A Quickie: 4 Ways To Incorporate Holiday Fun And Science Learning
It’s the holiday season!
It’s beginning to look a lot like all the winter holidays!!! Yes, I sang that…please tell me I’m not the only one lol.
This is truly the most wonderful time of the year! Do I love it, yes I do! But - to be fair - the winter fun and joy is not the only holiday season that floats my boat. I’m a sucker for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, my birthday (December 28), and New Years.
From my experience, all of my students love this time too. So, how do we tap into that excitement and relate it to science? The holidays don’t always fit the curriculum.
I have ideas that can help! What makes these ideas so great? They are minimal or no prep and can be completed in a day or two - you decide!
Think Tank
Talk about minimal prep. Nothing really beats this idea. To be very fair, this was not my idea. I work with a former engineer turned Calculus teacher and he planted this seed for me. Here’s how it works:
block off a designated corner of the white board or bulletin board
provide students with sticky notes
instruct students to write a scientific - testable- question
have students work independently or with a group of up to 3 students to design an experiment, they do not need to actually conduct the experiment they create unless you want them to
students should follow The Scientific Method
students can write a lab report outline, create a PowerPoint, or make a poster
Activities and Labs
My go-to solution for adding that razzle dazzle in the science class is always going to be an activity. Students need this hands-on opportunity to really get into the science they are learning. The activity does not need to scream whatever holiday it is, you set the stage. For example, there are zero Halloween activities for the science of motion. So I created one. I made a paper airplane lab and gave each plane design the name of a bat. This was easy, fun, and on brand for the season.
Find an activity that you can turn into a holiday themed activity and get going with content!
Projects
Right up there with activities, but projects allow for deeper exploration of a topic. Posters, research papers, and models are a great way to keep students learning about science and also feeling the holiday buzz. Get your hands on this research paper outline and rubric. Just add your own holiday themed prompts and you’re good to go.
Outside the Box
This is your moment! There are so many cool and engaging scientific phenomena that do not fit into our District approved curriculum, or we just don’t have the time to get into. The holidays are the perfect time for these topics. My suggestion is to find a phenomena related to the main lesson topic being taught. For example, in Physical Science I’m covering a unit about water and its properties. It just so happens to be the beginning of winter and the Christmas season. I have my kids working on this brochure activity about the science of snowflakes. It’s fun, content related, and we can make snowflakes to decorate the room for winter.
This is just a snippet or peek into how you can bring the fun of the holidays into your science class with very little (or no) extra prep and effort on your part. These ideas are great for sub plans, juggling the weirdness of exam schedules, assignments for over holiday breaks, or just to break up the same old, same old.
Grab all of my holiday resources by clicking the images below!
What are your strategies? Have you tried any of the above? Drop a comment below and fill me in!
