Science Education Idea Exchange

As a secondary teacher, it is no secret that students forget to write their names on their projects and papers. (This has become less of an issue with digital submissions.) As a young teacher, I witnessed a genius tactic for dealing with all those lost souls: the "no name" folder. Photo by Wahid Khene on Unsplash On my bulletin board, I stapled a file folder with the large label "No Name." Papers were placed in the folder with a label of when it was received and the period, if possible. (I had separate turn-in spots for each class.) When students and parents would ask where they could look, I had one spot! Here are some pro-tips: Do not grade an item until the name has been assigned . This is for two reasons: students will not try to claim an assignment that was not theirs for a good grade. Secondly, it provides privacy to the student who forgot to write their name . Circle the name spot so if there is a question on why something was late being graded

  This freebie comes from a brand new store called The Aussie Science Teacher . Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash This poster would be great to have on the wall in your classroom year-round. There are two formats to choose from, but both include a labeled graph and instructions for titling the graph. There's even a mnemonic device to help students remember what to include in their graphs. Check it out here !

 I am working on completing activities for all of the NGSS PS1 standards, so stay tuned! For now, here is a new one that I created: MS-PS1-4: Phase Change Models for States of Matter S tudents create a model drawing of phase changes for a pure chemical. There are two templates to make the states of matter models. It can be printed or designed into a slide presentation (instructions included). This activity assumes they already know about atoms, states of matter, and thermal energy. The activity included is no-prep. Simply upload or print the materials and go! Included are: Teacher's guide with suggested chemicals and chemical boiling/melting points (secured PDFs) Graphing Model Template and instructions (secured PDF) Drawing Model Template and instructions (secured PDF) Standards/Objectives: ✅NGSS: MS-PS1-4 In the life science camp, I ha ve my  Genetics Vocabulary Note Sheet . The genetics note sheet has key terms for beginning a heredity unit. Students color and label information

I don't remember if I learned about this strategy independently or in professional development, but I love "My Favorite No" from the Teaching Channel. Here's how it works: Ask students to write responses to a quick check-for-understanding question on index cards. Sort through the answers to select a common mistake. Share it with the students, reminding them it's your favorite no. Ask students to identify what the mystery student did right. Finally, ask what errors students notice and explain why the answer is incorrect. At first, my students found it uncomfortable. No one likes to feel like they are being called out. I made sure not to name anyone. In hindsight, I could have asked them to leave the cards without names. Eventually, students found it a great learning tool and a way to self-check. Click here to read the original article and see the video. Photo by Brandi Redd on Unsplash

The freebie I found today is from a veteran seller, Sandy's Science . They created an activity surrounding layers of the earth. Included in this limited-time download is: a crossword, charts, and labeling worksheet. Photo by NASA on Unsplash What I love: This is high quality! the layout is appealing with graphics and text there are answer keys included black-and-white and color versions are available an online version of the crossword helpful hints for the teacher (such as printing layout) The seller has told me this resource will be free for a limited time. Check it out!