Foldables in Science

This is not a science specific resource, however, as an elementary teacher of science and as a professional development provider I have used Foldables to help learners better understand science concepts. If you are new to Foldables, they are essentially folded paper used as a graphic organizer. There are many flavors of Foldables: Cause & Effect, Venn Diagrams, mini-books, and more.

If you found this post by searching for science & foldables, I would ask that you check out some of my other posts and add this blog to your science education bookmarks. I have been running this blog for over 3 years and there are over 750 posts about K-12 science education resources.

Some of my favorite Foldables resource sites are the following:

• The Official Foldables Site: Dinah Zike’s site (the inventor of educational origami)
• Center for Math and Science Education Foldables Wiki
• Foldables and Lapbooks from Homeschool Share:
  this site has templates and directions for several Foldables and graphic organizers
• Print, Cut, and Fold: a site with “technology-infused foldables”- click HERE for a PDF handout of activity types
• A PDF Guide to making 10 Foldables: This is great!
• Foldables are Wonderful Wiki– examples here organized by content area
• Catawba County Schools Foldables Wiki: This wiki had pdfs of Foldable examples
• Let’s Book It with Tech’Knowledge’y: This site has several Foldable book examples
• Example of a simple Foldable  (see below) for learning about photosynthesis and cellular respiration. This is from a Science Scope article- click HERE to download

Applications for Science Teachers: Foldables help students build understanding through the use of visual and kinesthetic interactions. The use of a Foldable or graphic organizer can help students build their understanding of a science concept in a structured and tangible way.