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I've got a nice scientific method activity that you might like. There are these things called Fortune Teller Miracle Fish. They are these little cheap red "fish" made of a plastic that is heat sensitive. This causes the fish to move in all different ways when you put it in your hand. But the wrapper just says that it moves based on Love or other emotions. I like to create a story about how I saw these things over the summer and being a scientist I'm really skeptical of these Fortune Teller Fish so I want to see if they can figure out what really makes the fish move. Then I hand em out. They make observations, make hypotheses, then test their theories... I let kids go put the fish on the window sill or the radiator etc... make more observations... you get the idea. Also a good debrief at the end about what they did as detectives and scientists is important. It sets a good tone to the inquiry and investigative work we'll be doing in class and the kids love em.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/144-Fortune-Teller-Miracle-Fish/dp/B002481FEQ
Hi! I would highly recommend the book Science in the City: Culturally Relevant STEM Education by Bryan A. Brown. I loved it. I think it may give you some good ideas for the classroom and may also just change your perspective on how you teach and science education in general.
Here are some links to my rubric and grading scale. Still making adjustments whe assessment needs upgrading.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7ggaCcTUfcLOGtEZE1nTmZ0eUk/edit?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7ggaCcTUfcLRU1BTVk1WFdaNms/edit?usp=sharing
How do you feel about things that are less long-form writing? "What If?" and "Thing Explainer" are both books of short sciency non-fiction.
"What If?" is essays that examine very silly and extreme ideas (like pitching a baseball at 0.99c) by going into the physics behind what would happen. "Thing Explainer" is explanations of how various things work using only the 1000 most common words in the English language, and is an interesting exercise in circumlocution.
I don't know what sort of access you have to smartphones etc, but you can print out a piece of paper and have them look at it using the anatomy 4d app to show them a quite cool interactive model of the heart.
>If you have ideas around agriculture, that would be awesome since that's what the live with outside of school.
You can try an experiment where you grow plants from seed in sunlight, shade, and total darkness. The plants given sunlight should be the shortest of the bunch. Shade grown plants will exhibit shade avoidance "behavior" and be slightly taller. The dark grown plants will be the tallest (I think), etiolated and pale/white. This illustrates a pretty important concept where the plant shade avoidance response dictates the density at which a crop can be planted; extremely dense planting causes plants to shade each other, inducing the shade avoidance response. The plants essentially put too much energy into growth and too little into their progeny, resulting in poor crop yield.
If this is something you'd like to try, give it a go by yourself first, just to be sure things actually turn out like I said. You might also want to try a few different plant varieties and see which variety works best. I'd go with some sort of bean or corn.
[edit]
An experiment where you grow plants with a directional light source to demonstrate phototropism might be cool, too.
If you have $, check out Starry Night. They have some excellent observation based curriculum, but it's spendy.
UNL has some excellent simulations and associated assignments: https://astro.unl.edu/.
This is the best workbook, buy it with your own money if you have to: https://www.amazon.com/Lecture-Tutorials-Introductory-Astronomy-Edward-Prather/dp/0321820460/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=lecture+tutorials+for+introductory+astronomy%2C+3rd+edition&qid=1621871422&sprefix=lecture+tutorials+&sr=8-3
I was a bio major and given a half year astronomy course to teach my second year. These are the materials I was given and I learned a lot! I have a few more resources that I've created if you're interested, but they are not as polished. PM me if you're interested in those. Good luck!
I really like this classic black & white video about frames of reference. You can stream them straight from that source or from YouTube.
They're a bit long and perhaps heavy with verbal explanations, which may be too advanced for young students. I've found that it's also nice to edit out everything except the interesting visual examples and replace the sound with silence or background music.
we use chemsketch as well it might not be the best looking but its relitivly easy and free. if you are on mac chem doodle i hear works well. here is the link to chemsketch site http://www.acdlabs.com/resources/freeware/chemsketch/
The book Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku might give you some ideas to incorporate into your class. This book analyzes a wide range of sci-fi technologies and breaks down the science. Hopefully this will inspire some ideas!
The fastest way I found to look them up is to just go to flinn and type in the chemical name. Its pretty quick. No Fume Hood!!!?!!?!?? in the whole school???? And you're going to teach chemistry? 2 things
- Get a fume hood or get the hell out of that school. It is super dangerous to even just dilute chemicals for your students without a fume hood.
- If not seriously, go buy an Israeli surplus gas mask and new filter for it here: https://www.amazon.com/KYNG-Protection-Halloween-Charcoal-Adjustable/dp/B0877CKPYN/ref=sr_1_12?dchild=1&keywords=israeli+gas+mask&qid=1623965276&sr=8-12 Can't guarantee its legit but you should test it for leaks when you first put it on. The cartridge lasts about 24 hours of constant use, that time stops when you seal it back up (pop the cap on and screw on the top) so you can keep using it as needed
DO NOT just use an n95 it won't do jack shit
and I recommend getting good gloves that are reusable in case you have to work with anything strong: can't seem to find a link for them but generally you want thick nitrile gloves with a heat resistant inner glove. I literally bought myself a pair for home use because they're so useful.
There is a free kindle book if you have amazon prime about setting up escape rooms in your classroom
I got mine at Bed Bath and Beyond but it was the last one and they said they weren’t going to get anymore in and that was 3 years ago. You can check there if you want but just in case...
Here is one on amazon
I'm using the atom editor [1], with the latex, language-latex, and pdf-view packages (and more that are not really specific to paper writing). It is not perfect, but it is the one that works best for me that I found so far.
[1] https://atom.io/
I can see that. High school more appropriate, or “gifted” in the earlier bracket?
Edit: That said, the anime was brought to my attention by a 13 year old student, but she is more advanced (and obviously an anime fan)!
Edit 2: For those of us (including myself) not in the know, the anime is on Crunchyroll (the app and site) at https://www.crunchyroll.com/cells-at-work . Maybe we’ll see it on DVD too with English subtitles.
Desmos Online Graphing Calculator (not specifically science, but awesome for visualizing graphical relationships)
Unfortunately, there is a bit of a learning curve, but Geogebra can be used for this, for sure. I'm sure there are resources out there where people have already set up files for lots of things though.
Here's all my Honors level labs up through momentum. Feel free to edit them as you see a need. Even in my 9th year teaching I'm still tweaking them.
As for AP....its a blast but exhausting. They're a very fun group but it is rough timing. You gotta plan your timing from the start and stick to it. There is very little wiggle room in the schedule. For our labs in that group I give them a task or a question and some tools and say "Go." They have a standard format they have to use and they do all their work in a marble notebook that I collect. I want to see everything from them on this. Even when they screw up and have to go back, I want to see the mess-ups. I try to get them doing even "realer" science than honors. They get less scaffolding but also a lot more freedom in how they attack a problem. For instance, one of their labs is find a kinematic link between angle of launch and range for a projectile launch from the top of a cliff, but with experimental data. Or determine the relationship between salinity and conductivity of water. If you have question RE: AP, feel free to ask.
Yes, I bought the Flinn posters for my room my first year. I love those. You can get new ones on Flinn's website, they are sometimes on sale for 15% off. I also teach 8th and bought a periodic table shower curtain off Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/UNIFEEL-Periodic-Elements-Background-Chemistry/dp/B07N2VXLBT/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=periodic+table+shower+curtain&qid=1611420643&s=home-garden&sr=1-5
$20 is cheaper than some of the smaller posters. I usually troll eBay for others. I did also buy a periodic table letter set on TpT and printed out letters on card stock in my school colors and laminated. Each letter is as big as a piece of paper, so I spelled out things like "Inspire", and "Science is Life" stuff like that.
Oh, and get a writing tablet like this one: XP Pen . I use Microsoft whiteboard as my preferred digital whiteboard software, but there are lots of options.
I took a class in college called "Scientific Revolutions" about the shifts in scientific paradigm throughout history. One of the textbooks in the course was The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn. It was rather enjoyable and extremely informative. I wish I kept my copy. Amazon has a bunch of related suggestions as well. (https://www.amazon.com/Structure-Scientific-Revolutions-Thomas-Kuhn/dp/0226458083) Perhaps this will spark some ideas?
The best textbook for a college biology class is Campbell Biology. Older editions are dirt cheap, and it's quite literally the only biology textbook you need unless you're taking upper-level classes.
I'd recommend you read it cover-to-cover and recommend you provide sections for reading to the students to supplement other learning activities.
I'm not sure if this counts as in your budget or not, but these rubber poppers are not bad for impulse-momentum labs. I think you can get them at dollar stores too - can't remember if I did that or Amazon. You only need 1 per group so that might be a pretty small quantity. You also need some way to record a video and look at it frame-by-frame (students with phones works great here, and there are some reasonable free apps out there to have them get).
You can have them record the time the popper takes to "unfold" and the height it reaches (have students try to catch them at the highest point, or put a ruler in the video frame and get it that way). Use kinematics to relate the height it reaches to the velocity of launch, then use the unfold time and that velocity to calculate the force the popper exerts on the ground using the impulse-momentum theorem. It doubles as a good review of that kinematics stuff (or you can have them solve that with energy conservation if you've gotten there).
Some common problems - depending on age/talent level, the two-step process can be tough to understand or follow. - getting a good video is tricky with an iPhone since the time the popper takes to bounce off the ground is extremely small. Sometimes it's less than a full frame. - the number they get is somewhat "meaningless" so oftentimes my students will get the value and then just shrug at it. I have mine compare that force to the weight to try to illustrate how impulsive forces can be very large in comparison to other ones they're used to working with but that only sometimes actually gets them to start thinking.
My favorite way to introduce FBDs is to have them try to draw them for various scenarios using small toy hover disks like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Can-You-Imagine-Ultraglow-Soccer/dp/B00KAA176G/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?crid=UJDZWPUJL5S6&keywords=hover+disk&qid=1669290595&sprefix=hover+disk%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-5 (sorry for the stupid link, I’m on mobile and don’t have much time as I write this).
The scenarios I ask them to create with the disks, then draw the fbd’s for, are the following: 1.) the disk, turned off, just sitting there motionless 2.) the disk, turned on, AFTER it’s been kicked 3.) the disk, turned off, AFTER it’s been kicked 4.) the disk, turned on, being pulled horizontally by a TAUT string (rule, string must not have any slack) [this one leads to some funny scenarios of students running down the hallway trying to keep the string taut, they always are surprised to find out they can’t do it] 5.) the disk, turned off, being pulled horizontally by a string at a constant velocity.
In addition to the free body diagrams I have them note if they observe constant velocity, or accelerated motion with each scenario. That, combined with the fbd’s they draw, usually lead them to conclude Newton’s first law on their own without much leading from me.
I introduce Punnett Sqaures via PTC paper and then this video:
You can get PTC paper via Carolina Biological Supply... or even Amazon (which is where pur secretary prefers to order from):
(Oy, that's a nasty link.)
Nice in theory but very hard to implement. I recommend setting clear routines and expectations without their input. On time means in your seat at the bell. There is bell work to do every day on the board, get on it, it goes into the gradebook. Praise them by name for being on the ball. Get yourself a used copy of this amazing book and study it well.
I use Edison robots. They are about $30 a piece, but I'm not just using them for constant speed cars, I'm also using them for coding.
So if you also need cheap programmable robots, two birds.
Otherwise buy some cheap motors and make your own. https://www.amazon.com/Gebildet-DC3V-12V-Aircraft-Robotic-Four-Wheel/dp/B08CMPBXNL/ref=mp_s_a_1_16?crid=1M0RG6OBR9GQ2&keywords=hobby+motor+geared&qid=1661294249&sprefix=hobby+motor+geared%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-16
The flip over buggies are also a good option.
You need to read Harry Wong's "The First Days of School". Do not go into school on the first day/first week expecting to teach science content. Kids need to see structure and to practice procedures. This is not a recommendation, it is a prescription.
When I taught Environmental Science it was to a similar crowd. I really liked the Holt books.
When I was teaching, I used the "Butterfly" book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0030390737/
If you want to see what it looks like, here's an older edition: https://archive.org/details/holtenvironmenta00arms/
Sadly I don't think Holt (HRW) is making an Environmetal Science book at this level anymore (they seem to be focusing on AP Environmental Science).
Regardless, hopefully those links help.
My science classroom doesn't have a gas line. I've used candles (tea lights) for smaller labs that require heating. For this upcoming year, I put in a request for a few of these portable Bunsen burners. They are fueled by a butane canister.
Not having water in a lab would make me very nervous though. Not just with the fire, but chemicals can get spilled and splashed accidentally. Maybe look into a camping sink. They aren't insanely expensive and would work for hand washing and an eyewash station in an emergency.
This might not be at all what you're looking for, but have you considered "What If?"? I haven't read it thinking about the perspective of a middle schooler, but if you don't already have it I highly recommend it just for yourself, so checking it out is well worth it.
It's not a connected narrative, it's a bunch of short essay style responses to questions like "what if we pointed every laser pointer at the moon?" and "what if you threw a ball at 90% of the speed of light?".
If you don't have a curriculum from the school, or just want to brush up on your physics basics to prepare, buy yourself a copy of Paul Hewett's Conceptual Physics textbook and a couple copies of the Workbook.
Do the workbook yourself. Stay a couple of chapters ahead of the students.
I was dropped into 9th grade Physics a few years ago and my background was mainly Bio. I actually had a ton of fun learning the stuff in the textbook and now physics is my favorite subject to teach!
I have always just taken some cord, tied a knot in the cord, threaded the cord through the ball so the knot holds the ball, and clamped the cord in a pendulum clamp for a standard lab stand.
https://www.amazon.com/United-Scientific-CLPEN1-Pendulum-Clamp/dp/B00ES3U99M
https://www.amazon.com/TIPERs-Sensemaking-Introductory-Educational-Innovation/dp/0132854589
In addition to everyone else’s great advise, this book is a great resource with ranking exercises and other activities that my kids enjoy and truly engage with. It helps them to articulate their answers and helps you see where their conceptual misunderstandings are.
It's the same thing just take off the orb on tip. You can order them as hand crank or as a plug, as long as it is band driven you will have this affect.
Hand Crank Van De Graaf Generator, up to 100kV, 7.5" Dome, 4" Discharge Sphere, 22" Tall https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AKFNMMS/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_CEBN5RK9FEJD68GEXC8P
Here is a link to a hand crank one
This is my 21st year. I taught middle school for the first 8.
Middle school takes a special breed of teachers.
This book is worth is weight in gold, and everything he says is true and it works:
The First Days Of School: How To Be An Effective Teacher (Book and CD) 3rd Edition
by Harry Wong
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0962936065/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_QH47JSFV062531R8WYGR?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Get a multimeter. A cheapo one like this should be totally fine for science class purposes.
Also, checking a couple possible simple problems. You mentioned getting thin copper wire...is it insulated, or bare copper? Often thin wire will have enamel insulation, like this does, and sometimes that enamel is similar in color to copper, so it can be hard to tell at a glance. Assuming it is insulated, have you removed the insulation where it's touching the battery?
A low friction track and carts with a motion sensor go a long way. Steel balls and metal v tracks cover quite a bit too. Kelly O'Sheas blog https://kellyoshea.blog/author/kellyoshea/ has a lot built in for modeling, including resources for teachers on request. Every year I add more and more but those cover avoid deal of mechanics (first half of the year).
I start most classes off with a question from TIPERs and if they don't understand the concepts then we try to find a way to replicate the question and force them to organize and collect data and present the results on 2'x3' whiteboards (I have 12 and a boatload of markers, I consider these an essential and use them every day)
I have four scarf hangers like this, one for each quarter. Cycle them up from the basement closet one at a time.
Or one of these inside a cooler or styrofoam box. Anything between room temp and 37C is fine. You could even let them sit on the bench if you want, it'll just take longer to grow.
I have written down several thoughts here on what to do to put a science fire in a belly and have saved down an insane number of online educational science (and other subject) resources: https://sites.google.com/site/sterlinghomeschoolacademy/home/e-educational-resources/science
There is a whole series of Manga science books that might interest your students. For example The Manga Guide to Physics, The Manga Guide to Biology. You can order them from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Manga-Guide-Calculus-Hiroyuki-Kojima/dp/1593271948/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=manga+physics&qid=1639271562&sr=8-5
You are welcome to use our Daily Challenges or our Logic Course. Newsela might have a text set of stories about inventors or find relevant free articles. I think the aim is to be interesting/engaging while still communicating that this is an academic setting.
Also I would mix it up with anything that will get the mind moving, like soduku or other puzzles.
Yes connect more cells and it should help. I typically have those LEDs you suggested and it works qell. I have done his activity in physics but I've switched to using ice trays. It's sooooo much better. I use the big cube ice trays like this glacio Ice Cube Trays Silicone - Large Ice Tray Molds for making 8 Giant Ice Cubes for Whiskey - 2 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0771YDNCY/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_6YQK771A9ZPE0S0TYG1J?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 . I connect each cell using a zinc screw that I've wrapped copper wire around.
There are some excellent TED lectures on several science topics. I like TED because they're copyright free (I have classes that air on public TV), the speakers are often dynamic and brilliant, each lecture is typically no more than 20 minutes, and the fact that the students can easily access the lectures online to watch again. I often use ScienceDaily for a discussion assignment where students are required to read an article and then find their own related article for comparison. Citations for the articles are listed in APA or MLA at the bottom of the article which gives non-majors an easy way to get experience with citations in a reference section and citations in running text.
I reach fourth grade and these are the 2 things I presented today. One is a YouTube video about earth the other is a quizizz quiz. Only 10 questions.
Earth Day video
Earth Day Quiz
Not a tip so much as a good classroom management piece of tech. I recently discovered GoSoapbox and I'm in love. It is similar to Quizizz but is more flexible. You can turn on and off questions throughout the lesson with the click of a button, and you can also post polls and quizzes as well. The data you get from the discussion questions can be saved to a spreadsheet for analysis later. Answers can be seen by the whole class and are totally anonymous (except for you!). I really enjoy using it.
Oh, and there is a 'confusion barometer' so that students can tell you if they are confused at any point during direct instruction. Makes it nice for the students who don't normally speak up in class, because well, they don't have to speak up in class!
It looks like screencastify might do what you're looking for. I haven't used it, so I can't vouch for it, but it says it can embed your webcam in your recording.
I recently got this document camera for my classroom. It's a good value.
A lot of people recommend screencastify for recording software. It's very simple to use and integrates very well with google classroom (great if you're offering to help other teachers)
I recommended spending a few dollars to get a desktop microphone (or headset mic.) I find that the built-in microphones on computers are distracting bad. $10 goes a long way for a stand-alone mic.
I've actually done this a few times. I have used conference call software a lot. not sure which other ones i've tried but i know join.me worked well for me. You can also try art streaming stuff like twitch, youtube live, picarto, etc.
I haven't done that particular one before, but I did an online earthquake simulator last year with my 6th graders (they enjoyed it a lot, but parts were difficult for them, so it might be perfect for your 8th graders). It helps students find an epicenter by looking at S-->P lag time, magnitude, amplitude, and distance.
I've written out directions on how to get the website and use the different "tools" offered. I uploaded them for you here. Feel free to use it or lose it, but I think it;s a fun (if a bit outdated) game and each simulation is different.
I'm happy to help with the resource drive! It looks like we can make an Individual Box account for free and password-protect the folder. (Might be worth changing the folder password monthly or something).
Here's all my Honors level labs up through momentum. Feel free to edit them as you see a need. Even in my 9th year teaching I'm still tweaking them
https://padlet.com/janesamikim/resources
Jane Kim is continuously updating this padlet, and it's well organized: her words, actions steps, anti-racism resources, resources related to children, teaching justice resources, history, reading lists, deaf education/asl, articles, and voting. She has such a wealth of resources!!
Credentials-wise, she has a EdM in Education of the Deaf and HoH, and is a Reading Specialist (MA). :))
Thank you for asking this question! I've learned a lot just reading through this thread.
I researched Laura Magner's 2-5-8 plan for differentiated assessment and really wanted to give it a go.
https://prezi.com/m/8dpd0oa1uvuy/2-5-8-assessment-plan-prezi/ unless you have access to the original article on SagePub...
This sounds like the making of a really great class, but I get that starting from scratch is daunting. Lean in to the design process, and plan on innovating and adapting as you go.
I really like the ideas from Launch which I think is helpful for focusing on process not product. I would recommend starting with design challenges, think the classic keep this egg from breaking from a certain height. First day is thinking through the issues, drawing a plan. Day 2 is creating the device/testing. Day 3 is dropping it, reflecting on what worked/ what did not. Day 4 is redesigning. Day 5 is dropping again, reflection activity. Repeat with other challenges. (Also can add team building activities to make students comfortable with each other) This will allow you to have something for the students to do each day, and you can have a different challenge each week. Long term you will want a longer term projects/centers but this would be a good way to get started.
Longer term, start thinking about the experiences you want your students to have, and less about the content.
I also work for Brilliant, giving teachers free access to our content. The Logic course could be fun to include in this type of class. It is good to have academic but fun activities for students who are quicker at completing tasks. All teachers can get free access at brilliant.org/educators.
NICEEEE! I tend to get this type just for the cost-box size balance, but there are some really nice brands out there that are more fun than using a gel pen (imho, lol).
I love my QBall. Best classroom tool I have. It’s a Bluetooth mic in a big squishy ball. You connect the receiver to your whiteboard speakers and when you talk into it (or students talk into it) it’s so much easier to hear.
This year with masks in the classroom it has been a lifesaver, but I’ve used it for three years and I absolutely love it.
The new one has USB functionality too. May be time for me to replace mine as well! Lol
Buy these mask brackets (Amazon).
I swear by these. They keep you from sucking your mask into your moth when you talk and keep it from touching your face/itching. My mom has been giving them out to her teacher friends since last September and I started sharing mine too. I have bought dozens at this point. I find I really like this brand and style. Some people in give them to love them. Others buy a different style/brand, you might have to try several types to find your ideal shape.
The science behind it is really hard to understand, but rattlebacks are pretty awesome. If you set them on the rounded side, they spin one direction happily, but if you spin them the other way they will start rocking back and forth, and then reverse the direction of their spin.
I'm going to make a only tangentially related suggestion, because general relativity is exceedingly hard to simplify down to anything at all without an extreme amount of math.
Take some time and learn special relativity first with some actual detail. Special relativity at its core relies on geometry and algebra (the algebra will likely be tricky but not completely beyond your grasp at your age) and will set up the framework to answer some of your questions about time and light. It won't address gravity - that's what general relativity brings in - but it should be a lot more approachable to you at 14.
You might find this textbook a good starting point as well. It's designed for a first-year college student but it's really easier than that, I think, and assumes very very little prior knowledge, at least for the first few chapters (1-7) which are really the relevant ones to starting to answer your broad questions anyway. The later ones will expect a lot more from you.
The short answer is this, and this is basically from that book summarized (since that's the textbook I first learned from): Relativity (either special or general) relies on one core rule, that the speed of light must be a constant. Any changes to distances light travels (either based on the motion of observers/objects or the bending of space itself due to mass) must therefore be balanced by adjustments to time elapsed, such that the speed of light remains constant no matter what.
In our "normal" physics, we assume that time is the thing that stays the same for all, and any adjustments to distances are balanced by corresponding changes to velocities to keep time the same for everyone (this is the Galilean velocity transformation). Basically, all relativity does is change that fundamental rule and then logical deduction gets you to the surprising conclusions inescapably.
Hmmm if it was a direct flame you could use something like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFVLVI4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_avQ9Fb9V0DQVA
which is just different chemicals that burn different colors. Not sure how to safely make flames shoot out though
Are you looking for pigment like this? https://www.amazon.com/Temperature-Activated-Thermochromic-Bi-Color-Changing/dp/B01JYOKF98/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=color+changing+pigment&qid=1608932326&sr=8-3
Or are you asking us to explain the science of how it changes color?
- big ole timer
- a pointer thingy
Almost every school has a supply closet. Check there before buying anything. Most schools also have a PTA that will help buy things. There is also donors' choose. I've also seen teachers send out donation letters directly.
I was looking at this Sky Watcher 6 in Dobsonian earlier. Would it be a good pick too? I found it for half the price elsewhere. I know Celestron but am unfamiliar with Sky Watcher.
For books, I highly recommend Lecture-Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy. You can even find Youtube videos that directly address some of the tutorials, which makes for a great ready-made lesson.
I made the career change from engineering to H.S. Biology / ESS certification. For the Biology Praxis I bought the CLEP Study Guide (This one I think.) I read that and didn't do much more, and I made a 187 which was good enough to certify in all 50 states.
That being said, at the end of the test I really thought I had failed. There were MANY questions that I had never covered in college. Even MORE that I was familiar with the concept but that I couldn't eliminate ANY distractors, and I had to completely guess. It was disheartening. I only found out later that PRAXIS likes to put "Preliminary" or "test" test questions which are never factored into your score.
Just a quick Amazon search netted me this https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Caliper-Waterproof-Measurement-Resolution/dp/B07D4FHY8N
In general, all our science equipment come from Amazon, Home Depot, VWR. Chemicals and such from Sigma-Aldrich or Fisher. The prices for chemicals might be higher, but you get a lot more.
Baby University books by Chris Ferrie. My 6 yo loves these books. I also use these as an introduction in some of my units (high school).
If you are only using it for school purposes, you can use Google Voice ( [iOS link] [Android link] ) to call / receive calls from a different number other than your own.
On another note, I would try to not call parents as much as possible. Email will be your best friend (as I'm assuming that you have an email account through your school, right?). If it is a gmail account, then likely you can link your Google Voice account with your email so that they have no reason to take your phone, as they have access to your school account.
There is a book we use Newtonian Tasks Inspired by Physics Education Research: nTIPERs (Addison-wesley Series in Educational Innovation) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321753755/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fab_ov6GFbAMA142W
It’s full of great physics CER. Really any question in this physics book will be a open concept that follows the CER format or can be with 30 seconds of work
Astronomy isn't only physics. I took an astronomy class in high school. This was my favorite class. We learned about it mostly from a historical perspective. We did some fun exercises as well, like learning how they calculated the distance of stars back then using some math formulas. I personally can't fathom not having an interest in our universe, but I think you should teach it from this historical perspective. If it helps, there's a good book I read - https://www.amazon.com/Big-Bang-Universe-Simon-Singh/dp/0007162219
For the record, I ended up studying biomedical science in school, since I wasn't the best at math, and I knew this field was heavy in math. Still, I enjoy reading about all things space.
The problem with teaching Physics is that most of the student questions (that are off topic anyways) are about the humongous or the the tiny. Black holes, Big Bang, Higgs Boson, Dark Matter, etc. I have a Biology background, so the edges of the pysics (the tin and the huge) are way out of my purview. I tell kids that I don't know and encourage them to look it up. If I have time I will google up some resources to get them started. I tried to read Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs by Lisa Randall and I just kept falling asleep.
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Hot plates aren't really all that special if you don't need a magnetic stirrer. Someone might correct me but I can cook just as well on a 200 hotplate as I can on a 10 dollar one. And if by any chance you're in California I'd be happy to have one of mine sent to your school xD
I got it in Amazon maybe a week ago for $170 though it was a daily deal.
I had a Makerbot Replicator 2 that the former tech teacher used before it got commandeered for the makerspace.
I tried to do homologous bone structures also but I couldn't find any good models so I had to scrap that lesson and do it the old fashioned way.
Once you get a hang of 3D printing, it's really easy and really cool. I would suggest, however, that you put the printer in a strictly "no students" section of your room. They're very finicky and the prints take hours, so one student going over to "look" at it could mess up the print and you'd have to start it all over. Some of the skulls I printed took 8 hours.
I found this for $5 and my 7 year old is loving following the instructions to make his own game using Snap (nearly identical to Scratch).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BQUTQS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_vcJGBbVWBWBRZ
These ones always worked really well for me! I used them when I was doing lab research in college. They work really well, and they're a very comfortable to wear compared to your garden variety classroom goggle. (plus they're a bit more... stylish?) The only complaint I have about them is that after a few years they get kind of scuffed up.
Thanks! Another question is... Have you tried the Amscope prepared slides sold on amazon?
I am referring to this ones:
I few years ago my students voted these the best https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002A5HJMK/ Since then the anti-fog coating seems to be much weaker. The S350CF have better reviews now. Also, some students prefer the curved ski goggle style that someone else suggest.
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A previous teacher used the ones from Flinn that are more like a shield. They give better visibility (especially for side to side view) , but I prefer a tight google in case something really bad happens.
I love using ranking tasks as warmups, but they can also be used for more extended assignments.
Or a sweet poster he/she doesn’t have up in the room yet, such as this tree of life: https://www.amazon.com/Generic-Tree-Poster-Print-24x36/dp/B003XRAI90
Or any of these are on sale: https://www.popchartlab.com/collections/gift-guides-nature-lovers
Not 100% sure how UK shipping would work but I have this one from amscope and it has a usb connection that lets me show it on the computer or project the image. It's not the greatest but lets you see onion cells just fine. I haven't tried blood yet, I should give that a shot.
Something like The Cartoon Guide to the Environment might help. It's funny and there is some poetic license but that could be a good place to start a conversation with students about thinking critically about what they read. There are also other Cartoon Guides by the same people.
Correct, I have a home base in a room (desk, shelves, etc.) but I likely will be in 5 different rooms next year so they are supposedly giving me a plastic cart.
Probably something like this, https://www.amazon.com/Economy-Plastic-Cart-Three-Shelf-Black/dp/B01APVE0YA
There is no 'complete' text book on fluid mechanics; it's a massive area of study, and there are thousands of publications every year that move it forward.
I really think your best bet is to pick up an introductory book and go from there. Different sub fields and specialisms apply different areas of fluid mechanics in different ways. And don't forget that turbulence - which is a massive part of fluid mechanics - is still an unsolved problem. If you then start looking at complex materials like slurries, granular materials, and other 2-phase mixtures then you're getting into realms of really rather extraordinary complexity.
I find this to be a pretty good starting place (although I have the 4th edition - I haven't seen the 5th) : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fluid-Mechanics-Pijush-K-Kundu/dp/0123821002/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496312409&sr=1-1&keywords=kundu
that looks awesome. I bought https://www.amazon.ca/Aquapod-GAP-1002-Bottle-Launcher/dp/B003Y5DOJC this.
love the idea of not needing a parachute. I'm going to include that.
do you use an altimeter?
Carol Ann Tomlinson is the Lord and Savior of differentiation. Her books are pretty easy to find and have lots of strategies and examples that can be used.
Differentiation in Practice, Grades 5-9: A Resource Guide for Differentiating Curriculum https://www.amazon.com/dp/0871206552/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0Hwtyb95GX9GW
It depends on the dimensions of the boxes. The slimmer the better. You could always buy a couple of these if you don't want to tamper with a perfectly good resource (I don't blame you).
Here it is on Amazon. I couldn't find my first edition of this text and I didn't spend a lot of time with it. But it's one that you might want to check out.
https://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Introductory-Emphasizing-Biological-Connections/dp/0078043247/
Well, EXPO spray may work for you then. If it's what I'm picturing in my head, it does for me. If I recall, I have the resin table tops, not the wood/laminate. Or you could get the EXPO wipes.
I was thinking you had gouges taken out. And that would suck. I've got some dents and dings from larger masses (stupid awesome 5kg cylinders.......) and I have no idea how to repair them.
Good luck!
Primary Science: Taking the Plunge is a classic in our field (I teach K-4 science). I inherited my copy from a retired elementary school science teacher and found it inspirational in shaping my thinking.
You may find it hard to find a job teaching just earth science to elementary - all the elementary science jobs I've seen were positions that included teaching a variety of scientific topics - but if you are a scientifically-minded, curious and motivated person that shouldn't be a barrier to you being successful. For example, I started my current position knowing almost nothing about rocks (my background is in biology), but since it was on my curriculum for second grade, I started reading - and I now really enjoy teaching rocks.
Elementary school science teacher is about the most fun job I can imagine having. Good luck!
Welcome to the fold! Teaching is awesome! Here are a few books/resources I like:
"Help I'm teaching Middle School Science" http://www.amazon.com/Help-Teaching-Middle-School-Science/dp/0873552253
"Science Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites" http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/162087881X/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=03ZHYV4HWY5048ZYSW03
I got Why Toast Lands Jelly Side Down last year for Gifts for Teachers and it has been fantastic. Really show demos and lessons that just cut straight to the meat of the lesson. So far, it has been the best demo book I've read and it includes a lot of good advice on how to construct a lesson.
Glass is fine. She may just want to put them somewhere the students know they should not touch them, like her desk or on a shelf.
Also may I suggest an Airzooka. It is my personal favorite. The kids who haven't seen it will be amazed, and its kid friendly so they can also use it. I usually get it out at the end of the year and let the kids shoot things with it, like cups or other students.
Also, re the writing, I talked to some of the people who wrote the test, and I think part of the confusion is what they are looking for.
For example: for the "paragraph length response" I was told that their ideal answer would look like a textbook excerpt. It has writing that flows and follows a logical line of reasoning, but that it is supported by interspersed equations and diagrams if needed. I found that the textbook analogy was helpful.
For the others, they really don't need to write complete sentences, or so I was told. They just need to explain the math/concept. Scientific writing that is "clear, concise, and correct" focusing on the concise part. But they can use equations and problem-solving to help back their answers up. And that bullet points are perfectly fine and acceptable, except where it specifically says "write in complete sentences". So part of it was teaching kids how to write like a scientist/physics student and not like an English teacher would want.
Also, the TIPERs book was highly recommended by the AP CB contact I had, and it's actually co-authored by another CB guy. It's really good, focuses on reasoning, explaining why and is in general an awesome way to really push students conceptual understanding of topics and practice their writing.
If you don't have it, I strongly urge you to get it. Or you can PM me and I can email you some of the exercises if you want to look before you buy.