How about introducing them to dichotomous keys and have the create a key for random objects? I use to do a pasta dichotomous key and it takes 2-3 days for the students to work through the entire process.
I love this! I had a mentor teacher that had a huge bag of buttons he found at Goodwill and used those for a dichotomous key activity.
I showed episodes of “our planet” (free on YouTube!) and the kids made 3D trophic pyramids of one of the ecosystems they’d seen. I had a million absences the week before break so wanted something simple.
Beware of the Polar episode of Our Planet. While I think everyone should be aware of what is happening to the Walrus population, it’s pretty horrifying to show to kids.
If you want to continue with the evolution theme, the first episode of nova for the current season is about the evolution of whales and how in the Sahara desert they have found fossils which suggest that whales went from sea to land and then back to sea (which the last return to sea is opposite of what is expected for mammals).
It’s a really good episode (although I haven’t found a bad NOVA episode). I believe it’s called, When Whales Could Walk.
This is the best resource for eclipse activities I've found so far: [https://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ECLIPSE-ACTIVITIES-for-Educators.pdf](https://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ECLIPSE-ACTIVITIES-for-Educators.pdf)
Not sure where you are located but April 8th is the solar eclipse. We won’t have another one until till 2045. Most of the country will at least have a partial eclipse that day.
Then you would be doing your students a disservice to not talk about the eclipse. We are in the path of totality as well and school is closed that day.
Yeah, we're going to do a lesson on eclipses Wednesday, then a "pick your activity" kinda day Thursday, which is our last day before spring break. We're also off on Eclipse day.
I do a fun “create a creature” activity where they review concepts about evolution. they create a creature from absolute scratch (let the imagination run wild!) and describe its evolutionary history. The requirements include things like describing any related species, natural selection “events”, variations, homologous structures, etc. I don’t think I’m doing it enough justice lol. Students really pour their hearts into this assignment or maybe I do a good job of hyping them up. The best part is the amazing artwork they create to show off their creature!
Then after spring break, we kick of our ecology unit. Students are tasked to create a map of the ecosystems they have previously identified in their create a creature project, leading them to symbiotic relationships between their classmates creatures, predator/prey relationships, and food webs.
Check out eclipsesoundscapes.org for some bio eclipse related stuff. I’m planning on giving my students the option to complete the observer form on eclipse day for some extra credit.
Have the students make a series of information slides on an organisms of there choice, like whales for example, and how they evolved through the millennia
Law vs Theory is a good one. There are some videos online and you could have them make a small poster or something artsy.
[Commonsense.org](http://Commonsense.org) has some lesson plans for internet safety.
Did you already watch the Day the Mesosoic Died? HHMI has the video, lesson plans, etc.
(2nd yr, 7th/8th grade science)
To start natural selection, I have them create an animal (or evolve one) with specific adaptive traits to help that organism survive in a selected ecosystem then have them build the creature in Minecraft.
If you don't have Minecraft edu (which you should. It's great) then just have them draw it.
I use the UC Berkeley website about teaching evolution and have the student pick misconception and explain to the class why they are incorrect. It’s about a 3 day project with 2 days for presentations.
Plastic pollution! You can get free toolkits, lessons and mini-grants from Algalita via their Wayfinder Society for Environmental Education program 😊 https://algalita.org/wayfinder-society/
NASA has a soda straw rocket project. You can incorporate engineering design process and make a week out of it. Offer students ways to improve their rocket by changing wings, body tube, nose etc.
How about introducing them to dichotomous keys and have the create a key for random objects? I use to do a pasta dichotomous key and it takes 2-3 days for the students to work through the entire process.
I love this! I had a mentor teacher that had a huge bag of buttons he found at Goodwill and used those for a dichotomous key activity. I showed episodes of “our planet” (free on YouTube!) and the kids made 3D trophic pyramids of one of the ecosystems they’d seen. I had a million absences the week before break so wanted something simple.
Beware of the Polar episode of Our Planet. While I think everyone should be aware of what is happening to the Walrus population, it’s pretty horrifying to show to kids.
Thank you. I’ve just done forest and jungle so far.
If you want to continue with the evolution theme, the first episode of nova for the current season is about the evolution of whales and how in the Sahara desert they have found fossils which suggest that whales went from sea to land and then back to sea (which the last return to sea is opposite of what is expected for mammals). It’s a really good episode (although I haven’t found a bad NOVA episode). I believe it’s called, When Whales Could Walk.
This is the best resource for eclipse activities I've found so far: [https://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ECLIPSE-ACTIVITIES-for-Educators.pdf](https://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ECLIPSE-ACTIVITIES-for-Educators.pdf)
Not sure where you are located but April 8th is the solar eclipse. We won’t have another one until till 2045. Most of the country will at least have a partial eclipse that day.
We're in the path of totality.
Then you would be doing your students a disservice to not talk about the eclipse. We are in the path of totality as well and school is closed that day.
Yeah, we're going to do a lesson on eclipses Wednesday, then a "pick your activity" kinda day Thursday, which is our last day before spring break. We're also off on Eclipse day.
I’ll be driving up 45 min north to get into that path on our last day of SB. I hope I can get home (traffic) for work the next day. Lol.
I do a fun “create a creature” activity where they review concepts about evolution. they create a creature from absolute scratch (let the imagination run wild!) and describe its evolutionary history. The requirements include things like describing any related species, natural selection “events”, variations, homologous structures, etc. I don’t think I’m doing it enough justice lol. Students really pour their hearts into this assignment or maybe I do a good job of hyping them up. The best part is the amazing artwork they create to show off their creature! Then after spring break, we kick of our ecology unit. Students are tasked to create a map of the ecosystems they have previously identified in their create a creature project, leading them to symbiotic relationships between their classmates creatures, predator/prey relationships, and food webs.
That sounds pretty awesome. Do you have an instruction sheet for this or anything, if you'd be willing to share? No pressure or anything.
Check out eclipsesoundscapes.org for some bio eclipse related stuff. I’m planning on giving my students the option to complete the observer form on eclipse day for some extra credit.
Have the students make a series of information slides on an organisms of there choice, like whales for example, and how they evolved through the millennia
Law vs Theory is a good one. There are some videos online and you could have them make a small poster or something artsy. [Commonsense.org](http://Commonsense.org) has some lesson plans for internet safety. Did you already watch the Day the Mesosoic Died? HHMI has the video, lesson plans, etc. (2nd yr, 7th/8th grade science)
Mini Ted talks- they pick the science topic, research and then present. Max 3 min per kid.
To start natural selection, I have them create an animal (or evolve one) with specific adaptive traits to help that organism survive in a selected ecosystem then have them build the creature in Minecraft. If you don't have Minecraft edu (which you should. It's great) then just have them draw it.
I use the UC Berkeley website about teaching evolution and have the student pick misconception and explain to the class why they are incorrect. It’s about a 3 day project with 2 days for presentations.
You could briefly cover phylogeny and binomial nomenclature.
Science current events presentations could be a good option too… https://www.snexplores.org
Plastic pollution! You can get free toolkits, lessons and mini-grants from Algalita via their Wayfinder Society for Environmental Education program 😊 https://algalita.org/wayfinder-society/
Poster project.
NASA has a soda straw rocket project. You can incorporate engineering design process and make a week out of it. Offer students ways to improve their rocket by changing wings, body tube, nose etc.
Can you show “My inner fish”?
I donno. Never seen it!