HandsOnClassIdeas

This is such a fun lesson, you get to be Pavlov and your students get to be the dogs! You will need dixie cups, Tang powder or Lemonade powder (to get them salivating) and a bell or other stimulus. They don't need a ton of powder, just about a tablespoon or so, enough to dip their fingers and lick powder each time you ring the bell. I have the lesson timed out on a Word document along with a student page of guided notes that has the clips embedded. I have tested all links as of 3/11/20

This activity is enjoyed a great deal by my students. I give them the option of working alone or with another person. Materials I provide are four small tubs of dollar store playdoh. (These come in 8 packs for $1.00 through Dollar Tree). I provide 8 toothpicks and 8 labels. The rest is self explanatory on the instructions. This is a great wrap up project after learning about the different parts of and functions of the brain. Students will have already been taking notes and diagramming the

This is a great project that really makes students think about lines of latitude and longitude, the tropics of cancer and capricorn, as well as placing continents correctly on the grid. You will need to provide balloons and sharpies. I've also included a full lesson that can take as long as 90 minutes, it includes a link to a nearpod which can be used as a presentation or an interactive lesson.

This was a fun activity that helped students visualize that massive loss of life in WWI. You will get a word document which contains two pages that need printed off for this activity and a page that has directions for you. I have included how many beans you will need per person. You will need to buy: dried black beans, dried pinto beans, ziploc bags for beans. A good wrap-up video on youtube is '2000 years of war in five minutes', it is close to five minutes in length and shows all the battles

This is an interactive lesson that students love! There is a powerpoint that looks at different ways that the left and right brain are different and how they work together which I adapted from the series 'Brain Games'. Everything you need is within the powerpoint, so you will also find an activity in which students pair up and practice balancing dowels while spelling. (I like to go to the common area at our school, outside, or by our auditorium where we won't disturb other classes and have lot

This is an 11 page summary, with pictures, from Kenneth C Davis's book "More Deadly Than War" which is a history of the Spanish Flu. At the end of the document is a two-page document of student questions for them to answer as guided notes. Total time for the presentation is about 25-30 minutes, student engagement has always been high but in light of the current pandemic I expect even more so. Not included, but an idea I plan on trying is to print out a blank world map for students to document

I teach a class called America at War and created this 14 slide powerpoint in order to summarize and explain to students the current situation in the Middle East. I did my best to keep it simple and non-biased. There is not a class worksheet, but I spent a few hours gathering information and material from a variety of sources.

This is a full-day 75 min.+ lesson and doesn't require you to purchase anything. (With extra video links this can extend easily to 90 min.) It hooks students with two video clips, one the trailer from Split and the other a real-world case study. Students then read aloud together, yes they do this and it works, and then move around the room and share their thoughts on the reading. There are slides I created from the DSM-V chapter on these disorders along with a student guide for the slides and a

This project is enjoyed a great deal by my students and takes 2-3 class periods. Materials I provide are file folders (legal size is best), dollar store playdoh, and plastic army guys, glue sticks and scissors. (if you have other craft supplies, bring those in for students to make fences or trees) Once the battle scenes are complete, I place them around the room and then create a crossword puzzle with one question specific to each battle. Students then get to walk around and see each other's

This is a great lesson for exploring aspects of memory in a psychology class. This 60-minute lesson will require you to check/upload three video links from Youtube, buy paddle mirrors from Dollar Tree (one for every two students), make copies of the video questions, make copies of the shapes to trace and get cardstock or file folders to block their hands. (you could just use paper but the sturdier the better) The three videos have a total running time of just under thirty minutes and are highly

I have a link to an emaze presentation that I created. The emaze is very thorough and three-dimensional with background music. There are approximately 20-25 slides and I have student questions that go along with it.

This lesson is on the history of brain science and imaging. It begins with the Egyptians and quickly progresses to modern imaging techniques. I use these notes and links on the first day of class in Psychology. There are 27 pages in total. I don't have a student page because I find that students are usually very engaged in the material on its own. There is plenty to go on to make a very engaging lesson for 30 min. to 75 min. depending on the direction you want to take things. I have added a c

This is a research assignment that gets students to consider what foods would have been possible, or not possible prior to and after the Columbian Exchange. Online research capabilities will be needed for this to work best, or it can be assigned as homework. I estimate this activity to take anywhere from 25 min to 45 min. depending upon the student. I do have an extra credit option at the bottom for those who are super achievers and finish quickly. You will be able to print or download this

I use this matching form to introduce my lesson on the Columbian Exchange. Prior to the lesson I gather items from my home and from the bulk section of my grocery store. I then, number the items in ziploc bags and have students pass them around and try to match the item. This activity gets students involved and thinking about where food comes from, many of the foods they have never seen before which would have been the case for people during the Columbian Exchange.