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What Do Scientists Do? Free Activities & Science Lesson Plans

May 29 By Linda 2 Comments

scientist with test tube

At the beginning of the year in second grade science, two of the first questions we ask are, “What is a scientist?” and “What do scientists do?”.  These free back to school science activities will help you answer those questions and introduce your students to the scientific processes all scientists use.

What Do Scientists Do?

Scientists help us understand our works and how it works. And it all starts with a question. Human discovery, innovation, and new design ideas begin with someone wondering, what would happen, how a problem could be solved, or by searching for an explanation to something unexplained.

What do scientists do activities on ipad

Encouraging our students to wonder and question teaches them to think like a scientist.

Introduce the Inquiry Process

Scientist use a special process called the inquiry process. Focusing on each step of this process teaches students the actions scientists take to answer a question.

science lesson on tablet

By becoming familiar with the inquiry process, students gain an understanding of how to plan and carry out investigations.

digital science lesson on laptop in 2nd grade classroom

The lessons in this free unit familiarize students with the steps to the inquiry process. The lessons, teaching Power Point, and activities  are included in both a printable and digital version on Google Slides.

boy with science lesson on tablet

Teach Science Process Skills

Students are introduced to the many skills required to design and carry out a reliable science experiment. Those skills, called process skills, standardize an experiment ensuring it is accurate, repeatable, and meaningful.

In this science mini unit, students are introduced to process skills:

  • observation
  • inferring
  • predicting
  • classifying
  • measuring
  • communicating
  • experimenting
  • representing data
  • controlling variables

After each lesson, students complete turn and talk partner discussions, and journal activities.

science teaching materials printable and on a tablet

Introduce Science Tools and Safety Rules

One of the most important things to teach in science at the beginning of the year, is science safety. Introducing students to science safety rules is a key component, not only for classroom management, but to keep students safe. Familiarizing students with the tools scientists use and proper ways to use them, also ensures student safety and successful labs. I highly recommend teaching those the first week you start science.

Get FREE Science Lessons

Build a foundation for science in your classroom and get these back to school activities for FREE! Pop your email in below and I’ll send the entire unit straight to your inbox! (Be sure to check spam if you don’t see my email.)

Additional Digital Science Units

CLICK HERE for more interactive, digital science units with narrated audio lessons. Students easily work independently at home or in the classroom!

Digital science units for Second Grade

 

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what do scientists do activities

Easily teach science no matter where you are!

Digital Science Lessons Kids Can Even Do At Home

digital science lessons for 2nd grade virtual distance learning activitites

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Teaching ideas and beginning of the year science activities for 2nd and 3rd grade.

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Seed Dispersal STEM Activity

Seed dispersal activity- A fun science experiment and STEM challenge for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders to learn about exploding seed pods while studying the plant life cycle. Students build a model of this plant adaptation and explore how seeds travel.

Teaching Kids About Plants the FUN Way!

Plant life cycle activities for kids-Hands on science activities perfect for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students to learn about plant needs, adaptations, photosynthesis, pollination and more.

Happy teaching!

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Related Posts:

  • 4 Things to Teach in Science at the Beginning of the Year4 Things to Teach in Science at the Beginning of the Year
  • Digital Science Lessons for 2nd GradeDigital Science Lessons for 2nd Grade
  • 10 Back to School Science Activities You Can Do on Zoom10 Back to School Science Activities You Can Do on Zoom

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Filed Under: Distance Learning, Popular Posts, Science Tagged With: activities, back to school, digital resources, lesson plans, science

Comments

  1. katylin fielding says

    August 23 at 8:29 pm

    where do we find the powerpoint slides that go along with the lesson plan for the free introduction to inquiry?

    Reply
    • Linda says

      August 25 at 9:57 am

      Hi Katylin,
      It is in the folder the download comes in. If you don’t see all the files, it sounds like you still need to unzip the ZIP file the download comes in. Right click on the folder after it is saved to your computer, then click ‘extract all’.

      I hope your class enjoys the unit!
      Linda

      Reply

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