Where to find free resources?

If you are working in a school which provides you with every single resource you ask for, you're in heaven! The reality is, however, that such schools are very rare to find. So, what to do when you want to inspire your students but you are struggling to get resources? Here are some of the places I came across over the years that can support you on your journey.

1. The Crunch Kit (Wellcome Trust)

If you are working in the UK you can get your hands on 2 different kits. These are tailored for  primary and secondary students. Each kit consists of superbly prepared experiments together with all the equipment you need to deliver it.


2. STEM Learning resources

This is a collection of various resources focused around STEM. You can easily find here materials suitable for your students. These can be used both in a classroom setting as well as in an after school club.

3. DIY experiments from STEM Newcastle

This is an amazing collection of experiments perfect for the use in a Science club. Instructions are clearly laid out with numerous pictures and drawings to aid understanding.

4. School Science list

Here you can find a list of 30+ websites which offer free resources.

5. TES resources

Times Educational Supplement is a goldmine for resources. You can find absolutely everything there from worksheets through lesson plans and power points and schemes of work. I started uploading my resources there as well so click here to see what´s available (more to come!).

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Let YouTube help you teach Science #4

Cells is probably the first topic all students cover in their first biology lesson when they join secondary school. It's often the first occasion when they use the microscope and you get a lot of "wows" in the classroom as they look at different specimens. I like using the video below as fun introduction or in the revision lesson. I like the fact it also reinforces correct spelling of scientific key works with the lyrics coming on the screen.

Which topic/s could you use this video with?
- Biology - cells
- Animal vs. plant cell

Key words:
- animal cell, cell, chloroplast, cytoplasm, membrane, mitochondria, nucleus, organelle, plant cell, vacuole

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Mystery Boxes

I recently came across an interesting hands-on activity which will help the students learn how scientists work and how they come up with different theories.

As you can see from the video it's very easy to set up and extremely engaging. I can't wait to try it soon.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Let YouTube help you teach Science #3

I really like introducing Science concepts to my students using demos and experiments they can later do at home. This really ensures that the pupils are interested in the subject and maintains their curiosity. Furthermore, if students decide to conduct the experiment at home, it helps to develop their dexterity and lab skills. Here's a simple experiment you can introduce your students to:

Which topics could you use this video with?
- How does soap work?
- How does washing up liquid work?
- Hydrolysis of fats
- Saponification
- Science Club experiment

Key words: hydrophilic, hydrophobic, saponification, soap molecule

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Student engagement through SeeSaw

Student engagement plays a huge role in teaching. As teachers we think about it every single time while planning our lessons. EdTech brings a lot of interesting options which help us further engage the pupils. One of the apps that really worked for me is SeeSaw. Here are some of the ways I used them in my practice.

1. Digital portfolio for the form class

I first came across SeeSaw when I started teaching in an international school in Shanghai. I soon learnt that in that environment students often leave in the middle of the school year. As a form tutor I decided to start building a digital portfolio of all the activities my pupils were involved in. This allowed me to have a place where both myself and students were able to share interesting activities they were doing and give those who left a chance to stay in touch. It also allowed me to increase parental engagement as I easily generated on my account letters which informed parents how to join.

An important aspect of this digital portfolio is that once you leave the job, the person who takes over can continue the work easily.

2. Portfolio of experimental results

This was by far my favourite way of using SeeSaw. I often asked my students to post the results of the experiments we were doing. Students would always be asked to comment on their findings and I would frequently tell them to think about and write the way/s they could improve the practical.

My KS4 students enjoyed collecting photographs on how core experiments are set up which they later used for revision.


3. Exit ticket

This is perfect for a quick plenary. SeeSaw allows you to create "an exit ticket" - a short task to check any aspect of the learning. Here's one I've done at the end of a revision lesson and some of my students' answers.

SeeSaw is constantly growing and introduces new features and improvements. There are plenty of other ways you can use it in your practice.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina 

Let You Tube help you teach Science #2

In the second installment of my "Let You Tube help you teach Science" I would like to introduce you to the idea of showing experimental instructions through short videos. It's a great visual aid for the students and it allows you to save time on a demonstration. Consequently, the pupils have more time to conduct the experiment. Below is an example of a simple experiment you can use to investigate osmosis:

Which topics could you use this video with?
- osmosis
- lab health and safety
- recording observations

Key words: importance of water, investigation, osmosis, water

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Separation techniques summary table

Both KS3 and KS4 students have to learn about different separation techniques. It's a great unit which allows a few hands-on practicals. Once the unit is done, I like to give my students a simple homework task which allows them to consolidate gained knowledge. It's a summary table which you can download directly from my TES profile (KS3 and KS4).

KS3 table includes filtration, evaporation, chromatography and simple distillation. I differentiated the table by including labelled diagrams for those students who are less able. For KS4 students, I also added decantation. I found this resource to be an effective tool for revision and at the same time it allows me to teach my students how to use tables for revision. Also, because the space in the table is restricted, they are forced to include only the most essential information and write in a note form which is a great exam technique.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Let YouTube help you teach Science #1

YouTube is a great platform where you can find loads of interesting educational videos. These can become extremely useful to help students visualise complex concepts, revise material learnt and just simply enjoy Science. Here's the first installment of a series I'm going to call Let YouTube help you teach Science. 

Which topics could you use this video with?

- alkali metals
- properties of group 1 metals
- reactivity series
- reactions: alkali metals + water as well as alkali metals + oxygen
- safety precautions during experiments

Key words: alkali metals, corrosion, metallic lustre, lilac flame, vigorous reaction, safety screen

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Zip Grade - the marking app to make your life easier

Marking takes a lot of time. It's something we all teachers have a love-hate relationship with as we know how important it is for the students' progress but at the same time it can be extremely time consuming. There are tools, however, that can save us a lot of time and provide quick feedback for our students. One of the marking apps that has been working extremely well for me is Zip Grade. It's perfect for marking multiple choice tests.

Once you download the app on your phone or tablet you are given free 100 scans each month. You can, of course, purchase unlimited number of scans. The yearly subscription costs $6.99.

You start by creating the answer key for your test:

Your students answer the test questions on special answer sheets which you can download from the website. It offers grids for 20, 50 and 100 questions. However, you can also create customized answer sheets on your profile and have the exact number of answers your test has.

Scanning a test takes a second. I like to use a highlighter to mark the questions my students got wrong. You can also print out the screen shots of individual review sheets (but that's just being extra :)

I found the app to be extremely useful to mark paper 1 of the IB Chemistry course. After some time of using the app you can easily create a nice bank of tests ready for marking. To find what you need easily simply add a tag while creating the answer key and you can later use it to filter your test bank:

An extremely useful feature is item analysis which allows you to see how your class did as a whole and identify the questions that you need to revisit:

You can also create individual learners' profiles and monitor the progress throughout the year. It also gives you useful data for parents' evening conversations.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Welcome to "Keep them curious"

Thank you for visiting my blog. Here you will be able to find ideas and tips that will help you keep your students interested in Science. My subject specialism is Chemistry and this is going to be the main focus of my posts. Please check out my Twitter @keep_curious_ as well as Instagram @keep_them_curious

I would love to hear your suggestions so please feel free to comment under blog posts or drop me a line at keepthemcurious@gmail.com

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina