10 Must-Try Science Station Ideas for the Classroom

I love neat ideas for the science classroom, and science station ideas are no exception! Have you ever used science stations in your classroom?

Stations are great for engaging your students, helping students learn the content, and for reviewing content!

Science stations are great for so many reasons, but here are just a few.

• They help with student attention span because students can move from station to station.
• They give students a chance to work together.
• They allows students to learn about science topics in different ways.
• Teachers also benefit from science stations. They allow teachers to be more flexible so that they can address the individual needs of students.

Sometimes, coming up with a variety of station ideas can be challenging. Here are 10 ideas that you must try in your science classroom! They each bring a different set of skills that students can practice while they are learning a topic. It’s great to have options so you can mix it up every once in a while!

Science Station Ideas

“Read-It” Stations

In this station, you can set out some sort of reading passage in which students can learn about the topic or expand upon what they already know. There are a variety of things that students can read in this type of station. Here are some ideas!

• Books: There are some awesome shorter books that students can read through in this type of station. For example:  The Great Big Water Cycle Adventure introduces students to the water cycle. Science comics such as this one are also great!
• Kids Journal Articles: Bring the topic to life by having your students read science research on their level. Science Journal for Kids provides science research that is adapted for students so that they can better understand it. There are some things for every topic.
• Science News: How often does science change? Science News Explores keeps students up-to-date on topics!
• Textbooks: Students can read a chapter in their physical textbook or online textbook to learn about a topic.
• Magazines: There are so many fun science magazines where students can read about a topic. National Geographic Kids and Scholastic Science World are some examples.

Observation Stations

Another great science center idea is to allow your students to make observations about a topic. There are so many options here.

Here are some examples.

• Students can observe something under a microscope such as onion cells, pond water, and leaf stomata.
• Rocks and minerals can be set out for close observation.
• Give students different weather tools such as thermometers, barometers, and anemometers to explore how they work.
• Provide students with different types of magnets and materials to see what materials the magnets are attracted to.

Experimentation Station

This is one of my favorite science station ideas! You can’t forget a good experiment! This is a great hands-on way to explore a topic, and there are so many options! I have done many “station days” where experiments were the only thing that we explored. Here are some examples on how you can use station experiments in your classroom.

• Explore sound waves by giving students a cup and different-sized rubber bands. Students can place the rubber bands vertically around the cup and explore how the size, tension, and material impact the pitch and frequency. Here are some other sound waves experiment stations.
• Set up a station to explore physical and chemical changes. For example, give students chance to crumble up paper and shoot it in a trashcan (physical change). Then, set up a baking soda and vinegar station to explore chemical changes.
• Explore temperature and particle motion by exploring what happens to an inflated balloon when it is submerged in cold water. Here are some more options to explore thermal energy and particle motion.

Interactive Lesson Station

Interactive lessons are great as lessons and as a review! They make a wonderful science station!

Interactive lessons are designed to help students learn science content without being overwhelmed. They provide the content in “chunks” with embedded questions and activities to break up the material and allow students to process the information before moving on.

For example, in this Ocean Currents Lesson, students will read a slide all about surface currents and then answer a multiple choice question: “Surface currents are primary driven by:…”.

They use the 7 Steps to Help Students Retain Information to reduce student cognitive load! Students love these, and they are easy to implement.

Learn more about interactive lessons here.

Art Station

This is one of those science station ideas that people don’t think of. This type of station allows students to explore science creatively. Here are some examples of how you can create an “art” station for science topics.

• Ask your students to create a life-size diagram of one of the human body systems.
• Students can draw and label the parts of a flower.
• Have students create a poster to promote a type of renewable energy source.
• Give your students the opportunity to draw a design of an invention inspired by nature (biomimicry).
• Have students design postcards from different planets.

This station can be so much fun!

“Model It” Station

Going along with the art theme, you can also have your students create a model of whatever you may be teaching about. You can also have them explore models. There are different types of models that you can use in your science classroom such as computer simulations, physical 3-D models, and drawings. Here are some examples of using models as a science station in your classroom.

• Use food to create a model of an atom.
• Create a model of a cell (2-D or 3-D).
• Model the phases of the moon using Oreos.
• Model plate boundaries using graham crackers and icing.
• Create a food web model using pictures, yarn, posterboard, etc.

Measurement Station

One thing that I’ve noticed in middle school is that students really need to work on their measurement skills using different tools. A measurement station is a great way to allow students to practice these skills while they are learning or reviewing different science topics. Some examples of measurement tools are thermometers, triple-beam balances, scales, rulers, stopwatches, measuring cups, beakers, graduated cylinders etc.

Here are some examples of measurement stations you can use in the classroom.

• When learning about density, students can measure the mass and volume of different objects such as a wooden block and a metal cube.
• When learning about thermal energy, students use a digital thermometer to measure the temperature in different areas of the classroom. Why might the readings be different?
• When discussing the force of gravity, students can use a digital scale to weigh different objects. Afterward, students can discuss the concept of weight and how it’s influenced by gravity.

Data Station

This is one of those science station ideas that can be very interesting for students to look at, and if you make it a station, they are more likely to get excited about it. You can have students observe data, or you can even have students collect data on their own. Here are some examples of how you can create a “data station” in your classroom.

• Pull up current moon phases data on Time and Date. Students can explore moon phases for their location, look up future moon phases, and more!
• Students can review data from the past, such as Gregor Mendel’s pea plant data.
• Students can observe current weather maps.

Classifying/Sorting Station

This is another fun station. This is where students can be given a bunch of items or pictures that they can sort into categories. You can choose to give them the categories, or you can have them create their own. Here are some examples of some “classifying stations” you can use in your science classroom.

• Print out pictures of living and nonliving things. Have students sort them into categories.
• Give students pictures and descriptions of different weather instruments and have students classify them in the correct category.
• You can print out different statements about wind (some true and some false). Students can sort them into two categories, which of course are true and false.
• Students can also classify different sources of energy into renewable and nonrenewable categories.
• You can give students a variety of items such as paperclips, paper, keys, pennies, rubble gloves, etc. and have them sort them any way they want. After, you can discuss insulators and conductors.

Vocabulary Station

Last, but not least, a vocabulary station is a must. Vocabulary is so important to help students understand the topic. It helps them to make sense of the concepts.

You can have different set-ups for a vocabulary station. Here are a few examples.

• Cut out vocabulary cards with terms and definitions where students can match them.
• Have students create a concept map using an important vocabulary term.
• Have students create or use flashcards to help them learn vocabulary.
• Have students play a game to practice vocabulary such as Pictionary!

I hope you have enjoyed there science station activities and ideas!

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