Science education research has already examined the crucial role played by metaphors and beliefs in the development of teachers’ practical knowledge. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to the role of emotion metaphors and the results of emotional labor which are inherent in science teachers. The goal of this paper is to explain the conclusions from a 3-year ethnographic case study where an elementary-school science teacher participated as part of a research work that covered the role of teacher emotion in science teaching and student learning. It is shown that the performance of emotional labor is of vital importance when teaching science in real life. The participant in this study, a teacher, does the emotional labor despite including some suffering because the emotional rewards will give him satisfaction. Dealing with emotion in science education might partially concentrate on the way emotion works when generating inspiring emotional cultures in the teaching and learning of science. If we admit that both parts, teachers and students, play a role in shaping such cultures, educators, teachers and administrators will understand the difficulties and possibilities of emotional labor in science education.