Informational Text Reading with Graphic Organizers

Here's a great new free item for your science classroom:  

DNA Informational Text Reading with Graphic Organizers

I teach in a Common Core state, and in a school that is really pushing the implementation of the Common Core State Standards.  We have to show evidence of this implementation in our classroom.  I obviously have to do what is required of me by my admin, but at the same time, I do not want to lose valuable classroom teaching time and get behind on the vast amount of course content that I am also required to teach.

I recently developed this lesson for my students.  In our unit on DNA, RNA, and Protein Synthesis, I love to tell the history of Watson and Crick and their discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule.  In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick rocked the scientific world with their discovery, and with the publication of their one-page paper in Science magazine describing the DNA molecule.  This one-page paper is a marvelous bit of history, and it is a fascinating read.  It is also a perfect piece of informational text that can be used to teach the Common Core State Standards.

The one-page article can be printed and used in your science classroom.  I developed a 4-page set of graphic organizers to go along with this article.  As students read the article they are required to complete the graphic organizers. You can have your students complete all four organizers (I usually do!) or each graphic organizer can be used alone. The printable lesson is perfect for traditional classroom settings, and the paperless, digital Google Apps version is perfect for distance learning and 1:1 classrooms.

You can, of course, use class time for this activity, but I usually assign this as a homework assignment.  I assign this at the beginning of my unit on DNA, and usually give a week to complete the assignment. The article and the graphic organizers provide great review on the topics I am teaching in class, as well as a lesson in the reading of informational text.  It's a win-win!  (Pssst...This is also a great activity to leave in your sub folder in the event of your unexpected absence from school!)

Here is a look at each of the graphic organizers:

(They look best if printed in color, but print perfectly fine in grayscale.)

This is a free download, and will always remain a free download.  Enjoy!

Related products include:

DNA, RNA, and Protein Synthesis Complete Unit Plan Bundle

Genetics Complete Unit Plan Bundle

FREE DNA Extraction Lab

Composition of a Hydrate Lab Activity: Percent Water and Formula

A composition of a hydrate lab is a classic high school chemistry activity in which students determine the percent of water in a hydrate and use mass data to calculate the formula of a hydrate. This hands-on lab gives students meaningful practice with water of hydration, anhydrous salts, percent composition, and chemical formulas while working with real experimental data.

If you are looking for a ready to use composition of a hydrate lab for your chemistry classroom, this resource includes printable and editable student handouts, a teacher guide, sample calculations, and an answer key. It is one of my favorite chemistry labs because it has a simple materials list, it is easy to set up and clean up, and it gives students a clear application of chemical formulas and percent water calculations.

What Is a Hydrate in Chemistry?

Hydrates are ionic compounds that contain a specific number of water molecules as part of their structure. That water is called the water of hydration, and it is present in a definite ratio. When the hydrate is heated, the water is released as water vapor and the remaining solid is called the anhydrous salt.

This makes hydrates a great topic for chemistry lab work because students can observe a visible change, measure mass before and after heating, and use those measurements to determine both the percent of water in the hydrate and the correct chemical formula.

What Is the Composition of a Hydrate Lab?

In this hydrate lab, students heat a known mass of copper (II) sulfate hydrate in an evaporating dish to remove the water of hydration. They then measure the mass of the anhydrous salt that remains. The difference between the initial mass and the final mass is the mass of water lost during heating.

In our lab, we used copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate. A fine crystal works best for this activity. Since we only had medium crystals available, my students used a mortar and pestle to grind the copper sulfate into a finer powder before heating.

Students love seeing the visible change as the blue hydrate becomes a much lighter anhydrous solid. That observation makes the chemistry more concrete and helps them connect the lab results to the structure of the compound.

How to Calculate the Percent of Water in a Hydrate

One reason this chemistry lab works so well is that students are using real mass data to calculate the percent of water in a hydrate. First, they find the mass of the hydrate sample before heating. Then, after heating removes the water of hydration, they find the mass of the anhydrous salt. The difference between those two values is the mass of water lost.

From there, students calculate the percentage of water in the hydrate by comparing the mass of water lost to the original mass of the hydrate sample. This gives students valuable practice with percent composition in a meaningful lab setting rather than just in isolated textbook problems.

If your students need more practice with percent composition, take a look at this post on my percent composition chemistry lab. It is another great way to reinforce percent calculations with experimental data.

How to Determine the Formula of a Hydrate

After finding the mass of water lost, students can use their data to determine the formula of the hydrate. In this lab, students use the mass of the remaining copper (II) sulfate and the mass of the water released during heating to calculate the mole ratio between salt and water. That ratio leads them to the correct hydrate formula.

This part of the lab is especially valuable because students move beyond simple observation and into chemical reasoning. They are not just watching a color change. They are using evidence to determine that the compound is copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate.

Determining the formula of a hydrate also connects nicely to mole concepts. If your students need more support with that idea, this blog post on my mole lab activity is a great related chemistry resource to use after your chemical formulas unit.

What This Looks Like in Your Classroom

This lab is a strong fit for a chemical formulas unit because it gives students a clear purpose for the math they are doing. Students heat the hydrate, collect mass data, calculate the percentage of water, and determine the correct formula of the compound. The activity is straightforward, the materials are manageable, and the students get strong results.

I also love that this lab gives students practice comparing experimental data to theoretical results. That is such an important science skill, and it gives you a great opportunity to talk about sources of error and percent error in the lab.

The resource includes editable student handouts in two formats, along with a teacher guide, sample data, worked calculations, and answers to the analysis questions. That makes it easy to fit the lab to your own students and your own classroom routines.

If you want a ready to use version for your classroom, you can find the full Composition of a Hydrate Lab here.

More Chemistry Labs for Your Classroom

If you are teaching chemistry this time of year, you may also like to read blog posts about these chemistry lab activities:

• Percent Composition Chemistry Lab
• Chemistry Lab: How Big Is a Mole?
• Composition of a Hydrate Lab on TpT

How much Vitamin C is in your fruit juice?

Lab: Determining the Amount of Vitamin C in Fruit Juices

I  have been doing this lab every year for a long, long time.  I always enjoy it, and so do my students. I often do this lab with my biology students when teaching about nutrition and digestion, but my favorite use of this lab is with my chemistry classes.  This lab is perfect to introduce the idea of titrations, equivalents, and as a review of dimensional analysis.

In this experiment the student will use a lab procedure known as a titration to determine the amount of Vitamin C found in a 6 ounce serving of various fruit juices.  I most often use orange juice, pineapple juice, and apple juice. 

A titration is the controlled addition and measurement of the amount of a solution of known concentration required to react completely with a measured amount of a solution of unknown concentration.  Titration provides a means of determining the chemically equivalent amounts of two substances.  

The materials list is short and consists of items found in almost all labs..... no fancy equipment required!  You will need:  Spot plate, Thin stemmed or microtip Beral pipets  (or medicine droppers),  White paper for background, Ascorbic acid standard solution,  Apple juice,  Orange juice,  Pineapple juice, Starch solution,  Iodine solution and Plastic Toothpick (stirrer).

In order to determine the amount of Vitamin C in the fruit juice, the student must first do a titration using a vitamin C (ascorbic acid) solution of known concentration.  An iodine/starch complex is used so that a color change can be detected.  The number of drops of iodine added will be used to determine the amount of Vitamin C present in the juice.  

When ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) comes into contact with iodine, it is oxidized to form dehydroascorbic acid.  When Vitamin C and iodine are in solution together, they will form iodide.  As iodine is added during the titration, iodide will continue to be formed until there is no more Vitamin C left in the solution.  At this point, iodine becomes present in the solution and the starch turns a blue-black color.  The starch is used as an indicator because it turns black in the presence of iodine, but not for iodide.  The amount of iodine that is added during the titration can be used to indicate the amount of Vitamin C present in the fruit juice.

Set up for the lab is quick and easy, and does not take a lot of advance preparation.  

This lab is available in my TpT store and can be viewed here:  Determining the Amount of Vitamin C in Fruit Juices.

Yellow Starthistle Tops the Plant "Most-Wanted" List

At first glance, the Yellow Starthistle looks like a beautiful wildflower.... one that you would be delighted to view during a nature hike.  However, this plant has quickly risen to the top of the "plant most want listed" as an invasive species in the United States. As you know, an invasive species is one that is introduced into an area or habitat to which it is not native.  In this new area, the checks and controls that keep a species from overpopulating are not present.  As a result, the species increases so rapidly that the local (and native!) species are often driven to extinction.

The Yellow Starthistle ( Centaurea solstitialis) is native to Eurasia. It grows as part of balanced ecosystems there because it is kept in check by a variety of local herbivores, as well as other plant species that have co-evolved with it in its native habitat. It is thought that the Yellow Starthistle was introduced into California in the 1850's during the California Gold Rush when imported alfalfa seed arrived that was contaminated with the seed from the Yellow Starthistle.  Once introduced into the United States, it quickly took hold, and has been problematic ever since.

Here is the quick-list of facts about this highly invasive species:

• A single staked plant may produce a root system that extends to an area of three feet outward from the stalk.  It rapidly depletes moisture in the soil and out-competes the local and native species in its ability to obtain water.

• It has become very common along roadsides, pasture lands, and wildlands.  
• It is poisonous to horses and causes a disease called "chewing disease."  This can be fatal to the horse if treatment is not received.  Horses are the only animals known to be affected.
• The plant may grow to a height of 5 feet.
• Seed output may be as high as 30,000 seeds per square meter.  
• Invasion of the species is increased by cars along roadsides and by livestock.  Livestock that is suspected of ingesting the Yellow Starthistle should not be shipped to uncontaminated areas.

Yellow Starthistle seedling

What are methods of controlling this invasive species?  In 2003, 4 insect species were introduced from Europe as a means of control.  These agents of biological control included 2 weevils and 2 flies. Each of these insects lays its eggs on the flower/seed head of the plant and, as a result, reduce the number of seeds that the plant produces. All four insects are host-specific to the starthistle and do not attack native species.  Grazing animals such as sheep, goats and cattle are also an effective means of control.  A variety of chemical agents are also used.

In an interesting, but sad turn of events, the Yellow Starthistle has invaded and is quickly taking over the Sierra Nevada habitats in Yosemite National Park.  You can read all about Yosemite's attempts to control this plant at this link.

Ringing in the New Year With A Brand New Look!!

Hello everyone!  And Happy New Year!!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.  Teachers and students are back to school and hard at work.  I have a new energy and excitement for both my teaching and my blogging!  I am always excited about teaching, and l am looking forward to trying some new things with my classes this semester.

Why am I so excited about blogging?  Well ........ What do you think of my new blog design?

Let me start off by first thanking the incredible person who put together this custom design for me.  Michelle Tsivgadellis, also known as "The 3AM Teacher" is completely and totally responsible for the amazing new look.

Michelle was delightful to work with, and she completely understood the "type" of look I wanted for my blog. She is kind and patient and efficient, and I recommend her whole-heartedly!!

Now that the design work is done, the onus is upon me to start cranking out some new blog articles.  Let's see... I teach full time, have a family to take care of, grade papers to all hours of the night...  Sigh ... I'll try to fit blogging somewhere in there!

Wishing you good luck in your teaching this semester!

Genetics Complete Unit Plan Bundle

Everything you need (and more!) to teach this unit!

It is no surprise to anyone who knows me that Gregor Mendel is my favorite scientist and I love teaching genetics to my biology students.  Who wouldn't? Students love learning about genetics, which makes teaching genetics wonderful.   

Interested Students + Lots of Awesome Questions = FUN TEACHING!

This was one of the first unit plan bundles that I posted in my TeachersPayTeachers.com store. It contains everything you need to teach this unit to a biology class... A PowerPoint, notes for teacher and student, 3 labs, 7 practice problem worksheets, 5 quizzes, a review game, a crossword, and a unit test. I have learned a lot since those early days, and the facelift on this bundle has just been completed. Graphics have been improved, a few typos have been corrected, and more complete answer keys have been added. This bundle has received such great feedback, and I am most appreciative to all who have purchased it. Be sure to go back to TpT and download the new version. It is a free download to those who have previously purchased it. 

Feedback:  "This has great resources and it is amazingly interactive."

Feedback:  "It's always great to get new ideas and problems for students to do."

Feedback:  "This lesson plan bundle deserves an A+........so helpful when teaching students about gentics!!"

Feedback:  "This material was excellent. It saved me time and covered everything I needed to cover for my mid term exam."

Feedback:  "Very organized and sequential. A great resource."

"I cannot tell you enough that your Complete Units are Wonderful!! I am in my first full year of teaching and it has given me ample opportunity to focus on my students abilities rather than being stressed. Thank you so much!"

Click here to view my Genetics Complete Unit Plan Bundle.

Recycling in the Science Lab!

Let's do our part to save the Earth!

I tend to get on my "Save the Planet" soapbox a lot.   No matter what the biology or chemistry topic I am currently teaching, I try to find a way to remind my students that we live on a fragile planet and that it is our responsibility to take care of it.

This school year, I reminded myself that actions speak louder than words, and I made a concerted effort to use recyclable items in my science lab.  I started by bringing a few items from home and using them for various purposes.  My students started to notice, and they began to bring in items as well.


Here are just a few examples of how we are using recyclable materials:

How many ways can you use the Styrofoam meat trays that you get from the grocery store? The tray seen above is the 2-lb hamburger meat tray!   I have a recycle bin at my house, and I am an avid recycler.  Finally, it occurred to me that these trays have many uses in my lab.  When I am setting up a lab, I line up 15 of these trays.  I add the lab supplies needed to each tray.  Students simply pick up the entire tray and carry it to their lab station.  I especially love to use these trays when stains are needed in the biology lab.  It keeps my lab tables clean and the stain washes right off the Styrofoam.

Our school had a HUGE stack of these paper book covers.  They are actually a slick, magazine type of paper.  These were about to be thrown away when I grabbed up 100's of them and hauled them to my lab.  I use them like place mats.  Students do their lab work on top of the paper mat.  It keeps my lab tables clean and minimizes the amount of clean up at the end of the class period.  When they are dirty to the point of no longer being usable, they go into the recycle bin.

This container came home from the grocery store full of strawberries.  It is the perfect size to hold all of my lab scissors.

The blueberry container is a bit smaller than the strawberry container.  It is perfect for smaller items such as these C-clamps.

I am very proud and excited to report that these small efforts have really increased awareness about recycling amongst my students.  Students are brining me items from their homes with ideas of how we might use them in our lab.  

This is a bit of a double-edged sword, though.  Kids are bringing me a lot of trash, and there are only so many uses for their recyclable items.  So when I received too much stuff, or when I cannot find a use for an item, we can always resort to this!  

I am super excited that every single room in our school has one of these!!

Here are a few links to sites that have awesome ideas about recycling in the school environment:

School Recycling

Using Recycled Items for School Projects

Recycling at School

If you have other ideas, I would love to hear them!