Handouts are available below. Big Idea The only way we get better at science skills – like CER – is to practice it constantly and in different contexts. Today, I want to share a quick ice breaker I do at the beginning of class with my students that can also be used to practice CER,…

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Handouts are available below. Big Idea Looking for a creative AND useful way to start using ChatGPT in your classroom? Then try using ChatGPT to make science riddles! Why science riddles? Because it’s a fun way to have students review science vocabulary. Too often, science vocab review activities have students write down definitions or match…

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Handouts are available below. Big Idea Getting better at CER is all about finding ways to practice it in the lab. Today, I’m showing a quick demo you can do with your students that gets them to practice CER while answering this question: do hot lemons release more juice than cold lemons? All that’s needed…

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Handouts are available below. Big Idea How can we mark student graphs more efficiently? I’ve started using a one-column rubric, and it’s helped me mark student graphs faster than before because I’m not calculating and adding every single point they get and then giving a mark out of 10 or 15 (or whatever). Instead, I’m…

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Handouts are available below. Big Idea How do you teach CER? This year, I’ve focused a little more time on introducing CER and practicing it before moving onto having students use it on tests and formal assignments. So, when introducing CER, I’m using ig nobel prize winning studies and having students graph and draw conclusions…

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Handouts are available below. Big Idea This year, I’m trying to find ways of getting students engaged at the start of class and connecting it to the brain breaks I give students during class. Here’s something I tried with my classes recently that worked well – which employed some music and history from the Golden…

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Handouts are available below. Big Idea Teaching students how to measure volume using a graduated cylinder also requires students to learn how to estimate. Here, I share an activity that helps students practice both – estimating and measuring volumes – and has stood the test of time. Shout out to fellow science teacher Dennis Lam…

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  Handouts are available below   Big Idea Some teachers are reluctant to switch to Standards Based Grading because they feel that SBG is less rigorous even though over two-thirds of my students actually found SBG to be equal if not more rigorous than traditional grading. Today, I’m sharing 3 things I do to make…

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Handouts are available below Big Idea Are you looking for a bellringer that works across multiple classes and is easy to set up?  I came up with this one as a brain break activity, but then realized it worked well as a bellringer too. The purpose is to get students to think about the relative…

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Handouts are available below   Big Idea I’ve heard of teachers who are against adopting Standards Based Grading (or SBG or Standards Based Assessment) for senior science because they felt SBG was less rigorous than traditional grading. But what do students think? Since I used SBG with my Physics 11 students in summer school, I…

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