Skip to Content

I used this Mix and Match Mass Mini Lab with my Chemistry students at the beginning of the year to give them some practice estimating mass and measuring mass using the triple beam balance. I wanted my students to get a feel for different masses. For example, I wanted my students to have a visual …

Read More about Mix and Match Mass Mini Lab

Are you teaching/reviewing the difference between physical vs chemical changes? NOVA has a lovely activity to give students much-needed practice with this topic. I used this story activity with students when I taught chemistry several years ago. Students are given a story to read. They must identify all the changes that occur in the story …

Read More about Physical vs Chemical Changes Story

While preparing to review lab safety at the beginning of my chemistry course, I ran across a “Spot the Safety Hazards” story on Ms. Randall’s Science Weebly. On page 3 of this PDF, she includes a story that students must read. As they read, students must underline or highlight all of the lab safety violations …

Read More about Spot the Safety Hazards Story

What Not to Do Laboratory is a great way to review lab safety procedures at the beginning of the school year. I used this a few years ago with my chemistry students, and it sparked many great conversations. Source of Activity The original What Not to Do Laboratory poster is the creation of The Laboratory …

Read More about What Not to Do Laboratory

While looking through a textbook, I ran across this fun set of measurement puzzlers. They strongly rely on a knowledge of metric prefixes and a love of puns. I think they could be a fun addition to a math or science class! Quite a few people joined in the fun when I shared a photo …

Read More about Measurement Puzzlers

I created this odd one out chemistry activity to give my students practice determining how the placement of an element on the periodic table tells us about how an element will likely behave. For this activity, students were given three elements to locate on the periodic table. Based on these locations, they had to determine …

Read More about Odd One Out Chemistry Activity

I created this chemistry frayer model template a few years ago when I was teaching chemistry. We completed this frayer model in our interactive notebooks after completing a What is Chemistry? mindmapping activity to determine what students thought chemistry was prior to beginning the course. I gave students an exact definition to write. Chemistry is …

Read More about Chemistry Frayer Model

I created this roman numerals poster a few years ago when I was teaching physical science. I shared the files for this poster, but it never got a blog post of its own. I found out when we were naming ionic compounds with transition metals that my students had trouble writing the roman numerals for …

Read More about Roman Numerals Poster

Most likely, you’ve ran across some variation of the two buckets puzzle at some time in your life. You have two buckets. One bucket holds exactly five gallons. The other bucket holds exactly three gallons. How can you measure exactly four gallons of water into the five gallon bucket? Groupwork Norms for the Two Buckets …

Read More about Two Buckets Puzzle

We made ice cream in a bag as our last lab of the year in Chemistry. My students were pretty skeptical that the process would actually result in ice cream, and they were pleasantly surprised as a result. One student brought in M&M’s and Heath bits as topping. Super yummy! Here’s our recipe if you’re …

Read More about Ice Cream in a Bag Lab