Hey y'all. Im a physics teacher who has been using CPO lab supplies for a while now, specifically the marble ramps and their photogates, along with some other specific lab equipment. I was looking into replacing some stuff and can't find them anywhere online. Did they change their name or stop selling products?

I definitely also have stuff from vernier, arbor, pasco and flinn but theres some specific stuff i prefer from cpo. Would be a huge bummer if I can't get replacements for some of this equipment. Anyone know anything about them?

Before I try to reinvent the wheel, or dash off to TPT and pay for stuff. Does anyone have any recommendations or resources for teaching Moles and mole calculations to a lower end CP Chemistry class?

I've got a couple of decent classes, and one that is not only full, but an absolute handful. We're trying to revise who gets recommended for a CP Chemistry class, but at the moment, I just have everyone that made it through Bio, regardless of whether they have the appropriate math skills or not.

I'm going to have about a week, 3-4 days, to teach the concepts, practice them, and then test on them on the 5th day. I'm a fairly new teacher and haven't taught Moles yet, so any advice, or recommendations for resources or methods would be greatly appreciated.

Hey Redditors,

With air pollution becoming a critical issue in many of the world's megacities, innovative solutions are more important than ever. One intriguing idea is the use of "artificial rain" (cloud seeding) to help clear the air. But could this be a viable solution, or are we opening Pandora's box?

I'm a high school chemistry teacher and next weel I'll be doing the flame spectroscopy lab. It will contain the usual cast of characters (KCl, CaCl2, CuCl2, et.) I wanted to add BaCl2 to the line-up since it gives off such a vibrant and distinctine color. I got wildly different opinions on the safety of using barrium chloide in a high school so I contacted Flinn and the person that I taalked to had no earthly idea what she was talking about. I seem to recall using it for this very application in college chem and there was never any safety concerns other than the usual lab safety protocol (goggles, apron, don't eat it). Anyone care to chime in?

Hi all. I'd like to preface this by saying I know I am very fortunate when it comes to the culture of my school. Cell phones are collected at the beginning of the day, so we don't have to compete for their attention that way, and the students are generally very sweet, respectful, and motivated to learn. That said, middle schoolers are gonna middle school, and I am getting really frustrated with my 8th graders.

I teach science, and the way our schedule works is I have them in half-classes twice a week in the lab, and whole classes twice a week in their homeroom. Lab days include more hands on activities and experiments, while whole class days are more lecture-based. The half groups have been great ever since I made a seating chart. The whole class is more difficult to manage, and I don't have direct control over their seats. They will NOT stop chatting. I will get them quiet, then as soon as I open my mouth to go over a new concept, they start talking. This is where I need some advice. Normally in the lab, I put names on the board as a warning, then additional disruptions result in recess detention. In the big class, the chatter is happening from all sides and I honestly can't even tell who it is. But it's a lot of them.

After several reminders and with a few minutes left in their whole-group class today, they were still talking freely among themselves while I was in the middle of teaching. I was just so fed up, I turned off the projector and waited silently. I told them we were done. They got silent. It was a long, quiet 30 seconds or so. Then, I explained to them how frustrated I was because they know the expectations in class. And (this is a bit of a reach considering how good they've been in lab) I told them if they can't follow my very simple instructions in the classroom, how could I trust them to follow directions to keep themselves and their classmates safe during lab? They aren't showing me they can follow directions, so maybe our next lab period will just be note-taking. I had the same talk with them two days ago (our last whole-class day), and the behavior clearly did not improve today.

What do you think? Does loss of lab privileges this seem like a proportional consequence? Or something else I'm pondering: would it be terrible to give them a pop (open-note) quiz on the content from today? I may have (in a moment of pettiness) said, "good luck on the pop quiz!" to make them sweat a bit as they left for their next class, but now I'm wondering if it shouldn't be just a bluff.

All insight in appreciated! This is only my second-year, and I could use all the help I can get.

For me, it's

•The notion that the universe may be cyclical and bounce back and forth from Big Bang to Heat Death for all time with no beginning or end

•The fact that there are different quantities of infinity. Infinity between 1-2 and 2-3 etc.

•There may be an infinite amount of universes for every possible decision we didn't make

Hey everyone, I am trying to find a website or program that could track if students access a PDF document, log their Gmail, and how long they spend on the PDF.

Looking for anything that can generate some data to back up that students have at least accessed digital readings. I know I cannot truly track if they “read it,” but something is better then nothing. I have been working to integrate more readings into the course and we do not have a textbook. That means I am generally limited to making articles or using PDF articles. Knowing if students have accessed something is critical to holding them accountable as we all know. Thank you all in advance for any ideas!

Side Note: My district uses Schoology, we are a GAFE district, and we have access to Adobe Acrobat. Looking for something a little better then a “completion,” assignment through Schoology that tracks if kids have clicked it or not.

I taught middle school science for 20 years. I currently teach math. I joined the Civil Air Patrol as an Aerospace Educator. There is an amazing amount of free resources for Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Educators (CAP AEs).

First, here is a link to join: https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/programs/aerospace-education/join-as-an-aem

Second, here is a page with the items you can get for free by applying. You always get everything you apply for. You complete a before-and-after report, and that's it. I have gotten rockets every year, robotic arm, drones, weather stations, and much more - all free! Scroll down this page to look at what is offered (multiple pages of stuff - all free. https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/search?q=STEM+Grants

Now, each year I am up for renewal, they pay my renewal fee (I think it is $35) I do this because no one in my district wants to take over the membership (Only one per district is allowed)

I also organize a day where each of my students gets to fly a plane, free, One kid, one pilot. Get more info here: https://www.eaa.org/eaa/youth/free-ye-flights As an Aerospace educator, I get a free flight each year. Next summer I'm planning to try a glider flight. If you have questions, LMK. This is a great resource and I hate to see it underutilized.

Hello, beautiful biological souls,

My neighbor's eleven-year-old is interested in learning more about biology, but there is no life sciences textbook incorporated into his 5th-grade curriculum. He is a sharp individual and I would love to tutor him on the subject myself.

I recall the Miller & Levine Biology macaw textbook being a joy for an 8th/9th grade audience. The language, illustrations, and practice questions were all effective and fun, in my opinion.

However, I am hoping to find a textbook that explores biological principals a level or two below those of Miller & Levine's.

Any ideas?

Much cytoplasm and many kinases to you all.

What are your favorites or your students favorites to do in a DNA/RNA unit?

Hello! I am a first year teacher after making a career transition. I am currently struggling with our late policy. My school system requires that we accept late work until the end of the semester with no penalty. With teaching Biology we try to do summative projects instead of tests which is making things difficult. On October 30 I introduced my kids to their summarize project for Ecology, designing a food web from organisms found in Wisconsin, labeling everything and answering a few questions. They had everything they needed to get started on it. I then gave them Nov 4-Nov 6 in class to work on it, repeating every day that it was due on Thursday and if I didn't have it by then it was a zero (unless excused absences or previously negotiated extensions). I still had several kids thinking they could turn it in late because it wasn't done. I desperately want to hold my ground and enforce a zero for the score because it was a summative, and they had more than enough time. I know real life has no hard and fast rule on deadlines most of the time, but we are seriously undeserving our kids by allowing them to turn things in whenever they want with no penalty. I know if anyone complains to admin about it I'll have to accept it and grade it. I just don't know what to do. Does anyone have any advice or thoughts?

This new paper

https://arxiv.org/html/2410.18020v1

describes a technique for extracting superconducting grains from graphite samples using tabletop chemistry, and a technique they call magnetic decantation separation, which is simply making an aqueous suspension of graphite, putting a permanent magnet on one side of the beaker, and scraping off the film that forms on the side away from the magnet. The tests for superconductivity are trickier, but one could imagine making a (tiny) pellet of the purified material, and watching it hover above a ring magnet.

help me sci teachers , i couldnt find a better subreddit to ask and yes its a very dumb quetsiosn 😢

yes baisically the question its a lab report and i definitely messed up the experiment but itll be fine if i evaluate it (doubtful) but please help thank you

my values are like (below) and thats just one example (resistivity)

|| || |2.80E-08|1.18E-02 |

[parent not teacher here - sorry to butt in] I recently moved to a district where Physical Science is a high school graduation requirement (I think this might be a state requirement). (3 science classes total are required to graduate - PS, biology, plus one choice) Algebra 1 is a pre-req for Physical Science Kids take Algebra 1 in 8th, Physical Science in 9th, Biology in 10th Or Biology and Algebra 1 in 9th and Physical science in 10th. We moved from a state where PS was generally an 8th grade class and could be taken concurrently with Algebra 1. That gave advanced kids more space in their high school schedule for different science classes and making it to the AP or DE level in multiple sciences. [I can’t totally confirm that this district’s HS PS is equivalent to the other state’s MS PS. IPC is not a thing here so perhaps this district’s PS is more like IPC? But even if it is, kids can’t replace this requirement by doing a year each of Chem and Phys] Currently the 7/8 graders do Life Science, Earth Science, and Astronomy (6th grade is part of the elementary school). I am wanting to push for our district to offer PS to advanced 8th graders (and give them the required high school credit for it) so they have more space in their high school schedule. Is that a bad idea? Is there something I’m missing or misunderstanding?

What do you think is it to dangerous to perform as a teacher. Obviously not handling out to students.

Hey Redditors!

I'm looking for some creative and easy-to-do science project ideas for school students. The goal is to find projects that they can do themselves with minimal supervision and resources. Think of projects that are fun, educational, and can be done with everyday materials. Let's inspire the next generation of scientists!

Hi folks - I am a physics prof with 20 years experience but for the first time will be teaching a fully conceptual (very little math at most) general education physics course.

I'm looking for resources including textbooks, open-education resources, lab activities, anything that might be useful. Bonus if it's free or cheap. What have you got?? TIA

As described in the title, the smartgate and time of flight accesory are not registering the initial speed and the time it takes to the ball to touch the ground( the time of flight accesory in this case)

Please notice that if I pass the metallic ball with my hand the smartgate actually gives a velocity data and the time of flight accesory gives a 0.37s result out of nowhere. Help!

For almost 30 years I've been a science teacher. But for me it's also been about teaching truth, literacy, history and justice. I wanted to make a difference in both the lives of my students as well as the world around me. I've worked with poor kids, rich kids, kids from many backgrounds, urban, suburban, public school and private schools. I've loved almost every minute of it all. I' have been blessed to form deep connections, be an inspiration to aspiring scientists, learn about my own shortcomings, work with amazing teachers who themselves are committed to spreading truth and battling ignorance.

I've been doing this for an entire generation. Yet today I feel like it was all a waste. That this entire profession is a sham. That there's no point in trying to make a difference in the world. What has all of my hard work been for when millions upon millions of people, many from the very generation that I tried to teach, can choose hatred over love. Can choose ignorance over truth. Can choose to deny climate change. Can ignore basic decency and respect. Can say that god says gay people are evil. Can ignore violence and bigotry.

I dunno if I can keep doing this. A part of me wants to say fuck all y'all and go get a high paying corporate job so I can take my family on fun vacations and afford to send my kids to college.

How can I/we move forward?

I teach high school chemistry. Attendance for my classes is around 50%. I do have students who are looking to go into a related field, about 5%. They do very well on tests. I can’t even get the other students to make a cheat sheet, which they are given class time to do it. They complain about testing, they leave the majority of it blank, and that is after a week a review before the test. I also can’t get them to turn in worksheets. I can’t get them to do bell work even if it is extra credit. If you are not testing in your classes what are you doing? I tried a project and most of them failed that too, I got 15% back. Only 10% brought back their safety contract so labs are more demos while asking for the safety contract each time. I just think I give up. Any suggestions?

I've tried all of the approaches I know. It's time to seek help. Can anyone recommend a brief, useful friction explainer video?

Also, misspelled a word in my title. So there's that.

I am struggling something fierce with my AP physics classroom and don’t know what to do. I tried to use NJCTL’s slides and practice problems but all of their tests are showing they they aren’t getting it. I tried to do my own thing by doing inquiry based phenomena where we studied a video of ironman’s flight and then learned the pets we needed to solve it and watched AP classroom videos for concepts and did practice problems. They seem to get the concepts now by studying the phenomenon. But still they don’t seem to be getting the practice problems, especially the free response problems. I don’t know what else to do. I know I am a teacher and I have this degree but I barely know what I am doing since I am in my first year, and I feel like I am drowning. I have No curriculum to guide me, no labs that I have prepared or ready. I am making up everything on the fly and it is showing because I barely know how to teach this stuff unprepared and feel like a complete fraud. I so desperately want to teach them, and I know the theory behind how conceptual understanding is built…but I feel like I am at a complete loss for how to actually get them there. I think I just need to someone to tell me explicitly how I can help them get better at doing the math problems. Do I just throw a bunch of practice problems at them as I teach the concepts even though I know for a fact they won’t do most of them? Do I need to just go back to NJCTL and follow along with it’s ideas? Do I need to completely stop and basically restart the class and build from the ground up? Do I need to just pull a few all nighters and make a completed unit plan even though I know that it is an unsustainable work load with my two other classes I also have 0 curriculum for? I feel so lost and I know whoever responds to this post will require more information, but I don’t even know where to begin.

For anyone who is curious here is the exact context: I am a first year physics teacher with three separate classes, AP, Cambridge, and Conceptual. I am doing what I can to not burn out but I feel so unprepared no matter how much I prep, and my AP class is suffering the worst of it. I tried to follow NJCTL’s Ap physics curriculum, but data was showing they were doing poorly in the tests, so I switched mid year to a phenomena based class, and that seems to be worki by a little better. But while they are understanding the concepts better they still get lost on practice problems.. I also teach at a title 1 school, and I cannot rely on my students to get their homework done, not to mention making homework for them taking time I don’t feel I have.

Does anyone have any advice? Maybe an alternative curriculum I could use

Anyone know of any free AI tool that accurately takes a prompt and can make a science diagram of it? Often times I’m drawing up something specific on the whiteboard and it’d be easier using an AI imaging app. I know I can Google image it but sometimes Google images gives diagrams that aren’t exactly what I’m looking for or too involved for my students

There are so many CSI-like shows out there, I am getting slogged down trying to find an episode to watch for a Forensic Science class. I'm looking for one that exemplifies deductive reasoning, and illustrates evidence handling (bonus points if hair is used as evidence, that is the unit we just finished) Does anyone have a specific episode of a show that stands out above others for this?

I thought about watching the movie" The Bone collector", but would rather something for a single class period. I've watched a bunch of the CSIs, criminal minds, Sherlock, and The Mentalist. While I wish I could have a couple weeks to dedicate to great episodes, I'm trying to hone this down to just one.

Edit: I think I've got it. Homologous chromosomes are present all the time, including during mitosis. It's just that they do not line up as tetrads during mitosis; only during meiosis do they line up and cross over. And the homologous chromosome pairs we see during meiosis are in fact just two pairs of sister chromatids. Am I right?

Hi guys! Ok, so next week my bio kids that I tutor are covering mitosis and meiosis. It's been a while so I wanted to brush up on my knowledge.

I have a pretty good handle on it but for some reason I'm getting stuck on the sister chromatid vs. homologues thing. I know the differences but my curious brain wants to know more, I want the relationships!

I know that sister chromatids are just copies of identical chromosomes connected at the centromere, and they appear during interphase, and then divide so that each new cell has its own copy of DNA.

I know that homologous chromosomes are pairs of similar chromosomes, one being maternal and one paternal; not identical because they may have different alleles and that they cross over during meiosis for genetic recombination.

Because I like to try to understand everything, I'm thinking about relationships and falling short. I think homologous chromosomes must be present during mitosis as well, no? It's just that they don't line up and cross over like they do in meiosis? Or are homologous chromosomes just two pairs of sister chromatids? This is where I'm confused...

Any insight to this would be helpful!

Thank you :)

So I was trying to find an image of spectator ions. In Dutch we call them tribune-ionen. Since I couldn't find what I was looking for I decided to make my own image. I thought this would be a good image to let students remember spectator ions.

https://preview.redd.it/rqn7esijcpyd1.png?width=1030&format=png&auto=webp&s=ba818cb863dedcf7e1c4daf889c0f18f63bfb98f

Hi everyone! My school is focusing on building up our science education for 6-12 grade. I am tasked with coming up with a list of manipulatives to support student engagement and understanding for 6-8 graders.

What sorts of things do you all use in your middle school classes to support understanding and inquiry driven learning?

We have smaller chemistry and physics units in 6th and 7th grade. 8th grade is pretty much all environment science for us.

Beyond lab work, I’m thinking we should get ball and stick models for chemistry or maybe using beads to understand atoms and molecules. Other than that I’m at a loss.

I’m still very new to teaching and have received very little mentorship, so any input on hands on activities to learn real life phenomena would appreciated!

Hey science educators! The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology has an AMA on AskScience. We have a bunch of educators in paleo too! If you have any questions for the panel, please join us here -> https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1gh2plf/we_are_scientists_from_the_society_of_vertebrate/

Hi,

I am going to NSTA New Orleans next week. Anyone else?

But I was wondering is there an efficient way to plan the sessions you attend. I see the sessions on the NSTA website and can add to my agenda. But besides that there doesn't seem to be a way to look at it or access it in a good way. Am I missing something?

Hey all, we're way behind this year, thanks to Hurricane Helene, and trying to get through as much of the curriculum as possible in the remaining time we have. Does anyone have an idea of how to distill Nuclear Chemistry down to 3-4 days for a lower level, high school Chemistry course? Meaning, what would you consider to be absolute must hits in the curriculum, and what could be left out? We're on a block schedule, so I have 95-100 minutes with them each day, but with only 4 full weeks and two half weeks remaining before we take Final Exams, I'm struggling to try and include as much as possible, hitting the high points, so that they'll have some exposure to everything. Not sure if we'll make it to Thermo, which is at the end, but I'm going to try....

Any ideas, or layouts, or resources to try and accomplish that would be greatly appreciated. I'm only in my 4th year teaching, and came in on an alternative certification path, so I sometimes struggle with how you guys figure out how to fit everything in on time :)