Let's Take a Virtual Field Trip to China!

Want to hang out in China with The Nature Conservancy and NatureWorks Everywhere?
  

YES, PLEASE!

Then this virtual field trip is for you!  Few things excite me more as a science teacher than teaching my students about how to protect and conserve our natural world.  Education is the key, and it is our responsibility as science teachers to make sure that our students are well educated about ecology and the environment.

I am extremely proud to be teaming up with The Nature Conversancy and NatureWorks Everywhere to bring you news of the 4th upcoming virtual field trip.  I have watched each of the first three virtual field trips and they are truly wonderful experiences that need to be shared in your classrooms.

Students love a field trip!  This special treat is usually reserved for the end of the school year.  But this December 4th, you can give them a live, virtual field trip experience that they will enjoy and remember!

Click image to go to the sign up page.

"Join our expert scientist Yue Wang, a conservation planning officer for The Nature Conservancy, on a virtual field trip across the world to two stunning provinces in China—Sichuan and Yunnan—where we will explore majestic forests, towering mountains, and other iconic landscapes. While examining the role these vital natural areas play in the carbon cycle and climate change, as well as the benefits of reforestation, we will learn about the magnificent creatures who call these habitats home: giant pandas, golden snub-nosed monkeys, and the elusive and odd-looking takin.

Exploring these critical areas will help students understand how important all habitats are for both people and animals—no matter where you are in the world. Our journey will demonstrate how scientists work with local communities to protect nature and create new wilderness."

The content of this virtual field trip is aligned with the  Next Generation Science Standards and the National Geography Standards. 

Ready to take the plunge and take your students on this amazing virtual field trip?  

This is what you need to do:

Step 1:  Sign Up!  Click this link to jump to the sign up page.  Sign up is quick, easy, and FREE!

Step 2:  Remember this is a live event!  Put the time and date on your planning calendar and start getting your students prepared for great lessons about our fragile environment.

Step 3:  Prepare yourself!  To aid in your preparation, download a copy of the standards that are being met.  This virtual field trip is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and National Geography Standards.  The downloadable standards page will help in your lesson planning.  Click here to download:  China Virtual Field Trip Standards.

Click to view video.

Step 4:  Prepare your students! Help your students get the most from this unique experience. In the days before the virtual field trip, use these free resources to teach your students the concepts of deforestation and reforestation, the carbon cycle, greenhouse gases, and climate change. Don't worry!  All of this has been prepared for you.  This video, "Reforestation: Impact on Climate Change" has everything you need to ensure that your students master the concepts.

While you are visiting this video link, be sure to download the FREE Climate Change Lesson Plans. The 17-page lesson plan includes lesson overviews, time frames, vocabulary, background for the teacher, activities, self-assessments, extensions, infographics, and evaluations.  This is truly a teacher treasure trove of great lesson plans in an easy-to-use format.  What a gift for the busy teacher!

Step 5:  You should be all ready now!!   Let your students know that on December 4th they are going on a field trip!

PSSSSSSST:  Want to get an idea of the treat you are in for?  Take a look at the 3rd virtual field trip that occurred last May:  The Coral Reefs of Palau: Nature's Amazing Underwater Cities.

Disclosure:  This post has been sponsored through a partnership with WeAreTeachers and NatureWorks Everywhere.

Science Fun this Thanksgiving!

This science-y activity is a perfect way to celebrate Thanksgiving in your science classroom.

In the fall of 1621, the members of the Plymouth Colony, along with their Wampanoag friends, celebrated with a feast of Thanksgiving.  For three days all of the participants feasted, played games, sang, danced, and gave thanks for their blessings.  The menu for this first Thanksgiving feast included deer, corn, shellfish, vegetables and roasted meats.  Although the menu has changed a bit over time, we Americans still celebrate a time of Thanksgiving with a very large meal!

Are you looking for an activity to do in your science classes as the holidays approach?  I have just written a new activity that uses a dichotomous classification key to identify the scientific names of the foods that were eaten at the first Thanksgiving celebration.  Students will use their critical thinking and problem solving skills to make observations about the different foods while they navigate the dichotomous key to the correct scientific name.

This is a perfect way to combine science with the observance of a wonderful holiday tradition.  These images will give you a better idea of what is involved in the activity.

You can find this activity in my TpT store by clicking this link:  Dichotomous Key to Thanksgiving Dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Student Lab Cleanup: How to Improve It!

Students will help...

... IF they know what to do!

All science teachers know the struggles we face when we take the students to the lab.  There are many!  But the one I want to address here is lab cleanup.  We have precious few minutes between one class leaving the lab and the next class entering the lab.  It is imperative that our students in one class leave a clean and orderly lab station for the students in the next class. 

 

Click image to view in my TpT store.

My personal experience is that students do not “see” the mess they leave behind.  My students, for the most part, are good citizens, and they will try to carry out my instructions.  As the class nears the end of the period, they hear me say, “We are almost out of time…. Start cleaning up your lab area.”  But if I am not more specific in my directions, this lab class will not end well.

In the frenzy of the last few minutes before the bell, my students make an honest attempt at cleaning their lab station, but their idea of clean, and my idea of clean are not the same!  I want all of the paper towels in the garbage.  I want the lab station clean and dry.  I want the supplies to be in a certain order.  Etc!!

What I have discovered in my many years of teaching is that students need very specific instructions.  When I tell my class that “it is time to clean up”, the instruction is too vague.  The student wonders, “What does she want me to do?”  They look at their lab station and they think it looks fine. This is the nature of the teen age brain.  They have the wonderful ability to see only what they want to see!

My solution is The Student Cleanup Checklist.  I have made a set of task cards that have a specific instruction on each.  For each lab, I select the cards that are applicable for the particular lab.  The cards go on a ring, and a set of cleanup instructions is left at every lab station.  As the class period ends, I have trained my students to flip through the cards on the ring, and carry out all instructions.  This has been a lifesaver for me.  These are still kids, and they are still going to miss a piece of paper on the floor, but with my specific instruction cards, life around my lab is much improved.  The students do a much better job cleaning their area, and I have less stress as the next class is entering the room.

A few tips:

• Make sure that you laminate the instruction cards.  The lab is a wet place, and the cards will not last long if they are not laminated.
• Once laminated, the cards will last for years.
• Punch a hole in the corner of each card and place the cards on a ring.  I purchase packages of rings at my local Office Depot.
• Select cards that are appropriate for the lab of the day, then place the cards at each lab station.
• You can also post the appropriate cleanup cards on the board or other prominent spot in the lab.  Always post them in the same spot so that students will learn the procedure.

I hope the Student Cleanup Checklist will help improve your life in the lab.  Have fun teaching!

Mole Day Festivities!

Let's give a round of applause for Amedeo Avogadro!! Without him, we wouldn't have a reason to celebrate in our chemistry classes on October 23!!  (Oh, and we can also be thankful that he gave us a pretty nifty tool to use in our chemistry calculations.)

What are my plans for Mole Day?

I have a lab that I love, and I always do this lab on Mole Day.  It is very simple to set up, and doesn't require anything too fancy.  Students often have trouble visualizing a mole.  This lab will provide a hands-on activity that will allow our students to "see" how big a mole really is.  In one part of the lab, students are asked to write their name on the chalkboard.  They then have to determine how many moles of chalk they used in the writing of their name.  Kids love this!

So happy Mole Day to you.  I hope you have a wonderful time with your students on Mole Day.

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.

Human Body: Oh No! The Endocrine System!

Is there anything more FUN than teaching the endocrine system to high school students?

High school students and hormones?  Watch out! The endocrine system is definitely a challenge to teach, but it is a fascinating topic, and one that my students are intrigued by.  Well, perhaps I should say that they are intrigued by "parts" of it.  The class discussion on how hormones work, target cells, receptor sites, amino acid hormones and steroid hormones leaves them a little glassy-eyed! But start talking about endocrine disorders, and the class comes to life.  I do not mean to come across as insensitive, but the endocrine disorders are very interesting.  I think it is safe to say that students in a first year high school biology class are learning details about the endocrine system for the first time.  They are going to be highly interested in the pituitary disorders, acromegaly and goiters.  Then, there is diabetes. Almost every student these days has a family member or friend who suffers from diabetes.

How much detail and depth should we teach to our high school students? Every year and every class is different, but most of my students are novices when it comes to the endocrine system.  I think it is essential to teach what hormones are, how hormones work, and how the endocrine system maintains homeostasis in the body.  Students should be able to list the endocrine glands and have a basic understanding of what each gland does for the human body.  As for all of the hormones and their functions?  For me, it depends on the abilities of my current class.  I give them what they can handle.

Click image to view product.

I continue to use a system of warm ups and bellringers.  This is a topic that will definitely take some review and reinforcement each and every day.  I have my students use the first 5-10 minutes of class time to review the concepts we have previously covered.  The warm up pages that I have developed are also used as homework assignments, daily quizzes, and most importantly, test prep for the final unit exam.

This newest product in my TpT store includes 29 student pages that cover a range of concepts that are likely to be found in a typical high school biology textbook.  I have included a detailed 5-page teacher guide, and of course, a teacher answer key for each student page.

Here are the highlights:

Good luck with your teaching, and have a great school year!

Lab Safety Tip: What You Need to Know About the Eyewash Fountain and the Lab Safety Shower

👉👉 Required Reading for the Week:

Scientific American - Danger in School Labs: Accidents Haunt Experimental Science

When was the last time you tested your eye wash fountain and your lab safety shower? Did you know that they are supposed to be flushed once a week according to ANSI standards? I think it is safe to say that the plumbed emergency equipment in our science labs is often neglected. We walk past the eyewash and the shower day after day after day, but rarely stop to inspect it. Since I have never had to pull the handle (thankfully!) on either piece of equipment in an emergency, I rarely stop to think about the routine maintenance that is required.

But I am not an expert. And while I hope this blog post puts a nagging reminder in your brain, use the links in this post to read what the experts have to say. My go-to source of lab safety information is Flinn Scientific. Read this article about the eyewash and safety shower.

Here are the basics about the lab eyewash fountain:

• The eyewash must provide a flow of water to both eyes simultaneously.
• The affected area must be irrigated for a minimum of 15 minutes.
• Keep both eyes open and rotate eyeballs in all directions.
• Regulation of volume and pressure is required to maintain a soft flow of water to the eyes.
• Location of the eyewash is important.  Travel time from a work station to the eyewash should be within 10 seconds.
• Water temperature should be "tepid" which means lukewarm. Acceptable temperature range is 78 - 92 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Weekly testing should occur to verify flow. This also clears the water line to remove dirt from the pipes.

Here are the basics about the lab safety shower:

• The shower should provide a deluge large enough to encompass the whole body.
• Remove contaminated clothing. Every second counts. Don't be modest. It will only slow you down. Remove contaminated clothing!
• The shower should deliver a pattern of water that is 20 inches across.
• Water flow should be 20 gallons per minutes at a velocity low enough to not injure the user.
• The plumbed safety equipment should be clearly marked with signs and by painting the walls and floor surrounding the equipment a bright color.

For us middle or high school teachers, words cannot begin to describe how busy we are during the school day. If your safety equipment does not meet the standards, it is time to have a talk with your school administrator. The safety of your students depends on it!

And please don't forget to take the time to inspect the equipment. No eye wash fountain should ever look like this!

Looking for a place to start in developing your lab safety unit?  These resources are posted in my TpT store:

Lab Safety Chat

Lab Safety Bundle

Lab Safety PowerPoint

Lab Safety Color by Number

Lab Safety Digital Hidden Picture Activity

Good lab safety instruction is essential in providing safe lab experiences for our students.  Good luck!