Everyone was talking about the total lunar eclipse that happened this morning! Except they were calling it a Super Blue Blood Moon. Forget all the hype — How does a lunar eclipse work, and why was this one special? “Super” moon A supermoon is a little closer to Earth than a normal moon, so it…
The local bakery needs your help! They lost the secret recipe for Grandma’s Amazing Sugar Cookies, and are down to their last bag of mix. For this lab, use careful observation to determine the ingredients included in the mix. New on my Teachers Pay Teachers store! This lab started as the lead-in to a holiday…
Why stop at four or six C’s? This is a growing collection, starting with four that have long been associated with STEM… Communication Collaboration Critical Thinking Creativity Source These first four are widely known as the “Skills for Today” or sometimes as “21st Century Skills.” Challenge Control Choice Construct Meaning Consequence #5-9, along with Collaboration,…
What does every first-time middle school science teacher need? Courage, a sense of humor, patience, energy, and a few specific items: Updated Periodic Table In late 2016, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) updated the periodic table with names for four recently synthesized elements, nihonium (Nh), moscovium (Mc), tennessine (Ts), and oganesson (Og).…
I just read this excellent piece about what Neil DeGrasse Tyson said to amateur eclipse observers. It made me think of another viewpoint I saw among serious eclipse-chasers: that if you weren’t going to totality, you might as well stay inside. This is something we addressed in the teacher training we did at the museum…
When I teach professional development sessions about engineering for elementary classrooms, we always talk about the student who might really hate engineering projects. It’s usually a high-achieving kid, usually a girl, who is not used to this kind of learning. She wants to learn from the teacher, practice the skill, and then demonstrate her knowledge.…
I HEART density. It’s the most important concept we teach in physical science, because it helps us understand the real world. Even if kids don’t go into STEM careers, a good understanding of density can help them navigate life and understand what they observe. Why does the wind blow? Density. Why do helium balloons go…
