Science Education Idea Exchange

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Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash  I know I dreaded being gone last minute and not having something that could be done by a guest teacher. Now that I am a guest teacher, I appreciate when teachers are organized and allow me to teach a mini lesson. With this in mind, I thought about 11 different units/categories I taught in middle school. I create stand alone lesson plans for each that don't require too many materials and background knowledge to complete. You can find it here .

Photo by Julia Maior on Unsplash A few years back, I took a class from the University of Lincoln put on by the Groundwater Foundation . One of the presenters introduced us to her crumpled paper activity. Sadly, I don't remember the specifics but I will outline what I remember below. This activity provides a neat explanation of runoff. Materials: washable markers spray bottle with water paper Procedure:  In a small group, crumple a piece of paper. Color various regions on the crumpled paper:  city dump- red neighborhood that uses fertilizers  (etc) Take the spray bottle and saturate the paper so the markers run. Discuss observations: how does runoff lead to pollution of rivers and groundwater?  

I found my students struggled with technical and procedural writing. Many years ago, I adapted an activity my elementary school teacher had us complete: write a procedure for an alien on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich ! Hilarity ensued as my teacher acted as if she had never done it before. It was engaging and powerful. Photo by lilartsy on Unsplash When I had my students try this, they had to explain how to sharpen a pencil . They were frustrated when I started acting out their procedures, but the point was made: procedures need to be detailed so someone else can carry them out.

Another freebie is ready for you to download! I made a graphic organizer years ago for my students and you can find it here . This graphic organizer comes with the answer key and what you see pictured below.

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