Science Help For Educators

Although OpenSciEd curriculum is free online to all, I have found the teaching suggestions lengthy and hard to implement fully. If you are expected to truly follow their curriculum, these lessons might not be what you’re looking for. However, if you have the resources and would like an easier, more manageable way to have your lessons flow, you’ve found your source. I have used the driving questions from 8.1 Contact Forces unit to develop each of the activities and resources included. Please see

This lesson is based on the storyline for OpenSciEd 8.1 Lesson 7, however the information presented here can stand alone or be used in conjunction with the other lessons I’ve posted for OSE 8.1. OpenSciEd is a free online curriculum that anyone can access, however I found the student facing materials lacking substance and the suggestions for labs so open that students didn’t necessarily know what to do. If your school or district expects strict fidelity to the OSE curriculum you may not want to

Included are two separate articles using tug-o-war to illustrate net forces. The short articles cover the same material, but at two different reading levels. Choose what aligns best with your class or individual students.You choose how students access the material and how they respond.You can print it for paper/pencil. Post the article digitally and students highlight and respond on the document. The other option is to  print the article and have students respond with an included Google Form.

This is a very modified lesson from OpenSciEd 8.1. All of their resources are free to use and readily available to download at their website - OpenSciEd.com.  I found OSE student facing resources to be challenging to use, so I created my own. If your district expects strict fidelity to OSE, my resources aren’t for you. However, if you would like to use their overarching storyline along with accessing their resources, you’ve found a good lesson layout. I set up my lessons to have lots of turn an

This lesson helps students to understand how Earth’s magnetic field “works”. It moves the students from a simple visualization of magnetic field lines using simple magnets and iron filing (video is linked if you don’t want to do it live) to understanding how and why the Aurora Borealis are created. Allow students to illustrate with crayons/colored pencils the Northern Lights for increased participation. Let the videos be the instructor for the day. Great for when you need a low stress lesson,

Need a quick activity to assess if students are understanding how forces are evident in common occurrences?Want students to have a choice in the scenarios they choose to respond to?Allow students to talk through their thoughts with a partner or group before publicly responding.Included in this activity is Google Docs, containing 20 scenarios arranged so that they can be copied and cut into cards. There are 10 scenarios about falling objects and another 10 scenarios about rolling objects. Great f

Use this diagram to help students be able to understand and explain that energy is neither created nor destroyed, it’s merely transferred. Use after you’ve done a collision activity using a spring scale to launch a driving car to hit a parked car. I print a double size paper for a desk copy for students to talk through with a partner any place they see an energy transfer. I hand out two green, four blue, ten red and six yellow circle stickers with arrows written on them along with the backing sh

Have students use this digital assessment to show that they understand how real life occurrences are explainable through Newton’s Laws of Motion. The document has 14 gifs for students to choose from or they can even add a gif of their choice, to identify how two different Laws of Motion are illustrated. It also requires students to identify how energy is transferred from one object to another.There is not a single correct response for any of the Gifs, so students are able to explain the Gif thro

Driving questions - Do All Objects Bend?  How Much Do You Have to Push to Deform Something? This lesson is based on the storyline for OpenSciEd 8.1 lessons 3 & 4, however the information presented here can stand alone or in coordination with other contact forces lessons I’ve posted . I have found OSE student facing materials to be limited in usefulness, so I’ve created my own.  OpenSciEd is a free curriculum with resources on their website for anyone to download and utilize. Note, if your school

This uses several short engaging videos to introduce Newton's 3 Laws of Motion. Students will be able to distinguish how the laws are used to explain real life occurrences. If you've got time and a Jenga set it's a great idea to set it up to hook your class in to the lesson. Continue with the hands-on by utilizing a balloon later on. Videos Linked all verified July 2025 - but you may want to check before purchasing. Video #1RaidersVideo #2Video #3Video #4 Video #5Note - the gifs used will be liv

Need a quick activity to assess if students are understanding how forces are evident in common occurrences?Want students to have a choice in the scenarios they choose to respond to?Included in this activity is Google Form divided into two sections, one containing dropping/falling objects and the other containing rolling objects. The form currently instructs students to choose two per section, but is editable for your needs.The scenarios use real life examples to show that Newton’s Laws of Motion

This is a very modified lesson from OpenSciEd 8.1. All of their resources are free to use and readily available to download at their website - OpenSciEd.com.  I found OSE student facing resources to be challenging to use, so I created my own. If your district expects strict fidelity to OSE, my resources aren’t for you. However, if you would like to use their overarching storyline along with accessing their resources, you’ve found a good lesson layout. Students will explain why they think some t

Kids love electricity and building circuits. This online simulation is great to have students learn basic concepts of circuit building before actually doing so with live wires. Can be used prior to hands-on building or times when you can't have them actually build working circuits. Keep them on target by requiring screenshots of their work. Students will respond to questions that help them understand what’s happening with the electrons that our eyes can’t normally see. Finally, they’ll be able t

Need a quick activity to assess if students are understanding how forces are evident in common occurrences?Want students to have a choice in the scenarios they choose to respond to?Allow students to talk through their thoughts with a partner or group before publicly responding.The Google Doc, each contains 20 scenarios arranged so that they can be copied and cut into cards. Great for pairs or small groups to use for discussion about objects moving horizontally and vertically and the forces that

Shocking But True - Static Electricity and Parts of an AtomStudents need help understanding parts of an atom? Want them to better visual protons and electrons?  Using this simple song video students can begin to see what’s inside of an atom and why static electricity occurs. Continue with two free PhET Simulations that illustrate how protons and electrons react to create static. Worksheet is ready to go beginning with a class discussion, video Q & A and directions on how to utilize both simulati

Need a quick lesson to get kids talking about gravity? Interested in having all kids be able to share their own experiences and thoughts? Use this quick lesson to have students illustrate and then verbalize their understandings of gravity. Watch a video that discusses life within the ISS. End with students discussing if they believe it would be good or bad if Earth's gravity changed. By the time the lesson is completed they'll have many points to consider. Videos link on the worksheet were valid