Many students enter high school with some science knowledge and experience doing investigations but often know little about the nature of science (NOS) or how the knowledge is developed (i.e., science practices). As science teachers, we need to get students excited about science as quickly as possible with activities that introduce the practices of science but require limited prior content knowledge. The beginning-of-the-year activities described in this article don't necessarily have to be embedded in subject matter (Khishfe and Lederman 2007; Lederman and Lederman 2004). Non-embedded activities allow students who might not normally have the confidence to participate in science a chance to get involved without the fear of being wrong. These activities can be used to introduce, develop, and assess students' understandings of science practices and NOS. A great deal of classroom-based research supports that K-12 students can learn about NOS (Aydin et al. 2013; Khishfe and Lederman 2007).