Karon Decker

Want to track the phases of the moon for a month? Use this blank calender to record data for month then look for patterns in the passes of the moon.

When teaching about classification and invertebrates, I have found that my middle school students enjoy catching then identifying common bugs from their enviroment. Most insect keys are very difficult for kids to follow so I have create a basic key that leads kids to 20 different orders of insects commonly found. I have also included the common names for the orders. At the end of the key I have given suggestions for using the key, and a data table for students to record their work.

Are you tired of assessing just through a test? Do you have a group of students who need a new and exciting way to demonstrate their knowledge? I found myself in this situation when teaching about the digestive system in the middle of my human body systems unit. I had a group of very high level learners and thinkers. I wanted them to have a variety of ways to demonstrate their content mastery. In this packet, you will find four ways students can prove to you they know the basics (and usuall

Looking for a practical way to assess and have students apply their skills in reading a topographic map? This activity has students plan a trip to a wilderness area. They must use a map you provide to plan their route, where they will hike, get water, and camp.

Are you looking for an in-depth lab to help students develop their skills in measurement, inquiry, data collection, analysis, and a way for them to present authentic information? I have included everything you would need to do a week long inquiry lab exploring osmosis and diffusion across the cell membrane. This lab has students use one egg over the course of a week to look at how fluid moves in and out of cells. I have also included an extension to the lab where students test a liquid of ch

Recently the US has experienced major droughts that have impacted a large part of the country. Droughts are the most costly catastrophic event or natural disasters in the world. Unfortunately, though, it is hard to get kids really pumped about learning the causes, effects and mitigation of droughts. This unit design is set to give you everything you need to teach about droughts for about a week with middle school students. You will find a cause and effect flow chart that can be used with all

Are you looking for a strait forward inquiry lab for upper elementary or middle school science students? This lab addresses the concept of how long certain foods provide energy for the body and why. Students place foods from several different food groups into a beaker with hydrochloric acid and observe what happens. I have included the student lab sheet that has directions, materials, objectives and conclusion questions.

Are you looking for a way to engage your students and have them think critically about plants? SCAMPER is a great way to encourage divergent thinking, problems solving and application of basic knowledge about the topic. For this project students are asked to do the following task in regards to the plant kingdom: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to Other Uses, Eliminate, and Reverse. I have provided specific ways for students to use information that should be taught in a comprehensive plan

Students work in groups of 3-5 to create an informative poster exploring the different types of plate boundries and their effect on the shape of the planet.

This test has 7 mulitple choice questions on vocabulary, 6 biome matching questions and a menu option of 6 short answer questions to choose from. I have also included an answer key and an example of how short answer questions should be answered.

When introducing life science, the concept of what is alive, and classification, students need to start with the basics. What are the six kingdoms of living things and what makes each group unique? Students research each kingdom and create a flip book that they can use as a reference for the rest of the year.

Are you searching for an engaging inquiry based lab to hook your students into your ecology unit? I was, so I created this lab to provide my middle school students with the opportunity to do an ecology survey on three locations around our school. Students get to go outside and collect both quantitate and qualitative data. The second day of the lab, students complete their data table by hearing from the other groups in the class. I have also included basic reflection questions, higher level q

One of the things I strive for in my middle school life science class is having my students do authentic work on real world issues surrounding the topics we study. After we complete our genetics unit, we move into our unit on genetic disorders. This year, I had my regular classes, complete this project of making a brochure about a genetic disorder they were interested in learning more about. In this packet you will find the day by day lesson plans, the project hand out for students, a rubric,

Mind Maps, or concept maps, are an excellent way to get kids to start thinking about a topic, or a way to see how they are processing information at the end of the unit. The assignment ask students to create a concept map about the systems of the human body. I have divided mine into the digestive, respiratory, circulatory, reproductive, nervous skeletal and muscular systems, but you could easily adapt this for more or less systems. I have included a picture of a 7th grade work sample, and an

When learning about the respiratory unit within our study of the human body, students are very interested to know what effects their lung capacity. Students can do this lab with a variety of materials, but essentially the purpose is for students to set up a class experiment to test a particular hypothesis the class generates about lung capacity. You will need to guide them to make sure they pick a topic that can actually be tested in class. For example, band students vs. football players; gir

This Oceans Unit Project organizational handout is set up to go into a science notebook when copied front to back. Students have serverl type of projects to choose from and there is a grading rubric included.

When teaching about vertebrates or species variation this lab from Berkley is outstanding: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/lessons/clipbirds/ but there is not a student sheet to go with it. I decided to make my own lab reflection to go with the lab so that I would have a good way to assess student learning at the end of a very high energy lab.

When starting a unit on genetics, you can use this survey to help students see common genetic traits that are easily observed. I have also provided an extension activity. For the extension, students collect data from another school and compare and contrast the genetic traits shown in two different regions of the country.

The art of observation is the root of most great science. It is rare that we remember to take the time to let our students really take the time to look at the world around them in detail. The purpose of this lab is three fold. 1) I want students to look at a living specimen in detail and recognize it has particular features to help it fulfill its niche.

SCAMPER is a wonderful tool for pushing kids to think criticaly on a particular item or concept. S=substitute C=combine A= adapt M = modify P=put to other uses E=eliminate R= reverse or rearange the order. In this packet I have provided the SAMPER student assignment/rubric, a weeks worth of detailed lesson plans , links to helpful websites, and pictures of student projects and research. The entire assignment is geared towards hurricane Katrina but it could easily be done with other major hurr