Engaging students at the bell in science class does not have to involve expensive and intricate equipment. Many activities requiring simple school supplies can engage students in their learning. Students can create flow charts or graphic organizers from the previous day's materials. Seventh grade science curriculum is rich with patterns that are best illustrated in a graphic organizer. Students can create their own designs, or the teacher can distribute a template. The created flow chart or organizer also provides an excellent study tool.
Working in small groups, students can also create a simple paper mobile of the previous day's materials. A word wall is a great addition to the learning environment. Camille Blachowicz and Peter Fisher in "Education Leadership" say, "teachers who make a difference in vocabulary learning set aside a few minutes each day to do something playful with words." The opening minutes of class is a great opportunity for this vocabulary learning. Students can create new vocabulary cards to add to the word wall, paying attention to the seventh grade requirements. Students can also engage in learning through a "science in the news" sharing, where students are asked to bring in news articles relating to science. This activity helps students associate what they are learning to things that are happening in the real world.
The Internet can provide a means to engage seventh grade students at the bell. Teachers can direct students to find a quick fact or scientific relationship. Teachers can create a scavenger hunt, carried out through the Internet, asking students to find examples of scientific principles, images of scientific concepts or perhaps relationships between principles. The scavenger hunt can be documented through the recording of the website address containing the sought information. The Internet is also full of scientific simulations, such as The Soundry (http://library.thinkquest.org/19537), which allows students to experiment with sound. The University of Colorado at Boulder offers the PhET website (http://phet.colorado.edu), which is filled with science simulations of all types.
The use of discrepant events is an exciting way to engage students at the start of class. According to Thomas R. Koballa Jr, a discrepant event causes students to wonder why or how the event occurred. The outcome is not what students expect. Students can be asked to work individually or in small groups to develop an explanation for what was observed. Students can also be engaged by teacher demonstrations that help illustrate concepts within the curriculum.
Engaging students in hands-on activities is a great utilization of opening class time. Laboratory activities get seventh grade students involved in science learning on a deeper level than classroom discussion and lecture. Activities that ask students to make predictions help keep students engaged. An example of a hands-on activity is to experiment to find how many drops of water can fit on a head side of a penny. Students can make predictions and then experiment. Students are often amazed by the number of drops that will fit on one penny. The activity can move into a discussion on experiment variables, as this activity has many. Students can experiment to find their optical blind spot and may manipulate molecular models to balance chemical equations.