go over them. I want to make sure they understand how to figure out the variables before moving on to graphing. 

Graphing

Graphing is usually done the next day because it ties into the variables. I am still shocked each year at how little students know about graphing. Honestly, I could spend the whole first week of science activities on graphing, but we just do not have the time for that. We work in graphing each unit as much as I can to help solidify the skills they learn the first week. I will give students a few problems to graph with their table and a piece of butcher paper to do them on. It adds a different element and is easier for the students to work together to create their graphs. 

Sometimes I have them explain their graphs to me as I walk around monitoring their progress. This gives me an opportunity to provide immediate feedback while starting to get to know my students. 

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Characteristic of Life

The main reason I cover the characteristics of life as one of the first week of science activities is that when we get to viruses, I need students to know why viruses are considered non-living. If they do not know what is considered living, then they will not know how to explain why a virus is non-living. This is a concept I only spend part of a day on because they pretty much get it after a lesson or activity. I have a station rotation that I do with the students so they can get the content by investigating rather than listening to me lecture about it. 

I absolutely love sharing with y’all and would love to connect on IG or Facebook. Follow me and send me a DM with what you need more of because I’m here to help! If you are looking for even more inspiration, find me on Pinterest!

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Wanna read more?

How to Get Your Students Excited About DNA Mutation Examples

The Best Way to Teach Students How to Use the Dichotomous Key

Using Concept Mapping of Science Topics