Science Chat for Biology: A First Day of School Biology Lab Icebreaker Activity

Make the First Day the BEST Day!

What is the most important day of school? The first day! It's the most important day of the entire school year!!

It is the day when students form their first impression of your class.

It is the day when students look at you and decide on the spot if they are going to like your class or hate your class.

It is the day when students have heightened social anxieties and need to know that they have a friend in your class.

You, the teacher, have one day to get it right. If you do, the rest of year is made so much easier. If you don't, you will spend a lot of time, effort, and energy trying to change the behaviors and attitudes of your students.

Will you be the teacher that goes over a long list of class rules and reads aloud from the class syllabus? Or will you be the teacher that plans a fun and engaging activity for the students on Day 1?

Biology Chat is the perfect way to kick off the first day of school with energy and connection. 

Instead of staying glued to their seats like they’ve likely been all day, this activity gets students up, moving, and interacting with their new classmates. It’s a refreshing change of pace, and a much-needed icebreaker that builds classroom community from the start. As an added bonus, you’ll get an early snapshot of your students' communication skills, lab skills, critical thinking, and overall comfort level in the classroom. It’s fun, informative, and sets a positive tone for the year ahead.

So what exactly is Biology Chat?  The activity consists of 10 Lab Stations.The students will move around at random until they complete all ten stations. At each lab station the students will complete a science task AND answer questions about their classmates. Students must scatter after each station so that they are not with the same group the entire time. After all, one of the objectives is for them to meet everyone in the class.

Each lab station should take about 10 minutes to complete. You want to give the students time to chat. It takes me two class period to finish all of the lab stations, but in my opinion, it is time well spent. You can easily leave out lab stations for a shorter activity.

A different concept is covered at each station.

Station 1:  The Microscope

Station 2:  Graphing

Station 3:  Electron Microscopy

Station 4:  Making Observations, Comparing and Contrasting

Station 5:  Lab Equipment

Station 6:  Laboratory Safety

Station 7:  Classification

Station 8:  Metric Scavenger Hunt

Station 9:  Prefixes and Suffixes

Station 10:  What makes an animal an animal?

Set up for the lab is quick and easy. You'll need only about 30 minutes for set up, and the materials list consists of items you are sure to have on hand.

•  Microscope

•  A prepared slide of your choice.

•  Four images taken with electron microscope (Included in product.)

•  Two plants (potted or cuttings)

•  Meter stick

•  Graduated cylinder

•  Triple or quadruple beam balance

•  Stopwatch

•  Thermometer

•  A lab with safety features (Examples:  Eyewash fountain, safety shower, fire extinguisher, fire blanket, fire alarm, etc.)

•  A group of objects that can be classified into groups.  (Teacher’s choice.)

•  Bag of sugar (or object with similar mass.)

•  Can of soda (or object with similar volume.)

•  Coin

•  Paper clip

•  Wood block (or any square or rectangular object.)

•  Cotton ball

•  4 photographs of living organisms (included in product.)

Sweeten the day by giving the students a grade on the activity. It is unlikely that a student will get all of the answers correct, so make sure to base the grade on effort and participation.

What will the student take away from your day 1 activity? They are allowed to get up, stretch, and move around! They are able to make some new friends! And they start the year off with an excellent grade.  Win-win-win!

I hope that your school year is wonderful!

PS - Be sure to check out Chemistry Chat and Physics Chat! You'll be glad you did!