Water density

A few years ago I came across an article in the Catalyst magazine called "Water in the oceans". Apart from discussing whether or not salty water in the oceans would mix, it had a simple experiment which explored water density.

Start with two cups of water. In one, make a saturated solution salt solution and add food colouring of your choice. To the second cup of water just add different food colouring. Once done, try mixing the two together and you will get two distinctive layers.

This is a great experiment to use in a lesson on density. Super easy and cheap to prepare.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Chemical magic

If you need to run an open evening and showcase your department it´s good to have a selection of experiments and demos that will leave the audience speechless. I have already discussed the classic ammonium dichromate volcano (click here) and today I would like to share some chemical magic. This simple to set up experiment when paired up with a bit of acting can easily surprise your audience as you turn water into wine:

Then wine into water:

and lastly water into milk:

I tested it in beakers but for your "official" demo I suggest following the instructions and use wine glasses and a glass milk bottle.

If not used as a demo, you could use it in your lessons to discuss phenolphthalein as a narrow range indicator. Furthermore, it could be used in precipitation reactions lesson.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Microscale precipitation reactions

Students love doing experiments. However, they often tend to waste a lot of reagents. A good way of teaching them to be less wasteful is through microscale chemistry. Here is an example of the worksheet I designed to teach my students to be more conscious of the amounts of chemicals they are using:

 

In this experiment students conduct 5 precipitation reactions and use 2-3 drops of each reagent. The worksheet is laminated and a paper towel is used to clean up afterwards. Once prepared it will last a long time.

Click here to download the worksheet.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Edexcel 6 marker chemistry questions

For some students 6 marker questions are a real nightmare and they tend to ignore them during exams. With a bit of regular practice it is easy to develop skills which will allow the pupils to tackle those questions. I went through 3 years of Edexcel Chemistry GCSE papers and put together a document with all the 6 marker questions. I referenced each paper so you can easily find the right mark scheme. These questions can be used as homework tasks, extension tasks and with the mark scheme for peer assessment. The document consists both foundation and higher questions.


Click here to download a set of 6 marker questions.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Book of Achievements for KS3 Science Club

Science Club is for me a place where the students have an opportunity to conduct experiments they wouldn´t normally have a chance to do. It´s an opportunity to further deepen their curiosity and develop lab skills. I created the Book of Achievements to teach my students organisational skills and show them how much they can do. The list of "achievements" to complete is a great starting point to create independent learners who know how to plan.

The reward system is flexible and can easily reflect whatever your school is doing - merits, stickers, postcards home etc.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Dowload the Book of Achievements - click here

Let YouTube help you teach Science #6

As a Chemistry teacher I feel confident to deliver demos and practicals within my subject specialism. I always know how to modify the experiments to cater to my students' needs. When I need to deliver Biology or Physics lessons, I always like to do extra research to make sure the lesson is interesting and that my subject knowledge is sound. A few years ago I came across this demo to show how the digestive system works and it's absolutely brilliant!

Which topic/s could you use this video with?
 - digestive system

Key words: bile, blood, digestion, enzymes, large intestine, mouth, oesophagus, saliva, small intestine, rectum, stomach,  teeth, villi

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

KS3 Science Club - Scheme of Work

I have been running after school clubs since I started working as a teacher. I really enjoy the freedom a science club can give you to try experiments that you wouldn't normally have time to do in a lesson. One of the restrains that I had to face, however, was the issue of money to buy the resources I needed. This I managed to overcome by applying for grants and getting free resources (I mentioned some of the places here). After testing a wide range of experiments and getting feedback from my students, I put together this KS3 Science Club Scheme of Work, which I hope is going to be useful for your students too.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

What is Kahoot!?

Kahoot! gives you an option to engage your students in highly addictive quizzes and learn at the same time. Students absolutely love the competitive aspect of those quizzes. As a teacher, I really like the fact that I can either create my own quiz or browse through the database of thousands of quizzes created by others. Another interesting feature is the option of creating a report which shows you in detail how well your students performed and what are the areas that still need work.

Click here to access my easy Kahoot! quiz on components in electrical circuits.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

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

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

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