Science Education Idea Exchange

Generation Genius  is a website funded by the NSTA. The science materials cost $225/year. The website looks comprehensive in terms of resources and reminds me of PBS Kids. It offers videos, activities, readings, and assessments on different topics. I am too cheap to sign up for it now, but you can try it out for free for a month to see if it's a good fit for you.

This resource is amazing!  SWSmith Books , a new store, has worked hard to create differentiated science readings.  This  is one of many stories they have available. They are a 6th and 7th-grade teacher who wanted to have readings that don't make students feel inadequate when it comes to reading. They include a glossary, leveled readings, and vocabulary words that  stand  out for ease of implementation. This specific resource on Darwin is 58 pages with small chapters on the history of Darwin's trip to the Galapagos Islands. There are "words to know" at the beginning of each chapter and review questions at the end. The answer key is included. If you like the resource, you can purchase the bundle for the tiered levels. Photo by  Hulki Okan Tabak  on  Unsplash They also have their  website,  if you're interested in looking at their books and novels.

I finished the next objective lesson plans called:  MS-PS1-3 Natural to Synthnetic Materials Lesson Plans . I added a brief introductory activity and a critical thinking to round out the research project. See below for more information: Students learn what it means to have synthetic materials versus natural ones in a jigsaw activity. Afterward, they are assigned a synthetic material to research costs, benefits, and uses. They will demonstrate their understanding by creating a finished product and answering a critical thinking question. The six-day lesson plans included can be shared digitally with students. The project is no prep! Simply upload or print the materials and go!  

I love using phenomena in my lesson plans!  I have heard it called similar names  like  discrepant events, anchors, and engagement  to name a few . In my search for ideas, I found this website,  The Wonder of Science . They have done all the hard work of gathering videos and ideas . Their website is categorized by age and type of science. They even have created a master list of the website phenomena. Pair this with my freebie  NGSS lesson planning template  and you're ready  to go ! Photo by  Alex  on  Unsplash

DewWool is a newer store with many free online resources! I found the " Root Structure " diagram and thought it was too good not to share.  This is for you if you need resources for students to label structures. (It also includes math and elementary education resources.) The resources appear to be simple and easy to use. One downfall, because it's free, is there are advertisements. I know this was a concern with the last school I worked at students: viewing unapproved materials via popup ads. Photo by  おにぎり  on  Unsplash

I am still revamping and adding cute clipart to my resources. But, I did create my MS-PS1-2 lesson plans with portions of them available separately. Here is the description of the lesson plans: These chemical reaction lesson plans have activities to help students create and gain a basic understanding of physical and chemical changes. They start with an introductory phenomenon on changes. Next, students have research, stations, and a lab to understand the objective better. Two assessments are included: a CER and a critical thinking question about physical and chemical changes.