NGSS Teaching Resources
Teaching Newton’s Laws of Motion doesn’t have to feel like pushing a boulder uphill (though that would make a great force diagram). If you’ve ever watched your middle schoolers glaze over at the words “inertia” or “net force,” you’re not […]
Middle school students are naturally curious about the world around them, and geology offers a perfect opportunity to tap into that curiosity. Teaching about minerals, rocks, and the rock cycle doesn’t have to be a snooze! With the right resources, […]
In this post, I’m sharing activities and resources for teaching one of my very favorite topics — Geologic History! This includes the rock record, geologic time scale, mass extinction events, and how we can piece together the Earth’s extremely long […]
Plastic in the ocean is a growing problem. It’s essential for science teachers to educate their students about the issue. Approximately nine million tons of plastic waste end up in the ocean each year. As a teacher in a coastal […]
What is Blended Learning? A blended learning environment integrates both digital and hands-on experiences in the classroom. Covid-19 forced educators to craft entirely new learning experiences for their students. These lessons were delivered online and frequently asynchronously. Today, we know […]
I was so proud when in June 2020 my state of New Jersey became the FIRST state in the country to adopt cross-disciplinary climate change education standards for grades K through 12. I agreed with our legislators that as educators, […]
Plate Tectonics has grown to be one of my favorite Earth Science units to teach. This is the first ‘nitty gritty’ unit that I teach during the school year. I find that once students understand the dynamics of this incredible […]
The unit that I most love to teach is Atoms and the Periodic Table. I love this unit because the growth in my students’ understanding is so significant and they undergo a transformation before my eyes! With the exception of […]
Digital modeling has become a staple skill in my middle school science class. When my colleague and I decided to try going completely paperless this year due to the pandemic, we had to get creative with how to continue providing […]
Someone recently reached out to me asking about my top lab equipment essentials for teaching middle school science. I thought this would be a good blog post! I know that I used to struggle every year when it came time […]