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#7 – Our Top Science Video Activity (set up in less than 5 minutes!)

Using science videos is a great way to reinforce or illustrate a concept. But, making and marking the accompanying science video activity and/or worksheet is time consuming. Yes, there are tools out there that try to make this easier. Edpuzzle, Google Forms, and many other web apps allow teachers to embed questions into the videos…

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#6 – The useful science skill you probably struggle to teach (note: here’s how we do it)

Students are always looking for a “right answer” in science, which leads students to be myopic when it comes to analyzing data. “What am I supposed to get” or “What is supposed to happen?” are common lines I hear from students as a result of the quest for a right answer. In labs, the expectation…

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#5 – 5 Tips to Running Better Retests (hint: teachers don’t need to bend over backwards)

Giving students retests is a popular practice now, but how do teachers run better retests? And by better, I don’t just mean having students do better. I also mean making it easier and worthwhile for teachers to even give a retest.   One of the biggest problems when it comes to retesting is that students…

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#4 – Does Knuckle Cracking Lead to Arthritis? 3 CER examples based on FUN Science

CER is an awesome format to teach science students, but CER examples are lacking. CER stands for Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning. It is a great format for writing explanations is it serves to tie together findings, data, and scientific principles. I am beginning to use CER with my classes and I love it. Unfortunately, while…

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#3 – 24 Parts to a Sweet Periodic Table Lesson (hint: chocolate is involved)

A periodic table lesson can be boring because it focuses on facts. We should focus on the application – it’s much more exciting! So, what’s the most amazing application with regards to the periodic table? It’s that it allowed Mendeleev (who first proposed a version of the periodic table that led to development of the…

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#2 – Why we use film canisters to teach scientific method (and why you should too)

What do we tend to focus on when we teach scientific method? Part of “doing” science is to come up with models that describe invisible phenomena. Bohr, Rutherford, and Thomson developed models of the atom. Watson and Crick developed the double-helix model of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). However, when we teach scientific method, we don’t always…

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#1 – How to Create a Buzz when Teaching Lab Safety (Hint: Coffee is involved)

Teaching lab safety is – how shall I say it – extremely boring to teach. Lab safety is also a buzzkill – a wet blanket extinguishing the excitement we want to build at the beginning of the year. We start the year telling students how engaging, active and relevant science is in their life. Then,…

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