Graphing, Scientific Method, and Data Analysis Practice

Click image to download this free product.

Great review for a vital skill.

And it's free.

Critical thinking, problem solving, and data analysis. These are terms we hear all the time as teachers of science. Let's get right to the point: We cannot stress these skills enough in our classes. We must teach our science students to be great thinkers and problem solvers! Activities that provide practice in the skills of science should be used often in our classes, and not just at the beginning of the school year. Set aside some time in your class throughout the year to review, reinforce and practice important science skills.

Add this free activity on graphing and data analysis to your teaching arsenal. The activity covers many important skills:  Informational text reading, data tables, graphing data, the scientific method, and data analysis.  The students will graph the data that is given in the reading, and complete a page of thought provoking questions about the data.

This activity is timeless.  I love that I can use this activity at the beginning of the school year to teach scientific graphing, but I can also use it at the end of the year for preparation for end of course testing.

Science Chat for Biology: A First Day of School Biology Lab Icebreaker Activity

Make the First Day the BEST Day!

What is the most important day of school? The first day! It's the most important day of the entire school year!!

It is the day when students form their first impression of your class.

It is the day when students look at you and decide on the spot if they are going to like your class or hate your class.

It is the day when students have heightened social anxieties and need to know that they have a friend in your class.

You, the teacher, have one day to get it right. If you do, the rest of year is made so much easier. If you don't, you will spend a lot of time, effort, and energy trying to change the behaviors and attitudes of your students.

Will you be the teacher that goes over a long list of class rules and reads aloud from the class syllabus? Or will you be the teacher that plans a fun and engaging activity for the students on Day 1?

Biology Chat is the perfect way to kick off the first day of school with energy and connection. 

Instead of staying glued to their seats like they’ve likely been all day, this activity gets students up, moving, and interacting with their new classmates. It’s a refreshing change of pace, and a much-needed icebreaker that builds classroom community from the start. As an added bonus, you’ll get an early snapshot of your students' communication skills, lab skills, critical thinking, and overall comfort level in the classroom. It’s fun, informative, and sets a positive tone for the year ahead.

So what exactly is Biology Chat?  The activity consists of 10 Lab Stations.The students will move around at random until they complete all ten stations. At each lab station the students will complete a science task AND answer questions about their classmates. Students must scatter after each station so that they are not with the same group the entire time. After all, one of the objectives is for them to meet everyone in the class.

Each lab station should take about 10 minutes to complete. You want to give the students time to chat. It takes me two class period to finish all of the lab stations, but in my opinion, it is time well spent. You can easily leave out lab stations for a shorter activity.

A different concept is covered at each station.

Station 1:  The Microscope

Station 2:  Graphing

Station 3:  Electron Microscopy

Station 4:  Making Observations, Comparing and Contrasting

Station 5:  Lab Equipment

Station 6:  Laboratory Safety

Station 7:  Classification

Station 8:  Metric Scavenger Hunt

Station 9:  Prefixes and Suffixes

Station 10:  What makes an animal an animal?

Set up for the lab is quick and easy. You'll need only about 30 minutes for set up, and the materials list consists of items you are sure to have on hand.

•  Microscope

•  A prepared slide of your choice.

•  Four images taken with electron microscope (Included in product.)

•  Two plants (potted or cuttings)

•  Meter stick

•  Graduated cylinder

•  Triple or quadruple beam balance

•  Stopwatch

•  Thermometer

•  A lab with safety features (Examples:  Eyewash fountain, safety shower, fire extinguisher, fire blanket, fire alarm, etc.)

•  A group of objects that can be classified into groups.  (Teacher’s choice.)

•  Bag of sugar (or object with similar mass.)

•  Can of soda (or object with similar volume.)

•  Coin

•  Paper clip

•  Wood block (or any square or rectangular object.)

•  Cotton ball

•  4 photographs of living organisms (included in product.)

Sweeten the day by giving the students a grade on the activity. It is unlikely that a student will get all of the answers correct, so make sure to base the grade on effort and participation.

What will the student take away from your day 1 activity? They are allowed to get up, stretch, and move around! They are able to make some new friends! And they start the year off with an excellent grade.  Win-win-win!

I hope that your school year is wonderful!

PS - Be sure to check out Chemistry Chat and Physics Chat! You'll be glad you did!

Secondary Teacher Labor Day Blog Hop

What will you be doing on Labor Day?

Teachers in my district are in their 4th week of school already.  It is time for a break!  I am teaming up with a fantastic group of middle and high school teachers to participate in the Labor Day Labor Saving Products for Teachers blog hop.   Here is the idea behind this secondary blog hop.  We want you to have a restful Labor Day, so each of us is featuring a "no prep required" product or lesson.  We have already done the work so you don't have to!

My friend, Tammy of Teaching FSL, made the button above.  She is Canadian, thus the spelling of "labour."

I would think that almost every science teacher will mention the scientific method during the first week of their class.  

Be sure to grab my Scientific Method PowerPoint.  It has 26 slides and comes with a set of notes for the teacher, and an outline for the student.  The student will fill in the outline as the lesson is being taught.  This lesson goes behind just listing the steps to the scientific method. Students will be taught how to practice and apply the scientific method to a question or problem.

It doesn't get more labor-saving than this!  Simply download this freebie, print the handouts, and you are all set to go.

Another labor-saving product that I would like to feature is my Cell Organelle Mix-Match Game.  It comes with 25 organelle cards and 112 answer/description cards.  Students have to match up the answers to the correct organelle.

The beauty of this product is that it can be used with a WIDE variety of grade levels and ability levels.  The answer cards range in difficulty from easy to hard.  You simply select the answer cards that are best suited for your students.  This game can be used with beginning life science students all the way to AP biology students.

You can be ready to use this with your class in a matter of minutes.  Simply print, cut, laminate (if you want to be fancy!), and distribute to your class. The kids will love it and you will love how much they learn!

Happy Labor Day!

An InLinkz Link-up

Back to School with the Scientific Method

Scientific Method in the first days of school?  

You betcha!!

This is not a new lesson, but I did want to remind everyone that I have a wonderful and PowerPoint on the scientific method.  Students are going to groan and roll their eyes in complete boredom unless you do something to spice it up. Let's be honest, they have been hearing the steps of the scientific method over and over and over for as long as they can remember.  I tried to make this lesson more interactive, and more engaging.  The 27 slides are colorful and (hopefully) eye-catching.  I have included a 4-page set of notes for the teacher, and a 5-page outline for the student.  The student will fill in the missing information as the lesson is being taught.  The printable lessons are perfect for traditional classroom settings, and the digital versions are perfect for distance learning and 1:1 classrooms. 

And.....

.....the best part.....

This lesson takes the student beyond memorizing the steps of the scientific method......again!  Problem solving scenarios are included that teach the student how to work through the scientific method to answer a question or solve a problem.

"Back to School" is just around the corner.  I hope that you find these materials useful and beneficial to your students.  It's definitely worth your while to make sure that your students are well grounded in the scientific method early in the school year.  It is a skill they should use throughout the rest of the school year.

Links to this product and related products:

Scientific Method PowerPoint and Notes for Teacher and Student

Biology Warm Ups or Interactive Notebook Pages for Scientific Method

Applying the Scientific Method and Scientific Writing

Scientific Method Task Cards

The Student Designed Lab

Scientific Method Homework

How to Teach Your Students to Design an Experiment

It is time-consuming and exhausting, but well worth the effort!

The bottom line here is that students must learn to write and carry out an experiment of their own design. Major problem: A truly well designed experiment takes time. It takes time for the teacher to teach the student "HOW" to design the experiment, it takes a lot of time for the student to actually design the experiment, and then it takes more time for the student to carry out the experiment.

I think this is an important skill and well worth the effort.  But if you decide to go this route with your students, be prepared for the fact that it will take much preparation and teaching on your part.

Okay, so where do you start?  The first step is to make sure that the student is well-grounded in the scientific method.  This means the student has to be able to do more than write down the steps to the scientific method.  They have to be able to APPLY the scientific method to a problem or a question.

I can help with that. I have a PowerPoint, complete with notes for the teacher and the student, that teaches the application of the scientific method. Click this link:  Scientific Method PowerPoint and Notes.

The next step is to have the students practice writing a lab procedure. I love this activity:  Give the students some building materials. They can be old legos, tinker toys, paper clips, styrofoam peanuts. Any type of items will do. Each student takes their building materials and builds some sort of structure or device. They then have to describe, in writing, how to build their device. The students swap written descriptions and try to build their lab partners device from the written description.  Click this link: Can You Write A Lab Procedure.

Now it is time for the student to design their own experiment from beginning to end.  Start with something simple....something VERY simple. For our first effort, I had my students design an experiment to test the effect of different quantities of water on the germination of radish seeds. Simple , right?  It turned out to be such a great idea!  There are limited options for the students and no advanced knowledge about the topic was needed. 

Radishes were a great choice!  They germinated within 24 hours, and I allowed my students to observe their germination rate every day for three days.  I had my students complete a lab report in which they had to design and complete the following:

• State a hypothesis that is testable.
• Write out detailed steps to their procedure.
• Determine the independent and the dependent variables.
• Include a description of their control and how it served as a control.
• Include a description of their experimental groups.
• Identify factors that must remain constant throughout the experiment.
• Design a data table.
• Graph their germination rates.
• Form a conclusion based on the data gathered.

Below are a few pictures that I took during the lab activity:

Our science students need to develop this skill.  Take the time in your class to teach experimental design.  It is well worth the effort!

Here are the links to the radish seed experiment as well as a few other labs I do in which the student must design their own experiment.

The Student Designed Lab

Measuring the Heart Rate in Daphnia: A Student Designed Lab

Making Coacervates: A Student Designed Lab

Common Core Science & Technical Standards: Let's Get Organized!

Lesson Planning Grids, and Checklists!

The day has come.  You cannot put it off any longer.  Sticking your head in the sand isn't going to make it go away.  Common Core is here (has been for a while now!) and you cannot put it off any longer.  It is time to get organized and begin to tailor your teaching and lesson planning around these standards.

Don't despair. If you are a science teacher that has been doing what a science teacher is supposed to do (experimentation, problem solving, critical thinking, etc.) then you probably will not have to make major changes to your teaching style or curriculum.

For example, in looking at the standards for the Science and Technical Subjects, the third standard for the various grade levels says:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.3 Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks."  
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.3 Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks, attending to special cases or exceptions defined in the text.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.3 Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks; analyze the specific results based on explanations in the text.

I have already been doing this in my classes, and I bet you have many activities and teaching lessons that would cover this standard, too.  So, for me, I first needed to get familiar with the standards for the Science and Technical Subjects, and then get organized to insure I was covering them in my daily planning and teaching.

For organizational purposes, I developed a set of  lesson planning grids and checklists.  I am a meticulous and careful planner, as most teachers are apt to be.  I needed to be able to prove to myself (and to my admin) that I was addressing the CCSS standards in my classroom. 

Lesson Planning Grids:

These Lesson Planning Grids will save you time and will help you become better organized in your daily planning of the Common Core Science & Technical Subjects.  I included one page for each of the 10 standards.  This is an easy way to keep track of the standards you have covered and when you covered them. Use them to record plans for the entire class, or to provide an individualized plan for a special-needs student.

Student Checklists:  Four Different Versions.

At my school, teachers belong to small groups called PLC's (Professional Learning Community).  At various points during the school year our PLC must provide evidence of our CCSS planning and teaching.  These student checklists are a great record-keeping method. You can record each time a standard is introduced, reinforced, or practiced for mastery.  The checklists allow you to provide evidence of your teaching of the CCSS Science & Technology standards, and they can be organized  for class progress or for individual student progress.

Checklist #1:  All 10 Science & Technical Standards are listed on one page.

Checklist #2:  This three-page document for each individual student allows you to monitor individual student progress, how the standard was assessed and the outcome of the assessment.

Checklist #3:  This class record allows you to monitor one standard at a time for the entire class.  

Checklist #4:  This class record allows you to see at a glance which students have mastered the standards, and which students have not.

In my lesson planning grids and student checklists, I have focused on the standards for only the Science and Technical Subjects.  As science teachers, we are going to be expected to cover many of the ELA standards on informational text. As the new school year quickly approaches for many of us, I wish you good luck in your teaching and in your implementation of the Common Core standards.

Links to a few of my Common Core  products:

CCSS Lesson Plan Grids and Student Checklists Grades 6-8

CCSS Lesson Plan Grids and Student Checklists Grades 9-10

CCSS Lesson Plan Grids and Student Checklists Grades 11-12

Task Cards for Any Science Informational Text

Scientific Method Task Cards

Scientific Method Task Cards

Have you tried task cards with your students?

Task cards are a fantastic way to reinforce lessons, review difficult concepts, or provide extra practice for the struggling student.   The student reads each card, performs the task, and records his/her answer on an answer sheet, on notebook paper, or in their lab notebook.

There are many ways to use the task cards. 

• As seen in the photo above, punch a hole in the corner and place them on a ring.  Hang them on a pegboard for use throughout the year.  When reviewing for tests or exams, students can select the set of cards from the pegboard for the topic that needs the most review.
• Set up a practice/review session by setting the cards up in a lab practical style.  Place one card at each station and have the students rotate through the stations until all stations have been completed.  My students love this format since it allows them to move about the room.  The task cards in this format are a great way to give a quiz or test.
• Use the cards in a game format.  Divide the class into teams.  Place the task cards face down in a basket.  A team selects a card at random and must complete the task for a point.
• Students can use a set of task cards in small groups and orally review one another for a unit test.

The task cards seen in the photo above are on the scientific method.  The face of science teaching is changing.  Common Core Science Standards, as well as the Next Generation Science Standards, are asking teachers to emphasis scientific concepts, rather than the memorization of large amounts of factual data.  Instrumental to these new standards is teaching the student how to design and implement an experiment of their own.  The first step in teaching the student-designed experiment is to provide the student with a complete and thorough understanding of the scientific method.

Most of the students entering my biology classes at the beginning of the school year can (in a very bored and monotone voice) recite the steps to the scientific method.  What we as teachers need to insure is that the student can actually APPLY the scientific method.  

• Can the student read a passage and determine the independent and the dependent variables in the experiment?
• Can the student identify the control and explain WHY it is the control?
• Can the student look at a set of data and draw a logical conclusion?
• Can the student design and implement an experiment?

The printable task cards are perfect for traditional classroom settings, and the paperless, digital Google Apps version is perfect for distance learning and 1:1 classrooms.

I have a PowerPoint and set of notes that you can use as a starting point in your teaching of the scientific method.  This product can be viewed and downloaded here.   Once your instruction is complete, you might want to give these task cards a try.  I most often use the cards in a lab practical format.  Students rotate through the various stations and complete the task at each.  

The set includes 45 task cards.  Some of the "tasks" include:  

• Writing a hypothesis.
• Distinguishing between the experimental and control groups
• Identifying the independent and dependent variables.
• Drawing a conclusion based on given data.

Be sure to follow up your lessons on the scientific method by having your students design and implement an experiment of their own.  You can check out my blog post on student designed experiments by clicking here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Let the Student Design their Own Experiment

Can we teach our science students how to be successful conducting open-ended labs?

As teachers, we can teach the steps of the scientific method until we are blue in the face.  Many times, all we succeed in doing is having the students memorize the 6 steps to the scientific method and then repeat them on a test.  Too often science teachers conduct laboratory activities in which students follow a list of steps and record an observation at the end.  I need to be one of the first in line to say "Guilty!".  

Today's science educators are pressured to have successful end of course scores.  Sadly, a student can often perform well on these standardized tests without every doing any "real" laboratory work.  One of my goals this year is to change the focus of my class.  I am going to devote the time it takes to allow my students to write and carry out open ended lab experiments.

I have been back in school with my students for one week now.  I have covered the scientific method and gone into great detail on how to design an experiment.  We have mastered (I think!) how to define the experimental group and the control group.  My students can identify the independent and dependent variables.  They understand that only one variable can be changed at a time, and that all other variables must remain constant.  They can write a hypothesis and a conclusion.  We are just about ready to put all we have learned into practice.

I have written a PowerPoint that my students responded to extremely well.  It covers the scientific method with slides that are bright and colorful and visually attractive.  You can download this from my store, Amy Brown Science,  on TeachersPayTeachers.com.  It comes with a set of notes for the teacher and a notes outline for the student.  The student fills in the notes as the lesson is being taught.  I feel that this PowerPoint goes beyond just listing the steps to the scientific method.  Students are given practice problems in which they have to apply what they have learned.  Here is the link to my PowerPoint and notes:  Scientific Method PowerPoint with Notes for Teacher and Student.

You might also want to consider:
Scientific Method Homework
Applying the Scientific Method and Scientific Writing

Coming up this week.... I am taking my students to the lab to conduct their first open ended experiment.  It is going to involve the germination of seeds.  It will be a simple idea and will use only simple supplies.  Perhaps it may end up being more of a "guided" inquiry, but we have to start somewhere, right?  Later this week, I will post about how this goes and have some pictures as well.

Have fun teaching!

Transpiration Made Simple!

I always find that my students are woefully lacking in their knowledge about the plants. If a unit has to be left out because time is running out in the school year, plants are usually the first to get cut. I like teaching plants, so I make it a priority each year to leave enough time at the end of the school year for my plant unit. 

This version of a plant transpiration lab is so incredibly easy to set up, clean up, and take down. It has a simple materials list, and it has all the components I want in a lab activity: Data collection, graphing, critical thinking, problem solving, data analysis, and drawing conclusions. Plus, it's fun and students always enjoy doing it.

TL;DR and want to see the activity in my TPT store? Click here.

Background Info:

Transpiration is the loss of water through the leaves. As the stomata open to allow carbon dioxide to enter the leaf for photosynthesis, water vapor escapes the leaf and enters the atmosphere. For trees and other tall plants, it is tricky business to get the water up to the top of a very tall tree. The major force in water transport is provided by the evaporation of water from the leaves during transpiration. As water is lost, the movement of the water out of the leaf "pulls" water upward through the xylem all the way down to the roots. This is called transpiration pull.

The Old Way:

Traditionally, we biology teachers used potometers to measure the water loss from the leaves during transpiration. Does this image bring back bad memories of a failed lab? What a horrid mess it was to get it to work! When using potometers, it is very hard to get a good seal around the plant stem and the rubber tubing. No seal means no results. Also, students often crushed the delicate stem as they cut it to place it in the rubber tubing.

The Easy Way:

Go to your local nursery or Wal Mart and buy some small bedding plants. I like to use begonia plants. The begonia is a good choice because it has a thick and fleshy leaf. Place the plants in small (250 mL) beakers. Water them thoroughly. Since you want to measure the amount of water lost from the leaves, you have to ensure that no evaporation occurs from the soil in the beaker. Place a plastic sandwich bag around the beaker and wrap it very tightly around the stem of the plant. A bit of tape may be needed to keep the sandwich bag wrapped tightly around the stem. Only the leaf should be sticking out of the plastic bag.

The only way water is getting out of this beaker is through the leaves of this plant!

Determine the amount of water lost from the leaves by massing the entire unit. Be sure to get an initial mass before the experiment begins. In my photo, the initial mass was 195.57 grams.


Now for the testable variables!  What factors will cause an increase or decrease in the rate of transpiration? My lab will test 3 different environmental factors.

• One plant will be placed in continuous light for 24 hours. 
• One plant will be placed in front of a blowing fan for 24 hours.
• One plant will be placed inside a plastic bag that has previously been spritzed with water (high humidity inside the bag). 
• The fourth plant will serve as a control.

Every experiment needs a control. This lab uses a plant that is not exposed to any of the above environmental factors. The control plant is still transpiring, but under normal conditions.  

Let the plants sit for 24 hours. Each plant is massed again after a 24 hour period of time.  Students will be amazed at how much water has been lost through the leaves. All masses should be compared to the control to see if the factor being tested causes an increase or decrease in the rate of transpiration.

There are some "uncontrolled" factors. For one, the plants are not identical to each other. Each of the plants has a different leaf surface area that will affect the results. Even so, students will collect data that will show the effect of these environmental conditions on leaf transpiration.

Here are some ideas of how this might be used at different age levels:

Elementary: It may be enough in the lower grades to just show that water is taken up by the roots and escapes from the leaf. Students can be asked before the experiment to make predictions as to what they think the outcome will be. They can form a hypothesis and go through the steps of the scientific method.

Middle Grades may add the following: Have students calculate how much water is lost per minute in each plant. Test an additional factor, such as complete darkness, or various temperatures. Test different types of plants to see if the transpiration rate is the same in all types of plants.

High School Grades may add the following:  Remove the leaves and determine the surface area of each leaf. Determine how much water is lost in a given amount of surface area.  Have students research the mechanisms of transpiration, such as cohesion, adhesion, capillary action, and transpiration pull.

After the experiment, I take the plants home and place them in my flower beds!

Here are some additional resources for those of you teaching the Plant Kingdom:

Look for video segments from "The Private Life of Plants"by David Attenborough.  There are quite a few of these on YouTube.  Each is very short - about 3 to 5 minutes - and my students really enjoy
them.

Plant Kingdom Complete Teaching Unit Bundle

Photosynthesis Complete Teaching Bundle

Lab: Flower Dissection

Lab: Leaf Structure and Function

Lab: Pigment Chromatography

Lab: The Stomata