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Reading "Born a Crime" with your students? Whether you're using the young reader adaptation or the grown-up version, this webquest will help you and your students kick off the novel with background knowledge and critical thinking! This webquest is completely ready to use- just post and go! Students explore provided slides of resources to answer open-ended questions introducing them to five different topics: Part 0: Born a Crime by Trevor NoahPart I: What is apartheid?Part II: Who was Nelson Mand

What is this product?This product is a three-page article and one-page practice activity introducing students to concepts of alleles, genotypes, phenotypes, dominant vs. recessive alleles, and homozygous vs. heterozygous organisms. This article was written specifically for distance learning, and care has been taken to clearly explain these sometimes confusing concepts to students. It would be perfect for a flipped classroom where students work through concepts at their own pace before working wi

What is this product?This is a no-prep, fully digital practice activity for the concept of homozygous and heterozygous genotypes. It includes a short video review of the concept with related practice questions, a drag-and-drop genotype sorting activity, and some critical thinking/ application questions that tie in concepts of dominant and recessive traits in humans. This is a perfect activity for homework, distance learning, or an at-your-own pace flipped classroom unit. No prep work required, a

What is this Product?Completely digital and no prep! Let your students have some fun with genetics and create a little monster pet friend! This activity is designed as a completely digital mimic of typical genetics unit activities where students complete a genotype and phenotype for an offspring and then draw the offspring. Unfortunately, in the age of distance learning, not all of my students have coloring supplies at home, so I wanted to remix this activity and make it digital rather than just

What is this product?This is an entirely digital lesson to introduce students to the history of Mendel, his experiments, his discoveries, and the basics of genetic inheritance. There are two sections and a total of four parts to the lesson. The first section introduces students to the history of Gregor Mendel. Students choose a video or article from a list of resources and use that text to complete a fast-fact sheet on Mendel. In the second section of the lesson, students work through three pa

This introductory investigation lesson is all ready to start off your Characteristics of Life unit- just assign it and go! This completely self-guided independent activity is perfect for sub plans, flipped classroom, distance learning, and more! The 13 slides in this activity guide students through inquiry and investigation as they work to consider what all living things on Earth have in common. This activity could also be done in partners or together as a whole class, allowing you flexibility f

What is this product?This product is a short video review and four pages of practice activities for students to apply concepts of dominant and recessive traits. These fun activities and scenarios range from basic recall to application and critical thinking! This is a perfect assignment for distance learning, unit homework, or an at-your-own-pace flipped classroom setup. NOTE: This assignment assumes that students have completed a traits inventory at some point prior to this assignment. I offer

What is this Product?This digital Google Docs template is designed for students to be able to digitally annotate poems, articles, passages, excerpts, and short stories, including the use of highlighting and written notes. Clear directions make it easy for you and the students to immediately put this handy template to use, and the completely customizable document can be edited to include your own directions or preferred annotation key! This document can be used by individual students or in collab

This engaging activity is completely digital and completely ready to post and go! Perfect for distance learning or sub plans during your genetics unit! Save some time today! What is this product?This product introduces students to chromosomes and karyotypes through a series of six engaging activities. The lesson is designed so that you as the teacher can pick and choose whether to include certain sections. One section does require student access to BrainPop, BUT that section can be easily remo

Best seller! Over 50 copies sold! Perfect for distance learning! No-prep, sub-plan-friendly, lots of interest & critical thinking! Prefer paper-pencil? Get the PDF version HERE! What is this product?This is a lesson all about the science of pedigrees and the genetics of addiction. In Part A, students read a free article from Scholastic about genes and addiction and answer comprehension questions to build background knowledge. In Part B, students complete a virtual inquiry lab from the Utah G

FREE Download! A collection of over 50 free virtual backgrounds to use when creating your virtual classroom. Each design includes a direct link to download that virtual background for free. All of these backgrounds are licensed for personal or commercial use, so they are safe to use in any virtual classroom for any purpose. Want to learn more about what virtual classrooms are and how to build them? Check out my blog series here! Ready to deck out your virtual classroom with furniture? Check o

Zero prep, full of critical thinking and inquiry, perfect for distance learning! Great to begin your poetry unit, or at any point during the unit! Two activity options in one- promote student choice, pick your favorite, or require both! Each activity on its own will take students around 30-45 minutes. Students watch an excellent TED-Ed video about characteristics of poetry and then practice argument/ opinion writing and/ or search for poetry examples. This is a great way to introduce middle an

This product is the activity I use to kick off the photosynthesis unit with my students. After completing a K-W-L chart as a class, I allow students to work individually or in partners to read the linked Ck-12 article and watch the video from TED-Ed. Students check their comprehension by answering questions about the article and completing an open-ended summary of the video. Students also complete a drag-and-drop diagram to reinforce their new learning of the photosynthesis equation. An easy, re

Teaching your students about logical fallacies? Want them to practice identifying fallacies in a more real-world, less isolated context? This activity is for you! Students will read a (fake!) editorial about youth sports that is FULL of logical fallacies! Two different options explained in the teacher guide allow you to level the challenge of this activity up or down depending on your students' needs. There is a printable and digital version of this activity, so you can use it in-person or onlin

What is this product?This poetry reference booklet is everything your middle school students need to build the knowledge to talk about poems and write better poetry! Plus, it creates a reference they can save and keep for years to come! No more boring "look up the definitions" activities or slideshows & notes to start your poetry unit- all the defining work has been done for students, so they can jump right into understanding and applying concepts! The booklet also includes brief explanations

What is this product?This product is a two-part activity to give students a foundation in the concepts of traits, and also introduces alleles, genotypes, and phenotypes at a basic level. This activity works if students have had basic exposure to these concepts or if these concepts are completely new. In Part 1, students explore three videos to gain an understanding of traits, learned vs. inherited behaviors, and environmental factors. The idea is for students to understand that some traits are

This engaging activity is completely digital and completely ready to post and go! Perfect for distance learning or sub plans during your genetics unit! Save some time today! What is this product?This is a 1-2 day lesson designed for students to explore the basics of genes, proteins, protein synthesis, and specifically how transcription and translation work. The lesson includes three components: a 5-minute video introducing (or reviewing) proteins with a response activitya 5-minute video intro

In the age of digital instruction, browsing for books, book tastings, and book basket passes in classroom and school libraries are on hold in most places for safety. However, with this template, you don't have to kiss these essential start-of-the-year activities goodbye! Just add texts! This Google Slides template allows you to create digital book baskets using titles from your classroom library, school library, and/ or eBook services. If your students don't have access to physical or digital b

Perfect for flipped classroom/ distance learning! Perfect for multi-day homework! No-prep, sub-plan-ready, just post & go! Prefer paper-pencil? Get the PDF version of this activity HERE! What is this product?This is a link to a free Ck-12 Passage perfect for the beginning of a unit on eukaryotic cells, along with 24 guided questions to help students comprehend, organize their thinking, and attune to key details in the text. The article covers: What cells areThe discovery/ history of cellsCel

What is this Product?This product contains over 25 slides with optional audio narration designed for students to start their learning about Punnett squares completely independently. Students can read or listen to each slide, and the 3+ pages of guided questions help students tune in to what's important on each slide without feeling like they need to write down every single word while taking notes. An extra slide at the end offers students a variety of YouTube video options to recap learning or h