Science Education Idea Exchange

Here are a couple of the latest additions! Thanksgiving Escape Puzzle Room Celebrate Thanksgiving and the fall in style! This escaped room is designed with four different codes (numerical, letter, and directional) hidden in puzzles and visual clues that lead to a hint to where the cooked turkey has been stashed. Students are setting up for their family to come over for Thanksgiving. The clues and distractors are in PDF format to be printed off and distributed around a room with minimal additional work on your part. The instructions tells you how the clues are solved, the code, and where it leads to next. Genetics Punnett Square Inheritance Logic Puzzle This print-and-go logic puzzle allows students to practice understanding inheritance patterns and vocabulary by sorting three people and their phenotypes. They should have prior exposure to the terms hybrid, purebred, homozygous, and heterozygous. The types of inheritance reviewed are single Mendelian, incomplete, and codominance. The se...

Students missing class is inevitable. Being organized will help save time, effort, and frustration. My solution was to have an absent/extra bin in my classroom. Photo by Feliphe Schiarolli on Unsplash The set-up: A large crate that can hold hanging files 5 or more laminated sheets with absent information (Ideas listed below) 6 Labeled folders with the days of the week and " Older " Laminated Sheet with "Absent/Extra Classwork" in large font Wet erase marker How to do it: In my first class, I have a trustworthy student with neat handwriting who fills out the form using the wet-erase marker. The completed form is placed in the corresponding hanging folder along with the worksheets . I clean off the form for the next day so it can dry overnight. Any worksheets left over are placed in the "Older" folder. Laminated Absent Information Form: There are many options on Teachers Pay Teachers that can be downloaded or you can create your own. Information to inc...

This week, I found a reading and writing resource on heat transfer created by A Dad's Classroom . Included in the PDF is the reading, two pages of questions, a KWL chart, and an answer key. I love that the questions are in a variety of styles to allow students to demonstrate their understanding of the reading. This could serve as a great introduction to conduction . Download your copy here ! Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash

 I worked on creating new bundle s   and here is where you can find them: Birthday I and Online Birthday Escape Puzzle Room Birthday II and Online Birthday Escape Puzzle Room All three Birthday Escape Puzzle Rooms Build You Own (pictured above)- You can choose items from my store to bundle together NGSS MS-PS1 Activities on Atoms and Matter Since I have the NGSS MS-PS1 Bundle, that means standards 5 and 6 are done! See more information about them below. MS-PS1-5:  Conservation of Matter Chemical Reaction Model Students create a model of a chemical reaction to show how atoms are conserved. This activity assumes students already are familiar with atoms, and it would pair best with a mini lesson on the Law of Conservation of Matter. The lesson starts off with a brief demonstration and a kinesthetic activity to show how matter is not created or destroyed. MS-PS1-6: Thermal Energy and Deicing Project In this project on thermal energy and chemicals, students choose an effecti...

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 informa...

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!