Science Templates

I'm excited for the new school year! There's going to be a lot of changes for me and for our students. In the past I taught 6th and 7th grade science and one or two social studies classes.  This year I will be moving rooms and teaching 7th and 8th grade science and two Project Lead The Way classes. I created a couple of resources for when we do dissections and electrophoresis that I'm sharing here.

Things can get pretty messy during dissections. To make sure I get all of my tools back I created a place mat. Students will initial or sign next to the check in to verify they started with the tools and next to check out when they are done to make sure they are returned and not accidentally thrown away.

Dissection Tools PDF

Middle school students are not known to be very good at following directions. One of our labs involves solving a crime using electrophoresis. To ensure the best possible results I created a map so students can hook the wires up properly and put the samples in the correct cell. I am going to laminate these so they can be reused. 

Electrophoresis Map

Classroom Calendar

What a busy year it was. I didn't follow through with my blogging like I intended, but I'm making a new attempt. After my classroom redesign last year I am moving to a different room this year. That means a whole new redesign of the classroom! Why do I do this to myself?

Somewhere along the way I lost the pictures I had taken of my finished room. I was able to redo the calendar pictures to share with you.  I couldn't find the size or kind of calendar I wanted for my classroom so I created my own. I wanted it to be quick and easy to change, pretty and big enough for the kids to see.

I had a plain tan bulletin board next to my dry erase board that was ugly. It didn't fit with how I wanted the area to work for me so I had my husband help me remove the bulletin board (the previous installers had GLUED it to the wall so that was quite the experience) and move it. I then simply painted it with a gray wall paint using a roller and used hot glue to attach ribbon for the dividing lines between days.  I printed off the months, days of the week and dates on card stock and attached Velcro dots to the back and to the board. I think I hot glued the dot to the bulletin board so it would stay better when changing the dates.

I used post-it notes to mark important events. If there was a test it was always one color. If I was offering an after school study group it was another color. I liked the post-its so much better than a typical write on calendar because in education you have to be flexible and dates always change. 

Ta-da! An easy, reusable calendar. Since I will be making another one (it's even bigger) for my new classroom I will get more step-by-step pictures to share.

Comment below if you like it, plan to use it, or have an idea to make it better.

Painting Curtains For My Classroom

I am a little particular...and indecisive about things in my classroom. Considering I spend more waking hours there than I do at home, I want it to look pretty and be comfortable. When I first started teaching, going on 6 years ago, I did all sorts of research to find out the best colors, scents, music, lighting, etc to have in a classroom. I painted my room and coordinated everything in it to somewhat match...sometimes even supplies I bought.  I am now ready for a change. Of course, I can't do anything the easy way.

At the end of the year I would sit and make lists of ideas of things to change. I was a little too ambitious at that point.  I thought I would start painting as soon as school got out. Well that didn't happen. I did begin in the middle of July and always had some reason not to go work on it. Now that the new school year is lurking around the corner, I need to get my behind in gear and get it finished.

Aside from the painting, which I don't really think needs a post, I will show you the process as I go. So here is step one....the curtains.

I painted the walls 2 different colors. The side walls are a gray and the front and back are a turquoisey color (yep, I just made up a word).  I wanted to include an accent color of coral. I am not the best designer so I do a lot of research...this is where Pinterest comes in handy. I found that your main fabric (bedspread, curtains, whatever) should have all of the colors in it. I can't find where I read that, but I did. I considered using a shower curtain at first, but that only had gray and turquoise. It didn't look bad on the window, but it was short. It may work for your room.

Then I decided I would PAINT my curtains to whatever I wanted.  This is mainly because I couldn't find a fabric with the colors I wanted in a large print that would look good on my 7 foot windows. I looked in a couple of local fabric stores and online. Nada. I ended up buying 4 twin size flat sheets at Wal-Mart to make the curtains. This gave me the width and length I needed and was inexpensive. It was like $4.88 per sheet.

I visited my favorite craft store, Hobby Lobby, and purchased my supplies. I used 3 different colors of acrylic paint.  I also purchased Textile Medium to mix with the paint so it works better on fabric and a wall stencil. (Textile Medium: Delta Creative $5.99, Americana Acrylic Paint in Coral Blush and Anita's All Purpose Acrylic Craft Paint in Hawaii and Rainy Day Gray)

Since I don't have a great craft space at the moment, I spread out a vinyl tablecloth on my living room floor and put down the fabric. I did have to iron it first. I used a self-adhesive spray to hold the stencil in place and foam brushes to blot and spread the paint. I didn't want it to look perfect so the lines aren't crisp and I applied it heavier to some spots. 

This did take a lot of time...and it's only one. I'm hoping that as I do the others it will go faster. 

This shows the curtain hanging in the room. I haven't sewn it to the correct size yet since I am trying to decide how long I want them. Again...indecisive. I posted a picture of this and of last years curtains on my Facebook page to get advice. I usually have plants on each windowsill in my room. Since I hang the curtains with a tension rod, it's hard to tie them back to see outside and make room for the plants. In past years I had short curtains up. I'm still undecided, but will post pics of the final room when it's complete. 

 See the window in the background. I think the curtain is too short. I like letting the light in, but it looks odd.

This is with the blinds down, which I hate, but is sometimes necessary. I also made these curtains. They are tie dyed a chevron pattern. 

Day Trip to Iowa

A couple of weeks ago three friends and I drove to Iowa to have a girls day out.  We had big plans and lots of ground to cover. Our first stop was to see a few of the covered bridges.  I have wanted to do this for several years since one of my favorite books came out, Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller.  I have to say I was a little disappointed with them.  There is a lot of graffiti inside the bridges and the ground surrounding the outside could use some TLC.  I would think there could be some landscaping done around the bridges to improve photos for visitors.

See what I mean here. Wouldn't this look great if it had maybe sunflowers or even daylilies instead of weeds?

This one was in a park, so it was landscaped better than the other two we visited. 

After visiting the 3 bridges and driving by John Wayne's Birthplace we headed to the Amana Colonies.  Since we still had another stop to make we only had lunch there and took 30 minutes to visit a couple of the shops there.  I picked up a jar of applesauce and some fresh fudge. Dark chocolate salted caramel...yes please! 

We did make plans to do another girls trip and stay in a bed and breakfast there.  The buildings were so beautiful.  Doing some research we found there are a couple of bed and breakfasts we can stay at and there is also a winery within walking distance.  Sounds like a great girls trip, doesn't it?  

 This is the only picture I took while we were there.  Isn't it pretty?

We continued on to LeClaire, Iowa to visit the Antique Archaeology shop.  One of the friends that was on the trip LOVES the show American Pickers. The sad thing was we just missed the stars of the show, Frank, Mike and Danielle by about 30 minutes.... if only we didn't stop to shop in Amana :(

The shop wasn't what I expected either.  There wasn't much there as far as antiques.  They did have a big store right by the garage that had t-shirts and other souvenirs.  I did pick up a t-shirt for myself and my husband, who is also a fan of the show.  

We stopped down the road from Antique Archaeology, which is right on the Mississippi River, and had ice cream before heading home.  All in all it was a fun trip, not as much for what we did, but because of the company.  Remember, it's not the destination, it's the journey and these girls are a blast.

Wagon Flower Box

My oh-so-handy husband made me this lovely flower box a while back.  He took an old wagon axle and built a wood box and a handle.  Since this was a surprise, I don't have any pictures from the process, but I did take some when I was planting it this year.  Needless to say, I love it!

Right after planting.

 From the back.

 This homemade handle helps with moving it to mow.  It is very heavy.

Instead of filling the entire box with soil and flowers, I put separate pots in it.  There are holes drilled in the bottom to help with drainage.  

 This is a couple of months after planting. 

I've had several people tell me they would buy it...but sorry, it's not for sale.

Social Studies WebQuest

When I was in college I had to create a web-quest for a technology class.  I put a lot of time in to make it perfect.  Of course, I lost the website it was on when I graduated.  Luckily for me, I saved everything on a disk so I could easily transfer it.  I made a website on PBWorks and put all of the information from the web-quest on it.

I have used the web-quest in my 6th grade Social Studies classroom in the past.  I did modify it and didn't have the parent night like is mentioned in the web-quest.  I still think it would be an awesome addition, but it would involve more work on the part of the teacher and I didn't have the time available.

What Is It?

The web-quest is an imaginary situation where the students are employees of a tech company called Tech-World.  The CEO (teacher) asks the employees (students) to research a country and determine how a sizable donation from the company could be used to help the people of the country.  This puts a twist on the typical country research project.  The students not only find information about the country, they also have to think critically to determine some needs within the country.

Students will also need to research a well known philanthropist.  They need to know how that person was financially able to help and the charities or foundations they donate to.  There is a list of possible philanthropists to research on the web-quest.  If the students have another person they want to research it must be approved by the teacher first.

To top it off, students must also research a local need.  Students will brainstorm a community service project they can do as a group.  Each group will then make a presentation of their plan for the other students. Once all groups have presented they will vote on which project to do as a class.  One year, our students were working on the web-quest close to Christmas.  They decided to do a toy campaign for Toys for Tots as their community service project.  They really got into it since they had ownership of the project.  They contacted everyone in order to get permission and spoke with the principals at the elementary and high schools.  The students also created posters to help advertise in the buildings, wrote information for the daily announcements and contacted the local newspaper.

This Social Studies project teaches about geography as well as philanthropy.  Check it out here.

A teacher doesn't have the summer off!

I spend a fair amount of time looking at Pinterest for inspiration. Okay, who am I kidding?  I spend a lot of time on Pinterest, especially in the summer.

As I was scouting my Pinterest homepage yesterday I came upon something too good not to share, well if you are a science teacher.  On the TPT site my new hero, Nitty Gritty Science, has created so many really useful products.  My wishlist is filled with her products. On the top of my list is the NGSS Expectations Ladder.  She has created one for Earth Science (my main area), Physical Science and Life Science. I am also in love with the Complete Earth Science Interactive Notebook bundle. I have attempted Science Notebooking since I started teaching 6 years ago with minimal success.  I'm hoping that this bundle will put me over the top on the notebooking organization.

NGSS Expectations Ladder for Earth Science from TPT Nitty Gritty Science

Earth Science Interactive Notebook Bundle from TPT Nitty Gritty Science

Another TPT product that looks interesting to me is from The Science Penguin. It is a Hands-On Science Vocabulary Instruction packet.  I believe, especially in Science, that vocabulary instruction is essential.  If the students don't truly know the meaning of the science vocabulary they are expected to use, they aren't able to understand the big idea or concept. 

 Hands-On Science Vocabulary Instruction from TPT The Science Penguin

I haven't actually purchased or used these yet, but I do plan to.  I'll do a post after school starts to let you know how they work.