Science Education Idea Exchange

Here are the latest and greatest wrapping up the cells activities for MS-LS1 and the new activities for MS-PS2 activities. Cells MS-LS1-7 Fermentation Class Demonstration Lab : The fermentation demonstration lab uses yeast to demonstrate how the organism releases energy from sugar and creating carbon dioxide, similar to cellular respiration. The lab will be completed in one class period. Background in cellular respiration is best for the completion of the lab. MS-LS1-8 Five Senses Project : Students will take the role of teacher as they research how one of the five senses works with the nervous system and what happens when there is a disease. They will create a lesson with a worksheet and activity for their classmates to complete. Forces MS-PS2-1 Egg Carton Redesign using Newton's Third Law :  This eggcellent activity uses eggs to demonstrate Newton's Third Law of Motion. Students design an egg carton to protect the egg from a collision with the floor. After testing their desig...

Maybe this is one of the few times you will see cells and mountains associated. Either way, I have put out products on both. Cells Who Am I? Cells Vocabulary Review Game All About Cells Lesson Plans and Review Games Bundle MS-LS1-1 Characteristics of Life Forensic Activity MS-LS1-2 Cells: Structure and Function Activities MS-LS1-3 Body System and Disease Project MS-LS1-4 Plant and Their Pollinators Activity for Adaptations MS-LS1-5 Plant Growth Factors Experiment (Acquired Traits) MS-LS1-6 Photosynthesis in Freshwater Plant Lab Mountains and Earth Science MS-ESS1-4: Mountain Range History Activity Students will look at three pieces of information on their mountain range (Himalayas, Rocky Mountains, and Andes) to try to guess the age of the mountains. Background information on Pangea and more recent plate movements is provided. Next, students sketch the location of their mountain range. Finally, students examine evidence and interpret its meaning. The evidence includes isotopes, fossils...

I have a few atoms and physical science based products that are new to my store. 1.  MS-PS1-1: Atomic Structure Activity- Building Molecules This activity would serve best as an introduction to atoms and matter. Day one consists of students learning how atoms bond to form molecules using the premade model. On day two, students create their model to make an assigned molecule. In a pinch, day one could be a print-and-go activity. Students could cut apart their atoms in class to save prep time. Standards/Objectives: ✅NGSS: MS-PS1-1 This product includes the following activities: ⚪Looking at patterns ⚪Creating molecules ⚪Creating molecule models 2.  MS-PS1-2 Poisonous Pee Chemical Reaction Lab Students examine whether chemicals are safe to use as a cleaner on toilets to learn about chemical reactions. Their task is to help OSHA determine what cleaners are safe for a fictitious school to use and what should be investigated further. Background knowledge of chemical reactions is best...

  I have two new ecology that I posted last month! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/MS-LS2-Ecology-Unit-Lesson-Plans-12001210 This MS-LS 2 ecology package is all the lesson plans for ecosystems and populations at a discounted rate! The bundle includes a student packet ready for printing (color and black-and-white), answer keys, teacher printouts for activities, lesson assessments, unit assessments, phenomena, labs, materials lists, extended projects, and more! The topics covered (click for individual lesson plans): Resource Availability & Carrying Capacity Symbiotic Relationships: Competition, Predator/Prey, Mutualism Cycling Matter & Energy Abiotic and Biotic Influences Conservation and Methods to Maintain Biodiversity The lesson plans for approximately 32 days are detailed and could be copy and pasted to share with your administration. ***Most lessons can easily be adapted to distance learning and homeschooling. Standards/Objectives: ✅NGSS: MS-LS2-1, MS-LS2-2, ...

It's time for back-to-school safety! This booklet is a print-and-go activity (or simply upload to a student portal as a PDF) for lab safety. Students read through and make choices on how to be safe in the lab. When they make incorrect choices, they come to a "Reteaching" page that describes the lab safety rule. Students are congratulated on acting safely when they have successfully navigated the lab scenario. This could be used as an introduction to safety protocols, but would likely be better used as a review activity at the beginning of the school year. This product includes the following safety rules: ⚪disposal of solids ⚪no food or drink in lab ⚪entering the lab ⚪broken glassware disposal ⚪retrieving heated glassware ⚪hot glassware & cold water ⚪chemical contamination (replacing excess into the original container) ⚪chipped/cracked glassware ⚪smelling chemicals ⚪safety goggles ⚪cutting with scalpels  

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 just finished adding materials for all five standards to help engage students in learning about ecosystems. The bundle of resources comes at a discount and can be found here ! The resources included are simulations, projects, and labs.  Stay tuned for my part II birthday escape room and projects for heredity!

 I am currently working on writing lesson plans for MS-LS2-4. I decided to offer a lab I created for the lesson plans as a stand-alone. You can find it here !

I am sorry that it's been a while since my last post. We are in the process of moving and I have a little. It's busy! I finished my lesson plans on cellular respiration for NGSS in middle school. You can check it out here . The lesson plan bundle includes a couple labs, graphic organizers, and activities to help students understand the function of cellular respiration.

I am excited to announce the completion of my lesson plan bundle on photosynthesis on my Teachers Pay Teachers store! (Below are some clipart examples from the bundle.) In it, you'll find two labs, a WebQuest, kinesthetic activity, critical thinking question to assess understanding, and a goofy game to get students scrambling to find pieces of photosynthesis. My eventual plan is to finish up the MS-LS1 and have a unit plan ready to go for the next school year.  The lesson plans can be adapted to student learning at home- save for the labs, when students would need supplies like plant seeds and test tubes.

I am proud to announce that I have created lesson plans over the NGSS standards for middle school life science on Molecules to Organisms for 7th grade. You can find the lesson plans for the substring one and two here. To provide you with an idea of what in includes, I have screenshots of some of the table of contents for the two of them. For MS-LS1-1, I included a lab where students try to create a working definition of life. This is hard for students. There are resources to help guide them toward it while looking at examples of living and nonliving things. MS-LS1-1  MS-LS1-2 includes a lab that my students have really enjoyed as well as readings to help build their understanding of cells. Students will create a cell analogy to further demonstrate their understanding of cell structures and functions. MS-LS1-2 Both include a critical thinking question to assess student understanding over the standard. I have allowed my students to research the question to help formu...

There are many free websites that I have stumbled upon that share free ideas.  Here is a couple valuable ones, no matter your subject. http://sciencespot.net/ : Labs, PowerPoint, and worksheets http://www.biologycorner.com/ : Labs, worksheets, pictures, and video worksheets http://www.mysciencebox.org/ : Unit plans with excellent ideas for photosynthesis/cellular respiration and others  http://science-class.net/ : Resources for middle school teachers such as lab ideas for many subjects