This lab is one of my top sellers in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. It is easy to set up and doesn’t require a lot of materials. However, I frequently get questions about the lab so I’m hoping this blog post will be useful to those teachers out there who
Need a great inquiry lab? This soda lab is FUN! And I know what you are thinking…. “what a mess it must be!” But I’ve done this lab multiple times, and never had a spill. Students will get 3 types of soda, and will measure which brand has the greatest
pH…. one of those chemistry topics that us biology teachers get to teach. In biology I don’t make my students calculate pH and pOH values, but they need to understand what pH is and why maintaining a healthy pH in your body is so important. You may love biochemistry, or
Is food chains up next in your curriculum? Most students learn food chains in the elementary grades, so how do you make it interesting and rigorous at the secondary level? Here are some great options: Food Chain and Food Web Lesson Plan Ideas 1. In this interactive from the BBC, students
I like to use a lot of video clips in my lessons. Video clips keep students engaged and it breaks up the monotony of the notes. After lots of searching on the internet for good videos for my symbiosis lesson, I’ve found some real winners! Your students will love these
You’re giving a big unit test in a few days so you hand the students a study guide. A handful of the students dive in and get it done, while the rest answer about 3 questions and quit. You remind them that it is worth points, so the not-so-interested students
It’s the beginning of the year, and chances are you are starting off teaching or reviewing the scientific method. If you’ve looked around on the internet for scientific method labs, you will notice that the majority are not biology related. Don’t get me wrong- building paper airplanes, measuring bubbles, and
How often do you communicate with the parents of your students? It can seem overwhelming to make contact with parents all the time, especially as secondary teachers. We have 5 times the amount of students as elementary, and we can’t stick a newsletter in their backpacks in the hopes that
As teachers, we are always on a budget. Decorating classrooms can get pricey. When I first started teaching I was spending a fortune online and at teaching supply stores to buy science posters so my walls weren’t so drab. Since then, I’ve been creating my own science posters that the
Natural selection is one of my favorite topics to teach. Students enter the classroom with prior misconceptions and it’s fun to have students figure out what natural selection and evolution really mean. Here is a list of my favorite natural selection and evolution activities: 1. Battle of the Beaks– This
It’s Summer! Time to keep those little hands busy The time we get to sleep in and relax (a little….) As a science teacher I’ve had multiple friends ask me the same question: “What science activities can I do with my kids over the summer?” I remember growing up over
