Introducing students to the scientific method

One thing I love and hate to do with my students is to teach them to create their own experiments.  I love doing it because the students come up with the craziest ideas and they get to get a sense of what scientists really do.  I hate it because it it's difficult for the students and they resist it.  In the end I am happy with the work that most of my students put into the assignment (you can't get them all, lol)  I try to have a collection of ideas to provide an example for my students and also for those groups who are not able to come up with their own.  Scientific American has a great article that outlines an experiment just as how I would like my student to.  I like to share this with students before we begin so that they can get an idea about what I am expecting.

Where do you get ideas from? 

Why Don't Antibiotics Work Like They Used To? - Example of a NGSS Lesson

If you are in one of the many schools around the country that are transitioning to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or have already made the transition you have the job of redesigning your lessons to meet these new standards.  The website www.nextgenscience.org has you covered.  You can find examples of quality NGSS designed lessons such as this one asking why antibiotics don't work they way the used to.   It part of the natural selection and evolution unit and explores the case of a girl with a life threatening bacterial infection.  As part of this lesson, students will design a model to explain how bacteria populations change over time.

The lessons you will find on this site were evaluated with the EQuIP Rubric for Science.  The rubric is designed to review existing lessons to provide criterion-based feedback and suggestions for improvement.  It can be a helpful tool as you are trying to develop your own NGSS aligned lessons.

Where you are finding quality NGSS lessons?