Laney Lee
You’ve made it! The end of the year is (finally) here! As you wrap up your final days with this year’s crew of science students, you likely could use an activity or two to close this chapter together on a positive note. Here are a few of my favorite last day of school science activities to launch you and your students into summer break!
color by number
Who doesn’t love coloring? I’ve created these color by number resources to give students the opportunity to practice and review the science skills and vocabulary they’ve developed by the end of the school year. I know you’ll find these worksheets make a good use of free time in the last week(s) of school.
the topics covered in the color by number sheets include:
- Cell organelles
- Engineering
- Scientific inquiry
- Mitosis vs. Meiosis
- Prokaryotic vs. Eukaryotic
- Organ Systems
- Forms of Energy
- Wind
- DNA
- Symbiosis
- Newton’s Laws
- Animal Adaptations
- Plate Boundaries
As an added bonus, these activities require minimal prep for the teacher and won’t create any extra mess to clean up. (A huge plus as you work to clean and organize your classroom before summer.)
These color by number sheets also make excellent resources to send home to parents of middle school students to use for brain-building activities throughout the summer. They review the important things learned throughout the year and will keep them fresh and ready for the beginning of the year.
To find more color by number sheets covering additional topics, head to my shop!
STEM challenge: tower building
Get your students laughing and thinking on the last day of school with this classic tower-building challenge. This fun last day of school science activity requires minimal prep and is a great way to close out the year with some happy memories from science class.
Students will work collaboratively on three tower challenges:
- Spaghetti and marshmallow towers
- Index cards towers
- Aluminum foil towers
This last day of school science activity can be used by classroom teachers of any grade level or subject matter. It’s perfect for the middle school science classroom, but even high school students will have a good time building these towers.
If you’re looking for a way to review the scientific method, drive home some engineering concepts, or simply enjoy a fun team building activity, this tower building activity is the perfect way to close out your school year.
It’s sure to be a great time for you and your students.
blind building: teamwork activity
If your students enjoy playing with Legos, this is the resource for you! In this collaborative partner activity, students with be split into two groups. One group will be asked to leave the classroom temporarily while their partners’ are each asked to disassemble a toy made of Legos.
As they deconstruct their toy, they must take detailed instructions that a partner could use to reassemble the object. When everyone is done, the first group will return to the classroom and attempt to build the Lego toys using only the written instructions from their partners.
This simple activity is sure to get a ton of laughs and is a great way to drive home the importance of using details in scientific writing. This activity can easily be used by science teachers with kids of all ages. Reward their hard work this year with a little bit of Lego fun!
vocabulary puzzles
If you are looking for the perfect way to fill some downtime during the last week of school, these problem solving puzzles are a great thing to try! These self-check vocabulary puzzles are a fun way to review this year’s content one last time before your students go. These puzzles can be done independently or with a buddy. They also could be used in fun classroom competitions or to earn last day of school prizes!
vocabulary puzzle topics include:
- Engineering
- Cell Organelles
- Engineering
These vocabulary puzzles can be especially helpful during shortened class periods or even homeroom time.
simple science experiments
I don’t know about you, but my students rarely have as much fun in science class as they do on days that include cool science experiments. Fill your last day (or week) of school with fun activities that your middle schoolers (or secondary students) are sure to remember and love. Each of these experiment ideas can be done with simple ingredients and give your students one last fun opportunity to practice their scientific observation skills.
here are a few of my favorite activities:
- Make Ice Cream in a Bag: Alright, this one is pretty self-explanatory. But who doesn’t love ice cream? This fun activity will add a little sweetness to your last day of science class.
- Ball Launcher Challenge: In this collaborative engineering activity, students will have the chance to work together to create a device that can launch an aluminum foil ball (hopefully) across the room. The supplies are simple. Using solo cups, pencils, cardboard, tape, (or any other materials they have find around the classroom) students compete to send their foil balls farther than the rest.
- Paper Airplane Design Competition: You truly cannot find an easier last day of school activity. All you need is paper! This paper airplane design activity gives students the chance to experiment with different plane shapes and analyze how size and shape affect the speed and direction of the planes. This is a great activity for discussing aerodynamics and some basic physical science concepts.
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Before you head off to enjoy your summer vacation, grab this list and save it! When August rolls around and you begin preparing lesson plans for next year’s class, you’ll be glad you did!