Science in elementary school should be all about fun. In fact, science at all levels of school should be about curiosity, exploration, and lots of fun! As more and more states adopt the Next Generation Science Standards (and as other states adopt their own similar science standards), teachers are looking for new and creative ways to teach science concepts at the elementary level. In my opinion, the standard descriptions do not adequately suggest ways to teach difficult concepts to a group of 5-10 year olds. These standard descriptions simply say what concept needs to be taught.
- 5 plastic bins labeled “Generation 1,” “Generation 2,” “Generation 2,” “Generation 3,” and “Generation 3”
- lots of plastic Easter eggs (Ideally you need about 25-30 of each color: blue, green, and yellow. It can be done with just 10 each if you re-use the eggs through the generations.)
- lots of small googly eyes and a few large googly eyes
- hot glue gun and glue
- confetti
- blue and yellow pipe cleaners cut into small pieces



What a creative activity for younger kids to learn about heredity. Thank you!
Very nice post! Enjoyed reading it!!
what about adoptive kids¡?
Thanks for bringing this up. Whenever you teach about heredity, it is important to note that adopted kids may not necessarily look like their parents. In nature this happens sometimes too! As a teacher of young kids, I would look up a picture of animals who have adopted other animals to show the beauty of adoption and how special adoption is. It is important to make sure adopted kids realize that even if they don't look like their parents, they are very special indeed.
How about adoptive kids?
Looking for books that would be good to go along with this unit. Picture books as well as 3rd grade level books for them to use for choice time.