A science bulletin board is a great way to get your students engaged in classroom activities related to science. It can be used as a motivational tool and a way to spark curiosity in your class. Whether you are covering a specific science topic, or want to relate science to everyday life, a science bulletin board will make an excellent addition to your classroom.
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What Makes a Good Science Bulletin Board?
Science bulletin boards can be used to show off student work (e.g. experiments and science fair projects), provide a space for students to discuss and reflect on lessons, or serve a ‘just for fun’ purpose. A good science bulletin board will make your classroom dynamic, engaging, and interactive. It will inspire students and make them excited to learn about science.
Science is often considered a hard subject, so creating imaginative, engaging bulletin boards will allow students to learn science in a fun way, and access some difficult concepts in an easier way.
Examples: Science Bulletin Boards
Periodic Table With a Twist
No science-themed classroom would be complete without a periodic table on the wall! Although you could easily make a bulletin board with a traditional periodic table, a nice twist would be to create a version of a periodic table that is specific to your class. Whether it contains your students’ initials as chemical symbols, or ‘elements of a successful student’ like this one, your class will learn a lot about the periodic table while having fun contributing to the bulletin board.
The Human Body
A human body bulletin board is a great way for students of any age to learn more about the body. Whether they are learning the basic bones for the first time or studying the muscles for their biology exam, a bulletin board is an excellent visual aid. This science bulletin board can easily be adapted each week or month depending on which part of the body you are studying.
Famous Scientific Failures
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” (Thomas Edison) If you are trying to instill a growth mindset in your pupils, a famous failures science bulletin board is perfect. By learning about scientists who suffered setbacks before their big discovery, pupils will learn that hard work is more important than instant success.
Teeth
A dental bulletin board is a good science idea that can be adapted depending on the age of your class. For very young children, a display encouraging them to brush their teeth would work well. For older pupils, naming the different types of teeth would be a good activity. This innovative bulletin board uses ‘plaque man’ as a clever way to teach possible causes of tooth decay.
Growing Bulletin Boards
If you are teaching anything to do with plants in your classroom, a growing bulletin board would be a novel addition to your lessons. The students can plant the seeds themselves in bags and watch them develop, and you could get different groups to grow different types of seeds, to compare the growth rate of different plants.
DNA Bulletin Board
Make your own DNA strand with magnets or Velcro. Challenge students to match the pairs—they’ll get different results every time!
Chemist-tree
If you like a good pun (and what teacher doesn’t?!) then you have got to have a chemist-tree in your class during your science project! There are so many possible variations of this, with a Christmas door display being a favorite of many chemistry teachers. However, this bulletin board idea can be used at any time of year, building the tree from chemical element symbols that your pupils can make as part of their lessons.
Space
Doing a space topic with your class is the perfect time to have a science bulletin board. There are so many options within the space topic that will make great visual displays, from the phases of the moon to the solar system. This is an excellent task to have your class do in groups, assigning a different planet or area of the board to each group.
Venn Diagrams
One way to explain to kids the difference between things is by using Venn diagrams. You can use it for virtually any topic to show how to sort things into sets based on what they have in common and how they differ. Making a Venn diagram bulletin board using hula hoops will make a great wall display, which can also be used as a revision exercise by removing all the words and having the students place them back in the correct areas.
Recycled Ocean
Combine two science topics – ocean life and recycling – with this inventive bulletin board science idea. Students can bring in recycling from their homes and make a variety of different sea creatures from their plastic and paper. Check out this post for some ideas on how to create your own recycled underwater display.
5 Senses
The 5 senses board is a great project for younger learners. They use the boards to categorize objects based on the 5 senses. It is great for developing fluency with basic vocabulary and using real-life examples will help their understanding enormously.
Food Chains/ Food Webs
Food chains and food webs make a great visual display, so would be a perfect subject for your science bulletin board. This is a simple board to set up, with students making the animals and the arrows and then as a class deciding where everything belongs in the web.
3D Science
A 3-dimensional science bulletin board is a great idea if you enjoy doing craft with your class. There are lots of options that work well, including the solar system, atoms, or the human body. This example has a 3-D planet earth showing each of the layers inside.
The Water Cycle
The water cycle allows for a very colorful bulletin board which will help your class learn about how water moves from one place to another. Students can add more to the board each week, as they learn more about the water cycle.
Science Jokes
Why do chemistry teachers tell such bad jokes? Because all the good ones argon (groan!) Science teachers are well known for their love of terrible puns, and putting some science jokes on your bulletin board will definitely spark discussion within your classroom – good or bad! You can put your class into groups and challenge them to create the best (or worst) science joke.
Cell Biology
If you are teaching cell biology to your class, making a huge cell display is a lovely idea for a bulletin board. The colorful display will make an eye-catching centerpiece for your classroom, and you can add and label different parts of the cell as the class progresses through the topic.
Atomic Structure
Teaching your class about atoms is an excellent reason to start a science bulletin board. There are a number of different ways to go about this, including an element of the week, where you display all of the protons, neutrons, and electrons in one atom, and then change it on a weekly basis. Another favorite is to have pupils use paper plates to represent electron arrangements of atoms, which can then be displayed as a 3-D board.
Evolution
Teaching biology provides many different ideas for science bulletin boards, and evolution is a particularly good one. You could use various aspects of evolution for your display, but the famous March of Progress picture showing the evolution from ape to man will make a striking visual impact in your classroom.
Nutrition
If you are teaching food groups or nutrition to your class, a science bulletin board will fit perfectly. For younger learners, a plate divided into the main food groups will be a great exercise for them to create for the display. For more advanced classes, a breakdown of macro and micronutrients would be a good option.
Fun Science Facts
Engage your class with a bulletin board displaying fun or weird science facts. Children love to hear amazing facts that they can repeat to their friends, and science certainly has plenty to go around! From earthworms having five hearts to radioactive bananas, your class will love researching fun facts to put on your walls.
Science of Superheroes
Science doesn’t always have to be serious. By studying the science behind superheroes, you will be helping your class understand that science can be applied to everything they come across in everyday life. Whether it is Magneto’s attractive power or gravity’s effect on Superman, your students will be learning about science without even realizing it!
Final Thoughts
Using a science bulletin board in your classroom is a great way for kids to enjoy topics that can sometimes seem difficult. It encourages your students to apply what they are learning in the classroom to the world outside, as well as creating a colorful centerpiece for your classroom.
