Compared to other elementary schools in the area, we are one of the smallest elementary schools consisting of 624 elementary students in grades K-5th.
During the school day, I instruct all fourth-grade science classes composed of a total of 104 students.
My students have a variety of learning styles within the general ed, gifted, and ESE population. Every year they are excited about the chance to learn and explore new things through hands-on activities, investigations, and research in my science class.
My students need the safety goggles to conduct investigations in the classroom. The sanitizing station will enable me to clean them and have them ready for use for each of my four classes. Instead of having to share materials between small groups, students will have enough stop-watches to help determine speed (record time), pan balances and spring scales to determine and compare masses of objects, and magnets to demonstrate how magnets work.
We are always relying on the math teacher (whose class is next door) to lend us her meter sticks.
Having these will be an added convenience to our classroom since we use them throughout the year while conducting hands-on inquiries. My class currently has two tape measures that the students pass around when finding the circumference of objects when studying physical properties of matter. Having more of these will allow them to work in their groups in a more time-efficient manner in our 1-hour science block. The eye-droppers will allow my students to observe chemical changes (like dropping vinegar into baking soda and water). With enough science materials for centers and small group work, my students will be able to become fully immersed in the scientific process and engineering design instead of depending on demonstrations done by me or a group of students.
My class has a “high-top” table that my students LOVE to work at while sitting on stools. I have another such table in my classroom and will need stools to place around it. My students enjoy the flexibility these stools give them during STEM projects.
The timer will assist us in managing our time when working in small groups.