The past few years I’ve had the opportunity to teach a course entirely through project based learning. Our local university approached a couple of schools in our district and asked us if we were interested in teaching a cross-curricular PBL program where our grade 12 students can earn college credits.
The metric system is so important for students to understand in the sciences. And frankly, it’s so much easier to use than the imperial system. One issue I’ve come across when teaching is that students don’t always understand what the units represent, and which unit is appropriate to use for
Ordering class sets of prepared slides can be pricey. Want a fun and free way to make your own? All you need are some slides, clear tape, and some animal hair samples. Put a few pieces of hair on a slide and carefully cover it with clear tape. A couple
I’m excited to share with you an EASY PEASY way for students to see osmosis in plant cells! In the past, I always used elodea leaves for this lab. Elodea can be hard to find at pet stores and is a little temperamental to keep alive. This year I decided
As fun as prepared slides are, students always LOVE looking at living organisms under the microscope. I generally order mixed protist specimens from Wards or Carolina Biological, but this year I didn’t get an order put in on time (if your district is like mine it often takes months to
Why the nucleus isn’t King of the castleEver since middle school when students learn about cells, they are taught that nucleus is the control center of the cell. They hear that the nucleus is “the brain” and in charge of all cell functions. When teachers do the cell-as-a-factory analogy, the
One comment I frequently hear from biology teachers is “My students keep mixing up mitosis and meiosis.” I had this problem for many years (the first 5 years of teaching to be exact). During my cells unit I would teach both mitosis and meiosis. I would begin by teaching them
This blog post is all about why I think Cornell notes are beneficial for students, and tips on how to make them easier for teachers. If you don’t want to read my background story on how I came to love them and you just want the nitty-gritty, skip to the
When I moved up from teaching middle school to high school and was looking at my new curriculum I saw the term “keystone species” and scratched my head. It was a term I had never heard before and didn’t remember learning in college. After learning about the terms keystone species
Ahhh the biogeochemical cycles. They are vital to life, but students don’t typically enjoy learning about them. They usually know the water cycle by the time they reach high school, but struggle with carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. I’ve rounded up some resources you can use to spice up your chemical
I know the term “open note test” makes some teachers shudder. Many teachers are completely opposed to this idea. I get it. We love our content areas and want students to retain the information and really know it. How dare students not remember information from my AMAZING lesson on cell membranes?! This
Okay, so you can tell by the title of this blog post I’m a biologist and not a chemist. (Chemistry teachers, please don’t send me hate mail!) Honestly, I don’t love chemistry and I don’t love teaching it. BUT, I realize how important it is for students to understand biochemistry