Elementary (2nd-5th)

☕️ *Coffee: my loyal companion, my fuel, my personality trait.* ☕️

From morning motivation to afternoon survival, my caffeine addiction dedication is unmatched.

How many cups is *too* many? Asking for a friend (definitely not me).

Drop your daily coffee count in the comments! 👇

#CoffeeAddict #ButFirstCoffee #TeachersRunOnCaffeine

I added a new activity to my FIBERS lesson plan and I’m so glad I did! The final product turned out great! 🤩

After learning about different weave patterns, my forensics students were tasked with using paper strips to showcase one of the four weave patterns that we discussed in class.

As they finished, they taped the patterns together to create this beautiful paper quilt.

I wrote a blog post where I provide step by step instructions for this activity AND I’ve included a free template that you can download (for the paper strips). Just head over to www.thetrendyscienceteacher.com/fibers

We put our Mendelian Genetics knowledge to use today with this MONSTER MATES LAB.

Earlier this week I taught a basic “Intro to Heredity” lesson and we practiced monohybrid crosses (Punnett Squares).

For this lab, students flipped a coin to produce random alleles that they translated into genotypes. They used a trait chart to determine which traits were dominant/recessive and predicted the phenotypes for their monsters.

I created an assembly line of monster traits/body parts and the students collected the traits that best suited their unique monsters. Then, the students assembled their monsters.

The students really enjoyed this lab and it definitely helped them to get a basic understanding of genetics and heredity.

To grab this lab, head to
🔗 thetrendyscienceteacher.com/monsters

Today, my forensics class put the Grinch on trial!

After 4 days of research, the defense and prosecution came head to head in the courtroom in an attempt to persuade the jury of Mr. Grinch’s guilt or innocence.

It was a week of fun, mixed with lots of learning!

I was so impressed by this group of students.

I have been saving all of this week’s “behind the scenes” in my highlights (Seasonal 2). Be sure to check it out!

#forensics #forensicscience #forensicsclass #iteachforensics #scienceteacher #scienceclub

I’ve got 15 days of festive forensics activities to cover the next three weeks and I’m so excited!

I love celebrating the holidays in my classroom and teaching forensics lends itself to some pretty awesome holiday activities.

To kick off the Christmas season, we decorated FORENSICS-THEMED UGLY SWEATERS today.

I think they turned out great! 🤩

If you haven’t played STINKY FEET as a classroom review game, consider this your sign! It’s so much fun 🤩

⭐️Students play in teams of 3-4.

⭐️ I provided each team with a white board, dry erase marker, and eraser.

⭐️ I displayed review questions on the board and teams answered the question on their whiteboard. Teams that answered correctly got to come to the board to select a “sock.”

⭐️Behind each sock was a fun surprise. Some socks yielded positive points, some yielded negative points, and some displayed some fun surprises that had my students on the edge of their seats.

This is seriously one of the best review games ever!

I have created a plug and play template so that you can play this game in your own classroom without spending hours creating a game from scratch.

To grab my STINKY FEET REVIEW GAME TEMPLATE, head to www.thetrendyscienceteacher.com/stinkyfeet

Today, I got my Forensics tree up in my classroom and it brought me instantaneous JOY!

The ornaments for this tree are from our glue fuming lab that we did a couple of weeks back. This lab is so easy and would make a great holiday activity for your forensics students.

For the details on how to make these ornaments via glue-fuming, head over to my blog👇🏼
www.thetrendyscienceteacher.com/glue

We’ve begun our genetics unit! 🧬

To introduce DNA, I had my students extract DNA from a strawberry 🍓

Some of the students opted to keep their DNA by making DNA necklaces.

This lab is included in my genetics unit, but you can also find other versions with a quick Google search. It’s a great lab to introduce genetics!

Today, my forensics class put their fingerprinting skills to work to solve THE CASE OF THE TEACHERS LOUNGE THIEF.

Storyline: One of the students in my forensics class has been sneaking into the teacher’s lounge and stealing my Dr. Pepper.

Task: Use the skills taught in class to dust and lift fingerprints from the stolen Dr. Pepper. Compare the lifted prints to our class “database” to determine the thief.

This activity is always so much fun! The entire class works together to solve the crime.

You can find this activity at www.thetrendyscienceteacher.com/thief

One of my favorite bio labs is the BARF BAG LAB 🤮

In this lab, my bio students observed the carbon dioxide production in cereals with different sugar content. This lab was a great way to showcase the products of alcoholic fermentation.

If you want to grab this free lab to use in your own classroom, head over to my blog:

www.thetrendyscienceteacher.com/barfbag

My 🎃 Halloween Day Lesson Plan for Biology includes a case study about the cyanide-laced Tylenol murders of 1982.

It’s the perfect activity to wrap up cellular respiration (since cyanide affects the mitochondria).

To get all the details and links for this activity, head over to www.thetrendyscienceteacher.com/october

Today, I printed all of my materials for my UNSOLVED MYSTERIES forensics activity that I will be doing on Halloween day with my students.

This activity is always a lot of fun for my students and I can’t wait to host this SPOOK-tacular event.

I have all of the details over on my blog. Just head to www.thetrendyscienceteacher.com/mysteries

Today, my bio students took their 2nd benchmark exam for the school year.

These benchmarks are part of a progress monitoring system that is my secret sauce for student growth and success.

Students take their tests via Google Forms, then graph and analyze their data.

The students are responsible for keeping up with their data throughout the school year on their progress monitoring packet that we store in a folder in the back of the classroom.

I also collect class data and post it for all of my classes to see. I use the data to decide if I need to remediate or just keep moving forward.

Since today’s data shows that more than 90% of my students are mastering the content so far, I’m just gonna keep trucking along.

Are you using data to drive instruction? If not, what are you waiting for?

Progress monitoring has been a game changer for my students and I can’t recommend it enough!