Seasons Simulator
From the good folks at Khan academy comes a valuable Seasons Simulator that will show your students everything you’ve been…
Make science meaningful & fun!
IST members-only content
From the good folks at Khan academy comes a valuable Seasons Simulator that will show your students everything you’ve been…
Teaching Climate Change? If so, and you’re not thrilled with how your textbook handles it, this lesson might be for…
These days it’s more important than ever to know who the source of your information is, because not all are…
Sea-floor spreading- a process that looks initially too complex for any school-aged student to understand is actually a fascinating phenomenon that…
Untangle these 3 important terms, because in genetics you’ve got to understand them before anything else can make sense. Handout,…
A low-stress, almost no-prep way to teach the idea that molecules are made of certain atoms that fit together in…
Problem- you’re looking for a good lab that illustrates Newtons laws of motion, but you don’t want something that takes…
In this lesson, students are given a completely blank periodic table and a long list of steps on how to…
In this lesson, an outside experience coupled with an essay from one of America’s greatest writer’s (Henry David Thoreau) helps…
The best science lessons are those that are a win/win for students and teachers, and this is one of them.…
Every good lesson is centered on a powerful visual. This lesson exemplifies that with a NASA video clip that is…
This lesson came about because I realized my students would have a far better understanding of what physical and chemical…
A very handy graphic organizer that will walk your students through exactly what physical properties and chemical properties are, complete…
In science we do sometimes run into terms that are close in meaning that we often get mixed up. In…
Science is always cool, but it’s at its best when it merges with mathematics and history. The purpose of this…
It’s hard to believe, but just 200 years ago people really had no idea how mountains formed. We’re now to…
Something very “mysterious” and unexpected happens when you pour a little water into a pan, set a birthday candle in…
This lesson starts with the assumption of the sun being a basketball. If that’s true, then how big would earth…
Confused about the difference between laws and theories? Inside each of the 2 open/close doors on this graphic organizer students…
Inside each of the 3 open/close doors on this graphic organizer students will write a definition, some key statements, and…
Use this graphic organizer when you want your students to do more than read and barely think about what ’empirical’…
This lesson uses the Geology Squeeze Box made by Ward’s Science to tell the story of one particular spot on…
The purpose of this graphic organizer is to get your students to analyze and interact with information that, by itself…
We all (sort of) know what dirt is, but how many main characteristics of soil are there? And, what can…
You’ve probably seen that graph that shows what happens when frozen water is heated and changes state until it’s a…
When you get into the beliefs of early astronomers like Aristotle, Kepler, and Copernicus, you find out quickly there’s a…
Have your students learn what the 8 major cell organelles are and their primary function by having them make this…
This graphic organizer is meant to be a general introduction to the scientific method, and not an exhaustive way to…
When you begin teaching about Earth’s resources, this graphic organizer will help students understand concretely the two kinds of ways…
After a little folding, cutting, coloring, sketching, and describing (in their own words), your students will end up with a…
Sea breezes and land breezes may seem like a mystery, but like everything else, they happen for a reason, which…
Problem- you say that something has a mass of 20 grams, and no one knows what you’re talking about. This…
A great way to teach and emphasize good observations. In Part I of the lesson, students measure and record the…
Turns out those old incandescent light bulbs are good for something- clearly demonstrating all 3 methods of heat transfer- radiation,…
Wouldn’t it be great if your students could create a little 2-pocket booklet containing little cards that summarize the 9…
If you’re getting ready to teach waves to your students, you’ll need something to help them sort out all the…
Students start with a blank sheet of paper, then 35 minutes later, after some drawing, note-taking, and discussion, have a…
Introducing weather? Then your goal on day 1 is to get your students to understand and remember the 6 elements…
So what’s the cause of thunderstorms? Just 1 or 2 conditions? Hardly. In this lesson your students will dig into…
Finally, an uncomplicated way for your students to get their hands (and eyes) on a water erosion lab. (Still messy…
Summarize what solids, liquids, and gases have in common, as well as their unique properties, all in one handy, colorful…
Find out how well do your students truly understand Earth’s 5 spheres (geosphere, hyrdosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, biosphere) with this “quite-nearly-impossible”…
A very helpful graphic organizer to use when introducing 4 main organelles- mitochondrion, ribosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, and Golgi apparatus. Compare…
Teaching the moon phases? This graphic organizer cuts through all the distractions and simply illustrates why the moon keeps changing…
Tired of mineral ID labs that are confusing and don’t work? Look no further. Handout and Notes
An easy way for students to learn, and remember, the 7 ways to identify minerals. Use just before your students…
A simple and straightforward intro to the 5 properties of minerals- naturally occurring, inorganic, solid, definite crystal structure, and definite…
Who doesn’t get at least a little crossed up when discussing matter, mixtures, suspensions, elements, compounds, and solutions? After filling…
Use this graphic organizer to end all confusion about what kinetic energy, potential energy, and mechanical energy are. Set up…
Homeostasis simplified. Students create a graphic organizer summarizing 4 main points about homeostasis- obtaining & using energy, cell division, exchanging…
A fun and memorable way for your students to learn, by their own design, which type of earth substance- dirt,…
Students are given rice and 20 minutes to solve the problem- ‘exactly how many grains do you have?’. Inquiry style,…
A fun way to introduce or reinforce the main kinds of energy- elastic, chemical, heat, light, sound, electrical, & gravitational.…
Ever see those Russian dolls? Once your students make this graphic organizer (in that same format), they’ll completely understand these…
A graphic organizer that’s a full introduction to Earth’s 5 spheres-Geosphere, Hydrosphere, Cryosphere, Atmosphere, & Biosphere PPT
Yes, it can be very confusing to look at the inside of Earth 2 different ways. This graphic organizer will…
A neat little graphic organizer summarizing Earth’s motions and their effects. Includes Day/Night (cause- rotation), Year (revolution), and Seasons (revolution…
A lesson on how the layers of earth-core, mantle, and crust- interact with each other, beginning with the heated interior,…
A lesson I used near the beginning of my cells unit to help students understand how Cells, Molecules, & Atoms…
A great way to either introduce or review the 4 types of molecules that make up cells- lipids, proteins, carbohydrates,…
Use this handy little graphic organizer to introduce the Earth’s atmosphere, and you’ll find it causes great retention in the…
Proof that even the toughest topics to teach can soften with just the right illustration (in this case, chromatography). Good…
A fun and engaging inquiry lesson that will cause your students to notice all the little things that need to…
A fascinating look back and how the greatest minds wrestled with the concept of the earth’s place in the universe.…
In this set of interactive notes students: 1.compare the shell thickness of a chicken egg with the earth’s crust, 2.mark…
Looking for a cool way to review a chapter and touch back on how circuits work? This lesson does double…
Perhaps the cheapest and most effective way to teach series and parallel circuits. Students build a series and parallel circuit…
Watch as students progressively organize a group of pens and pencils using a scheme they devise themselves. And then spring…
In one class period your students will go from complete puzzlement to near complete understanding of the common geologic units…
In this set of interactive notes students will: 1.build a simple water filter, 2.observe a bubble levitating on a greenhouse…
Confused about isotopes and ions? This lesson will help straighten you out. Handout, Notes, and PPT
This activity bridges 2 major chemistry concepts- atomic structure and how these atoms combine into molecules. Handout, Notes, and PPT…
A different way to explore the biomes- drawing a beautiful bar graph that compares the temperature and precipitation for each…
An attempt at being the world’s most focused lesson on photosynthesis. As in- when your students leave, they will…
Help students better recognize true from sensational information with these 17 statements. Handout, Notes, and PPT
Learn about the 3 kinds of radioactivity- alpha, beta, gamma- by viewing actual samples of polonium, strontium, and cobalt, and…
In this set of interactive notes students: calculate exactly how many atoms there are in air (within a few quinzillion,…
In this lesson students won’t have a chance to get scared of Newton’s 3 laws. First, they will write a…
In this special set of interactive notes: students create a progressively thickening “atmosphere”. At first it’s so thin that’s it’s…
Classifying organisms and looking for an alternative to the traditional dichotomous key? You’ll be surprised how quickly your students will…
In this set of interactive notes students: produce a gas by combining a solid and liquid, observe a flapping penny…
In this set of interactive notes students observe that: a child’s toy illustrates what sound waves look and act like,…
Give students this puzzle without any help whatsoever and 2 things will happen- students will learn 5 important things about…
In this set of interactive notes: a paper clip quietly defies gravity, we see that some things can and cannot…
In this set of interactive notes students observe that: 1.money disappears, but then 2. it comes back doubled, 3.a pencil…
In this set of interactive notes students observe: 1.a ping pong ball become a rocket, 2. a strong-willed penny does…
In this set of interactive notes students will: 1.move a ping pong ball in an unusual way, 2.light up a…
We all know that heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones, …right? Send this handout home with students for them…
See how well students can classify the power consumption of 21 common household items with this handout. Handout, Notes, and…
Being told that a 50 foot-long trash bag will float if it is filled air and heated by the sun…
In this special lesson students must complete a series of 4 challenges after being given the objective and a few…
In this 3-day activity students research the basic characteristics of a breed of dog, write those facts into short sentences,…
A simple but powerful activity. The goal is to help students understand that asexual reproduction leads to clones and sexual…
Here we’ll use one of YouTube’s most popular videos to help us untangle the terms “biotic” & “abiotic”. PowerPoint
Days like today will remind students why they like science. And for good reason- the dunking duck is fascinating to…
It’s difficult enough to teach the states of matter without anything to aid the imagination! In this lesson, students use…
Exactly how many seconds are there until Christmas? It sounds hard, but after a warm-up problem or two, it’ll be…