Looking for Science Teacher Apparel and other teacher goodies?

Now that the weather is getting nice are you looking for new teacher tees?  Take a look at these cute science teacher apparel.  Looking for something else?  Take a look here. Science teacher apparel and more.  

Looking for something specific?  Send a message and I'm sure it can get made.  You can also join the email list to stay up to date with new items.

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Why do Antibiotics stop working? | An NGSS aligned lesson

I have been struggling to rework my lessons to meet the NGSS framework.  It's so easy to just stand up in front of the students and lecture, but I know that is not the best way for students to learn.  I am one who need example lessons so I can model my redesigns around them.  That is why I like exemplars like this.  I can see how it should be done so I know what to do when I am making my own updates. 

This lesson is actually part of a 29 lesson unit so there are lots of examples to look at. Looking at them, they are very detailed (I mean down to the minute).  If you are like me you don't have to make this level of detailed lesson plans.  Despite this, it is something that I want to work on, little by little, and I like have examples like this to look at.  Also, I can test these lessons out with my students and find out what works and what doesn't so I can make changes.

I would love to hear what you are doing to transition your lessons to NGSS (or your state's version of it).

Image by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free

Video Clips for the Chemistry Classroom

I like showing video clips in class because I think it's a good way to grab my students' attention and spark curiosity.  When I can, I like finding clips from old TV shows and movies (not necessarily old to me, but old to our students, lol). 

I usually just save videos I like to a YouTube playlist or bookmark them so I can find them later.  What I have been doing lately is to include them in PowerPoint presentations so that I don't forget to show them.  The problem is that I usually don't want to show the whole clip.  Sometimes I will include a note to myself in the presenter notes of where to start and stop.  There are lots of sites out there where you can clip videos to specific times if that works better for you.

Here are some that I use in my Chemistry class to help you get started because we all know a search of videos about chemistry is going to give you so many results (many that aren't good for the classroom).  Share with us some chemistry videos you've used. 

Acid/Base Neutralization	Strength of Acids
Electrochemistry	Phase Change

Some images in this post from Video Clip Vectors by Vecteezy

Did you miss these top posts of 2022?

 I may be a little late on my 2022 blog recap, but better late than never, right?  These were the top three posts of 2022.  Did you miss them?  Did you read them?  Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Websites for the Earth Science Classroom - a collection of websites for your earth science classroom.

Mobile Game to Investigate Global Disease Outbreaks - a game designed to get kids interacting and having fun while developing problem-solving skills, logic skills, increasing their scientific vocabulary, and learning more about pandemics.  In this character-driven simulation of Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) detective work, students search for the index case, racing against time to find clues to a cure.

Resources for teaching about genetics - lesson plans, videos, and other resources for teaching genetics

Chemical Safety in the Science Classroom

One of the things that we as teachers need to do is to create a safe environment for our students.  This can mean a lot of different things, but for science teachers, one of those is chemical safety.  One resource that I like is this one from the American Chemical Society. It includes information on handling chemicals, teaching safety in the classroom and a safety checklist. 

It's also important to note that this is not just for the Chemistry classroom. By developing good chemical safety habits early, students are better prepared when they move on to more advanced classes.  

If you are looking for more, Flinn has a free lab safety course you can take. 

image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/92416586@N05/12188601914

Hyperdocs in the Science Classroom

Have you used HyperDocs in your classroom?  They can be really great, but sometimes hard to create if you are new at it.  Here is a collection of HyperDocs and a template to get you started.  All subjects are included, but you will certainly find science HyperDocs in the folder.

What are HyperDocs? If you aren't sure what a HyperDoc is, it's a digital lesson plan that organizes the content for a lesson in one place.  It is a way to give students a chance to explore content before direct instruction.  It allows students to use the 4 Cs: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.  They are traditionally made as a Google Doc, but I don't see why you can't do the same thing with a Word document. 

Let me know if you give it a try and what you think. 

Ugh, break is over

Well, it looks like break is over and we are back at school. It’s also a new calendar year, but if you are like me the year really starts when school starts. I’m not big on resolutions, but I do want to focus on sharing science resources with you more.

Hopefully, you’ll be hearing from me more so I wanted to take a moment to reintroduce myself. I’m a science and technology teacher. I have taught both middle school (7th and 8th grades) and high school (Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, and Technology). I also had a brief stint as an adjunct professor teaching Anatomy and Physiology.

I have an email list where I send a monthly recap of blog posts. I also like to reward my subscribers with free products from my TPT store. Each time I post a new product I will email you if it applies to your grade/subject. If you want to sign up for my list you can click here.

I hope that I can provide some resources that will help make your teaching a little bit easier (because we all know how hard it is).

Reading Techniques Help Students Master Science

There are many struggles with teaching science to secondary students.  Unfortunately, one of these struggles is the reading abilities of our students.  Many students struggle comprehending what they are reading and doing tasks like picking out the main idea.
Scientific American has done some research in this area and has made some suggestions about what techniques and help students read better to improve their comprehension of science.  This article is worth the read even if you think your students aren't struggling with reading.