FREE! Digital self-checking worksheet

Learning the phases of the moon is tricky. Students get confused between waxing and waning, gibbous and crescent. This digital self-checking worksheet will help your middle school science students practice naming and identifying the phases of the moon. As each phase is correctly identified, part of an image is revealed. Once all phases are correct, they’ll see the entire picture.

We’re offering this digital self checking worksheet for free to new subscribers to our mailing list. If you haven’t gotten yours yet, click here!

Love self-checking worksheets? They are a little complicated but not too hard to make, and we’ve written a blog post giving step by step directions. Click here to learn how to make your own!

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Life Science

Earth Science

Chemistry

Physical Science

 

 

Exit Slips for Improved Learning

Teachers often summarize during their lessons, but students are rarely given an opportunity to do so. This can lead to a disconnect between what the teacher thinks the students learned and what they actually internalized. That’s why many middle school teachers use exit slips for improved learning.

What are exit tickets?

Exit tickets are a great formative assessment used by teachers to measure their students’ understanding of a daily lesson. In addition to giving feedback to teachers, exit tickets also help students reflect on what they have learned and enable them to express what and how they are thinking about the new information.

How to use exit tickets?

At the end of the lesson, present your students with an exit ticket that asks them to explain something that they’ve learned. It can be content specific – what is the square of 7 – or it can be more general – write a question you don’t still have from today’s lesson, for example. Exit tickets can be shared orally – on the way out the door, tell me your favorite character in the novel so far – or on paper or digitally – write the equation for photosynthesis.

What do you do with the feedback from exit slips?

After collecting exit slips from your students, you can use their responses as a formative assessment and count it as a grade. In this way, exit slips can be one of many items to monitor progress and document how and what your students are learning.

Exit slips can also be used to plan for a follow up lesson – what worked or didn’t work? What do you need to reteach or explain differently? Which students might need to work in smaller groups to review? In this way, exit slips can be used to lead to differentiation for future lessons.

 

EXIT SLIPS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Winter Science Lesson Plans

Every year, there are one or two days before Winter break when I have to provide lesson plans but I’m not ready to start a new unit. These three winter break lesson plans are not linked to the curriculum but they do address the scientific literacy standards of the NGSS so they’re great to fill in for a day or two when you need something. They’re also engaging for students and low prep for me – two things I need this year more than ever!

Here are 4 winter break lesson plans you can use:

Lesson Plan #1 – Winter Science Jigsaw activityscience of Thanksgiving

Standards: This activity addresses the following NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:

  1. Asking Questions and Defining Problems
  2. Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Objective: Students will be able to read informational text and ask questions about the text and communicate the problems described in the text with their teammates.

Activities:

  1. Divide students into groups.
  2. Provide each group with informational text about the science of winter including topics such as: How are reindeer adapted to live in cold climates? How do evergreen trees work? How does snow form? How does hibernation work? Why is it so dark in winter?
  3. In groups, students read and discuss the text. Provide each group of students with guided questions to help them analyze the text if necessary.
  4. Jigsaw the groups so that each student has the opportunity to share what he or she learned with a new group of students who read a different text.

Evaluation: Have students complete a 3-2-1 exit slip in which they provide 3 things that they learned in class, 2 things they found interesting, and 1 fact they will share with their families.

Lesson Plan #2 – Winter Science Escape Room science of Thanksgiving

Standards: This activity addresses the following NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:

  1. Asking Questions and Defining Problems
  2. Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Objective: Students will be able to read informational text and ask questions about the text and communicate the problems described in the text with their teammates.

Activities:

  1. Divide students into groups.
  2. Create clues that lead to puzzles that help students understand  the science of winter. For more information on creating a digital escape room, please read this blog from last year.

Evaluation: Have students complete a 3-2-1 exit slip in which they provide 3 things that they learned in class, 2 things they found interesting, and 1 fact they will share with their families.

 

Lesson Plan #3 –  How Do  Seasons  Form?

Standards: This activity addresses the following NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:

  1. Asking Questions and Defining Problems
  2. Developing and Using Models
  3. Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Objective: Students will be able to model the solstices and equinoxes and compare data about the amount of daylight over 3 latitudes and 12 months to draw conclusions about the solstices and equinoxes.

Activities:

winter break lesson plans

 

  1.  Using interactive slides, students drag and drop correct answers to demonstrate their understanding of solstices and equinoxes.
  2. Students use data of the amount of daylight in 3 locations to compare latitude to daylight hours throughout the year. Use Google Sheets to graph your data.

Evaluation: Have students think, pair and share their understanding of how the tilt of the axis produces seasons.

 

Lesson Plan #4 –  Winter Science Lab Stations

Standards: This activity addresses the following NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:

  1. Developing and Using Models
  2. Planning and carrying out investigations
  3. Analyzing and interpreting data

Objective: Students will be work in groups to complete 7 lab stations exploring the science of winter.

Activities:

winter science lab stations

  1.  In one 90 minute class (or two 45 minute classes), students travel through 7 lab stations:
    1. Borax ornaments
    2. Rock candy
    3. Freezing point depression
    4. Ornament Chromatography
    5. Maple syrup snow candy
    6. Cookie cutter slime
    7. Snowball catapult

 

 

What do you do on those last few days before winter break?

Natural Disaster Resources for Middle Schoolers

There are very few natural disaster resources available for middle school teachers. Activities about earthquakes, hurricanes, and wildfires are often too babyish for middle school students and rarely address the standards that middle school teachers need to reach.

The Next Generation Science Standards for middle school includes MS-ESS3-2 which asks students to be aware of the natural hazards in a region and to understand the geologic forces that occur with those natural hazards. Some middle school science curricula have a unit devoted specifically to natural disasters, but I teach natural disasters in a more coordinated way. My students learn about earthquakes when we study plate tectonics. They learn about wildfires when we study climate change. And they learn about hurricanes in our weather unit. The natural disaster resources I use include workbooks, hands on activities, and models.

Earthquakes

Teaching earthquakes in middle school varies by geographic region. Areas where earthquakes are common will treat the topic differently than areas where earthquakes are rare.

Two natural disaster resources that I use to teach earthquakes:

Where are earthquakes and volcanoes? This mapping activity has students using latitude and longitude to identify the locations of some major earthquakes and volcanoes. This activity is great for map skills review and it fits nicely into an introduction into the location of the plate boundaries.

natural disaster resources

Earthquake Workbook. This resource is a 23 page workbook that will work digitally or printed. It includes information about earthquake detection and prediction as well as the types of seismic waves. Digital and printable workbooks have been a lifesaver this year since I often have students quarantined and need to provide activities and resources for them to complete at home.

Wildfires

Students are highly curious about wildfires. If you live in a wildfire-prone area, your students are all too aware of the dangers of a wildfire, but, even if your students have never seen a wildfire in person it’s likely that they’ve seen the news coverage every year.

natural disaster resourcesThe resource that I use to teach about wildfires is a workbook. It has digital and print versions, again to make it easier for quarantined students and for schools still in pandemic flux. Students can complete the workbook independently over several days. In the workbook, students will learn about the main causes of wildfires and how they are impacted by climate change. Students will also learn about ways to battle wildfires and how controlled fires work to prevent wildfires. This resource works well alone but it also coordinates well with current events or climate change.

Hurricanes

There are many resources about hurricanes available on TpT and other sources, but few are suitable for middle schoolers. Coloring pages and word finds don’t help my middle schoolers understand the causes and effects of hurricanes, so I needed something with a little more content in it. The hurricane workbook that I use is 19 pages and includes information on how air pressure, wind, and global winds are related to hurricanes as well as the development of a hurricane and how they are named. Students can work independently on this activity either in school or at home because it is offered as a printable and digital resource. natural disaster resources

I also use a hurricane tracking activity in which students use the latitude and longitude of Hurricane Laura to map its movement across the Gulf of Mexico. This activity is completely digital and ask students to decide if a hurricane warning or hurricane watch is appropriate for each location throughout the storm’s development.

natural disaster resources

 

Do you teach natural resources alone or in conjunction with other content? What natural resources would you like to see a middle school appropriate workbook for? Let me know!

Thanksgiving activities for Middle School Science

You know that last day or two before Thanksgiving? Kids are wired, some kids are already on vacation, and you have to entertain them for 2 days. This year in particular, I’m not planning to cover content on those days.  The Thanksgiving activities for my middle school science classes are activities that practice skills without moving forward on the curriculum. Here are 3 lesson plans you can use:

Lesson Plan #1 – Thanksgiving Science Jigsaw activityscience of Thanksgiving

Standards: This activity addresses the following NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:

  1. Asking Questions and Defining Problems
  2. Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Objective: Students will be able to read informational text and ask questions about the text and communicate the problems described in the text with their teammates.

Activities:

  1. Divide students into groups.
  2. Provide each group with informational text about the science of Thanksgiving including topics such as: Why is some turkey meat white and some dark?  Why do leaves change color in the fall? Does turkey make you sleepy? Are sweet potatoes and yams the same thing? Why are cranberries so good for you?
  3. In groups, students read and discuss the text. Provide each group of students with guided questions to help them analyze the text if necessary.
  4. Jigsaw the groups so that each student has the opportunity to share what he or she learned with a new group of students who read a different text.

Evaluation: Have students complete an exit slip in which they provide a 2-3 sentence description of what new and interesting information they will share with their families during Thanksgiving dinner.

Lesson Plan #2 – Thanksgiving Science Escape Room science of Thanksgiving

Standards: This activity addresses the following NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:

  1. Asking Questions and Defining Problems
  2. Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Objective: Students will be able to read informational text and ask questions about the text and communicate the problems described in the text with their teammates.

Activities:

  1. Divide students into groups.
  2. Create clues that lead to puzzles that help students understand  the science of Thanksgiving. For more information on creating a digital escape room, please read this blog from last year.

Evaluation: Have students complete an exit slip in which they provide a 2-3 sentence description of what new and interesting information they will share with their families during Thanksgiving dinner.

 

Lesson Plan #3 – Thanksgiving Science Lab Stations science of Thanksgiving

Standards: This activity addresses the following NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:

  1. Asking Questions and Defining Problems
  2. Developing and Using Models
  3. Planning and Carrying out Investigations
  4. Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Objective: Students will be able to conduct controlled experiments and use models to collect data and draw conclusions about the science of Thanksgiving.

Activities:

  1. Students rotate through hands on stations to learn about the science of Thanksgiving. Stations include:

    1. Add vinegar to bones to remove calcium.

    2. How do cranberries float?

    3. How do you make butter?

    4. How does inertia work?

    5. How can you make music with glasses and water?

    6. Cranberry juice as a pH indicator.

    7. How do biscuits rise? (Generating carbon dioxide)

Evaluation: Have students complete an exit slip in which they provide a 2-3 sentence description of what new and interesting information they will share with their families during Thanksgiving dinner.

 

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Lunar Eclipse Viewer’s Guide

There will be a lunar eclipse visible throughout most of the United States on the morning of November 19, 2021. To download your free viewer’s guide for the November 19th lunar eclipse, click here.Lunar Eclipse Viewer's Guide

 

What is a Lunar Eclipse?

A lunar eclipse occurs when the shadow of the Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the Moon. A lunar eclipse can only occur during a Full Moon.

The shadow cast upon the Moon during a lunar eclipse is large because the Earth is large compared to the Moon. The umbra is the part of the Moon that is in the deepest shadow because it is completely blocked from the Sun. The penumbra is the part of the Moon that is partially blocked from the Sun.

lunar eclipse viewers guide

lunar eclipse viewers guideLunar eclipses aren’t quite as dramatic as solar eclipses, but they do last for a longer time because the umbra is so much bigger in a lunar eclipse. In a lunar eclipse, the light that reaches the Moon has been filtered through the Earth’s atmosphere which makes the Moon change color. During a lunar eclipse, the color of the Moon can range from a very dark brownish red to a bright copper color.  Several factors impact how the moon will look including the amount of ash, smoke and dust in the Earth’s atmosphere. 

It’s interesting to watch the shadow, as it’s one of the ways that ancient astronomers were able to realize that the Earth is round.  

 

To download your free viewer’s guide for the November 19th lunar eclipse, click here.

Top 5 reasons why I Greet my Students at the Door

greet students at the door

In middle school, there are 3-5 minutes between periods. That’s enough time for a quick trip to the bathroom or copy room. Enough time to post attendance or check email. But it’s also prime time to set the stage for the next period. Here’s why I greet my students at the door.

  • Greeting students at the door builds a positive school culture and classroom community which benefits all stakeholders.
  • Greeting students at the door builds relationships with students. Isn’t that why I became a teacher to start with?
  • Greeting your students at the door correlates to a 27% increase in on task behavior during the class (1) and therefore increases learning.
  • Greeting students at the door decreases problem behaviors by 9% and promotes academic engagement. (2)
  • It makes students happy and it makes me happy.

 

 

 

Sources:

  1. Allday, R Allan, and Kerri Pakurar. “Effects of teacher greetings on student on-task behavior.” Journal of applied behavior analysis vol. 40,2 (2007): 317-20. doi:10.1901/jaba.2007.86-06
  2. Cook CR, Fiat A, Larson M, et al. Positive Greetings at the Door: Evaluation of a Low-Cost, High-Yield Proactive Classroom Management Strategy. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions. 2018;20(3):149-159. doi:10.1177/1098300717753831

“Back to Normal”

We’re not quite back to normal even though we’re trying our hardest to pretend that we are. School year 20-21 was bizarre around the world. Virtual school, hybrid, asynchronous, synchronous, cohorts – whatever your school did, it was weird. We had a lot of pivoting to do to adjust to the “new normal” last year – Zoom, digital assignments, virtual labs, and so on. But this year isn’t back to normal. There are new challenges that require pivoting in SY 2021-22 – while not quite post pandemic, everything from bathroom breaks to managing quarantined students is yet another airplane we need to build while we’re flying it.

Back to Normal

Paying attention

During SY 20-21, students had frequent opportunities to “zone out.” They could go off camera for a few minutes during zoom meetings or take a bathroom break whenever they wanted. This year, the expectation for paying attention went from zero to full attention all the time. Even on the middle level, students have forgotten how to focus for longer than a few minutes. How do you manage this? I’ve always had an open bathroom policy – if you need to use the bathroom, use the bathroom. Some teachers have stopped allowing students to sign out whenever they want as an attempt to help them focus better. I have gone the other way, encouraging students to take a walk when they need an attention break. Like everything, I guess we won’t know which of us is helping students until more time has passed.

 

Relationships

Back to Normal

Some kids came back to normal school rocking and rolling and ready to reintroduce themselves to society. Others struggled a little with the new need to be social. Yesterday, I saw a student googling “How to start a conversation.” Some students have been able to work in groups but others have been a little afraid to interact in real time. How do we support these students? Teaching these skills is far more important to our students than teaching them mitosis, but most of us are unprepared to be guidance counselors or therapists.

 

Homework

When school was virtual or hybrid, monitoring of student work was reduced. Admins encouraged us to provide grace and give students a break when it came to homework – allowing late submissions to support students who were struggling with all that the pandemic brought with it. And now, we’re left with the results of that decision – a “regular” school year with “regular” expectations about homework but with students who either don’t know how to complete homework on time or who have fallen out of the habit of doing homework. Not to say that being compassionate is wrong, but the change in expectations has left me with whiplash. I can only imagine how stunned our middle schoolers feel. How do you manage this? I can see students are struggling but I’m reticent to reduce expectations.

Quarantined Students

I got a notification today that 4 students are quarantined. Last week, there were 3 other students quarantined. There’s a bit of a revolving door. The administrative expectation is that students who are quarantining will keep up with school work so teachers have had to post or email assignments to students. This is a challenging hurdle for science teachers. For starters, how do remote students keep up with the class when their peers have been conducting experiments, collecting data, and analyzing results? There are virtual labs to be sure, and they are a great option if there is a virtual lab that covers the same content and skills that you’re covering in class, but what do you do if there isn’t one available? I’ve been videotaping labs and sharing the videos with at home students. If you have a better solution, I’d love to hear it! I also have a pretty large collection of videos “flipping” each chapter in my curriculum. These have been handy to send home to students who are quarantining so that they have access to some instruction while out.

 

What challenges have you and your students had while attempting to return to normal? 

Flipped Learning in Middle School Science

Flipped learning in middle school science is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction is completed by the student independently and interactive learning, practice and reinforcement occurs as a group in the classroom. This “flip” reinvents the traditional passive lecture in class followed by independent practice at home, changing the priority from passive to active learning.

78% of teachers surveyed in 2014 report having tried flipping their classroom for at least one lesson and 96% of those who tried it said that it was a success. Here are some tips to help you incorporate more flipped learning in your middle school science classroom.

What is Flipped Learning?

Traditional classrooms have teachers instructing students on content in the classroom and then assign students practice for homework. In this method of instruction, the classroom time focuses on the passive receipt of knowledge but the active practicing of the knowledge or skill takes place at home.

Flipped learning is a method of instruction that assigns students the activity of viewing a lecture or copying notes at home and then practicing with the teacher in the classroom. In a flipped classroom, the active learning takes place in school and the passive learning takes place at home. Students are exposed to new material on their own and have the opportunity to ask question, review concepts, and practice skills with their teacher the next day.

Flipped Learning and COVID

For the past 18 months, we’ve had students virtual, hybrid, in person, synchronous, asynchronous, and all combinations of the above. Flipping the classroom enables virtual or absent students to keep up with new material.

What are some examples of Flipped Learning?

What kinds of assignments and activities can students do at home in a flipped learning situation?

  • Video or Screencast yourself presenting your lecture, providing students with a copy of cloze notes  or interactive notes to record what they learned. If you work with a team, you can take turns recording the video. Try one video this year. Add another one next year. Keep going. Over the past several years, I’ve collected a library of videos – one for each “lecture” – that I can assign to students in a flipped learning situation. Keep your videos short – maybe 10-15 minutes – to allow students an opportunity to repeat and review as needed.
  • Use pre-made videos to teach a concept rather than record yourself if you’re more comfortable that way. Khan Academy is a good place to start.
  • Students can complete an assessment.flipped classroom in middle school science
  • Complete an independent PearDeck, NearPod, or review activity.
  • BrainPOP.
  • Research.
  • Listen to podcasts.

What kinds of assignments and activities can students do in school in a flipped learning situation?

How does Flipped Learning work?

In a flipped learning classroom, the teacher switches from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side,” offering opportunities for practice and support for individual students. In the middle school science classroom, the teacher acts more as a lab assistant than a director, offering materials and guided explorations leading to experimentation.

Flipped Learning advantages and disadvantages

What do we love about it?

In middle school science, flipping the classroom offers enormous benefits. More class time can be spent conducting experiments, collecting data, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions.

One advantage of flipped learning is that students learn more effectively by using class time for small group activities and individual help. Giving student autonomy and greater control over their learning increases engagement, comprehension, and retention. Students can work at their own pace to learn new content and review videos as many times as they need to understand.

Flipping the classroom increases the quality of in class group projects, discussions and debates. Students take more ownership of their knowledge.

What do we not love about it?

A notable disadvantage of flipping the classroom is that it relies very heavily on technology. Schools that don’t have one-to-one devices will find it more challenging to implement and will have to depend on families to provide technology for their students.

Some students struggle with personal responsibility and have a difficult time transitioning to owning their own learning. They complete the independent assignments with little thought or clarity and are unable to participate in the class activities the next day. A cycle of failure is hard to break.

Conclusion

I believe that flipping the classroom results in less “sit and listen” and more “do and learn” in the classroom which makes learning more engaging, enjoyable, and productive for students. It’s also a lot more fun for teachers!