What is science?

This week we are beginning our first science unit - weather. To kick off our science time and to introduce the idea of science, I posed a question to the students. I asked them "what is science?" They had a lot of great ideas. We brainstormed a web of what "science" means to them. We talked about how scientists use tools, they read/write/draw about their discoveries, they ask questions, they share information, they collaborate to complete experiments, and they are continually learning about their world. After our discussion, the students drew in their science notebooks what they think a scientist looks like. There were many different depictions. The students enjoyed sharing their ideas about science and scientists.

The essential questions for our science unit are:

- Why is it important for people to know about weather?
- How do temperature, wind, cloud cover and precipitation help us to understand the weather?
- How do we get information about the weather?