Science Education Idea Exchange

While subbing, I learned of this app called Notability. The district has a paid subscription for students to use on their devices, and it's saved so many trees! Students can edit PDFs their teacher shares with them. Instead of printed copies of worksheets and note sheets, students write directly on them and submit their work to their teachers. I have not yet explored whether it can be used on secured PDFs, but I believe so. If you know, can you comment below? The free account is limited but worth exploring if your students are one-to-one with devices.

I have seen a couple of parents and teachers using this online tool. It's a wheel of names for random selection. Type the names in the text box, and off you go!

Enchanted Learning is an old website that I relied on as a new teacher years ago. I cannot believe they still have it up and running! The nice thing is that you can create worksheets from the website and it includes answer keys. The downside is that it won't be pretty without time and effort.

This is another one of those posts that I'm not sure why I have not written about it before! As a new teacher, I did not have a PLC for the first few years. There were some ideas I was able to borrow from teachers in my building, but I had to create my curriculum. That's where Pinterest became a huge time saver! How it works: Add the Chrome extension - as long as a picture is on the website you would like to save, you can create a brand-new pin. Download the app to your phone- sift through already created pins when you have downtime to get inspired. Use the website - You can create new pins like you would with a browser extension and find existing pins. It's easier to organize your pins, send pins, and add collaborators on the website (in my opinion). You can check out my science board here for some ideas I love and have been inspired by. You will also notice some of my creations as well.

I saw a video on Facebook about creating Google Slides from a YouTube  video. I was intrigued.  Brisk is a Chrome Extension that has free and paid portions. Because I'm just curious, I signed up for the free account. Below is what the first screen looked like. I tried the "AI Presentation Maker" and the one little task I completed blew me away. I told it to make a rubric for a specific science standard and it created one within seconds. It is not perfect, but with editing, it could be ready-to-go. What a time saver! I am excited to check out some of the other features on this.

 I have been using Canva  for a couple years and while I was subbing, I was reminded of how awesome this website is! Even students love it. With a free subscription, you can create presentations, videos, images and more! There are templates available for educators. When you're done, you can download or share your creation. A membership is currently running just under $15/month. It would be a worthwhile investment if the free subscription was not enough, but there is already so much available!

One tool that offers a free introduction to try is Educreations . It allows you to create and share videos with your students. It is user-friendly and now has the capability to be shared on Google Classroom and Remind. This is especially ideal for a flipped and self-paced classrooms, as well as distance learning. The drawback is there is not too much storage on the free version, maybe a couple videos at most.

 I would occasionally find use Google Forms to differentiate assessment or provide choices for students. For Example, growing up I love the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books and have created some for my students. Creating a branching Google Form allows you to do that. Here are instructions on how to do so: 1. Have your information already created for the branching Form and open a blank Google Form. 2. Type your first question in and offer two or more solutions for the students to pick form.  3. Click the three dots at the bottom of the question and select "Go to section based on answer". 4. Click on the button that looks like an equals sign twice to add two new sections that will correspond to your question number one answer. 5. Next to your original question answers, there is an option to direct the students to a specific section based on their answer.  6. For each answer, select the correct section students should be directed to from their answer. 7. Add a questio...

 I found this website many years ago and was recently reminded of it. EdHeads has a few free simulations dealing with STEM topics, like simple machines. They are currently working on expanding their resources, so they are definitely worth following!

I am kind of obsessed with this and wanted to share more resources and places to get you started, if you're interested. I have made a few more templates that can be downloaded from my TPT store by clicking here . I'll admit, they are nothing like the resources you can find created by other people. Please follow me and leave honest feedback, if you do. :) As for other resources, I found a Facebook group called Bitmoji Craze for Educators . There are many ideas shared and some free templates and how-to instructions. Check it out!

Bitmoji Classroom is a newer phenomenon that teachers are sprucing up materials they share with their students. It utilizes Google Classroom and Google Slides. The video below is a great tutorial on how to make one and he includes free templates. I have made one for an art teacher friend and it is available for free on my Teachers Pay Teachers site. A preview is below.

Wizer.Me  is a free resource for teachers to create their own worksheets and share them with students, either on Google Classroom or by a link with a code. There are several worksheets created by other teachers that you can duplicate. The worksheets can have matching, tables, multiple-choice questions just to name a few. (Think of it as a prettier Google Form.) It will even grade the worksheet for you!

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 think Jamboard might be my favorite collaborative response tool. It was created by Google, so if your students use Google Classroom, it has many features they are familiar with already. In real-time, groups of students/teachers can edit a screen. You can add text, pictures, and scribbles. Once the group is done, the board can be saved and downloaded. I used this to generate class ideas and would project it on the board as students were working. With distance learning, this could be a useful tool for students to outline a project plan of attack. I have not figured out a way to track who creates what. I wish there was an edit history like Docs, Sheets, and Slides, but there is not. If you have found either of these things, please let me know.

Padlet  is a free online resource that students can post answers, links, and pictures to a teacher-created question. The teacher creates the Padlet by choosing a background, choosing a posting format, and writing the topic for students. When the Padlet is ready, it can be shared with students on Google Classroom or by providing the link. Some things to be aware of: posts are anonymous, so students may get into mischief the number of Padlets on the free account is limited Since it's real-time editing, it may be overwhelming for some students to view

Mentimeter  is a free teacher resource that allows you to survey a group and create real-time data. The teacher poses a question and posts the code for students to use to cast their votes on a cellphone or other wifi-enabled device. I used it for classroom management at the beginning of the year. I would ask students to list attributes that make a great classmate. I set it up to create a word cloud of their responses and would tell them that this would be our class contract with one another. It is definitely eye-catching for students. Some downsides to this is that there is no way to tell who gave what response. Also, the free account has a limited number of surveys you can create and save. (A workaround is to delete old surveys when you don't need them.)

I love TabCloud! Summary : Chrome Extension that will save and name your webpages. I am the type of person that will have several tabs open as I work on projects. Rarely do I finish the project before I need to walk away from my computer. By using TabCloud, I was able to easily save all the pages I had open before I leave. I could even have groups of tabs from different projects saved. For example, I am working on my STEM class. I would have a STEM Tab Cloud. I would also be working on 7th grade science. My second TabCloud would be cells. You get the idea.

Summary: Create videos that students watch and are asked questions as they view the video. Advantages:  EdPuzzle communicates with Google Classroom and can be assigned to students through it.  Students can watch videos at their own pace.  The video will pause if the students click off the screen. There are several videos already created by other teachers that you can modify and save to fit your needs. Helps with e-Learning since you can create an interactive lesson for your students. Collaborating with other teachers in your building is easy. Disadvantages: I have not figured out how to record their scores for the videos, if that is something you are interested in. Use: 1. Create your account and search for videos on whatever topic you're interested in. (You can also upload your own video to start from scratch.) 2. When you select a video, you have the option to edit, copy, assign, or share. Editing- allows you to modify the video to your needs ...

Book Creator  is a free website for teachers to use with their students. Summary : Create digital books for projects by sharing a code to join the teacher's online library. Strengths: It's free and intuitive. Rarely did students have questions on how to use the website. Limitations : There are limited numbers of books that you can make. It was not enough for me to have  every student make a book. I offered it as an option to create projects. Set-up: 1. Sign in. 2. Share the code with students. Students will be prompted to choose a book format. From there, they can add pictures, text, and backgrounds.

If you have not heard of Screencastify, you're in for a treat! Summary : Screencastify allows to record your voice, computer screen, and face while making free videos that upload to your Google Drive. You can add it to your Google Chrome by searching the App Store. There's a little bit of set-up before your initial use. Go through step-by-step to get started. Use: You can jump past the first minute if you do not need help going through the permissions.