The Sci Guy

This is an earth science teacher’s one-stop-shop for daily warm-up questions. These are questions (which I call Science Starters) that I developed and used over my 20 years teaching New York State Regents earth science. I asked a question every day to start each lesson as a review of the previous day’s material. These are the questions and concepts I have found to show up on the Regents exam year after year. Included are “Science Starters” sheets that you can collect periodically for a grade. I

These are bell ringers (which I call Science Starters) that I developed and used over my 20 years teaching New York State Regents earth science. I asked a question almost every day to start each lesson as a review of the previous day’s lesson. These are the questions and concepts I have found to show up on the Regents exam most often. I tell my students that each question is worth one point, since Parts B-2 and C Regents exam questions are worth one point each. There is no partial or extra credi

Here is a great new spin on learning the rock cycle. This tool allows teachers and students to choose which processes to apply to a any rock...melting, weathering, heat and /or pressure...and then to see what happens next. When you click on one of the process buttons, the slide automatically advances to the proper location. This will show the students which processes are possible and which are not. The more you use the tutorial, the better you get at predicting the outcome. If you like this,

Turn your students into teachers! In this project, your students will research a topic of your choice, turn what they’ve learned into a BIG book for young children, and then present their book to an elementary class. Since the BIG book will have very few words and big, colorful pictures, your students will have to further explain and describe scientific concepts. This is a great project that can be tailored to any class. This particular one was designed for an earth science lesson, but you coul

Here is a great spin on the old historical figure research project but with a new twist using technology. Students will do research on a famous scientist and build a fake Facebook (Fakebook) page. It can be any scientist, or you could focus on a specific discipline, like chemistry or biology. I've included all the instructions, a rubric to help you with grading, a list of some chemists to research, and a solid example to compare to.

Dear Teacher, This is a simple and effective way to either demonstrate a controlled experiment, or to assign your students a safe, meaningful lab. All you need is a few simple materials. I have also included a quiz at the end with an answer key. This lab covers topics and terms such as scientific method, controlled experiment hypothesis, independent and dependent variables, constants, etc. This presentation works best if you can alter it as you go. You can also change it to suit your needs or

This battleship game will keep your students entertained as well as teach them to master reading and plotting latitude and longitude coordinates on any map. I've used this game for years in my earth science and physical science classrooms with major success. It's a great way to teach, reinforce, and review latitude and longitude. It's also great for substitute teachers. Once the students know how to play, they can do the rest themselves. I hope you find as much value in this game as I have.