Savvy Secondary Science Newsletter

Over the years I have been collecting resources that others have shared opening.  I have since created a Google Folder for all secondary science areas and levels.  If you sign up to received my monthly newsletter you can get get access to these folders.  If you have anything to add to these folders I would love to have you share it with me so I can add it.

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42 Awesome YouTube channels for your Science Classroom

Monica Martinez created a list of YouTube channels that are great for science teachers.  She took educator submissions and put all of the suggestions into a playlist.  What's even better is that this spreadsheet includes lists for other subjects as well, so go ahead and share this post with other teachers.  There are also edtech playlists so check those out for your technology needs.

If you have a great channel suggestions, Monica welcome suggestions and we could grow this list past 42!

I hope you all are enjoying the end of your school year and I Hope you have a great summer!!

Looking for Teachers for an Evolution unit pilot

I received this e-mail last week and wanted to share it with any of you who are Biology teachers. It sounds really cool and all of your expenses are paid for (including travel). If any of you go, I would love to hear about your experiences.

Dear Teachers- As you are working to close out another school year, we are looking ahead to the next! The Genetic Science Learning Center has developed an NGSS-aligned unit on Evolution for high school Biology and is seeking teachers to pilot test the unit during the 2016-2017 academic year. This exciting new six-week unit utilizes real data, science practices and cross-cutting concepts to explore the shared biochemistry of life, common ancestry, heredity, natural selection, and speciation. Pilot Testing will involve: Attending an expenses-paid training in Salt Lake City, UT July 26-29, 2016 Using the six week unit with 2 or more general biology classes during the 2016-2017 academic year A $600 stipend upon completion of the Pilot Test For more information and to apply visit: https://www.research.net/r/evolution2016 Application deadline is May 15. Questions? Contact Molly Malone, GSLC Sr. Education Specialist Thank you for your consideration, The Genetic Science Learning Center

Get organized with a planner

I always feel like I have a million things going on and I have trouble focusing on what needs to get done and what is just fun to do.  I now have two planners: one I use for personal stuff that I carry around with me and another I use for school related stuff that stays on my desk at school.  I have recently started decorating my personal planner with some functional stickers that help me organize my thoughts.  I was contacted by the great people at Oh Hello Co about doing a blog post about how I could use their stickers in a school planner.  I love their stickers and use them in my personal planner so I decided that they would be great in my school planner as well.  Below is a quick video on how I plan a week in my school planner.  If you are interested in checking out these stickers, click on this affiliate link that will take you to their shop.  As a thank you, you will get $5 off your first order.

What do you do to stay organized? 

Disclaimer: Links used in this post are afflilate links. 

Earth's Motion Stations

When I teach Earth's motion to my 8th grade students, they think they understand it, but often get confused.  Rotation and revolution confuses them and I have to battle their misconceptions on the reason that we have seasons.  I have put together 10 different activities for my students and created a rotation for them to move through them.  Not all students will do all ten stations as it depends on their level.  My high achieving students will get to all ten of the stations, but my lower achieving students will only get to six.  This allows me to challenge the students who can grasp the material quickly and still give other students who need it, the extra time they'll need.

My ten stations include several worksheets, a mini lab and notes on Earth's Motion and the Seasons that I record videos of so students can watch at their own pace and rewind when needed.

One resource I came across after I taught these lessons was a common core aligned reading followed with comprehension questions about seasons.  You can find it here.   Some of the items I made myself and have posted them online.  I find that the kids really like Reasons for the Seasons station as they get get to talk to other teachers as part of it. 

A STEM Giveaway - science and math products to win!

I have teamed up some other Science and Math teachers to do a fun giveaway.  There are several choices of prizes and you can choose to enter to win one or more of the prizes.  I hope that you are the winner!  This giveaway ends on March 28th.


a Rafflecopter giveaway


image from https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicasaurusrex/5586764199 

A Twist on the typical Cell Project

Each year I do a cell project with my middle school students during our unit on cells.  Students, in groups, are charged with creating a 3D model of a cell.  The twist is that the organelles can't be represented as they actually look, but must be represented as their function.  For example, the mitochondrion might be represented as a power plant because the mitochondrion converts energy stored in food into ATP for cells.

You can get a copy of this project for free on TPT and TES.