Students are intrinsically curious about the solar system and love learning about it, but everyone could use a little practice learning the facts of the planets. How are you making it more engaging for students, especially during this rollercoaster of face-to-face, hybrid, remote learning? Magic Picture Reveal worksheets are a great way to engage students and reward them for learning their solar system facts.
In a magic picture reveal worksheet, students answer questions like “Which planet has the Great Red Spot?” or “A __ eclipse occurs when the Earth’s shadow falls on the Moon.” As each question is answered correctly, a few pixels of the magic picture are revealed. Students can self-check their work – if pixels weren’t revealed when they typed in an answer, they didn’t get it right. After all of the answers are correct, the entire picture is revealed.
Solar System travel brochure problem based learning activity
If you’d like to learn how to make your own magic picture reveal worksheets, I’ve posted step by step directions on my blog post Magic Picture Reveal Digital Worksheets. It looks more complicated than it is, I promise!
Any time you can make learning and reviewing vocabulary fun, do it! Magic Picture Reveal worksheets are a great way to engage students and reward them for learning their vocabulary. And now that we’re all on some rollercoaster of face-to-face, hybrid, and remote learning, any time you can make it digital, do it!
Kids love genetics and Punnett squares, and teachers love teaching it. Here are some genetics and Punnett square activities that are low prep and no-prep!
When I present new material, I often use a slideshow. Since we started distance learning, I’ve been using hyperdocs and interactive notebooks to accompany my slideshows.
Phenotype/genotype activities. Create a list of characteristics for a jack-o-lantern, leprechaun,
Use simple Mendelian genetics to determine the characteristics of a snowman.
Christmas tree, smiley face, reindeer, snowman, or monster and make options dominant and recessive. Then have students toss 2 coins to see if the jack-o-lantern or snowman is homozygous dominant, heterozygous, or homozygous recessive for each trait. Finish up by having students draw the character.
Practice Punnett Squares. Students love them, and the more interesting you can make them the better! Use simple Mendelian traits like widow’s peak, hitchhikers thumb and the ability to roll your tongue (all of which are dominant) are commonly used in middle school classrooms but waking up early and sneezing in the sun are also dominant traits that kids will find engaging.
Incorporate research into your genetics unit. Students will enjoy learning about hemophilia, Marfan syndrome, sickle cell disease, and albinism, all of which are inherited by simple Mendelian genetics.
Try dihybrid crosses – yellow tall pea plants x green short pea plants. If you start with an interactive notebook, your students can follow along as you demonstrate how to determine the offspring and many middle school students will be able to complete one on their own with enough practice!
Any time you can make learning and reviewing vocabulary fun, do it! Magic Picture Reveal worksheets are a great way to engage students and reward them for learning their vocabulary. And now that we’re all on some rollercoaster of face-to-face, hybrid, and remote learning, any time you can make it digital, do it! Here’s a breakdown of how to create your own magic picture reveal worksheets digitally.
Using conditional formatting, I created vocab worksheets on Google Sheets. As students correctly answer each question, a few pixels of a magic picture is revealed. Get all the answers correct and the whole picture is revealed. Get some answers wrong and miss out on the the picture. It’s easy for students to self-check their work and they’re engaged while doing so.
To create your own magic picture puzzle, follow these steps:
Write 10-20 questions in a column in Google Sheets. Leave a space for the answers. If the answers are words or terms, include a word box to eliminate spelling or case mistakes. [Let’s make a small magic picture together. Write 4 questions on a Google Sheet.]
use conditional formatting to create a magic picture reveal worksheet
2. On a separate Google Sheet, draw a pixelated image. Try the school logo, holiday related, or curricular like a picture of a heart for your unit on the cardiovascular system. A 15×15 grid is a good place to start, but you can make your image as big or small as you want.
use conditional formatting to create a magic picture reveal worksheet
3 Create a grid the same size as the pixelated image on your worksheet. I outlined it in black.
4. Control/Click on a few random pixels of the same color. Then, select Format > Conditional Formatting.
5. In the popup window, select “custom formula is” in the “Format cells if” box.
6. Locate the cell that contains the answer you want to link to those pixels. In the custom formula window, type =$E$16=”petunia” but exchange the E and 16 for the column and row of the answer and exchange the actual correct answer for petunia. In other words, if the correct answer you want linked to the pixels you selected is in cell D18 and the correct answer is orange, you would type =$D$18=”orange”. One exception – if the correct answer is a number, eliminate the quotation marks around the answer.
use conditional formatting to create a magic picture reveal worksheet
7. Under Formatting style, select the fill color you want those pixels to be filled in with.
8. Repeat until all of your pixels are filled with the correct color.
9. When you share the magic picture worksheet with someone, you must use a forced copy to share the URL so that each person will make their own copy of the worksheet rather than writing on yours. To do that, look at the URL. At the end, there is a / followed by the word ‘edit’ and possibly some other code. eliminate everything after that / and replace it all with the word ‘copy.’
What’s the saying? “There ain’t no tired like teacher tired?” And now, “Ain’t no tired like pandemic teacher tired.”
Here are my 10 favorite autumn weekend destressors.
Fire in the chiminea. Add s’mores and cocoa/wine. Wrap yourself in a blanket if it’s cold. Invite the neighbors.
Pumpkin/apple picking. This was stressful when the kids were young. But now it’s fantastic. Pair it with an evening carving a jack o’lantern and making pies. Cliche? Sure. But fun.
Rake the leaves. This is stressful when it’s a chore. But it’s surprisingly relaxing when it’s a calorie burning way to spend a day outside without going to a crowded apple orchard.
Take a nap. In a sunlit room while listening to a podcast. With the dog on my legs.
Takeout coffee and a walk in the woods.
If you can find one that’s not crowded, a winery or cidery (or brewery or distillery) can be a fun way to spend some time outdoors with friends.
Scenic drive on a country road. Play the Eagles album.
Do a puzzle. I rediscovered jigsaw puzzled during the great quarantine last spring and really enjoy listening to an audio book while assembling a puzzle.
Dust off your bike and take it for a spin through the neighborhood. Wave to strangers raking leaves.
Make soup. My favorite – butternut squash soup. But there’s still nothing better then chicken and rice.
When I want a hand made piece of jewelry, I go to Etsy. I also go there for things like scarves, unique gift ideas, and personalized items.
But did you know there is a booming resources for teachers section? It’s not easy to find so I was pretty surprised to stumble upon it.
There are resources like printables and worksheets. The majority of the items that I found were for primary and elementary aged students, but I found a few things that might work for middle school and older.
I’ve been frustrated whenever I’ve tried to have students copy notes, especially while working virtually and hybrid. Students need to pay attention to what I’m saying, but they’re so busy trying to be sure to copy the exact wording of the definition I’ve written that they can’t pay attention.
Introducing Interactive Google Slides.
They might not be new to you, but they’re a game changer for me!
With an interactive Google slide, I can create a background for a slide that includes questions I want students to be able to answer or guided notes. Then, on the side of the slide, I add text boxes that students can drag and drop onto the correct place in the slide.
Check out this one I’ve just created for rocks and minerals:
The beauty of this is that students can pay attention without stressing over what they have to write. Then, when they go home to study, they have everything they need right in front of them.
If you’d like to purchase this product, it’s available on my TpT store here.
Another use of interactive slide shows is for practice and review. Here’s a short video of a 50 slide practice set on Punnett Squares.
If you have any units that you think an interactive notebook would work for, I’d love to hear about it!
A Problem Based Learning Activity is an open ended challenge that asks students to solve a problem or create a product incorporating skills or content they have mastered. Alternately, the PBL can be used to introduce skills or lead students to discover content on their own.
Problem based learning is student centered learning which increases motivation and achievement. PBLs also offer students the opportunity to practice time management and organizational skills. By creating their own connections to the content, students develop intellectual curiosity which helps them understand and retain the concepts.
Additionally, the open ended nature of the problem in a PBL allows for differentiation according to learning preference or skill set.
Many PBL activities can be adapted to suit many content areas. Here are some examples.
Design a museum exhibit. In this sort of PBL, students are given the challenge to select items that represent the topic of choice and to design how these items would be showcased in a museum exhibit. Here is a museum exhibit PBL I use for simple machines but it could easily be adapted to demonstrate mastery of anything from ancient Egyptian culture to the development of the space program.
Design a game. Using the content they’ve mastered, students design a simple game that reviews the content. A simple version of this is a file folder game but it can be as elaborate as a whole class game show.
Create an advertisement. If you have video equipment, or even cell phones, available for your students, they can write, perform, record, and edit a 30-90 second advertisement for a product that reflects the unit you’re studying. Here is an advertisement PBL I’ve used for simple machines but this is easily adaptable for content such as weather instruments, book reviews, or political campaigns for historical figures.
Design a habitat. This is a great activity for teaching ecosystems, food chains, and biomes. I’ve used it as a capstone activity in an endangered animals unit. Students research an endangered animal and design a habitat for a zoo to protect the animal. Another way to implement this idea is to apply a concept to a new location. For example, students can research alternative energy sources and choose one for the imaginary island they’ve just inherited.
Field Trips or Vacations. Students enjoy creating a travel brochure or vacation itinerary to explore a culture or location. This is useful when learning about a historical culture or a geographically distant location. I’ve used it in my solar system unit but it would work just as well for an exploration of the Aztecs or of Antarctica.
Relate it to sports. Many topics can be related to sports which is highly engaging for students. It’s a natural fit for Newton’s Laws but can also be used for many physical science topics such as d=rt, momentum, and energy conversions.
Middle school classrooms are scary places……especially on Halloween. Here are 3 activities to keep your ghouls entertained.
SPIDERS!– This week long mini unit explores the characteristics and classification of spiders. Each day includes complete lesson plans and everything you need to implement the lesson.
Day 1 – spider fact or fiction, spider anatomy
Day 2 – spider research
Day 3 – spider species picture walk and invertebrate identification activity <– try this mini unit by downloading a free copy of the invertebrate identification activity!
Day 4 – review, crossword puzzle
Day 5 – STEM activity building a spider web
Zombie Digital Escape Room – If you’re still working remotely or if you need to keep your kiddos socially distanced, engage them in group work that can be completed separately but together. A digital escape room with a Halloween theme will help them practice communication and problem solving skills, build relationships, and develop a growth mindset if it is appropriately challenging. This one is designed to save the world from zombies but there are thousands of variations on the theme.
Halloween Themed scientific literacy – If games aren’t your thing, or if you need to have seat work in the lesson plans, use the Halloween theme to engage students in a close reading of informational text. I have two on hand – one on spiders and one on bats – that I can bring out for enrichment purposes, sub plans, or for early finishers. They are engaging and help students practice reading and analyzing informational text to build scientific literacy.
Fake Blood STEM project – Students compete to create the most realistic fake blood using a pre-measured goody bag of materials such as corn syrup, food dye, and cocoa powder. Keeping a lab notebook makes it more of a scientific method inquiry than just a random mess making session. Voting on the best blood is one of the most memorable moments of the year.
Apple mummies – Fun project that takes a week or two from beginning to end so you’ll need to plan in advance. Students select materials to mummify an apple slice and then use measurement skills to compare the water content before and after a week of mummification. Stickers or candy to the person whose apple lost the largest percentage of water.
Halloween Themed Worksheets
Any topic can be turned into a Halloween themed worksheet. Here are two I have used:
What’s your favorite Halloween project for middle school science?
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) define phenomena as observable events or occurrences that can be investigated scientifically. Phenomena serve as the foundation for engaging students in the process of scientific inquiry and understanding key scientific concepts. These phenomena can be natural or man-made and can range from simple to complex, spanning across various scientific disciplines. Middle school science teachers can use phenomena to increase engagement in middle school science!
Phenomena in NGSS are used in middle school science to anchor the learning experiences and provide a context for students to develop and apply their scientific knowledge and skills. By exploring phenomena, students are encouraged to ask questions, make observations, analyze data, construct explanations, and engage in argumentation based on evidence. Phenomena enable students to connect scientific concepts to real-world situations and foster a deeper understanding of the natural world.
How to use phenomena to increase engagement in middle school science
Anchoring an NGSS aligned lesson with a phenomenon can help engage students and help them make connections between observations and understanding. Phenomena used at the start of a lesson builds inquiry skills toward learning the science knowledge that explains it. Using phenomena makes learning more meaningful for your students.
But how do we use phenomena? Here are some ideas:
Introduce Compelling Phenomena: Start the lesson with a captivating real-world event, puzzling observation, or intriguing question that sparks students’ curiosity. This can be done through videos, images, demonstrations, or interactive experiences.
Do a demo or post an image or video of a relevant object or discrepant event and ask students to discuss, predict, or explain. Refer to the images throughout the lesson, building connections and strengthening understanding.
Use images that build on familiar experiences to allow students more ownership of and connection to their learning.
Connect to Students’ Prior Knowledge: Relate the phenomenon to students’ own experiences, interests, or familiar concepts. This helps them make connections and see the relevance of the phenomenon to their lives.
Encourage Questions and Wondering: Prompt students to generate questions and express their wonderings about the phenomenon. This promotes active engagement and sets the stage for inquiry-based learning.
Engage students in communication their ideas about the phenomenon through writing.
Phenomenon that can be guessed, googled, or explained in only one class period may be too simplistic. Phenomenon should build knowledge in layers that strengthen connections.
Provide Hands-On Investigations: Design activities and experiments that allow students to explore and investigate the phenomenon firsthand. This hands-on approach encourages active participation and deepens understanding.
Collaborative Learning: Foster collaboration among students by assigning group projects or discussions centered around the phenomenon. This encourages peer-to-peer interactions, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
Use Multimedia and Technology: Incorporate multimedia resources, simulations, virtual labs, and interactive online tools to enhance students’ engagement and provide additional avenues for exploration.
Incorporate Crosscutting Concepts: Highlight the crosscutting concepts (such as patterns, cause and effect, systems, etc.) associated with the phenomenon. This helps students see connections across different scientific disciplines and strengthens their understanding of the underlying principles.
Where can I find phenomena to use in middle school science?
Since the adoption of the NGSS, many digital collections of phenomena have been developed. Two of my favorites are:
Phenomena for NGSS – This collection appears endless to me, despite my hours invested in trying to see everything! Photos and gifs are searchable by topic. I couldn’t think of a topic that I couldn’t find an image for.
The Wonder of Science – This site has collections of storylines, learning plans, images and videos for each standard with links to the evidence statements. A truly exhaustive collection.
