BigBrainofScience
112 Followers
San Antonio, Texas, United States
About the store
I'm now retired from teaching. But in my 12 years in the classroom I created and accumulated a lot of resources. Although my experience spanned multiple subjects and grade levels, the bulk of my teaching career was spent as a middle school science teacher and Gifted & Talented science teacher. (My 8th grade GT students took 9th grade Biology, too. That's why you'll find a bunch of Biology assignments in my store, too.) And yes, you'll find novel reading, writing and even math resources in my store, too...because, well, I taught those subjects as well. (That happens when you have six Texas teacher certifications.)
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Climate vs. Weather Sorting Activity
This simple sorting activity can be used over and over again to help students distinguish climate from weather. It was originally designed to meet Texas 5th grade Science TEKS, but would be a great review activity for Texas 8th grader science students during their weather unit. I had my kids glue the board in their Science notebooks and save the sort sentences in a pocket or envelop glued to the next page. When it was time to review, they just opened their notebooks to the page and we had a sort
5th - 8th
Earth Sciences
TEKS
SCIENCE.4.10.C
Climate vs. Weather Quiz
After having students complete my Weather vs. Climate Sorting Activity, give them this quiz to assess their mastery. Includes a Bonus option for them to write and label either a weather or climate statement at the very end!
5th - 8th
Earth Sciences, Science
Behavioral vs. Structural Adaptations Sort Activity
This a great sorting activity that gives students practice identifying structural (physical) vs. behavioral adaptations. Reuse this activity in a review station later in the unit, or before semester, end-of-course or annual state tests.
Students need repetition to aid retention of key concepts; I revisit this sort activity a couple days after introducing it and challenge student groups to "see who can correctly finish this sort the fastest." (I usually offer the winners cookies at lunch or some
5th - 9th
Biology, Earth Sciences, Environment
Popcorn Thermal Transfer Lesson with Quiz (Conduction, Convection & Radiation)
Here's a one- or two-day lesson on the three kinds of thermal transfer that affect our atmosphere. To really make the lesson "pop," I suggest you bring in a hot plate and fry pan to cook popcorn by conduction, a hot air popper to cook popcorn by convection, and a microwave to cook popcorn by radiation. Students can "clean up" the experimental mess at the end of the lesson (coffee filters make cheap, disposable bowls). Another teaching tip: Surprise your students with the quiz again about two wee
5th - 8th
Basic Principles, Earth Sciences, Environment
Food Web Scavenger Hunt Activity
This front/back page Food Web Scavenger Hunt was designed as a reinforcement activity for Texas fifth graders. I paired my students and had them work through the front and back page. Then I had them swap papers with neighboring partners and we graded them in class. (I projected the activity on my SmartBoard/white board and had different partner sets come to the board and fill in a section. This made the activity a little competitive (and sneakily repetitive) to ensure everyone understood the foo
3rd - 5th
Basic Principles, Environment, Science
NGSS, TEKS, VA SOL
5-LS2-1
, SCIENCE.3.12.B
, SCIENCE.3.12.C
 +5
Weather fronts quiz
Give students this open-ended question quiz after they've practiced identifying weather fronts and the weather associated with high and low pressure areas.
5th - 8th
Earth Sciences, Science
Industrial Revolution Quiz with Answer Key
I used this quiz with 5th graders in Texas as an end-of-unit assessment. However, it could easily be used with 7th graders, whom also revisit the Industrial Revolution.
5th - 7th
Social Studies, U.S. History
Net Forces Practice & Quiz
After having two students push and pull on either side of a desk, I introduce net forces to my students with these practice sheets, followed by a quiz. (I also have a "Real World Net Forces Quiz" I follow up with two days later--look for it in my store soon.
5th - 8th
Physics, Science
TEKS
SCIENCE.8.7.A
First Day Student Information Sheet for Middle School Reading
As a one-time 7th grade reading teacher, I really wanted to get a preview of my student's reading attitudes and abilities. so I made this student profile sheet.
The top three sections gave me basic information about my student and his or her family. And the emergency number was handy, whether I had to reach a parent about a sudden illness or a sudden drop in grades!
The Favorites section gave me lots of information for building a relationship with a new students. (For example, if a student love
4th - 8th
Reading
Figurative Language in The House on Mango Street (Jigsaw activity)
Use this one-page jigsaw reading activity in conjunction with four chapter stories from The House on Mango Street to test your students' grasp of figurative language. I've included English and Spanish translations of the activity. My 7th graders did this as part of a year-end review prior to state testing.
5th - 8th
ELA Test Prep, English Language Arts
Behavioral vs. Structural Adaptations Quiz
This 2-page quiz tests students ability to distinguish between behavioral and structural adaptations. As a bonus, I've also included a chart-reading question related to adaptations. (Students always need practice reading charts; they will see many on their end-of-year state tests!)
This quiz was originally designed for Texas 5th graders, but also could be used with 7th graders studying life-science as well as HS biology students.
ALERT: I've also got a Structural vs. Behavioral Adaptations Sort
5th - 9th
Basic Principles, Biology, Science
Half-page Science Careers Scientist Profile Report
Get your students reading about careers in science (and earning a few extra credit points in the process.)
I made two-sided copies and kept a stack of these scientist profile sheets next to my Sally Ride "Cool Careers in Science" book series. Any time a student finished early with an assignment, I encouraged them to read a Cool Careers profile.
I also used this sheet as a class-wide "everybody read two profiles" assignment when substitutes were in the room. (An excellent follow-up to this class
5th - 8th
General Science, Reading, Writing
Easy Energy Pyramid Drawing Activity
Have students draw examples of freshwater, marine and land ecosystems on this easy-to-use energy pyramid template. Just add colored pencils, some ecosystem examples and a quick lesson on the 10% rule to help students master this key middle-school ecology lesson.
5th - 8th
Earth Sciences, Environment, Science
3 in 1 Homonyms Usage Review Quiz with Retake
They're, Their and There--You're and Yours--It's and Its. Here's a quick review quiz with ten short fill-in-the-blank sentences for each of these common word usage errors. You can instantly add 3 quiz grades to your grade book or grade it as a 30-item quiz. I've included a "retake" version with mostly different sentences. You can have students retake the sections they did poorly on, or have them redo the entire page and record the highest grade for each section. I've used this with both 5th grad
4th - 7th
English Language Arts, Grammar, Writing
First Day 'Easy A' Science Quiz
Every student starts the year with an "Easy A" after they complete this"1st Day Easy A Science Quiz," because there are no wrong answers!
Hand out this "Quiz" to your students as you greet them on the first day of class. The quiz is chock full of questions to help you learn about your students. Don't be surprised if many students want to share many of their answers with classmates, before turning in the quiz. Keep them in a binder to reference and revisit on other days during the first week. The
5th - 8th
Science
Water Cycle Review Quiz
This Water Cycle Review Quiz combines a simple matching portion with a more challenging read and answer paragraph. It's good practice for state testing style questions as the second part of the quiz provides students with a paragraph to read before answering the final questions.
5th - 8th
Earth Sciences, Science
Prefix & Suffix Identification Practice
Help students master (or review) word prefixes and suffixes with this one-page exercise. I used it with 5th graders, but the exercise would work well with 4th graders or any students with learning gaps.
3rd - 6th
English Language Arts, Grammar, Vocabulary
King of the Mountain Math Simplification Worksheets
Mastering PEMDAS and simplifying equations takes practice. These two worksheets are built around a simple mountain drawing.
Equations get more difficult students "climb up" the mountain. As an added challenge, advanced students can record the time it takes them to complete each page in the lower left corner of the page.
Answer keys for both pages are included.
This assignment was originally created for Texas 5th graders, so it does not include problems with exponents.
As always, students
4th - 6th
Basic Operations, Math, Order of Operations
Showing 1-18 of 18 results
About the store
Experience
I'm now retired from teaching. But in my 12 years in the classroom I created and accumulated a lot of resources. Although my experience spanned multiple subjects and grade levels, the bulk of my teaching career was spent as a middle school science teacher and Gifted & Talented science teacher. (My 8th grade GT students took 9th grade Biology, too. That's why you'll find a bunch of Biology assignments in my store, too.) And yes, you'll find novel reading, writing and even math resources in my store, too...because, well, I taught those subjects as well. (That happens when you have six Texas teacher certifications.)
Teaching style
I typically followed a 5E lesson plan. I piled on the rigor and really tried to fit in labs wherever possible. I thought my kids earned best by DOING science, so my lesson plans typically had my students doing a lot of hands-on activities. I liked to use matching games to help my students (especially ESL students) build vocabulary and retain material. As I slowly build my TpT store, you'll see me adding more and more materials in this vein. You'll also find that many of my lessons are self-guided. Again, this is because I really think kids learn best by DOING, not listening to me (or any teacher) talk.
Awards & shining teacher moments
Twice nominated for teacher of the year by my peers.
First teacher at my school to take a Destination Imagination team to the state tournament.
Accepted into the UT Southwestern STARS summer internship for teachers in 2010. (I conducted research into regrowing nerve cells in the Li Lab of the Neurology Dept.)
Invited for a second UT Southwestern STARS summer internship in 2012.
My own education history
Earned a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin in 1982. Began as a pre-med student, so I had quite a bit of coursework in biology as well.
Worked as professional writer for 14 years.
Obtained my Texas alternative teacher certification in 2015.
I currently hold certifications in six areas: 8-12 Composite Science, 4-8 Science, Gifted & Talented, ELS supplemental, 4-8 Generalist, K-4 Generalist.
Additional biographical information
I've also taught photography to adults at a local community college. And I've taught continuing education courses in basic and advanced woodworking. My father was an English teacher for 30+ years. Teaching runs in my blood. I'm now retired from teaching, but miss it. Still sifting through years of lessons to share on TpT. If you need a resource and can't find it, email me. Time permitting, I'll build you what you need...send it to you for free and put in my store for others!
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