Students don’t arrive on Day 1 knowing how to measure, classify, or make inferences—in fact, these basic science skills often need a quick reboot. In this post, you’ll find engaging back to school science skills activities designed to ease students into lab work and NGSS practices. From solar ovens to parachute jumpers, these August lessons build confidence, curiosity, and classroom routines—while preparing students for the year ahead.
Calling all teachers who need back to school science activities in August. Get ready to prep your students with the skills they need to start the first days of school learning about:
- Solar ovens: how they are designed and used to cook food
- Design, create, and engineer their solar oven
- Timeline of aviation
- Four forces of flight: thrust, weight, drag, lift
- Design, create, and engineer their parachute jumper
- Basic science skills: classify, estimate, measure, predict, make observations, and draw inferences
These back to school science experiments and lessons will help introduce students to the world of science and prepare them to engage in a fun year in science class.
Featured Science Skills Activities for August
Basic Science Skills
There are certain skills our science students need to review and improve upon when they go back to school. In science class, students are constantly working on:
- measuring
- classifying
- estimating
- predicting
- observing
- making inferences
These science skills are important because students will build upon them as they are learning in different areas of science throughout the year.
While these skills may seem redundant, students should be building upon them. So each year, their predictions should become more detailed and include scientific information. These skills lead students to be able to better analyze situations as they look at their data along with observations and inferences.
National Smores Day - August 10
If back to school science experiments mean creating smores, can it really be learning?
Yes, creating a solar oven to make smores is the best kind of back to school science learning!
With extreme temperatures, August is the perfect time to create a solar oven. In addition to the delightful treats, students are:
- Learning how solar ovens work
- Understanding how the design of solar ovens affects functionality
- Design, create, and engineer their solar oven
- Observing heat energy changing the composition of the marshmallow and chocolate
To incorporate an activity like this in your classroom, first, you’ll want the students to research solar ovens. Then, having background knowledge of the workings of solar ovens will help them as they design, engineer, and build their prototype.
Once students have researched, they can work together in small groups to build their prototype. Then, wait for a hot sunny day, and put the designs to the test!
Not only does this activity help get students interested in science, but it is also aligned with NGSS!
National Aviation Day - August 19
Start your back to school science curriculum by hooking students into learning about National Aviation Day on August 19.
By integrating this day of celebration into your curriculum, students will be:
- Reviewing a timeline of aviation
- Learn about the history of aviation
- Introduced to the four forces of flight: thrust, weight, drag, and lift
- Using their knowledge to design, engineer, and create a parachute jumper.
Integrating National Aviation Day into your back to school science curriculum will instantly engage students who are interested in learning more about airplanes and flying.
Teaching the students the science behind forces needed to fly is a wonderful introduction to your force and motion unit.
Scientist of the Month: Louis Pasteur
Each school year, I like to take a small amount of time out of my curriculum to teach students about famous scientists.
A bulletin board in my classroom is dedicated to teach students about the scientists and includes famous quotes.
In doing so, students can learn more about the scientific discoveries that were made and how they relate to the world around us.
You can create a list of scientists in the beginning of the school year and highlight one each month by showing students a picture of the scientist and explaining their scientific contribution to our world.
Extend These Skills All Year
These back to school science activities aren’t limited to being used ONLY in August; here are ways to tie them into your curriculum:
Solar oven modeling — Tie in with energy or weather lessons
Parachute jumper — Use with physics units later
Timeline of aviation — Revisit during wind or mechanics units
Famous scientists board — Use as part of your “scientist of the month” display
These back to school science skills offer a strong foundation for the year—teaching measurement, observation, prediction, and more—all while building routines and excitement. Use them in August or anytime you want a high‑engagement science activity. Grab the free Fortune Telling Fish activity below, check out the full TpT bundle for print‑and‑go versions, and let’s make this the best science year yet!
