Well, it’s about that time for some end of year science activities. The school year is starting to wrap up, but a school year is never over until it’s over! So, even if your school is finished with testing, or you are still in your review stage, there is always learning that can take place!
This is the time of the year that, once I’ve finished teaching my standards, I begin to implement some fun review activities. Once testing is complete, there is still opportunity to learn! Of course, we have to have our fun days as well, but if you are in my classroom, you will be learning and having a great time doing it!
Here are some of my favorite activities to do at the end of the year in my middle school science classroom.
End of Year Science Activities for Review
One of the number one end of year science activities that we do in our middle school classroom is to review for the end of the year science test. There are a variety of ways to do this, but it depends on how many days that you have left to review.
First, you need to pick out how many days you have to review. Second, you have to decide which standards are the most important to review. Finally, you can start planning and implementing the review.
Here are some of my favorite end of year science activities to use as a review.
Task Cards
If you know me at all, you know that I love task cards. I mean, Boom Cards are great too, but task cards allow students to get out of their seats and get the oxygen pumping to the brains! There are so many ways that you can use task cards. All around, they are an awesome review tool. Whether you are reviewing atmosphere, energy, or genetics, they are an awesome resource!
Interactive Lessons
Interactive lessons are fabulous lessons to use to introduce a topic while decreasing cognitive load; however, they also make great review activities. Is there a topic that you teach that is highly tested? Interactive lessons will help reteach that topic, and it’s NO PREP!
Test Review
Don’t have time to reteach all topics, but want to see where your students are at, and want to go from there? The main subject that I taught was 7th grade science in NC. I created a end of year review for this particular test. Having a pre-test for your students is a great idea to see exactly what you need to reteach.
Writing Prompts
One great way to review and to get students thinking is by having them to do a writing prompt. Students can get SO creative, and it’s perfect for increasing scientific literacy! What are writing prompts? They are just “starters” or questions that students are given to write about a topic.
Here are some examples that you can use:
- Inertia comes from the Latin word that means sluggish. How does this relate to the concept?
- An amoeba and euglena meet for the first time. Describe their conversation.
- How is it possible for identical twins to look slightly different if they have the same genetic makeup? Explain and give examples.
Fun End of Year Science Activities for Middle School
So, your state tests are over, and you are finished with your content, what do you do next? Here are some end of year science activities you can do next!
End of Year Task Cards
These task cards are not completely science related, but could be completed in any class! They are so much fun! You can have students to write a letter to a teacher they may have next year, make a list of things they’ve learned this year, create a skit to show one thing they would change about the school year, draw and describe emojis to explain how they feel about the end of the school year, and so much more! You can have your students to choose their tasks, or pick one or two of them. There are 20 in all, so it’s sure to last as little or as long as you’d like.
Punnett Square Animal Project
This Punnett square activity is great to do during your genetics unit, but it’s also great as a fun, learning activity at the end of the school year when all of the chaos is happening! Can I get an amen?
In this project, students can create a creature/animal using genotypes they determine using 2 coins. With a partner, students determine what their creature’s offspring looks like by completing Punnett squares. Students draw their offspring together.
It is so much fun!
National Donut Day Science Activity
National Donut Day happens every year on the first Friday of June. Why not use this as an excuse to eat donuts and do a science experiment?
In this activity, students learn about National Donut Day, what it is and it’s origins, learn about the difference between the two types of donuts, and explore yeast and what makes it a living organism.
It’s a fun science experiment to explore at the end of the year!
Outside Explorations
This activity is easy to do at any point in the year. Take your students outside! Middle school students need to go outside too. Here are some ideas that you can do while your out there.
- Explore the clouds
- Observe nature and record in a journal
- Identify trees and plants
- Identify birds
- Determine abiotic and biotic factors
- Go on a scavenger hunt
End of Year Science Challenges
Don’t like any of the ideas above when your students are finished with state testing? What about a challenge?
Makey Makey Challenges
Many schools have access to Makey Makeys. They are an invention kit that uses circuits to turn anything into a controller, instrument, you name it! Get creative. Lately, I’ve had my Girls in STEM club just to learn the basics. They have drawn on paper and used play-doh to play Super Mario Bros and Pac-Man. There are so many ideas online!
Lego Challenges
These are also one of my go-tos, especially if you have some challenges on hand. Here are some free ones, but there are also some others you can purchase online.
All you have to do is get out some Legos, give your students a challenge, and they are good to go! It’s so amazing to see what students create!
Citizen Science
Citizen science is such an awesome thing for your students to be a part of. Citizen science is pretty much non-scientists participating and collecting data for science. This means that students can participate in REAL SCIENCE. What is better than doing real science in science class?
There are so many ideas on SciStarter. You can choose a project that takes 30 minutes or a few days.
Prep for the Next Grade Level
This was always one of my favorite things to do when I was finished with my own content and reviewed. One of my favorite activities to do with my 7th graders to prepare for the 8th grade was an activity with the Periodic Table.
I gave each student a periodic table and they would have to come up with a list of words that they could make using the symbols on the table. The student with the most words got a prize!
After students did this, I would discuss the Periodic Table a little bit more, and just like that, they were already ahead for the next grade level!
There are so many fun things you could have your students do to prepare for a new topic: gallery walks, digital interactive lessons, task cards, etc.
I hope you have enjoyed these end of year science activities to use in your classroom!
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