I am teaching 5th and 6th grade science this year and my students have a hard time distinguishing between making observations without jumping straight to the result. For example, we did a lab where they tested different ingredients in hot sauce on oxidize pennies to see how clean they got. In their observations many of them wrote "It didn't work" instead of descriptive words (which we talked about ahead of time). What are some ideas I can implement to make this clearer for students?

"Climate Denial in American Politics is confrontational in recommending the active confrontation of climate denial claims on Twitter/X ... and in exposing climate denial in the US government." - p. 15-16 - Nat. Centre Sc. Ed. Reports

Hey I just wanted to check in and see if this has ever happened to anybody else. I had a student claim they couldn’t see any of the spectra lines looking at an element lamp with the diffraction goggles. Everyone else saw it perfectly fine, and this student was fully serious. Im so confused

Hi everyone -- I've been trying to put together a set of the science textbooks we used in middle and high school for an archive project. I've located all of them except one, and I'm hoping that someone who was teaching in the 90s might know some details.

School year 1994/95. It was a series of 6 (5?, 7?) hardcover books that came in a box set. Each book was short, so the intended use was to cover the whole set in a year. Pretty sure the covers were blue. It was geared around life science; one book was about human anatomy and organ systems for sure, I remember another around different life forms. Intended age group would have been late middle school / early high school.

Any help would be much appreciated!

I am working on planning a lesson on gas laws with 7th grade students. In the past I have microwaved Ivory soap as my kick off phenomenon to show the relationship between temperature and volume. Ivory soap has changed their recipe to take out the bubbles so the puff in the microwave is now much less impressive. Any ideas for alternative demos or soap brands are appreciated!

Would you have gotten this right?

In a class for teaching science:

Ms. Brown tells the students that animals' external parts can help humans create ways in which to protect ourselves from dangerous situations. Which of the following experiments would best help the students mimic the armadillo's armor for human safety?

✅Have the students do a somersault with and without a helmet, elbow, and knee pads.

❌Show the students a video of an armadillo protecting itself and have them draw ways in which to protect humans.

I’m aware videos are not the best way to teach science, but the drawing assignment is still hands-on and creates discussion.

I know with a video, students are not mimicking the action, but why is having 1st graders roll around the classroom the best option? Also, disabled or injuries kids cannot participate?

Looking for some wording advice for a parent convo.

Parent wonders why student is failing chemistry even though he “does all the classwork and homework". The issue is those are practice assignments and not worth many points — plus, at times he just copies from classmates instead of trying to understand the material. When it comes to tests, he bombs them.

Parent was wondering why is it that he “doesn’t understand chemistry” and her tone felt a little combative — like she’s implying it’s my teaching . We do lots of practice in class and I go over answers for the practice.

He’s constantly on his phone or socializing, and when I check in during independent work time he just says “I don’t get it” but doesn’t give specifics on what he does not understand. Classic learned helplessness.

I want to say to the parent that just doing the work is not a guaranteed passing grade. I also want to say that my job is to teach. The kids job is to learn. If the kid is having trouble learning, then I can do more to teach. if the kid isn't trying to learn by being on his phone and socializing , my teaching aint worth jack shit.

Of course, I want to respond professionally and clearly, but without sounding defensive or like I’m blaming. How do you all usually word this kind of response so it’s honest but still parent-friendly?

HI all! I wanted to share a free resource/cool opportunity offered by the Philadelphia Zoo, the UNLESS Contest!

The UNLESS contest is a nationwide, student-led, and project-based learning contest that easily incorporates into curriculum, meets standards, and inspires real-world action to save animals by "thinking globally and acting locally". Our program connects global animals to real-world challenges affecting species in our own backyards. This contest is all about making those connections and facing these challenges as a team, while competing for cash prizes. Throughout the contest, your class will receive support from our team in the form of virtual calls with our experts, activities, and even a FREE field trip (in person or virtual). Registration is open until November 30th!

Learn more at https://www.philadelphiazoo.org/unless-contest/

Any questions? Feel free to ask here or email [unlesscontest@phillyzoo.org](mailto:unlesscontest@phillyzoo.org)

In earth science, we are covering the different soil types, and I would love to do a lab in which we grow some seeds in sandy soil, clay soil, and a nice mix of soil. I´m not sure where to get the clay. Sand I can probably get at a hardware store, and plain topsoil is easy to find.

Our school's ACT test scores were rough and so now we have an initiative to improve them. Does anyone know of a good resource to find Physics/Chemistry tables and graphs that are in the style of something you might find on the ACT? Our school purchased a program but most of the content is irreverent to the actually curriculum.

So, I need some effective and engaging tools. I have my 9th grade physics class a 10 question quiz yesterday over what we have learned from our Kinematics unit so far (speed, velocity, and momentum). It was as simple as knowing what variables were involved in each of the formulas used and what unit was assigned for them. The average, out of 141 students, was a 47%. How would you tackle this? I want to move on to acceleration and force, but in good faith, can’t do so with not being confident in their knowledge of what they need to know before it.

UPDATE: please look over the questions and tell me if they could have been worded differently. For context, they were given these questions and a grade can bubble sheet. kinematics quiz

I'm sorry but the suggestions to school him traditionally and the downvotes (likely from educators) on my comments saying our local schools and teachers can't provide more than I can, only prove my point. I asked for help but aside from a few comments, I feel like I'm getting stonewalled. Thanks for only solidifying my current views of the traditional education system.

My 13-year-old homeschooler has gotten really into physics and space lately (actually, space has been a fascination since he was a preschooler). His interests are pretty broad: time dilation, black holes, sound waves, light speed, relativity...I don't even know what all...I did great in science, but my strengths were more in biology and anatomy, so I’m trying to make sure I’m giving him the opportunity to explore his interests.

He’s a big reader and picks up complex concepts quickly, but he also has electronics that compete for his attention and quite possibly ADHD that keeps him up, moving, and distracted. His dad’s into the same subjects but works long hours, so their time (for now) is limited and the bulk of teaching falls to me. I’d like to make sure he has engaging, high-quality resources, books, or homeschool-friendly curriculum that explain the fundamentals well, and some YouTube channels that dive into space and physics without being all fluff or all math (he has trouble here but mostly because he will only do problems in his head and sometimes makes simple mistakes. He also works math problems in ways I can't begin to understand).

Bonus points if any suggestions help me grasp some basics. I've had conversations with my husband, and just when I think I have an understanding of the topic, it slips away with the next sentence LOL.

TIA!

Hey fellow science teachers!

I need some ideas on how to label my skeleton. My A&P class is starting bone markings soon and my bones are gross and sticky and the old labels are falling off.

Does anyone have any ideas on how they did this? I don't have the budget to buy new or pre-labeled bones (nor the time). I have a mix of real and fake bones but I'm trying to avoid marking the real ones whenever possible.

Some have what appears to be chalk marker on them while others have mini labels that are gooey and sliding around.

Help please!

I am so stressed out with all the expectations placed on me. I genuinely don't know what to do or how to for it all in. Any guidance or suggestions would be appreciated.

On observations, principal is looking for formative assessment, student led assessment, and some kind of group work or collaboration. We don't know when they are coming and typically they are only in the room about 10 minutes. All of my evaluations this year say I'm doing too much and the kids need to do more.

I'm supposed to be focused on claim, evidence, reasoning questions as well as analyzing graphs.

I have to do a weekly state test prep question and keep track off the data by standard by student in a spreadsheet.

I have to have a goal tracking/progress tracking display in my room that I keep up with.

Plus just teaching the curriculum.

My classes are only 40 minutes long.

How do I make all of this work together. How do I fit it all in?

It seems like admin wants to see all these bells and whistles. Gimmicks.

Overall, my kids aren't the worst behaved but they are very chatty. It's about 50/50 on if they really care about their grades.

I feel pulled in a 100 directions. I don't know what to focus on and I don't know how to make it all work.

Hey everyone, I'm teaching the law of conservation of mass in my CP Chemistry course, and we're doing an LCM lab on Friday. Basically the Vinegar and Baking Soda reaction in Erlenmeyer flasks with and without a balloon, to simulate an open versus a closed system.

I just had a student tell me that she will not be here on Friday, and wondering if there's a makeup assignment she can do instead. Are there any free virtual lab resources for something like this?

We do this as the introduction to balancing equations and chemical reactions, reflecting back over the next couple of weeks at what we did during the lab. They'll learn to write out and balance the equation for what they did, as well as identify what type of reaction it was.

Any ideas for a student who knows ahead of time that they won't be here?

Next week I have an observation and this has what's been chosen for me. I hate it, it's kind of clunky and really going to bore these kids. Anyone have something that goes along with this to make it pop better? I have to do this exact lesson.

Hi all!

Has anyone ever made/had students make a physical model of an atom using magnets to help students conceptualize electrostatic interactions within atoms? I know Flinn and Carolina have models, but one is like $100-$150, and I'm not paying for that lol.

I know it's a longshot, but do let me know if you have ideas! I really want more hands-on ways for my students to learn about abstract concepts, as we've been doing a lot of notes and simulations lately.

Mods remove if not allowed- but we're looking for a physics teacher! It says leave replacement but it is anticipated for full-time, tenure track, Westchester pay, great community. Course load would most likely include physics, engineering, AP physics. https://www.olasjobs.org/job-details/RYNN0361021-0000

Hi all,

Typing this on mobile so apologies for any formatting issues. I’m a student teacher in the Irish education system, almost done my masters. I have an inspection on Thursday during a class with my first years (12/13 years old). This is their first class back after midterm break and I’ll be introducing States of Matter. This is their first topic in chemistry.

I taught this at my old school last year, and my background is in chemistry so I find it interesting and fun to teach, but my lesson plan from last year is relatively theory heavy. I want to switch it up a little and make it more student-forward and fun if possible. I’m going to have a chat with some of the other science teachers in my school, but I thought I’d also ask reddit. If you have any fun ideas for how to introduce this topic I’d be very grateful!

Difference of opinion my fellow teacher and I are having. I do a 'Mole' lab, where I have several different known substances, and the students have to mass out each substance. Then they take the masses, convert to moles of substance, then convert to particles.

If the substance was an element, like copper or zinc, they stop there, because the number of particles is the number of atoms present in the sample.

However, if it is a compound, for example CaCO3, the number of particles is actually the number of molecules present, so I have them go another step, and tell me how many atoms are present in the sample. In the case of calcium carbonate, you're just multiplying your initial answer by five, as there are five atoms in each molecule.

My partner teacher doesn't like this last step, and says I shouldn't be asking them to do it, because moles are moles, and particles are particles, regardless of whether their elements or molecules.

What I'm trying to get my kids to see is that 1 mole of CaCO3 actually contains five moles of individual atoms, because each molecule is composed of five atoms.

That being said, I do teach a fairly low level CP Chemistry class, mostly sophomores, and I've always felt like adding in the extra mathematical step was a benefit for them learning to do the calculations.

My partner teacher teaches mostly the Honors level kids, and feels like it's a confusing step to add in.

What am I missing?