As a science teacher, I write a lot of documents that have numbers with units (e.g. 3.6 m/s). When readers see a number at the end of a line without units immediately following them, it is harder for them to keep the numbers and units. The 50 second video below shows the…Read More

Here’s a great ionic bonding activity shared on the National Chemistry Teachers Facebook page. Students are exposed to valance electrons and matching for 1:1 ionic compounds. Two sizes are provided: One full page pies, and one with six pies on a page. Here is the PDF template.

n Modeling Instruction lessons, most units start with a 'paradigm lab' that initiates development of a conceptual model for the unit ('concepts before math'). When introducing forces, the model presented here develops the relationship between 'pushes' and changes in motion. This post explains the procedures and pedagogical rationale for this…Read More

In my physics classes at Menlo-Atherton High School, we used a homemade bridge breaker to test the strength of student bridges. Students created bridges out of manila folder paper and hot glue. Maximum height are provided, and the distance between the two landing is specified, but in the end the…Read More

With COVID-19 requiring many of us to do remote teaching this fall, I wanted to provide videos that students could use at home. I shot these videos with a cell phone gimbal to stabilize the video.