After years of our district offering AP Physics C Mechanics, there's finally enough interest to add a second-year course -- E&M seems like the natural choice, but folks at neighboring districts say that the E&M curriculum is short, and that they finish it in just one semester.

This leaves us with two options, and I'm wondering if any of you have experience with either of these?

• Option A: Physics C E&M in the fall, Physics 2 in the spring
• Option B: Physics C E&M all year

If we do option A, then we'd spend half the year on E&M and the other half on optics, waves, sound, thermo, and modern physics. If we do option B, then we'd likely spend ~2/3rds of the year on E&M and the last third on exam review. Would love to hear any thoughts about this!

I am looking at a new curriculum to use for my district. I'm curious if anyone here teaching using the OpenSciEd materials. What are your thoughts on it?

So far in looking at it, it looks like a great launch board for teaching the three dimensions in a student driven curriculum but one of my colleagues and full chicken little "sky is falling" about anything different.

Update: Thank you everyone for the feedback!

I am taking on 9th grade physical science for the first time next year. Up to this point I have taught Chem/Phyics. My incoming students struggle with problem solving, analytical thinking. I want to focus on these things with the freshment. Can anyone suggest a curriculum for 9th graders that has an emphasis on these skills?

I am trying to incorporate more labs in my 9th grade physical science class. I need some ideas for a class that is extremely immature. I did find an idea that uses rubber bands that you would shoot into a cup and measure how much the cup moves, but due to the immaturity of this particular group, I was told not to do it this year.

I have tried doing a virtual lab with this group before, and it did not go over well either. While this is an interesting group, the maturity of them makes them seem younger than my 6th grade class in a lot of ways.

Any ideas for labs for this group that I don´t have to worry about them fooling around?

You guys were fabulously helpful when I asked about teaching Moles and Mole conversions. We're getting through that now, though they are struggling with the basic math skills. Since you were so helpful last time, I thought I'd throw this out and see what might happen.

Thermochemistry hasn't been taught at my school in years, it's just been avoided due to the math involved. Do you guys have ay insights, ideas, or examples for teaching Thermo to lower end CP Chem kids who struggle with math skills? Also, keep in mind that since it hasn't been taught since before I came to this school 4 years ago, there are next to no supplies for it. I have a little bit of money squirreled away in the lab budget, so could pick up some simple supplies if needed.

I'm literally teaching Moles from information and material that was shared with me here last time, so I thought I'd try again :)

TIA!

This year I've decided to host a 12 Days of Christmas Science Challenge - I want to post scientific puzzle or problem on our teams channel and ask students to solve it. First student that solves it will receive a prize that relates to science of some sort.

I want some ideas on what puzzles or problems I can give them to solve that cannot be solve using AI or such like. The students are very gifted and have a good foundation in chemistry, physics and biology (grade 9/10 high school level)

Any ideas?

Aside from the flame test, does anyone have any ideas for lab exercises that would fit in with electron configuration, energy levels, and quantum numbers? I have a group of students who are very lab motivated and the only lab that I've ver taught in conjunction with this unit is flame spectroscopy. I'm using that lab in conjunction with another unit this year and I'm looking for something to take its place.

Hello,

I am going to be student teaching & might be placed in a class with a couple AP Chem periods. I'm a little nervous, as I'm very rusty on AP chem topics (mostly Gen Chem II) from college. Will my mentor teacher help me? I'm worried I'm unqualified and don't want to deprive the students for preparing for their AP test.

**With that being said, I can definitely restudy it all, but I'm of course unfamiliar with labs and will be teaching this all for the very first time. I worry I will stress more about the content than the actual student teaching part. Advice?

Looking for ideas to introduce the concept of adaptation in a hands on fun activities. I am hoping for some ideas that could used as 'Taskmaster' style challenges.

After the provocation we will be exploring adaptation through workshops such as polar bear blubber, moth camouflage and bird beaks.

Would love to hear from you guys!

I'm wanting to hit on the physics of driving on icy roads as a side-quest assignment...tis the season, and my students could use a dose of applicable physics problems to aide them in safe driving reasoning/tactics. Anything already worked up on this level at all? I haven't dug too hard, but didn't find anything on a first go-round search.

So I’m a second year teacher; veteran teachers were saying we can’t explain the questions ( during summative /formative test) to our students. Some of my students need help to understand the questions ( I would love to do that). State tests I know the rule, but during our class test we can’t help them? How it’s spoon feeding? I’m really not sure whether it’s okay to do or not?

My (HS) science department is trying to embed some SAT style questions into our day-to-day. I started trolling through college board’s sample tests and pulling science questions into a database. Has anyone done this already? Any resources yall would recommend? Before I accidentally sink 1000 hrs into this project?

I hate it. End of post.

Met with my former supervisor yesterday to help me prepare for this demo lesson and left even more confused. My topic is “How Does Earth Receive Energy from the Sun?” for an honors 8th grade earth and space class. They want me to get into the spectrum but also start with some phenomena that will have students generate 7-8 questions individually. Then they want them to categorize as either open or closed and change one to another. I think that part is a waste of time and I don’t want to have to teach them the difference….but that’s what they want. I’m with them up to this point. Can someone recommend a phenomena for this that will really spark interest and have them writing tons of questions??

They then want them to group up with two other partners, compare questions and decide on the top 4-5 for each group and I will write them on a Google Doc after they’ve chosen their most important questions together.

Then, they want them to draw an individual initial model of how the suns energy gets to earth. I’m assuming and hoping they just draw straight arrows so we have something to revise. What things should I qualify as criteria for success in this initial model? I was thinking of finding a simple black and white printout of the sun and across the page have Earth. Ask “draw how the suns energy gets to Earth”. I will assume it will be some straight arrows hitting Earth. Then below that model have a simple black and white drawing of a landform with the sun in the sky (Maybe beach) and ask them to label the areas that will absorb and the areas that will reflect that energy.

Then I will give a quick individual reading on the electromagnetic spectrum. It will include all the different wavelengths and what protects us from the harmful radiation (Maybe draw a new layer around Earth)…have them do it close reading style (I have the steps on their desks already) by circling and highlighting etc…

Then I will ask them to fix anything they’d like or redo on the other side, exchange with a group member and give one critique and one glow. Give back and then I model the proper one on the front screen.

Any tips? I also want to give them a criteria for success so they know what to include in their drawings and don’t just stare at it.

Review objective and give exit ticket.

I feel ehhhhh about it and would really love some ideas. Thank you.

I've started teaching high school biology this year for the first time. We are in a bit of a bind, as the district does NOT let data drive our instruction but rather the calendar. I have just two weeks starting December 1 to teach mitosis and meiosis so that my students can take the test before Christmas.

Is there a meaningful way to deliver this much instruction in such little time? I've got the provided notes and study guide, but I don't think lecturing and "work days" are the best use of our very limited time.

What would you do?

Hi!

I'm trying to impart the idea of scale and teach about hierarchical organization in living systems in a non boring way. I'm wondering if anyone can link me to a simluation where students can explore body systems and perhaps zoom in to the cellular/tissue level? Thanks Reddit fam!

Have you ever held a Shankh (divine conch) to your ear and heard the mesmerizing sea-like sound? 🌊✨ It's like holding a piece of the ocean in your hands. But here's a thought: Can we record this sound and store it for later listening? Imagine being able to play back that soothing, mystical sound whenever you need a moment of calm or a reminder of nature's wonders. Has anyone tried this? What do you think? Let's discuss!

Hi y'all! I recently came across a few youtubers making an antimagnet (electret) and now I want one for my physics classroom, for the electrostatics unit. Has anyone ever heard of a large electret puck being commerically available? It is quite difficult to google considering it is a major component of microphones.

Ref: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTNXXiMO3e8&pp=ygUIZWxlY3RyZXQ%3D

I’m always curious to know what comfortable people have when it comes to integrating, explaining, and using math in science. What is your grade or subject and how comfortable do you feel?

I’ve seen great success putting a higher focus on the math and stat in science, and I found that it does often help students make the connection and understand the science content better when it is introduced and integrated properly.

I especially love when students would come back and say that I taught them math better than their math teacher!

Or, when I would teach logarithms necessary for chemistry as in base stuff before kids would even get to it in math, and they said they felt really well prepared to do it in math after learning it in chemistry first. I have degrees in both science and statistics, so it has helped. But of course in NGSS, it’s really just math in the context of science.

Hi all! This community has been awesome so far, so I figured I’d ask you all for help once again.

I teach at a tiny independent school, and it’s my first year teaching MS science. I’m using a standards-based curriculum, with some modifications/enrichments. The curriculum has assessments for some units, but not all.

What I’m looking for are questions that one would encounter on a state or national middle school test/final exam. I just want to make sure my kids will have what they need for high school!

Thanks in advance

Hi everyone! Horticulture teacher here, this semester I am teaching one of our plant ID classes (students learn ID features and the design usage of 95-100 plants in each ID class we teach).

I’m trying to come up with a more engaging way to review our plants for the upcoming final exam. I know there’s always Kahoot or a Jeopardy based game but it’s a very small class and I think it would be more fun for them to have a more out of the box way to review. I spent last class doing side by sides of the few lookalikes to go over their key differences but I was clearly losing their engagement pretty quickly (it’s also that time of the semester).

I’m thinking of handing everyone a few cards at the beginning of class with a species name and they have to “introduce themselves” with only 3 characteristics and the rest of the class has to guess who they are? But would love to hear some other suggestions!

I am struggling so hard with MS ESS3.5 (“ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.”)

The second half of the standard makes sense, but how in the everliving fuck am I supposed to teach and assess “asking questions to clarify evidence.” I’ve been in an emotional battle with this standard for like two years now.

Maybe I’m thinking too deeply about it - any insight on how you teach this would be greatly appreciated!

Hey everyone.

I moved to a new school this year and was given two sections of Ecology. My certification and background is in Chemistry and was not given any curriculum. So far I have gone over ecosytems, biomes, habitats, population dynamics, and keystone species.

I plan to cover energy and nutrient cycles, human impacts on the environment, and other issues facing the environment.

My issue is that I feel like I will run out of material before the second semester. This is a class for mostly juniors and seniors who need an extra science credit for graduation.

Do any of you have ideas for topics, projects, texts, etc. to beef up this class to last until June? Any and all ideas are welcome.

Thanks!

Anyone have a good phenomena that will generate questions for the topic of "Heat Transfer"? It is an 8th grade honors ESS class. I also want something that will lead them to drawing initial models.

I teach environmental science classes at a nature preserve. I've been asked to help come up with some more built-in / curiosity based learning elements. An example we already have is posts that are painted like planets that show the relative distance between them.

I'm going to add some tree/plant identification signs on some of our nature trails, but that's all I can think of.

I would love to come up with a scavenger hunt (clues that lead students around the preserve) but I don't really know where to start.

Hello everyone! Thank you to everyone for your amazing conversations. I’ve learned a lot and found it so helpful.

This is not really a science education question, but as a science teacher, I’m coming to you guys! My parents use a Google booking link to sign up for conferences with me. So my day ends up with a bunch of meetings, and as I take notes, I want to include information from the calendar. Things like their name, any note they left me, their child’s name. All of this stuff is right in front of me on the calendar, and I feel like I should be able to export it somehow as like a .csv file.

But I can’t find a way to do it. And our tech people also don’t see a way to do it.

I’m sure it’s too late for today, but does anyone know of an extension or something I could use to make this happen? I’ve googled and come up empty. I don’t know if I’m just missing something obvious. Thank you!

Our burette tips get clogged and we can't figure out a good way to clean them. I've tried soaking them in cleaner, in acid, blasting water through, but nothing seems to help.
I'm thinking of using an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner. Has anyone tried that before?