NGSS Teaching Resources

Teach Paperless in Your Middle School Science Class blog post

Teach Paperless in Your Middle School Science Class!

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When quarantine began last March, I was totally overwhelmed with how to deliver content effectively to my distance learners. I know I was not alone in this. My overwhelm was compounded by the shear volume of free online resources for […]

Graphing Great Whites Data Analysis and Graphing Project blog post

A Graphing Project Using Real Great White Shark Data

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Kids are fascinated by the mysterious and terrifying Great White Shark! For this fun digital graphing project, your middle school students will create digital graphs of real Great White Shark data. They will collect their data from the amazing website […]

How to Assign Digital Cornell Doodle Notes with Google Classroom

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The Age of Distance Learning Is Upon Us With the onset of the Coronavirus threat, we are all looking for ways to keep our students engaged virtually. Instead of printing sets of Cornell Doodle Notes on paper, this article explains […]

Girl blowing a bubble experimental design project that is not a cookbook lab for middle school science

An Experimental Design Project That Is Not a Cookbook Lab

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Experimental design is an umbrella term for a big concept! Science pedagogy used to have us box it up with a pretty bow and call it ‘the scientific method’. And in order to practice good science, there is absolutely a […]

Designing and Building Mousetrap Cars During Your Science Class

Designing and Building Mousetrap Cars During Your Physics Unit

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Student-designed mousetrap cars are a great way to incorporate engineering and design principles into your physics unit! Student groups will design, construct, and race their mousetrap cars while learning about energy transfer, simple machines, and speed!

Optimize the Use of Cornell Doodle Notes in Your Science Class

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I had a proud teacher moment this February when I realized that I had trained my 8th graders to effectively complete Cornell Doodle Notes all on their own. I put the simple instructions on the screen to choose a scaffolded […]

Using Manipulatives to Teach Chemistry Concepts blog post

Using Manipulatives to Teach Chemistry Concepts

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How Can We Differentiate Complex Content for Our Various Learners? At the middle school level, it’s sometimes a great challenge to differentiate for various learning styles when you’re in the midst of a chemistry unit. Imagine learning about chemical bonding […]

Engaging the 5E Explore Phase with PhET Virtual Labs blog post

Engaging the 5E Explore Phase with PhET Virtual Labs

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A couple of years ago, I started writing my lesson plans using the 5E instructional model. IT WAS A GAME CHANGER! Something about scrapping those ‘old school’ teacher terms of “anticipatory set”, “input”, “independent practice”, etc. helped me to plan […]

Heat Stations to Warm Up Your Thermal Energy Unit!

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What better way to learn about heat transfer than to experience it firsthand?! Basic thermodynamic concepts provide a fantastic foundation for students learning chemistry and physics. One of my favorite station labs of the year are my heat stations and […]

A Fun Mystery Puzzle to Add to Your Physical Science Class!

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  After I do the Gummy Bear Demo to pique their interest, I have found that this Mystery Solutions Puzzle is a great way to grab my students by their brains! I have used Flinn Scientific’s Mystery Solutions Activity for […]

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