My First Blog

Greetings! I am a second-grade teacher in San Diego, CA. I am taking a course, Nature of Science, for my master's degree, and I will be blogging here about teaching, and of course science.
For me, science is one of the most motivating subjects to teach. My students love doing experiments and working in groups with hands-on activities. Teaching about life cycles really opens their eyes to the wonders of nature, and my students develop a greater sense of respect for their environment.
One science unit that is always a big hit with my students is what I call "Bugology." First, I let the students explore a variety of nonfiction books about insects. Then I will read several books to them, and we'll discuss what makes an insect an insect. After my students have a good solid foundation in insect anatomy, life cycles, eating habits, etc. they get to invent their own bug! The new bug has to have correct insect anatomy with the mouthparts matching what they eat. For example, if a student invents a bug that sips puddle water, the mouthparts have to have a sipping apparatus instead of jaws designed for chewing leaves. Also, the anatomy has to match the bug's habitat (to show understanding of adaptation) and the size has to be representative of typical insects - no giganto bugs that are the size of people, although my students would LOVE to do that, trust me!
For a writing assignment, the students will write paragraphs - one paragraph describes the physical appearance of the bug, the next paragraph will describe the bug's life cycle, another paragraph will describe the eating habits, and so on. They will put their writing assignment next to a drawing of their bug and voila - an awesome display for a science bulletin board!

I am looking forward to sharing more science lessons and ideas on my new blog!