Science Education Idea Exchange

I finished the next objective lesson plans called:  MS-PS1-3 Natural to Synthnetic Materials Lesson Plans . I added a brief introductory activity and a critical thinking to round out the research project. See below for more information: Students learn what it means to have synthetic materials versus natural ones in a jigsaw activity. Afterward, they are assigned a synthetic material to research costs, benefits, and uses. They will demonstrate their understanding by creating a finished product and answering a critical thinking question. The six-day lesson plans included can be shared digitally with students. The project is no prep! Simply upload or print the materials and go!  

I love using phenomena in my lesson plans!  I have heard it called similar names  like  discrepant events, anchors, and engagement  to name a few . In my search for ideas, I found this website,  The Wonder of Science . They have done all the hard work of gathering videos and ideas . Their website is categorized by age and type of science. They even have created a master list of the website phenomena. Pair this with my freebie  NGSS lesson planning template  and you're ready  to go ! Photo by  Alex  on  Unsplash

I am still revamping and adding cute clipart to my resources. But, I did create my MS-PS1-2 lesson plans with portions of them available separately. Here is the description of the lesson plans: These chemical reaction lesson plans have activities to help students create and gain a basic understanding of physical and chemical changes. They start with an introductory phenomenon on changes. Next, students have research, stations, and a lab to understand the objective better. Two assessments are included: a CER and a critical thinking question about physical and chemical changes.

 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 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, ...

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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 lesson plans can be found here . 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: ✅NGSS: MS-LS2-5 This product inc...

These lesson plans include activities to build background knowledge on ecological abiotic and biotic factors, and how they impact the environment. Students will practice their knowledge in a simulation of the impact of fishing and a class debate over the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers. There is a long-term project to measure the effect of the use of fertilizer on water. 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 and materials for a matching activity. This product includes the following activities: ⚪Forest Fire Probe ⚪ Algae & Fertilizer Lab  (can be purchased separately) ⚪Ecosystem Influence Matching Activity ⚪Invasive Impact Report ⚪DNR Simulation ⚪Nitrogen Fertilizer Use Debate

Starting tomorrow, I will be participating in the sale! You can save up to 25% when you use the code #BTSBONUS24. Check it out !

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Students will practice converting units and finding ratios to engineer a working model of a solar eclipse . During the project, students will research solar eclipses, make calculations, brainstorm, build, and test their designs. This product includes the following activities: ⚪Research ⚪Calculations ⚪ Brainstorm ⚪Design ⚪Build & Test ⚪Redesign ⚪Critical Thinking Question

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: ...

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 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.

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash  I know I dreaded being gone last minute and not having something that could be done by a guest teacher. Now that I am a guest teacher, I appreciate when teachers are organized and allow me to teach a mini lesson. With this in mind, I thought about 11 different units/categories I taught in middle school. I create stand alone lesson plans for each that don't require too many materials and background knowledge to complete. You can find it here .

 I finished creating my Crazy Creature Traits for the NGSS standard MS-LS3-2 on variation amongst asexual and sexual organisms. As a result, I was also able to create a discounted  bundle with both projects over the standard.

I am going to have a sale on all my items on my store today and tomorrow!

 I read this article  from Edutopia on using advertisements to teach scientific literacy. Why not? We are constantly bombarded by messages and do not stop often enough to examine what it means. For example, you could spend time on the philosophy of science and discussing what are acceptable rates for certain symptoms from a drug? When do the risks outweigh the benefits? What goes into getting a drug approved for the masses? I can't help but think of how timely this science is with concerns over vaccine safety.

After months of work, I finally completed another lesson plan bundle with the idea of project-based learning and engineering in mind.  Check it out !

 I have added a new lesson plan (a few months ago). The lesson plan bundle is over ecology and includes a long-term project over composting. Sorry I have been absent. I had an emergency hospital stay and have been trying to get things back in order. Amazing how life can change so quickly, isn't it? In order to celebrate my return and all of the hard things you do, I am also throwing a sale on my Teachers Pay Teachers for 20% of all of my items from October 8th to October 11th.