Bulletin boards don’t have to be overwhelming. In fact, I keep it simple with 3 science bulletin board ideas that work hard all year long. They’re easy to prep, meaningful for students, and designed to support classroom routines and content. Whether you’re focused on vocabulary, NGSS, or topical science themes, these boards create a purposeful learning environment with very little stress.
Bulletin Board Ideas for the Science Classroom
Stop stressing about how students will use scientific vocabulary terms in your classroom. This bulletin board can be created at the beginning of the year and stay up all year long. Having a year-long bulletin board in your science classroom will relieve stress while creating a place for students to reference and utilize throughout the year.
Forty science vocabulary words are included to remind students to use this vocabulary in the classroom.
Place the terms on your science cabinets or a decorative bulletin board.
Further student understanding of the terms by encouraging them to
- make index cards to study the terms
- play Pictionary with their classmates
- make word art from the terms
- create a crossword puzzle
- create doodle notes to remember the vocabulary words from different topics
Bonus: Students often use the wall to help with their CER responses or science notebooks.
NGSS or Topical Science Boards
These boards change throughout the year to reflect the units we’re working on. Whether we’re covering weathering, the rock cycle, the nervous system, or the periodic table, this board keeps our current topic front and center.
Some ideas can include:
- Plant and animal cells: Enlarge illustrations of the cells and label each part. This will help students reference the parts as they work on the unit, creating a functional bulletin board for your classroom.
- Microscopes: There are so many parts of a microscope that it can be difficult for students to remember. Enlarge the microscope worksheet so that students can glance up to view the parts when needed. Use this idea to create a bulletin board for your science classroom that students can learn from.
- Human Body: Remembering all the parts and functions of each system is hard, so help students remember by creating a bulletin board of chart paper that lists these concepts for your students!
Plus: It builds content knowledge AND reminds students of key concepts daily.
Celebrate the diverse thinkers behind the discoveries we teach. I rotate posters that feature scientists of different backgrounds, genders, and fields of study—perfect for sparking conversation and connecting science to the real world. This idea will allow students to see that they can become a scientist!
🧠 It’s also a great tie-in for Black History Month, Women’s History Month, or Hispanic Heritage Month.
The NGSS Engineering Design Process allows students to understand the steps a scientist or engineer goes through to define and solve a problem. Students might use the steps in this process repeatedly as the prototype is refined.
This free science bulletin board will show the students the steps of this process. By decorating your science classroom using the Engineering and Design Process posters, students can refer to this process as they investigate problems in your classroom.
