It’s the end of the school year and we are hanging by a thread over here in room 516! I’m tired, my students are tired, and to be honest….I have been looking for activities that will keep my seniors grounded while we finish out our last few weeks. This week,
I am always looking for innovative ways to engage students in my Forensics class. One way I achieved this was by setting up a classroom body farm during my forensic entomology unit. In this blog post, I will share how I set up a classroom body farm and how my
My Death Investigation Unit is my all-time favorite topic to teach in my Forensic Science class! It’s filled with interesting content, fun activities, engaging labs, and my students love it just as much as I do. When a fellow forensics teacher, Jason Briski, shared the idea to use a hot
I love teaching fingerprinting in my Forensics course, but students sometimes struggle when it comes to identifying minutiae patterns. Fingerprints can be difficult to analyze on paper, so I have started using this fingerprint balloon activity to help my students identify minutiae patterns. Essentially, students enlarge their fingerprint on a
Hosting a mock crime scene is an exciting way to bring your curriculum to life and engage your students. If you’ve been wanting to execute a mock crime scene in your Forensics classroom, but aren’t sure where to begin, I’ve got you covered! Today, on the blog, I’m sharing my
It’s no secret that I love a good ole classroom review game. I discovered grudgeball a few years ago and love how engaged my students become when we play. Not only is it easy to set up, but I love that it encourages team work and friendly competition. My students
Introduction I absolutely love teaching arson to my high school students, but I often get asked for ideas for middle school students as well. The purpose of today’s blog post is to share one of my favorite digital lab activities for teaching arson. It can be used with both middle
My students love a good lab and this one doesn’t disappoint. What makes it so great? It’s completely STUDENT directed! Oh…and the students get to stand on the lab stations- which they LOVE. I use this lab as an inquiry lab, meaning that my students conduct the lab BEFORE the
It’s that time of year (Ho! Ho! Ho!) and I am excited to incorporate some holiday cheer into my classroom. I love decorating my classroom tree and playing soft Christmas music in the background during the month of December. I also love adding fun holiday twists on the topics that
It’s that time of year (Ho! Ho! Ho!) and I am excited to incorporate some holiday cheer into my classroom. I love decorating my classroom tree and playing soft Christmas music in the background during the month of December. I also love adding fun holiday twists on the topics that
I love teaching cellular respiration! One of the main contributors to the love of this topic is the BARF BAG lab. I find it oddly satisfying to watch the students’ expressions when I announce, “Today in the lab, we will be making barf in a bag.” This lab is easy
I look forward to GLOW DAY every year! For me, it’s the excitement on my students’ faces when they enter my classroom to realize that it has undergone a total transformation! You might be wondering what is GLOW DAY? It’s a special theme day that radiates through your classroom with
Welcome to my classroom! 🍎
If you’re new around here, hi 👋! I’m Dana.
I’m a high school science teacher that loves teaching and sharing my classroom with teachers around the globe! 🌎
I’d love to know where you are from! Tell me in the comments 👇🏼. I’ll start.
A few years ago, I researched “the spacing effect”- a psychological phenomenon where information is better retained through distributed practice over time. 🧠
After studying the effects it had on student retention, I knew I had to find a way to use it in my biology class.
I’ve been using spiral reviews for four years now and the results have been amazing!
So amazing, that I want to share it with all of my bio teacher friends!
Today, on the blog, I’m sharing the spiral reviews that I use for test prep along with the details on how I implement them for maximum success.
Grab my FREE spiral reviews at
www.thetrendyscienceteacher.com/spiral
#biology #biologyteachers #biologyteacher #iteachbiology #biologyteachersofinstagram
My Biology students always get genetic drift confused with natural selection when discussing mechanism of evolution.
To help them distinguish between the two phenomena, I had them simulate genetic drift using craft beads and a dice.
This really helped my students visualize the effects of genetic drift on small populations.
To grab this activity, head to…
🔗 www.thetrendyscienceteacher.com/geneticdrift
Do I bribe my students? Of course I do! 😉
When I have to be absent, I expect my students to be on their BEST behavior.
To ensure that they follow through on that expectation, I offer a little bribery…. I mean….. incentive 😁
I leave a sub report card that allows the substitute to rate each class. Classes receiving an A+ get rewarded with tickets 🎟️
I have received so many compliments from my subs since I started implementing this system. To get this free sub report card, head over to my blog:
www.thetrendyscienceteacher.com/sub
Over the years, I have implemented several systems and procedures that have helped make my “teacher life” easier.
One of those procedures are these absent trays.
When students are absent, I write their names in any worksheets that I handed out that day and put them in these absent drawer (organized by class period).
Students know that the procedures for getting make up work after an absence are as follows:
✅ Check Google Classroom
✅ Check the absent drawer (pictured here)
This ensures consistency throughout the year and students never have to wonder what we did in class during their absence.
GAME. CHANGER. 👏
#teachertips #highschoolteacher #iteachscience #classroomorganization #newteachertips #newteacher
Here’s to FRIDAY and a clean classroom! 🧼
Comment below👇🏼and let me know what your weekend plans are.
To practice crime scene sketches in Forensics, I threw 350 playing cards all over my classroom! (Those that know me, know that this made my OCD kick in to overdrive.)
Students were given a list of 8 playing card (aka: evidence) to find. Once they found their evidence, they had to mark it on their crime scene sketches.
Of course, I made them clean up the cards after the activity. 😉
I have a free download for this activity (It’s called One Eyed Jack) over on my blog.
Grab it at:
🔗www.thetrendyscienceteacher.com/sketch
We are finally in our evolution unit and we’re getting things started with a lesson on natural selection.
To introduce this concept, students participated in an activity called FEEDING FRENZY.
Basically, students pretended to be worms looking for food (aka: colored yarn).
It was the perfect segue into our lesson!
To get all the details and a free download, head over to my blog:
www.thetrendyscienceteacher.com/naturalselection
#biology #biologyteachers #iteachbiology #biologyactivities #biologylab #scienceteachersofinstagram
📢 Attention forensics teachers:
If you utilize XplorLabs virtual fire investigation in your arson unit, you may have noticed that their website has changed.
This means that if you utilize my complementary student assignment packet (a free download from my blog), you will need to grab the updated version.
🔗To download this free update, head over to:
www.thetrendyscienceteacher.com/fire
Join The Trendy Science Teacher team to get these FREE Differentiated Scientific Method Task Cards in both print and digital versions!
