Middle School Thanksgiving Science Ideas to Keep Students Focused Middle school Thanksgiving science ideas to keep students focused are a lifesaver when energy is high and attention is low before break. Students are buzzing with excitement, routines slip, and it is easy to lose their attention. What has worked best for me is giving them…
Teaching Science Without a Science Background Teaching science without a strong science background can be very scary! With the teacher shortage, many elementary and middle school teachers come from non-science backgrounds. Here are some tips with an emphasis on developing curiosity, more than being a science expert. Hopefully I can take some of that fear…
Middle School Heart Lessons: From Pulse Rates to Dissection Does teaching middle heart lessons seem dull and boring to your students, especially with all of the vocabulary involved? It doesn’t have to just be diagrams and labels. I like to hook the student’s interest by looking at the hearts of other animals, doing labs to…
Fun Activities to Teach Physical and Chemical Changes Are you looking for ways to teach physical and chemical changes? This is such an important concept but it can be tricky for the students to understand. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I believe constant reinforcement, using different resources, is the way to ensure student…
How to Teach Abiotic and Biotic Factors in a Fun Way! Are you looking for creative ways to teach biotic and abiotic factors in a way that truly engages your students? If you’re finding it a bit challenging to bring these concepts to life, an “imaginary walk” through different biomes might be the perfect answer….
How to Make Learning About Plants Fun For Middle School Students Are you looking for creative ways to make learning about plants fun for middle school students? Let’s face it—most middle school students aren’t exactly thinking about plants and trees on an average day. But why not make them stop and pay attention? I’m always…
Teach Longitude and Latitude While Plotting Earthquakes and Volcanoes Can your middle school students read a map? Can they plot a point using longitude and latitude? Do we even need to teach this with GPS so readily available? I realized my students had trouble using longitude and latitude when we were halfway through my plate…
Embracing The Mess: Why a “Messy” Science Classroom is a Good Thing Do you have a messy science classroom? Are supplies scattered everywhere, with half finished designs, and your students are buzzing with excitement? Guess what? That’s a good thing! A messy classroom isn’t a sign of failure, it’s evidence of active engagement, creativity, and…
Why Digital Science Notebooks Make the Ultimate Study Guide Do you find that your students don’t know how to study for tests?Are they losing papers, forgetting to review their notes or focusing on the wrong material? That’s why I am such a big advocate for digital science notebooks. Not only are they an organized, all…
Christmas Science Activities to Keep Students Engaged Are you looking for some Christmas cheer in your science classroom but you want to stay on curriculum? I put together some engaging Christmas themed activities that align with the standards. We all know how tired everyone is at this time of year so these are all very…
