Tips for Science Organization

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  • The medium sized colored bins from Target are amazing for organizing science materials (you can find them at Target for $3 and Dollar Tree also has great deals on all sized bins. 
  • Put ALL of the materials a group will need in a bin for each group- I do this the night before or have student helpers come in at recess to help gather supplies
  • Give directions BEFORE you pass out the bins and write them in a place that students can easily refer to during the lesson (after the bins are passed out- it is hard for kids to concentrate on teacher directions)
  • Give kids a chance to touch/explore the materials- this gets the "newness" of working with materials out of the way 
  • Have a basket that contains extra supplies that groups might need in the front of the room. If your class can handle getting out of their seat for more supplies, assign a "grabber" for each group - this will be the kid who gets more supplies as needed. If your class is too rowdy or distracted by getting more supplies you can easily grab what supplies they need from the extra bin. 
  • When it is time for clean up have students return supplies that can be used again to your extra bin and have each student pick up several pieces of trash that they must show you. 
Here is a picture of my group supply bins and materials! 


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