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.
Elements.wlonk.com is the home to The Periodic Table of Elements, in Pictures and Words. It is an interactive site where students can click on elements to see how it used and in what commons prodcuts it is found. For example, if you click on calcium an image of seashell appears along with a list of other places it is found.
In addition to the interactive page, you can also print out a copies or purchase a high quality poster.
This is something that I would use in both my middle and high school classrooms. Students often think they know what things are made of, but it would be eye opening for them to see what elements are really in the items they use every day. Connections like these provide a better understanding and enhance learning.
A school bus full of third graders sits stranded, submerged in a dense, sticky substance with no way to escape. Then someone comes up with an idea. They add baking soda to a vial of vinegar and top it with a balloon. The mixing of the two substances causes an immediate chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide, inflating the balloon and lifting them to safety. Ms. Frizzle’s students have once again used science to get them out of a jam -- this time in the form of a cake.
Twenty years ago, four-year-old Alex Peterson was on the edge of her seat watching Ms. Frizzle and her class escape from being baked inside a cake on the "Ready, Set, Dough" episode of "The Magic School Bus."
"I loved baking when I was a kid. Watching those air bubbles form, it just clicked for me that chemistry is what makes cakes, and I realized that this is what I wanted to do," says Peterson, now a doctoral student in biochemistry at the University of Maryland. "I have a very vivid memory from the third grade of looking at the schedule and counting down the time to science class because I just couldn't wait to do science in 'real-life.'"
Peterson in her lab (left) and dressed up as Ms. Frizzle with her cat dressed up as Liz for Halloween (right)
In her university lab, Peterson studies the enzymes that form biofilm, a slimy buildup of microorganisms that can grow on all types of surfaces, from teeth and buildings to pacemakers and ponds. She's looking for a way to effectively break down the notoriously impenetrable substance, which can make it hard for medications to reach the infections they need to treat. Finding a way to reduce biofilms could make treatments more effective. When asked about the effect "The Magic School Bus" had on her current career path in science, Peterson says, "It's absolutely why I'm a chemist."
Twenty-five years ago, Scholastic's "The Magic School Bus" veered off the written page and into our television sets, bringing with it a credo that emphasized taking chances, making mistakes, and getting messy. Support from the National Science Foundation helped bring the celebrated book series to the airwaves and to young viewers like Peterson, sitting frog-legged on living room floors across the country.
Sandy Welch was the director of education at PBS when the network picked up "The Magic School Bus" as part of its portfolio of children's programming.
"We were excited because it was the first fully animated science show," Welch says. "I was excited to see a teacher featured, and not just any teacher -- [Ms. Frizzle] was a delight!"
Welch says Ms. Frizzle helped inspire teachers to use the programming in their classrooms.
Today, Welch is part of a division in NSF’s education directorate dedicated to providing funding for children's media programs that focus on STEM education. It supports the agency's multi-decade effort to boost science learning beyond the classroom, where research has shown most learning takes place.
"We know that children learn intuitively and that a lot of it happens in an informal setting," says Welch.
NSF supports a wide range of informal STEM programming in museums, through after-school programs and citizen science projects. With mass media, however, there is a potential to reach millions.
According to Welch, for NSF to fund a media program it must meet rigorous criteria. Creators must demonstrate the concept was developed based on existing knowledge of best practices in STEM education and how children learn through media. They must have clearly defined goals on how to interest, engage and impact learners. They must have a way to evaluate the program's impact.
And they must be innovative.
"Our program is explicit that we want to fund innovation," Welch says. "We are looking for proposals that experiment with new technology, a new approach, a new distribution platform. We're willing to fund things that may be risky -- like a new platform that hasn't been tried but seems to hold promise."
"The Magic School Bus," "3-2-1 Contact," "Reading Rainbow," "Zoom" and "Bill Nye the Science Guy" were just a few of the early NSF-funded shows that took an innovative approach to bringing science to life on the small screen.
"Peep and the Big Wide World," for example, was one of the first programs to show that toddlers could learn basic science concepts and skills like measuring, comparing, and estimating through television shows geared toward their age group.
Courtesy SciGirls/PBS Kids
"SciGirls" was launched in response to the fact that women in the U.S. remain underrepresented in STEM, especially in fields like engineering and the computer sciences. The show engages tween viewers in STEM by following a group of real-world girls as they predict, observe, experiment, and otherwise don their "scientist hats" to understand the world around them.
Many of today's shows have also been adapted to a multimedia and mobile world, augmenting their TV programming with innovative web content and downloadable apps. Kids who love "Cyberchase," a show designed to make math fun and accessible and that NSF began funding in the late 1990s, can now access educational games, videos, and hands-on activities via the "Cyberchase" webpage on the PBS Kids website and through apps. The webpage for "Design Squad," another NSF-funded show on PBS, offers a short video on how to make everything from a two-wheeled balloon car to bristle bots made from toothbrush heads
Through on-screen characters like Peep, Peg, and Digit, and with access to hands-on activities and other innovative science content, NSF is ensuring quality science programming reaches newer generations of Alex Petersons, inspiring them to become scientists or -- at the very least -- to take chances, make mistakes and get messy!
I've talked about PhET before, so you know that I love it! In case you don't know what it is, it's a website that has simulations that you can use in your physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, and mathematics classroom. Many of them are available as part of PhET's free PowerPoint Add-in.
While at first I found this add-in I didn't think much of it. I didn't see the value in it when you can just go to the website. While this is true, the great thing about this add in is that you can use the simulations just like you were on the website but you don't need to leave your PowerPoint presentation.
56 of the PhET simulations are available to insert into PowerPoint presentations through the use of the add-in . With the Add-in installed you can browse the available simulations and insert them into your slides. The simulations work in your slide just as they do on the PhET website. A note about the add-in; if you are in a Microsoft school your Microsoft admin may have turned off the ability to use add-in or may have to approve them. So if you are having trouble finding the add in, please reach out to your tech admin.
I have always liked showing videos as part of my science classes, but I don't want to spend a whole period showing a video. Plus, we know that the kids won't pay attention to a video that long anyway. Check123 is a great site for finding short videos. All areas are represented, but of course we all care about the science section. ;-)
The videos are all less than 4 minutes long. You can do a search for what you are looking for and even narrow down the results based on the length of the video you are looking for. For the most part these videos are hosted on YouTube, so if this is blocked in your school it won't work. (On a side note, if it's blocked in your school you should really talk to the powers that be because it's a valuable teaching tool!)
What's one of your go to site for find videos for your classroom?
Buzzfeed is usually know for its silly quizzes to find out which candy bar you are most like or what state you should really live in. I came across this post that shows they can actually do something useful. :-) It's a collection of 23 chemical and physical reaction GIFs that I can't wait to add into my lessons.
Of of my favorites is below; it's a match burning.
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.
Chemistry can be a difficult topic for middle school students to grasp. I know that grades always seemed to drop a bit when we got to the chemistry unit. I always wished that I had more time to spend on it because I think it's such an interesting topic. Because of the abstract nature of chemistry, it is really hard to for young students to grasp the concepts. When I can find video clips that help to conceptualize the abstract I feel like it's a big win. I found just those videos and there are ones on properties of matter, phases of matter, atoms, physical and chemical changes, acids and bases, elements and compounds, mixtures, the periodic table and energy and matter. Each video also comes with an interactive quiz that you can do with the students. These videos are similar to BrainPop without having to have a subscription.
I recently came across the website Chemix and found that it's a great way to create Lab Diagrams. They recently came out with Chemix 3.0 which no longer needs flash. Right now it's in beta, but it's an open beta that all can use. I always do my best to explain in detail how certain lab setups should look. I'm sure you know as much as I do that students don't always read the directions. I really like that I can add in visuals to go along with my directions. The chemistry lab can be a dangerous place and I don't want students making mistakes.
I used Chemix to create a quick diagram to show some steps in an experiment. Of course it would make more sense with the directions to next to it, but hopefully you get the idea.
Here is a list of some of the equipment that you can find in Chemix. According to their FAQ they will be adding more in the future.
Equipment: Test Tube, Beaker, Displacement beaker, concial flask, boiling flask, volumetric flask, round bottom flash, petri dish, watch glass, glass jar, thermometer, graduated cylinder, pipette, burette, balance, Bunsen burner, hot plate, magnetic stirrer, stiring rod, wire gauze, filter funnel, evaporating dish, crucible, dropper and timer.
“I can’t find my textbook!” “I don’t remember getting a textbook.” Does this sound familiar to you? That is what I kept hearing at the end of every year. Then I would have to go through a big hassle of collecting money from student to repurchase the outdated textbooks that I had. I hated having to worry about students losing textbooks or that I was always replacing textbooks that I didn’t even want that included too much information or not enough information. Enter FlexBooks. FlexBooks are online textbooks from a company called CK12. I instantly liked them for many reasons, but the two big ones were that I could customize the book and that it could be posted on my website and downloaded by the students. This videodoes a great job of explaining how they work. While not every subject has a FlexBook they have a large list of books that include math and science books for elementary, middle and high school along with some other areas such as Writing, Astronomy, History and Engineering.
So, this sounds good you say, but how can I really use it in my classroom? I picked out a textbook that I wanted to use and then went through it to delete the things that don’t apply to my curriculum. I also added in some information that wasn’t there that I wanted to make sure my students had in their book. You can also include links to worksheets (CK12 has a workbook that goes along with most of their textbooks). Once it’s created you can save it as a PDF and post it on a web page or e-mail it to students. Even better, students can put the PDF on their computers, phones, Kindles, IPads, Nooks or other eReader. If you don’t want to customize your book you can find select FlexBooks already in Kindle or Nook/IPad/Android format.
Am I convincing you yet? Maybe you want to make sure you have a teacher’s edition to refer to or a book or worksheets or labs. Well, you got it! The workbooks that are available can also be customized so can you make them fit your classroom. I usually post them on my website and the students can have access to them all the time (no more “I lost it.”)
Looking for more? CK12 has a more interactive way of presenting information that allows you pull short concepts along with chapters into an online interactive “book” Many of the concepts include video clips and interactive quizzes.
Science can be hard for younger student to understand I love that this website brings it to like. While it accompanies a physical book it can completely be used on it's own. It has video clips and interactive animations that all your students to go inside plants, around the body, deep into the earth and to the depths of space.
Just pick the area of science you want to learn more about, and which type of item you want to try:
Apply It! – Investigate and research key scientific concepts, just like any real scientist
Art In Motion – Watch scientific processes come to life with fantastic animations
Interactive Art – Click on the diagrams to interact with scientific processes
Real-World Enquiry – See how science is used to help us in the real world
Untamed Science – Join the Untamed Science crew in these high-energy videos
Visual Analogy – Understand tricky scientific concepts by comparing them to everyday objects or scenarios
NOVA Elements
I am going to start with my favorite app. Like many of the apps that I will mention here, you can get a lot of detailed information about the elements. This app will also include pictures and some background information about where the element in found and what it is used for. There are also some interactive activities where you can view and rotate molecules such as red dye and also construct your own atoms and elements. My favorite part about the app is the the NOVA program, Hunting the Elements, that the app links to. It’s a great video that goes through all of the elements on the periodic table and it’s one, in my experience, the kids are actually interested in.
This app allows you to explore the elements through a variety of lenses. You are able to view the elements color coded by their categorizes or state of mater. From there can you can information about each element including: atomic number, electronegativity, ionization energy, radius, ionic radii, melting point, boiling point, lewis dot diagram, outermost orbital and average atomic mass. In addition to viewing the info about each elements, you can view the whole table through one of the prior listed lenses.
iElements - Periodic Table of The Chemical Elements
This basic app gives you an overview of the periodic table with element symbols and atomic numbers. If you click on each of the elements a screen will come up where you can view a picture and get information such as category, group, period, block, average atomic mass and electron configuration. In general, it is a very basic app.
Mild EleMints: Free Periodic Table
This app allows you to customize your view of the periodic table and color code elements based on the properties you are interested in. As you zoom in on a specific element you get more detail on that element. The app has a section called Inspector that allows you to get a lot of different data including 118 Elements, with up-to-date names & symbols, Isotopes up to Platinum, classification, Period, Group, Block, Atomic Weight, Electronegativity, Empirical Atomic , radius; Calculated Atomic Radius, Covalent Radius, Van der Waals Radius, Triple Covalent , radius, Metallic Radius, Crystal Structure, Common Ions, Oxidation States, Shell Structure, Electron Configuration, Dynamic Physical State, Melting Point, Boiling Point, Density, Specific Heat, Ionization Energies and Binding Energies. There are many more things that that this app can do. You will find the ability to graph periodic trends, calculate molar mass, solve equations and more.
I would describe this app as an upgraded version of the iElements app mentioned above. It starts off with a periodic table with each element represented with a picture. Once you click on each element you get a section of information about the element, a larger picture and some background information about how the element was discovered and what it is used for. Many of the elements show addition pictures that you can rotate around.
If you are in a school like I was in you, you know that you are not being provided with the lab safety training that is required. I did some research to find something and I came across the Flinn Online Laboratory Safety Course. There are two courses: one for middle school and one for high school. I took both of them (even though there is a lot of overlap) and learned so much!
You might be thinking, "I'm not a Chemistry teacher so this doesn't really apply to me!" I have found that non-chemistry teachers almost need this more because they have less experience with chemicals and don't always deal with them safely when they do use them.
I'm sure there are no school schools who have perfect lab safety procedures and everyone can learn something from this course. I also think it's a good refresher for teachers. I don't recall being taught lab safety techniques when I was in college (either in my science class or my science methods classes). Hopefully things have changed, but in case they haven't this is a must watch for all science teacher.
Comment below with what training you have had on lab safety. I'm interested to hear what happen in other schools.
On of my main goals in my 7th grade science class is to expose students to the scientific method and get students doing their own experiments. No matter how many time I work on things like variables, controls and constants, it's hard for students to understand these concepts without some hands on experience. Two or three times a year I have students complete, what I call, an Inquiry Project. In this project, students get the opportunity to develop their own problem/question to investigate.
I help students to develop a problem/question and then they are to write the hypothesis, procedures and materials by themselves. In addition, I provide them with some analysis questions asking things about variables and constants.
Below are some pictures of some of the activities that my students were conducting.
How does the amount of baking soda effect how much carbon dioxide is produced when mixed with vinegar?
How does the number of mentos effect how big the explosion is when mixed with diet coke?
This weekend I made a presentation about Augmented Reality in the science classroom. Everyone seemed to really be excited about using these apps in their classroom. I've posted my presentation below that you can benefit from it as well! Most of these apps are available for both Android and Apple.
For those of you who aren't familiar with augmented reality, it's a way to superimpose a computer generated image onto a real world experience. I know this doesn't explain it very well, so I suggest you download one of the apps and try it out. Here is a quick video demonstrating one of my favorite apps Anatomy 4D.
This past week my students have been working on a 3 day long crime scene scenario. The students had a blast doing it. I wish I could share the kit with you but it seems that the website is no longer active (I've made some inquiries to see if it's still be offered). It was a kit called Crime Scene Kids - Anatomy of a Death. What I like about it is that makes students think critically. There are some red herrings in there too to throw them off. This scenario has students reading and analyzing witness testimony, listing to answering machine message, shoe print, fingerprint and handwriting analysis and some "chemical" analyses.
I hope to be able to update this post with a link to the fun activity. Maybe this is an opportunity for me to create my own crime scene activity to share with all of you!
Do your students enjoy crime scene activities? Do you have a fun one to share?
Density is a topic that always shows up on our state test and one that students seem to always have trouble with. These labs were developed to help students understand density as well as practice their skills determining mass and volume. Students will have the chance to use a balance to determine mass as well as determine volume with a ruler, graduated cylinder and an overflow can. As with everything I have created I wanted to share it with you! (it's free for the next 24 hours).
I hope you find this helpful. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to e-mail me.
The Laboratory Safety Institute (LSI) was founded to provide safety training for secondary school science teachers.
LSI is hosting a webinar entitled "How to Create a More Effective Lab Safety Program." It will be held on Febrarary 10th from 7-8pm EST. To register go to:
Take a look at this post from BrainPop about how they are connecting primary sources to their movies. Right now about 20 of their videos have primary sources attached to them, but more are being added. To access the primary sources simply click on the activities icon from the main topic page and then you'll see a tab for primary sources. Once you are on that page there is a worksheet that you can print out and then a link to the primary source. If you take a look at the images below you will see the link on the Galileo page to the primary source, which in this case happens to be another quick video to watch. I think this is a great way to connect subject areas. Many students associate primary source documents with Social Studies, but now they can see that primary sources are in all subject areas
Have you heard that OSHA is moving away from Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) to Safety Data Sheets (SDS)? Lab Out Loud, the NSTA podcast, had a great podcast about it. On the page there are also several other resources. Another great resource comes from Flinn Scientific. They have a great site that provides free online safety training. On the site there is a link to the GHS training. This will go over the important information about the transition.
By December 2013 school were supposed to provide training to all teachers and staff about the transition. Just in case your school didn't, the Flinn training only takes 20 minutes and provide you with a Certificate of Completion for your records.
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