How are fireworks made? If you took chemistry in college, one of the labs you likely remember most is the famous flame test experiment. In this experiment, different unknown metals are burned and students will identify the metal based on the color of the flame. How does it work? Heating
What are station activities? I love love love using stations in my classroom. They are essentially student-led activities that are placed around the room. Students have a few minutes per station and rotate around the room to complete tasks. While they could be used as an introductory activity, I prefer
At the end of our DNA unit, we learn about DNA fingerprinting and how it is used in forensic science. This really hooks students- they feel like real crime scene investigators! I’ve compiled some teaching resources and general lab tips if you plan to teach about DNA fingerprinting and run
The past two years of teaching have been TOUGH. We are all extremely tired and need a break. I see posts all over social media saying “use your sick days!” and “don’t feel guilting for taking a mental health day!” But here’s the thing- many of those posts are from
Dissection days can feel really stressful (especially when you are a newer teacher), but they don’t have to be! If you have prepared your students well, the day will run smoothly. Students should walk into the lab knowing exactly what your expectations are for lab behavior, what they will be
Right around Easter, plastic eggs are in every store you walk into. They are inexpensive and fun for students… wondering how to use them in your science classroom? I have a bunch in my classroom that I use each year for a genetics activity (more on that in a minute!)
Building solar ovens is a really engaging project for students. (And living in Phoenix, there are only a few months were you CAN’T build one!) I did this activity with students when we learned about forms of energy and heat transfer. You can choose to have students work on
Chances are your biochemistry unit is not a student favorite. I often hear “why are we learning chemistry in biology class?” But to really understand how cells work, students need to understand macromolecules. (If you need some biochemistry lesson ideas, check out this blog post). Luckily, there are fun labs
As if teaching mid-pandemic wasn’t already hard enough, this past year my district moved to block schedule. I went from over a dozen years of teaching 50 minute classes to being thrown into 93 minute classes. Over an hour and a half! It turned my world upside down. Here’s the
As a teacher, formative assessment (ie: ungraded check-ins) are something you should be doing every day. Yes, every day. If that sounds overwhelming, it shouldn’t. You do not have to check in every day with a fancy exit ticket or Google form, it can be something simple (more on this
I hear from a lot of teachers that teaching rocks and minerals is booooring (I beg to differ!)I have two blog posts for you- this one with resources to help you teach minerals and a second to help you teach rocks. Side note: I want to point out that there
Geologic time is one of the last topics I cover in my biology class. We discuss it briefly throughout the year when we learn about ecological succession and evolution, but we don’t take a deeper dive until the end of the year. I absolutely LOVE any excuse to get out
