High School Science Sponge Activities
Sponge activities are activities that fill class time and help the lesson's information seep into the students' brains. They are a good way to get students to interact with one another and help them learn. Sponge activities typically can be tailored to any subject matter. Whether your high school science lesson was on physics or chemistry, you can develop a sponge activity to help your class retain the information.
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Lists
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When you're starting a new topic in science, have the students spend five to 10 minutes listing everything they know or think they know about the topic. This can be done as an entire class, in small groups or individually. If the students are in groups or it's done individually, collect some examples to share with the class. Discuss what the students got right and what they missed.
For example, if your chemistry class is starting a section on states of matter, ask the students to write down what they think the states are and the properties of each.
Movies
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Movies are a great way to fill time in the classroom, and some can be educational and entertaining. You can find a movie on almost any topic in science. Tell the students to take out a piece of paper and ask them to write down what they think was the most important information in the movie or, if the movie is about an experiment, what the steps were in the experiment.
Fun Sponges
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Sponges can be used to get the class thinking and ready to learn when students may not be interested in the material, especially early in the morning. At the beginning of class, have the students play a science-related game to get their minds on the topic. It could be as simple as a memory or a "Jeopardy!"-like game that reviews material learned in class the day before. For example, an activity for a health class could be asking the students to list the foods they ate for lunch and dinner the day before. Essentially, the sponge activity is designed to take up a little time and get the kids ready to learn.
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