Science Education Idea Exchange

I saw a video on Facebook about creating Google Slides from a YouTube  video. I was intrigued.  Brisk is a Chrome Extension that has free and paid portions. Because I'm just curious, I signed up for the free account. Below is what the first screen looked like. I tried the "AI Presentation Maker" and the one little task I completed blew me away. I told it to make a rubric for a specific science standard and it created one within seconds. It is not perfect, but with editing, it could be ready-to-go. What a time saver! I am excited to check out some of the other features on this.

Here's a a couple new products I put a little over a month ago.  Over 8 class periods, students learn about agencies and methods to protect biodiversity to meet NGSS MS-LS2-5 . Throughout the plans are opportunities for students to conclude on best conservation practices. The simulation is run by checking restocking, catch, and release, and limiting licenses against a control. Students share data as a class to get averages to look at the success of all three methods. Finally, after creating a graph, students complete a Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) over their findings. The project will have students conducting research, engineering a design, and evaluating competing designs over six or more 45-minute class periods. The objective is to evaluate competing designs for maintaining biodiversity. There are colored and blackline copies of the student packet as a secured PDF. There is also a secured PDF with the teacher's guide with answer keys and lesson plans. Standards/Objectives:

I found this neat free resource from 4LoveofLearning on Teacher's Pay Teachers. They created a list of helpful hints for starting off the school year right. Click here to get your free copy. Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash Why I love it: Being a new teacher is overwhelming. They provide specific things to implement and scenarios on how to handle behaviors like a pro. I couldn't tell you how long it took me to remember to "not pick up the rope". This is just one piece of advice amongst many. Check it out and leave feedback and a review to help their store grow!

How have I never posted about this amazing website before?!?  PhET has offered free simulations for many years. I just recently subbed in a class that was utilizing the density lab. What I love about it: It's free! Models of situations that would be impossible to show your students otherwise Ease of use Many models available Reliable- As mentioned before, their website has been running and updated for many years.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/the-inquisitive-tortoise 

Start off the school year right! These lesson plans include answers, handouts to help convert the metric system, practice problems, and a student-choice project. The project at the end has suggestions for differentiation, and all students create some product to demonstrate they understand unit conversions. Click the link above to see the new product. This product includes the following activities: ⚪Pennies, Dimes & Dollars ⚪Metric System Problems ⚪Conversion Practice Project   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Metric-System-Lesson-Plans-11856800 I have bundled it as well with my Density and Water Lab so you can save 30%. Click here to see it.

I found this website in my quest for new tools and simulations. It's called Gizmos . The screenshot below shows their photosynthesis activity.  The simulations are reminiscent of PhET from the University of Colorado Boulder . They look amazing, but I do not have a paid account to delve into it. You can look at the simulations for up to five minutes per day without an account. After that, you must sign up for an account. The free trial is offered for a limited time before a paid subscription is required. What other resources have you found?

After months without a new upload, I am proud to announce: a new density lab is ready! It has students create a procedure to determine the density of water. Ideally, it would be right after lessons on measuring volume, mass, and length so the units are fresh in students' minds. But, it should come before they have a deep understanding of density as an introductory activity.  Meanwhile, I continue to work on updating my store. I would say I'm over 75% of the way there. The goal is to be complete in time for school to start up again.

I saw this awesome idea years ago and unfortunately cannot remember where. (If you know, please comment with the links below!) During lessons about forces and friction, have students design the sole of a shoe!   Photo by Ox Street on Unsplash First, have students create sketches of ideas for the sole textures they want to try. Then, on a cardboard shoe cutout, have students cut pieces of foam and glue them to the bottom of the cutout. They can measure the friction created by dragging their shoe by a spring scale across the floor or table. Just a plain cardboard shoe could serve as a control. Ask students to consider what applications for shoes would high friction work best and where would less friction be better.

For many years, we used the PBS website on photosynthesis as a webquest to give our students background information. It does a great job of explaining the process thoroughly. We easily spent a class period exploring and would regroup on the information the students learned. Check out this classic!