Introducing Science Concepts through Music and Movement

Environmental educator Gammy Moses shares chants and basic movements to give life to concepts like states of matter, watersheds, pollution, recycling and more.
Gammy has been working in environmental education and youth development for more than two decades. He was awarded Environmental Educator of the Year by the Connecticut Outdoor and Environmental Education Association in 2022.

Using music and movement is a helpful and fun way to introduce topics to students and get them excited and engaged about what they are going to learn. Environmental educator, Gammy Moses, explains, “For example, if you’re going on a bird walk, we’ll sing the chant about birds to encourage their excitement and interest.” This approach works particularly well for Preschoolers and early elementary school learners. “That’s the great thing about that age group is that the repeat-after-me chants create a lot of back and forth energy.”

Below you’ll find short films (most under 5 minutes) that cover science topics for a variety of age groups, from basic chants about birds for preschoolers to chants about New Haven watersheds geared for upper elementary school learners.

Developed to Meet Science Standards

Gammy Moses has been working with New Haven-area young people and school system for many years. From his experience in New Haven’s education systems and his passion for the outdoors, Gammy has developed a variety of chants to help students (and their teachers) enthusiastically explore concepts covered in their curriculums. “I took the New Haven Science Standards and the Connecticut Science Standards and I developed curriculum around rhythm and movement in order to teach,” Gammy explains.

Creating an Environment where Learners Feel Comfortable Participating in Music and Movement Activities

The foundation to all of what we do in a classroom is relationship and community building. It’s important to be consistent in the work we are doing, which can be challenging with all the changes inherent in our educational systems. Despite these challenges, we can find opportunities to make our classrooms safe, predictable, and fun places for all children to learn. We all know that some students are quickly game for music, dancing and anything else in the theatrical, active, or “loud” categories. Those are the learners that will join right in. Other learners take more time to get warmed up and then join in with gusto. Our quieter learners may need time to observe the activity and feel safe; they likely will need a little more encouragement to join the activity in a way that feels comfortable for them. Maybe that’s just repeating the lyrics and not doing the movement. Maybe it’s quietly doing some of the movements, but not all of them. What’s important is that we recognize all these students’ approaches as acceptable ways of participating.