Are you looking to elevate your Ecosystems and Biomes unit? This 4th or 5th grade project based learning unit for ecosystems incorporates science, nonfiction reading, research, writing, and the arts! Read to find out how I organized the research project, what our launch activity was, the driving que
Engage your students with these 10 ecosystem project ideas for your elementary science class and grab a FREEBIE to get started!
Learn what is under your skin with a fun life-size human body project for kids. Download FREE skeletal system bones and organ printables!
You may have heard of a one-pager but aren’t really sure of what it is. A one-pager is a project that is typically given out in an English language arts class. Students have one page to respond to different criteria to show their knowledge of the book. A one-pager should include both visual and written ... Read more
The past few years I’ve had the opportunity to teach a course entirely through project based learning. Our local university approached a couple of schools in our district and asked us if we were interested in teaching a cross-curricular PBL program where our grade 12 students can earn college credits. Ummmm…. heck yeah! Basically, the ... Read more
Geometric Art
Over 130 years have passed since the death of Charles Darwin. Despite the passage of time since Darwin first presented his ideas on natural selection, there continues to be controversy surrounding his theory of evolution. In 1973, Theodosius Dobzhansky published an essay in American Biology Teacher in which he stated, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” Truer words were never spoken. When teaching a biology class, we shouldn’t limit our students to a single unit on the theory of evolution. Rather, the theme of evolution should be woven throughout every unit we teach. I designed this teaching resource to teach my biology students about the man, Charles Darwin. Darwin was a religious and thoughtful man, as well as a superb scientist. However, I have found that I still have students in my class who view him in a less than complimentary light. My main goal in writing this journaling activity was to provide my students with the facts and information they need to form their own opinions and conclusions based on the evidence presented. After all, that is the goal of science, right? I had two goals in mind when writing “Darwin’s Diary.” First, I wanted to include enough biographical information about Darwin to teach my science students about his life. Second, I wanted to produce a class project that would require my students to be thoughtful and introspective, while at the same time, ensure that they master the concepts of evolution. What will the students be doing? This teaching resource is written as if it were a diary kept by Charles Darwin throughout his life. The entries in the diary are designed to teach about the life of Darwin, and the events that led him to develop his theory of evolution. The 26 diary entries include facts and information about Darwin as well as actual quotes from Darwin. Students are asked to respond in some way to each diary entry. In some diary entries students will be asked to offer opinions, but in others, they must provide correct answers to questions. In order to complete this project, students need to receive instruction in the concepts covered in an “Introduction to Evolution” chapter of a typical high school biology textbook. Click on any image to view this resource in my TpT store. I had such a great time doing the research for this evolution journaling activity! Darwin's life was full of the same drama, struggles, accomplishments, and tragedies that we all face today. Darwin was witty, introspective, and very adventuresome! I was able to find and use his own writings to use in the diary entries, and his descriptions of his daily life are simply amazing. In one dairy entry Darwin describes collecting beetles. Both of his hands were full holding beetles, so in order to catch a new beetle, he popped one into this mouth to free up a hand to catch another! He describes his struggles trying to please his father, his tiny quarters aboard the Beagle, riding on the backs of Galapagos turtles, marriage, and his concern about the uproar that would be caused by publishing his theory. As you can see, I am completely captivated by the details of his life, and your students will be as well! What is needed to complete this assignment? In order to complete these assignments, students will need to use the following resources: • Biology textbook • Notes taken during class • Online Resources This diary activity is perfectly aligned with my teaching PowerPoint, “Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.” It includes a 96-slide PowerPoint with notes for teacher and students. Click the image to the right to view this product on TeachersPayTeachers. How can you use this in your classroom? • I suggest copying all pages and passing them out to your students on the first day of your evolution unit. The activity is designed to be used over multiple days as you teach your unit on evolution. • Use only the pages you want. There are enough student pages included so that you have the flexibility to choose the pages best suited for your needs. • Each day during your unit, have students complete a number of the dairy entries. These pages make great classroom activities as well as quality homework assignments. You will find that the content of the diary entries will generate much classroom discussion. • The questions used in this assignment are of two types. Some questions require the students to express their opinion, but most questions require a research-based correct answer. I accept any and all answers to opinion-based questions as long as the student has given an honest effort to express his/her opinion. If this assignment is to be graded make sure that students know that they are expected to provide correct answers for the majority of the questions. At the end of "On the Origin of Species", Darwin writes, “There is grandeur in this view of life … from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” This teaching resource is a journey through time that allows our science students to learn about the events throughout Darwin's life that led him to write and publish "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection."
These STEAM activities are perfect for homeschool classes or co-ops. Put science, technology, engineering, and math into hands-on homeschool STEM learning.
Students Become Blood Spatter Experts My students love Forensics because they get to do activities that are authentic. Forget just reading about how Criminalists process crime scenes…. In For…
Integrate math and art with these symmetrical pattern coloring cards. This is a great math art project that kids love doing!
Do you want to get started with project based learning, but you’re not sure how? Maybe project based learning sounds too complicated, in-depth, and overwhelming to you? That’s how I felt when I first delved into PBL. But now I know there is nothing to be afraid of! In this post, I will give a quick explanation of project-based learning and then give you some tips and ideas to begin to implement it in your own classroom. What is Project Based Learning? Project based learning, simply stated, is an authentic learning experience
Fun, hands-on human body for kids project to learn about body systems, organs, bones, muscles, and more! Print playdough mats for activity.
Public Speaking Games: 7 outrageously good fun-filled speech activities to build confidence and skills. Good for middle school upwards.
How to plan collaborative project-based learning activities in the math classroom. Check out these engaging PBL ideas for 3rd grade students!
During our study of the human body, we did this fun activity to demonstrate just what an amazing muscle the heart is! I think your kids will love it, too! Materials needed: 2 large dishpans, buckets, or bowls 1 gallon of water (1.3 gallons to be specific!) a 1/4 cup measuring cup watch or timer
Kindergarten students love using instruments! Here are 5 tried and true rhythm activities to get your little ones engaged in music class.
Are you looking to elevate your Ecosystems and Biomes unit? This 4th or 5th grade project based learning unit for ecosystems incorporates science, nonfiction reading, research, writing, and the arts! Read to find out how I organized the research project, what our launch activity was, the driving que
We are currently doing a short study of the human body. We recently finished up our unit on the Brain and Nerves, and here are some of the activities we did and resources we used.
Study the human body anatomy with kids by making an anatomy model with these free printable life-size human body organs!
Learn about the human digestive system for kids twith this memorable digestion experiment. ZANY human body project making poop!
Digestion experiment for kids! An easy science experiment from at-home materials about how the stomach breaks down food. Anatomy science for kids.
Check out these fun activities from Award Winning Author/Illustrator Jarett Lerner to do at home or in the classsroom. Includes comics, drawing, and more.
Problem Solving is the heart of STEM and the most interesting part to watch. Students are fearless and will keep working until they find a solution! And, their solutions are often amazing!
We have begun our unit on living systems in science (thank GOSH because Earth and Physical science have quite literally killed me this year...seriously, I feel like the most incompetent teacher when I teach science...but I digress...). Our main focus for the past week before Spring Break was the circulatory and respiratory systems. I thought I would share some of the things we have been doing, in case some of you are in the same unit yourselves. To get us started, we watched a few BrainPOP videos about circulation and blood. I found these in the HEALTH section, not the science section. The kids were very enthralled with these videos (they ALWAYS are really) There was quite a lot of information in them, which got us started on the right foot. The videos mentioned how the circulatory system was the delivery system of the body and that all systems were connected to this one. After some discussion, the students created this Circulation Data Disk from the Easy Make & Learn Projects: Human Body (Grades 2-4) (affiliate link) book. The idea of this circular disk was to show how all of the organs in the body played a very special part in relation to the circulatory system. I purposefully whited out the info on the disk so that the kids could do the research themselves. Using our health and science books, the students discovered the role of each organ in circulatory system. We then used the Easy Make & Learn Projects: Human Body (Grades 2-4) (affiliate link) book and created a model of the heart. The kids diagrammed the model to up the rigor a bit. They then placed these in their science journals. Another great find (that the kids had a blast playing) was the Circulation Game from Ellen McHenry's homeschooling website. This is a free download and I am so glad I found it! It took a while to set up and explain, but once they were going, the kids really were into the game. They learned quite a bit about how blood travels through the body and how it disposes of waste. (just a little note, I printed out 5 of these and had each table play. That way, there weren't as many people playing on one game board) Finally, the kids watched the School House Rock video, "Do the Circulation". (I have the actual DVD Schoolhouse Rock! (Special 30th Anniversary Edition), (affiliate link) but you can get it on YouTube if the school doesn't block it....like mine does) I gave them the words and, combining language arts with science, we looked for all of the facts and opinions (as well as figurative language) in the song. We discussed why the writers would put opinions and figurative language in a song intended to teach us about the Circulatory system. The students decided that it was because without the opinions and figurative language, the song would be B.O.R.I.N.G! We also began working on our Body Systems project on Google Drive. I made a template for each body system and the kids all began filling in the information about the circulatory system. This worked out perfect here because the kids had so much background knowledge at this point. They didn't really need to do as much research since we were learning so much as it was! (click here to get the project for your own class!) This is a screenshot of the slide before the kids actually did any work. I forgot to take pictures of them working! To explore the respiratory system (a bit further, as we really were talking about it all along with the circulatory system), we first diagrammed the organs involved. Then, the students did a little experiment to measure their vital lung capacity (how much air can be forcibly taken in and blown out) and the tidal lung capacity (how much is taken in and out during normal breathing). The kids has SO much fun with this one! They really were surprised at how much air they *couldn't* blow. I think they all thought they would pop the balloons in one breath when, in actuality, they hardly inflated them at all! You can find the exact experiment and printables here. So there you have it. Our basic introduction to the systems of the human body. Up next is the digestive system. Wish me luck ;) What experiments have you conducted in your class to teach your students about the circulatory and respiratory systems? Follow me on Snapchat for even more teaching ideas!
Are you looking for a fun interactive science fair project?Come check out this Simple Circuit Science Project! It can be done as a class project too!
These human body for kids activities allow children to learn about the heart, muscles, lungs, 5 senses, bones organs, cells, and so much more!
Have you ever had a class with so many difficult, disruptive students that you felt that you could barely even teach? What can you do to get past it? In this post, I am going to address this problem with my best advice, and some advice from others as well.
Thanksgiving math activities and reading comprehension can be so much fun with Thanksgiving Project Based Learning! What upper elementary student doesn't love turkeys, pies, and Thanksgiving Day parades? Turn that excitement into learning with a creative, engaging, hands-on Plan a Thanksgiving Day Parade Project! This project is not only perfect for classrooms already familiar with project based learning (PBL), but it's also ideal for teachers who are looking for ways to really engage students with a high-interest activity. Kick off your Thanksgiving Project Based Learning Unit by showing several different videos or ads which highlight past Thanksgiving Day parades, floats, and
This is an amazing art and math lesson that I got from a teacher at a conference who did teach a district over from me, but is now getting her PhD. She always had amazing stuff to present at conference. (You're amazing, Mary Franco!) Anyway, this lesson involves Paul Klee and multiplication. I made a little three page Smart Notebook lesson about Klee's work "Once Emerged From the Gray of Night" (where I used to show a poster of it) and have the students talk about what's more important--the words of the poem or the colors and composition? Then we talk about putting two things (like writing and art, or math and art together). It's SUCH an amazing lesson, here's a sneak peek: So, students get a little background knowledge of Klee, then we talk about tessellations and multiplication (and practice on the Smart Board). Then, students get a page of one-inch graph paper and write out a one digit by one digit multiplication problem with a two digit answer. I tell them to choose one that's hard for them to remember, or their favorite one. They then repeat that problem seven times, dropping down and over one square for 4 times, then down and back a square for three times, making them into interlocking tessellation shapes: After they've drawn it all out in pencil and I've checked it, they choose ONE color of fine-tip marker to trace it with, then use colored pencil or watercolor pencil to color. The coloring is a bit of a challenge for them, because they need to forget that they're numbers and only look at the space. They then color it in patterns/designs to make it visually interesting and play with people's minds ('math? I dont' see any math!') It's an awesome lesson that really challenges their thinking. This one really shows the patterns and designs. Oh, it's also important that their numbers COMPLETELY fill the one inch box of the graph paper. I always try to do this lesson at a time of the year when classroom teachers are complaining about students not remembering their math facts. I usually do it with fifth grade, but I did it with sixth one year at the teachers' request.
Use phenol red to observe plant photosynthesis. As plants consume carbon, the indicator will change from yellow to red. Materials are easy!
Middle School 6-8th Grades Science Fair Project Ideas
Organized by subject matter, here are over 150 ideas for your next co-op class. There are homeschool co-op classes for all age levels and abilities.
Looking for fun, educational games for art class? Check out these three simple games you can put together in a few minutes.
Learn about the human digestive system for kids twith this memorable digestion experiment. ZANY human body project making poop!
Your students probably already use these tools to write papers or create presentations, but they could be doing other projects you may not have thought of.
A round up of over 15 great STEAM projects – where math concepts are used to make pieces of art!
If you are looking for some high-interest activities, try using animated shorts to teach inference. Free handouts focus on student learning.
This is the third year that my students have completed my Transformation Summative Assessment Project. See my previous posts Here, yea...
Looking for ways to incorporate multiple skills into a lesson while actively engaging your students? With Project Based Learning in the math classroom you can do just that. Not sure what PBL is or how to implement it? Read this to learn all about it, plus where to find nine great resources to implement it in your own classroom!
Bring art and math together with this fun tessellation art project. It’s a great way to explore patterns, tiling, and geometry!
Find out how to create a toy that seems to defy gravity-- a cool balance trick and neat science experiment.
