What do you wonder...springtime!

Do your kids know how to wonder? Ah...the joy of wondering without having to have a right or wrong answer...My sons and I have spent many wonderful afternoons laying in the grass and wondering about nature. You know...so many of our kids don't spend much time outside, much less talking about what they see with an adult. So I have tried to "fake it" by adding it into my classroom.


I started this winter with some picture images that they could "write" about for morning work. One of my blogstalkers suggested I turn it into a powerpoint...which I thought was an excellent idea. Now, I can pop it on the screen and we can chat about it over several days - one slide a day works great. We look at a picture and make several predictions and give our own opinions about what is going on.

This picture of the boys is one of my new favorites...after I show many pictures of nature including flowers, bees, bunnies, rain, pollen, etc... I end with this picture and state "Why do you think they are smiling???" Just imagine what our kids would say - because they won the game, or maybe just because they are good friends and have fun playing together, or maybe one said something silly, or maybe they just got ice cream....the possibilities are endless. I hope you will grab this powerpoint for Free and then, get outside and WONDER.....

Questiong.....

When I was in graduate school at Lesley University (online program in science education rocks!) we spent a lot of time focussing on questioning.  These are some of my favorite question prompts that came from an article that we read within Wynne Harlen's book.  By the way, if you haven't read this book - I highly recommend it! 


I use these questions in all areas of my classroom.  They fit into math, reading, and social studies.  Just yesterday we had a great discussion about the revolutionary war based on a painting and questioning was the key to it all. 

Questioning Strategies from “The Right Question at the Right Time” by Jos Elstgeest  in Primary Science: Taking the Plunge by Wynne Harlen

1.  Attention Focusing questions: 

          'What is it?' 'What does it do?' 'What does it show about itself?'

          'What happens?'

'What do I find inside (outside)?' 'What do I see, feel, hear? Have you seen?  Do you notice?  What is it?

These are the simplest questions.

2.  Measuring and counting questions

Questions such as 'how many?', 'how long?' and 'how often?', are measuring and counting questions  the children can check their answers themselves.

3.  Comparison questions

          Other, more qualitative, comparison questions bring about sharper      observation. For instance: 'In how many ways are your seeds alike and how do they differ?'

4.   Action questions:

          These are 'what happens if' questions which can always be truthfully answered.  What happens if you place your ant lion in damp sand? What happens if you pinch the seed leaves off a young growing plant? What happens if you place a cutting or twig in water? What happens if you put your twig upside-down? What happens if you hold your magnet near a match? What happens if you throw a tiny piece of paper in a spider's web?

5.      Problem Posing Questions:

The 'can you find a way to' question comes in many guises. 'Can you make a mealworm turn around? 'Can you make a sinking object float?' 'Can you separate salt from water?' It is in essence a prediction question, a more complicated 'what happens if' question turned around. Finding the solution necessitates the forming of a simple hypothesis and consequent verification in a very direct manner.

You you enjoy these questions! 

100th Post!!!

100th post

Wow I can't believe this is my 100th post...I have had so much fun blogging over the past six months! Not only do I blog here at Science Gal, but I also have my Virginia Studies Blog....blog on Critters in the Classroom, the Lesson Cloud and now Classroom Freebies, Too.

I know I am not the most well known or successful blogger out there, but I think I may be catching on.

To thank you all for being my faithful followers, stalkers and friends I made up a new powerpoint with wondering questions. The last one I made seems to be really popular on TeachersPayTeachers.


This one is provokes our wondering about scientists...I tried to include pictures of women, men and minorities to be inclusive in many  different fields.  Scientists at a lab, at NASA, in the classroom, as doctors and even habitat scientists... I hope you will find it thought provoking for your students this week.  

Happy 100th Post! 

http://www.slideshare.net/LeslieLausten/what-do-you-wonder-about-scientists

I hope you enjoy it and keep reading! 

Clouds in the sky...oh my!

I just love to look at the clouds....laying on my back and staring overhead for hours at the shapes in the sky....One of my favorite books is It Looked Like Spilt Milk  .  This book take the imagination route of looking at white shapes and imagining they are a birthday cake, a tree, a bunny...but all in all they are just a cloud in the sky.  This book is a great hook at any age!

With my Seeds of Science Weather and Water unit, we spend a lot of time looking at cloud cover and analyzing what type of precipitation they create.  We learn where these cloud form in the sky and how much humidity is involved in each one.

But eventually, we need to learn the official names of the clouds for our Virginia SOLS.  So I created a matching game where the kids have to match the picture and name to the description of the cloud.

You can download it for FREE in the Google Docs page.

Also, one of my "fans" took the what do you wonder about weather and turned it into a PowerPoint.  You can also download it for FREE in the Google Docs Page on the side.

To find the Google Docs - it is on the side bar....scroll down....Under the Teacher's Pay Teachers link and above Education Journey. Good luck!

What are you wondering????

Sorry I have been a little inactive, but I have been having a blast with my family for Thanksgiving, my friends at our VAST conference and my students...but now, I am ready to blog again! 

So as I sit by my computer today, I am thinking about wondering...

Do you wonder?
Do you ask your students to wonder?

Scientists wouldn't be anywhere without that magic word.  This magical time of year is the perfect time to wonder in your classroom, too.

 I have created several wonder sheets that are available for FREE on my Teachers Pay Teachers website that will help you implement wondering in your classroom.  This first packet will be the wonderings of weather and winter.  I have used photos to spark the creativity in us all.  You can use these as warm ups, morning work, and even homework. 

Check them out:   http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/What-do-you-wonder-about-winter-weather


Also, I am really curious as to what you are wondering about science instruction.  I am about to be at home for four weeks as I recover from surgery and would love to be able to devote some time to answering your questions.  Please leave me a comment and I will make sure to read them and hopefully answer them.