Engage your students while teaching them to use the period table with this collection of 12 free periodic table activities for your science class. In addition to teaching math classes, I have also taught physical science and chemistry at the high school level. The majority of these activities were designed by me to introduce my …
Science
I created many chemistry foldables and interactive notebook pages during the time I taught physical science and chemistry at my previous school. Here is a collection of 26 of these foldables and INB pages that I have shared over the years. Hopefully you will find some inspiration for creating your own chemistry interactive notebooks! Subatomic …
One of my favorite ever projects was these Borax Snowflake Christmas Ornaments that I made a few years ago with my chemistry students with coffee filters. The ornaments are super glittery and sparkly in person. The pictures I took of my students’ finished ornaments really didn’t do them justice. It may be too late to …
I created this How the Periodic Table Really Looks Activity a few years ago when I was teaching chemistry. I wanted my chemistry students to understand that our modern day periodic table is structured the way it is because we want it to print nicely and be easily readable. To help illustrate what the periodic …
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 …
When I was prepping to teach chemistry a few years ago, I ran across this Spot the Safety Hazards Picture. I thought it would make the perfect addition to my beginning of year lab safety review. I took the image and prepared a file to print the picture on 11 x 17 cardstock to use …
I created this Draw an Atom Before and After Activity a few years ago when I was teaching chemistry. I wanted to get an idea of what my students understood about atoms before we began our study of the atom. Then, I wanted students to reflect on how their understanding of an atom changed over …
I typed up this simple observations vs. inferences chart for my chemistry students to glue in their interactive notebooks. We followed this chart up by practicing telling the differences between observations and inferences with a dinosaur activity. Free Download of Observations vs Inferences Chart
Engage students on the first day of school with this fun Saving Fred STEM activity which encourages students to practice teamwork while saving a gummy worm named “Fred.”
I found this dinosaur scene to emphasize the difference between observations and inferences when I was teaching chemistry. Students are given a dinosaur coloring page and eighteen different statements. They must examine the picture and decide if each statement is an observation or an inference. The instructions say: “A time machine has been invented that …
Years ago, when I was teaching chemistry, I came across a free lesson plan online that had students work through real-world safety scenarios involving chemical accidents. I thought it was a great way to emphasize lab safety at the beginning of the year and give students a chance to practice reading a SDS (Safety Data …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
I made this summary of lab report requirements for my chemistry students to glue in their interactive notebooks. Free Download of Lab Report Requirements
I created this extensive vs intensive properties color coding activity for my chemistry students to complete and glue in our interactive notebooks. Free Download of Extensive vs Intensive Properties Color Coding Activity Other Chemistry Activities and Resources
I created this homogeneous vs heterogeneous color coding activity for my chemistry students to glue in their interactive notebooks. As we talked through the activity as a class, we decided that some of the mixtures could be classified either way based on our assumptions. It was a good discussion! Free Download of Homogeneous vs Heterogeneous …
I created this physical changes vs chemical changes venn diagram for my chemistry students to glue in their chemistry interactive notebooks. I need to share you one warning about this venn diagram that caused my chemistry students a lot of issues. See how the image above shows chemical change on the left and physical change …
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 …
I created this periodic table poster several years ago. I used it both when I taught physical science and chemistry. Here’s what it looked like in my classroom: You might also be interested in my How to Read the Periodic Table foldable I created for my students’ interactive notebooks. Free Download of How to Read …
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 …
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 …
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 …