Weathering and erosion is not a difficult process for students to grasp. They have likely seen it first hand many times in their life. In my experience, students sometimes mix up the difference between weathering and erosion, but once they have it down the learning is smooth sailing. One thing
Ahhhh…. the dreaded first day of school icebreaker. Some teachers skip them altogether. Some principals require them. I’m in the camp of finding an activity that the majority of students will participate in, that doesn’t include “My name is ___ and my dream vacation is ___.” A few tips before
After I introduce the topic of natural selection and evolution, we dive into how evolution occurs. (Looking for lesson ideas for natural selection? Head to this post.) How does one species split into two new species? How did one species of finch arrive on the Galapagos and evolve into 13
Are you teaching earth science to high school students for the first time? I was in your shoes a few years ago. After a long tenure teaching high school biology, an earth science position opened up at my school. As a lover of all things rock-related, I was excited about
I live in Phoenix and recently had a gopher snake hanging out near my front door. You would laugh if you saw my reaction walking up on the doorbell camera! At first glance, gopher snakes look awfully similar to rattle snakes. Once I realized he was missing a rattle I
So you’ve finished teaching the types of plate boundaries and continental drift. Now it’s time to get to the more exiting stuff… earthquakes! I just so happened to be teaching earthquakes when the Turkey earthquake of 2023 occurred. Students were glued to news sites and I tried to really foster
I love teaching ecology. It’s a great topic to start off the year because it’s fun with easy to understand concepts for students. For many years when I taught food webs, I would gloss over decomposers. They seemed boring, kinda gross, and hard for students to see. BUT! Luckily I
The Easiest Classroom Pet You’ll Ever Have I’ve always wanted a fun classroom pet like a bearded dragon or corn snake but I was intimidated by the amount of time and effort it would take to care for one. I kept asking myself questions like: What would I do over
As biology teachers, we often spend a lot of time talking about producers and consumers during ecology. They are easy to see and understand! We often overlook decomposers even though they play a crucial role within ecosystems. If you are looking for an activity to supplement your ecology curriculum, I
Ready to kick off your genetics unit? I prefer starting with DNA and then moving onto Punnett squares and inheritance patterns. For me, it makes more sense to teach DNA first and explain what a gene actually is. If you start with inheritance and use the word “gene” or “allele,”
Teaching layers of the atmosphere? Our atmosphere is vital to life on this planet. It protects us from radiation, supplies us with oxygen, keeps us the right temperature, and the list goes on. When NASA searches for habitable exoplanets, one thing look for are planets with an atmosphere. The atmosphere
Have you tried doing a read aloud with big kids? I really enjoy kids picture books, and I’m an adult. Many people scoff when they hear I read picture books to my high school students. I’m here to say, most of them like it. They listen. They look at the