iExploreScience: STEM in Elem
iExploreScience: STEM in Elem is for upper elementary teachers — especially grades 3–5 —who want to make elementary science and math more engaging, without adding more prep or overwhelm to their day. If you’re looking for practical ways to bring STEM and hands-on learning into your classroom while still meeting standards like NGSS, this podcast is for you.
Each week, you’ll get (ideally) short, (always!) actionable episodes (about 15–30 minutes) filled with classroom-tested ideas you can actually use. From simple STEM challenges and low-prep science activities to math routines, lab management, and neurodivergent-friendly strategies, everything is designed to help you keep students thinking, moving, and engaged—especially during the most challenging times of the year.
You’ll also hear honest reflections from real classroom experiences, with a focus on what works (and what doesn’t) in my 5th grade science and math classroom — no perfection required.
I’m Nicole, and I share practical, hands-on science and math ideas designed specifically for upper elementary teachers who want engaging, rigorous lessons without the overwhelm.
iExploreScience: STEM in Elem
15 The Reason Some Students Struggle With Science Questions (And What to Do About It)
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Most of us were taught to think about teaching in terms of standards coverage. Hit the standard, move on. But there's a layer underneath that we don't talk about enough — and it's what actually determines whether a student can access the standards in the first place.
In This Episode:
- the moment Nicole realized her students weren't struggling with skills — they were struggling with background knowledge
- the advantage of knowing something about a topic (aka background knowledge) before standards-based classroom learning begins
- what "bite-sized exposure" actually looks like in a packed school day — we're talking 5 to 10 minutes, not extra units!!
- how to decide which topics to integrate
- how to reframe this for your administrator when they ask about standard alignment
Links Mentioned:
📬 iExploreScience Substack — this week's issue includes a list of high-interest science topics with a simple classroom hook for each, ready to pull out on a free Friday: https://iexplorescience.substack.com/
📬 Stay Connected
- 📰 Substack: https://iexplorescience.substack.com/
- 🛍️ TpT Store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/iexplorescience
- 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iexplorescience/
- 👍 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iexplorescience/
- 💻 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolevantassel/