Science Education Idea Exchange

I am excited to announce that I have been back at creating content. I updated the Interlocking Bricks  puzzle room with minor changes from the original.  Inspired by my husband and my childhood, I made a vintage video game themed one. There are tropes that pay homage to the original classics with a twist. Believe it or not, no electronics are needed to compete in this game.

 In science, there are so many opportunities to collaborate! I always tried to encourage my students to form pairs based on interests rather than previous friendships. Who knows who you might be missing out on? Here are some questions you could pose to your students to have them form new pairs relatively quickly: Candy Corn: Yes or No? Zombie or Vampire? Pirate or Ninja? Beaches or Mountains? Ice skating or Building a snowman? Listening to music or Reading a book? England or France? How many languages do you know? Video games or Computer games? Black licorice: Yes or No? Are hot dogs sandwiches: Yes or No? Superpower: Flying or Speed? Before they begin their work, they could have a chance to explain their answer to their partner. It would be a great way to break the ice. ***UPDATE: I made this into a freebie you can get here! ***

A few years ago, I heard a speaker talk about the importance of class culture by using humor. I implemented brain breaks that year and it was a hit! There are a couple options: 1. GoNoodle 2. YouTube Videos GoNoodle is a fun website that offers free videos to get students up and moving or calm and relaxed. My students did not get into it too much because I think they felt they were too cool to dance around. But, maybe you can get it to work for your classroom. My brain breaks evolved into silly YouTube videos. I started off the year with a few that I found and eventually, my students were submitting videos. It was a moment of pride when their video was viewed in class. Students talked about our brain breaks on evaluation forms, with their parents, and with their peers. It was a big hit! By having students submit videos, I was able to preview them and create a list for later use. I would remind students that videos could not contain anything with foul language, racist, religio...