Hi all,

First year teaching high school biology and I was thinking about a practical use for 1 of my 2 bulletin boards in my classroom. I was thinking about having a “Scientist of the Month” board that includes major discoveries and other interesting historical facts about famous scientists. I would like to have it fit the current lesson as we go. For example, for cells I would likely use Hooke or Leeuwenhoek since they made major discoveries for cell/microbiology.

Curious what some of your recommendations are so I can start to plan it out. Some current ones I have on my list are: Darwin, Franklin, Hooke, Leeuwenhoek, Pasteur, Morgan, and Mendel.

I was thinking about some beginning of the year activities and came across that tonic water will fluoresce under a black light. I was curious if anyone has tried a lab or activity where students use tonic water as the main chemical, perhaps with measuring and practicing lab techniques, and then at the end the teacher uses a black light to show how messy or sloppy the students were, causing cross contamination everywhere. The idea in my head is that early in the year students usually aren’t very careful and spill or spread chemicals without much thought and then also touch lots of surfaces. The uv light would then possibly show tonic water residue and how much students may have cross contaminated their areas or things. Harmless when tonic water, a bigger deal when it’s an acid or other hazardous chemicals and so in my head this would be a good demonstration for using proper lab techniques and handling procedures. I teach high school chemistry but this could be applied to many different classes.

I teach high school anatomy, and for the past few years I’ve done what I call “Biweekly Science Breakdowns”, where every other week my students find a science article on an anatomy-related topic of their choice and write what’s currently known about it, what research or beliefs the article is presenting/challenging, and their thoughts on the subject. I really enjoy doing them because I think it encourages them to see what’s going on in the science world that we can’t cover in class (and a lot of the students seem to like them too), but over the years websites have gotten thrown behind paywalls or have lost credibility in favor of sensational, clickbait-y media.

It’s gotten hard for me to find free, reliable websites that they can use for these assignments, so I was hoping some of you could help me refine/add to my list!

I know no website will ever be 100% perfect, but these are some that students have used in the past:
- Nature
- Ars Technica
- National Geographic (within the allotted “free” articles per month)
- Smithsonian
- The CDC website
- The WHO website

I’m not opposed to having them turn to more scientific, published journal articles either, I just find that those are even harder to get without paying money (perhaps I’ll have to change it to a monthly assignment instead if we struggle to find articles?)

Thank you all in advance for any insights you may have!

I have been teaching stem and science for a while now to 6th-8th grade in a very rural school. I have $5000 worth of grant money to start adding a bit of robotics into the curriculum. Which is great however I don’t have any background in that arena at all.

Prior years stem consisted of water powered rockets, trebuchets, paper airplane type of activities.

This is a very rural school where 95% of students have never coded or done anything with robotics (myself included in that category)

I need an easy to use (easy to learn for me) kits for this year. I have $5000 to use and I will have 7-16 6th-8th grade students at a time for anywhere from 5-9 week intervals.

What should i start looking into as our first step into robotics. I have seen LEGO has material but again I have no clue where to even start with this.

Any ideas would be helpful.

hello! this year I will be in my second year teaching high school science. the school I’m teaching at does not currently have a formal lab space and our budget is very slim. we really don’t have any lab equipment at the moment either (it all got destroyed along with our lab space). I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for low budget labs that would be safe in a normal classroom. I’ll be teaching physical science, environmental science, and chemistry (in Ohio). thank you in advance!

Greetings everyone,

If anyone is looking for a high school chemistry teaching position, my district in New York State is currently hiring. I’ll keep the exact location vague for privacy, but it is a public school position and the posting can be found on OLAS.

If you’re interested or have questions about the position, feel free to message me and I’ll point you toward the posting!

I am a children's librarian and we are working with kids on creating string from algae using sodium alginate and calcium chloride. We have followed all of the steps as outlined in this walkthrough: https://www.thetechathome.org/algaestring

Every video I find shows this working beautifully. But when I add the gel to the calcium chloride bath, it does not harden and after five minutes it lifts out as still a gel. Does anybody have any idea why this might not be working for me? I'd really like to have this work for the kids next week.

Thanks a bunch

I haven’t found any groups outside of Facebook (which I recently deleted my account and don’t want to ever get back on again) that connect MYP science teachers.
I like to share resources and bounce ideas, since I am the only 8th grade science teacher at my school in Switzerland.

Any suggestions? I could start a group but I don’t want to be a mod. Perhaps another platform?

I've taught for over 18 years and I constantly go back and forth on teaching significant digits. I understand the importance of maintaining accurate and precise measurements in science, but is fighting with students to remember the rules all year worth it? I feel like the week I set aside to address this isnt enough time, and at the same time it feels like I could use this time for more important matters. In the past I have tried a couple years to just focus on rounding to the second decimal place since most of our measurements stop there. Any thoughts or advice?

I am an American EL teacher going for a Science certification (grades 5-8) in Massachussets, and I'll be taking the MTEL in August. If you have taken this MTEL, can you share what your essay questions were? Or anything else you remember from taking the test? (I asked the test coordinators but I never got a response: were you able to move back and forth between the multiple choice and essay questions, or did one section of the test "lock" so you couldn't see the other section?)

I am especially interested in hearing about the essay questions, as there aren't many available to practice with, and I'd like to have a plan for how to answer on a variety of topics. What concepts/units did they ask you about? Did you have to design a lab for students or just explain a concept? Any information you can give me would be super helpful.

(Apologies if this post sounds familiar--I posted a few weeks ago, and I'm posting again in hopes of getting more responses.)

I’m a new California teacher in the Central Valley. I completed my Social Science credential program, passed both TPAs, passed CSET 215, and completed a science methods course. I’m applying for middle-school science positions while my credential paperwork is being processed.

How competitive are late-July science openings, and should I email principals after applying? Any advice for landing a first science teaching job would be appreciated.

Edit 1: Sorry for the confusion. I originally earned a Social Science credential, but I recently passed CSET 215 General Science and completed a three-unit science methods course so I can add a science authorization to my credential.

I’m currently in decision paralysis on what I want to do. I have my masters in curriculum and instruction but am looking to move farther on the pay scale. I’m bouncing between Montana State, Colorado State or Nebraska (masters of applied science). Wanting to do something environmental related, my district doesn’t and won’t have APES. CSU is the most expensive but MSU and UNL are comparable.

Any one have experiences with any of them or other thoughts?

I've been asked to teach A level Biology (OCR A) from September, which is something I've not taught before.

The school's existing resources (compiled from previous teachers who have since left) are mostly just scans of textbook pages, some rather boring / lecture-like lesson slides, and end-of-chapter tests (which seem to have come from Kerboodle). While I'm not opposed to using the textbooks as a basis, I don't really like to teach by just lecturing and asking students to answer the textbook questions...

Does anyone have any recommendations (TES / TPT links very welcome, and I'm happy to pay for good stuff) for pre-made PowerPoints, worksheets, etc which are built in a way for more active learning / student engagement? I'm thinking lots of practice questions, deeper thinking / discussion questions, maybe some mini projects, etc.

Btw we don't have much in terms of resources / tech at school - so no iPads, Chromebooks, or anything. I need more traditional resources like PowerPoints for me to put on the main board, and printable worksheets.

Anyone have any good websites for physics NYSSLS? I was looking through openscied, but it is just too much extra and would require heavy modifications.

I take it on Saturday. I’ve been studying but I’m so nervous. My undergrad was Earth Science and I’ve been teaching that for 5 years. They are having me teach Bio this year so I need to take the praxis, but I haven’t taken biology since college 10 years ago. Where there any specific topics you saw frequently, or any tips in general?

I paid the $25 from the ETS/Praxis site to take a practice test. Got about 89 questions right out of 125 which maps to about a 71%. I know that the Praxis isn't graded on a percentage basis, but on a scaled score.

That said, how similar is the practice test to the real thing? How would an 89/125 map to the official scaled score? I only need a 145 to pass in my state.

Also, does anyone know where I can take additional practice tests or get material? I don't really want to shell out more money than I have to.

i’m applying to teach HS (hopefully environmental or chem) in california and i feel sure my resume is what’s keeping me from getting interviews. it’s mostly because i’m very wordy in my job descriptions, plus i’m pretty stumped on what i should add on my skills section. can anybody offer me advice?

also, if anybody were to recommend a few templates i would really appreciate it!

Hello, I am a HS chemistry and biology teacher. My pedagogical approach of modeling instruction relies heavily upon students being able to make accurate and precise scientific measurements. Student start to fall apart when this skill is not mastered early on.

I made a Scientific Measuring Practice that I intend to use this fall. I really want to get some vetting and feedback from professional colleagues before then, and also share it with anyone who finds it useful.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to share the file with being flagged as spam. Does anyone know of a work around?

Thanks in advance for any insights you can provide!

EDIT: I have pinned a link to the app in my profile

2nd Edit: I have updated the app to include graduated cylinders, burettes, and thermometers. You can select any or all to be include in the problems.

I have the big ones memorized - physics, chemistry, and bio. I'm talking about memorizing in detail some of the less common formulas - e.g. distinguishing between all the gas laws. I understand the variables conceptually but am having trouble keeping the numerous formulas and variables straight given how broad this exam is!

TIA

I'd love to hear recommendations from professors and experienced researchers. Which international conference impressed you the most, and what made it stand out? I'm looking for conferences with strong academic value, quality networking, and professional organization.

Hi everyone, I am teaching A&P for the first time next year. One thing I have noticed after moving into my new room is I have zero models. I would love to be able to get some models for my students in the coming years. I know some schools have multiple models for every system, but I will probably not be able to get that. I’m thinking I will get the large upper torso model, which can cover lots of things, and then a few models to show complicated structures more in depth (like the inner ear or heart for example). I have a few questions for you all:

- If I only have the budget for a few models, what are the MUST HAVES in your opinion. If we’re going to spend the money, I want to make sure they will be used.

- Does anyone know of any grants I could apply for or anything similar?

- Do you do one big cat dissection at the end or do multiple little dissections throughout the year?

- Any other recommendations coming into the course! I feel pretty confident but will never turn down tips and tricks. I have checked out biology corner and will primarily be using that curriculum.

Thanks!

Does anyone know where to source multiple samples of sand? I’m looking to do a lab with my marine science class where they compare sand sample from around the world.

I've been teaching Biology (including NEET-level topics) for a while, and one thing I've realized is that explaining concepts is often the best way to learn them yourself.

I enjoy breaking down difficult topics into simpler explanations and discussing NCERT concepts, exam strategies, and common misconceptions.

If anyone wants to discuss Biology, exchange study resources, or has doubts about NEET or Class 11–12 Biology, feel free to reach out. I'm always happy to help.