It's science Friday. It's the day of the week when we teach more science than other days.
What does that mean?
It means making sure that the lab supplies are cleaned and ready to go.
It means that the experiment materials are set up and organized.
It means that the lab sheets are ready.
Then for the lesson, it means that you can temper the students' excitement long enough to go over the lab sheet.
It means letting students choose their roles.
It means letting children lead their learning by following directions, completing the experiment steps, observing, drawing conclusions, discussing and recording what's happened/, and if time permits, altering variables to better and/or differ the results.
As I write this down, I notice that the steps do get simpler, the more we teach the many science explorations we're expected to teach, and the students excitement for the study never wavers.