Surviving Middle School Science

Build a simple series circuit! Viral LabIn this hands-on lab, students draw and build a series circuits. This lab can be used as an assessment or as a review of students' knowledge of circuit drawing, circuit symbols, potential and kinetic energy, energy conversion, and energy transfer. The teacher may also choose to guide students through the circuit drawing portion or print out a circuit blueprint for students to use. A teacher answer key is included. Materials Needed: Foil (scissors and ta

This lab has students investigate Newton's 1st Law, also known as the Law of Inertia. Students will rotate between four lab stations. Duplicate each lab station twice to have eight stations working at once. In this lab, students participate in fun "magic" tricks to see inertia in action.

This is a fully editable lab sheet for students with instructions for the teacher. In this lab on light and color, students will make observations and predictions about how different colors of emitted light will affect how our brains interpret color. Students observe 3 different colors under red and blue light.  Students will use their knowledge of wavelengths to explain why humans see colors differently under different light sources Materials needed:  2 shoe boxesRed holiday lights Blue holiday

This is an outdoor lab that engages the students in the concept of natural selection. Students will pair up and be given a pair of tweezers or tongs to use as their "bird beak" to pick up pieces of "food." Students will hunt for food in two different environments. All you need is a grassy area and a concrete area. Check out my Instagram page for a video explanation of the lab. Materials for a class of 36: 9 tweezers 9 tongs 40 Ping Pong Balls A small bag of Bird Seed Sandwich bags

This is a hands-on lab for students to build an electromagnet using simple materials. They will test the strength of the magnetic field by picking up paper clips. Students are given a lab sheet with instructions and reflection questions to show their understanding of an electromagnet.

Use this rubric to grade students' cell model projects. This can be used for individual cell projects or team projects. It can also work for both in-class and at-home projects. This product includes a letter home to parents informing them of the project.

If you use microscopes this is a must-have! Make your life easier when having students make wet-mount slides. This printable document is meant to be placed on the lab trays to help students keep materials organized. The pictures help students know what materials they should have for the lab and how to leave the lab tray for the next team/class. This also helps to make sure the coverslips do not get lost since they are clear and difficult to see.