Genetics Vocabulary Cart Sort This an activity for teachers to print and cut cards to give to students or groups. Students will sort the cards into a set. A set would include term - definition - example. Each set would consist of 3 cards. VOCABULARY TERMS ♦ Heterozygous ♦ Homozygous ♦ Punne...

Hello again friends! This year, I am piloting personalized learning in my new school! I have been very excited about learning ways to help my students work on becoming more independent and taking charge of their own learning. The journey to embracing personalized learning has been full of twists and turns, but I honestly think...Read More »

What is this organism? What characteristics does it have? To what other organisms is it similar? Is it a vertebrate or an invertebrate? What does it eat? What role does it play in an ecosystem? All biology teachers have particular topics that they really don't like to teach, and topics that we LOVE LOVE to teach. Teaching classification is a topic that I LOVE! Classification involves problem solving and critical thinking. Basically a taxonomist is a "living organism detective". I have two really fun activities that my students always enjoy. The first is called "Let's Learn to Use and Build a Dichotomous Key". This product teaches students all about dichotomous classification keys. Students will learn why classification is necessary, the definition of a dichotomous key, and how to use a dichotomous key. Students will analyze the included pictures of 7 different cone-bearing plants, using the included dichotomous key to classify them. Finally students will learn to construct a classification key of their own. Students are given pictures of 12 different primates and asked to make their own classification key. There are also 10 follow up questions for students to answer. The second activity that I love to do with my students is called "Let's Build A Cladogram". Cladistics is one of the newest trends in the modern classification of organisms. It shows the relationship between different organisms based on the presence or absence of characteristics called derived characters. In this activity, students will look at pictures of 7 different animals to determine if they possess certain derived characters. This data will then be used to build a cladogram. There are just so many fun things to do when teaching classification. I always have to make myself wrap up the unit and move on to a new topic!

Algebra resources for teaching and learning mathematics. Fun and visual resources for maths teachers and kids.

We are in the speed unit. I give my students the Speed Equation Triangle. This is so cool, especially for those kids not comfortable with algebraically rearranging equations. I got this from my Friend Mr. Lake at Buchanan High School. Mr. Lake tells me he got it in high school from our chemistry teacher Mr. Wentworth. Thank both of you. I hope this helps, Love to Teach and Teach with Passion Remember...It's not Magic, It's Science http://qp.clovisusd.k12.ca.us/rey_kinney [email protected]

I always believe students need to have fun in science. Of course, not all the time. But, there needs to be an element of fun. This is especially true when we teach science skills like CER. CER stands for Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning, and it’s an awesome format for students to follow in order to…Read More →

Capturing your students’ interest and curiosity during the first few minutes of class is the key to keeping them engaged for your entire lesson. But not all math warm up activities are created equally. Math teachers miss out on activating their students’ critical thinking and reasoning skills when

Push and Pull Introduction to physics: Children are exploring how things move in the world around them. They will investigate how they can change the speed and direction of objects by exerting more or less strength. Objective: Children will investigate different forces, push versus pull, by thinking about how they can make an object move. Objective: Using soda bottles and a ball, children will discover that when objects collide they push on one another and can change motion. Objective: Children will experiment with changing the speed (using different strengths) and direction of an object by pushing or pulling it. Objective: Constructing a ramp, children will explore how they can increase the speed and distance of a matchbox car. Objective: Examining real world objects, children will sort objects into groups (push, pull, or both) using a Venn diagram. Introduction (Whole Group): First, connect motion to what the children already know. Ask them, How do we move? Have children raise their hand and demonstrate. Next, drop a stuffed animal on the ground. Ask students, How can I make the stuffed animal move? They will think about their past experiences with moving objects to derive an answer. Then, explain that a push and a pull are both forces. Force makes an object move or stop moving. When we push something, we are moving it away from us. When we pull something, we are moving it closer to us. [Act out motions: push = palms out, push away from body and pull = two fists on top of each other, pull toward body with students]. Brainstorm: Create a T-chart, write down objects that can be pushed or pulled (objects at home, in the classroom, on the playground). Small Group Instruction (Stations): PUSH: Soda Bottle Bowling: Children experiment with pushing a ball hard and soft to knock over soda bottles. They can compare a big push to a small push. What kind of push made the ball move the fastest? They will see how when objects collide (ball and soda bottle) they push on one another and can change motion. PULL: Chair Pulley: Loop a light weight rope around the back of two chairs. Hang a small basket within the loop to send back and forth by pulling. They will experiment with pulling the rope hard and soft. What kind of pull moved the basket the farthest? PUSH: Ramps and Matchbox Cars: Children create ramps using flat, rectangular wooden blocks and duplo legos. They will investigate how the height of a ramp can change how fast and far their matchbox car can go. They will also compare the distance and speed of the car on the ramp to using no ramp. PUSH / PULL: Sort: Put out a paper bag consisting of various real world objects. Children collaborate and sort the objects using a Venn diagram (hula hoops). Children distinguish the objects putting them into groups: push, pull, or both. PUSH / PULL / MOTION: Computer Games: Children play games to reinforce push, pull, and motion. Push: Piggy Push from Cool Math Games Pull: Hook the Fish from Cookie Motion: Josie Jump's Dance-athon from BBC Reinforcement / Closure (Return to Whole Group): Watch a video to reinforce pushes and pulls. For further reinforcement, the next day, have children go on a scavenger hunt and try to find things around the classroom that they can push and pull. Assessment Rubric

Here's to another Sunday spent planning. The goal for next week is to get a few things planned before the weekend comes! To make this po...

Students analyze examples of inherited traits and circle INHERITED or NOT INHERITED for each one. Adorable graphics from Thistlegirl Designs make studying genetics and heredity fun. Enough examples to use some in class, give some for homework, some for review and still have enough left over for extra help! Keys included. Use the colored pages as a laminated review set or as a center activity. Use the black and white grayscale pages for printable worksheets or homework assignments. Also included: Trading cards that commemorate the accomplishment of learning science standards! Kids LOVE trading cards. Perfectly sized for storage or collecting in a card sleeve in a binder. Boy and girl versions. And a blank template your students can add and draw examples of their own! Meets NGSS LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits © 2014 Terri Lester for Strawberry Shake. All rights reserved. Purchase of this unit entitles the purchaser the right to reproduce the pages in limited quantities for classroom use only. Duplication for an entire school, an entire school system or commercial purposes is strictly forbidden without written permission from the publisher. Copying any part of this product and placing it on the Internet in any form (even a personal/classroom website) is strictly forbidden and is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). If you like this pack, please try What Things are Living and Non-living? For animal classification and characteristics try Comparing Birds and Mammals and Comparing Reptiles and Mammals

So, I'll be the first to admit that science is just not my subject....I think I'm fairly decent at teaching it, but I just don't love it. Fortunately, I think I'm pretty good at tricking my kids into thinking otherwise by acting so excited about all the "neat" things we learn about. One of our units we do each year is heat--fun! fun! :) If you haven't noticed already, I am ALL about flipbooks and foldables! I LOVE them! It allows the kiddos to take notes without the torture of....well, just taking notes. It's amazing that you can just fold/cut paper different ways and add a few pictures and note taking becomes fun! There are 2 main concepts we cover when discussing heat: 1. What are the different ways heat can be produced? 2. How does heat move? Heat Production: For heat production, we created the foldable below. These are perfect little organizers to add to science notebooks, or just keep on hand for review. This is the front of the foldable: It covers friction, electricity, mixing matter (chemical change), and burning We put the way and a picture on each. INSIDE: Under each flap- on the top, we wrote the definition or description On the bottom- we wrote 2-3 examples BACK: On the back we wrote & answered 3 Essential Questions: 1. What is heat? 2. What is thermal energy? 3. What are the 4 ways to produce heat? Heat Movement: Below is the foldable that we made to cover the movement of heat. It talks about radiation, conduction & convection. Front- you could definitely dress it up more! :) Inside: We included the definition/description for each on the flaps & then on the inside drew pictures that showed examples of each. Hope you find these useful! For more heat resources, check out my TPT store I also have a Heat Unit Test and a study guide you can check out as well!

Hi everyone! This year my students absolutely love science! Each morning they ask "What experiment are we doing today!?" and then sound d...

The Problem Students copy definitions from the overhead. Yeah, that was my class. They were quiet… but only because they were falling asleep. About a year ago, I was sitting around thinking about science vocabulary. (What else would I possibly think about?) I felt like I was a strong teacher when it came to reviewing ... Read more

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In the 5th grade TEKS, students design a force and motion experiment. They'll love this balloon rockets experimental investigation design activity!

This is a middle school worksheet for waves. It begins with an identification of the wave parts, then a deeper look at amplitude and frequency. To get the worksheet and answers, scroll down and download the pdf. Below is a preview: tags: physics, middle school, waves, wave, amplitude, frequency, special education, science, wavelength, crest, trough, sound, light,

The fastest way to get your students' attention is to break out the candy! You'll want to use candy bars that have a pliable inside and are coated in chocolate - think Snickers, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers. The chocolate represents the Earth's crust and the filling represents the asthenosphere. Use your fingernails to break up the chocolate crust - creating the fault. Demonstrate tension by pulling (slowly and only a small amount) on the two ends of the candy bar. Notice how some of the asthenosphere is revealed. To demonstrate shearing (strike-slip faults), push the two sides of the candy bar back together. Then slide one half forward while pushing the other one back. Finally, to demonstrate compression forces, push the two ends of the candy bar together. You'll see the pieces of chocolate crust colliding and maybe even sliding over each other, creating mountains.

...Tips, Tricks, Projects, Lesson Ideas, and All Together Awesomeness from a Fourth Grade Gifted Classroom! Big City Teacher

Here are the notes I used this year for the 2nd unit of Algebra 1: Day 1: We started off the unit with a classifying variables sort. This was a good way to jog students’ memories about their …

Sedimentary rock is formed when layers of sediment, such as sand, mud, and small rocks, are pressed and cemented together over time. Here’s what happens: Sediment is created when rocks and minerals are broken down by weathering and erosion. This can happen when wind, water, or ice wear away at the surface of the Earth. ... Read more

At the NSTA’s Boston Conference this year, I attended a Professional Development Institute on the Next Generation Science Standards. Since then, I have been looking forward to taking the time…

Children learn why the light from the sun seems white to us, why we see objects in color, and why the sky is blue in this beautiful and fascinating worksheet.