WHAT IS CITIZEN SCIENCE?
Citizen science is when the public participates in scientific research. Every-day citizens share and contribute data with the goal of increasing scientific knowledge. You do not have to be a trained scientist in order to participate.

WHY YOU SHOULD TRY IT
Citizen science is great to do with students because:

• The data they collect in class is meaningful! Students will be more precise with their data collection if they know it is going to a greater cause.
• Many studies rely on citizen scientists in order to collect regional data.
• When you get students exploring, you are helping to grow their interest in the natural sciences. The future is full of STEM careers, so let's get them interested now!

PROJECT IDEAS
Ready to try it out? Here is a list of websites and project ideas to get you started.

1. CitizenScience.gov is a government website that has a TON of project ideas and is a great place to start. You can collect data that will be used by NOAA, USGS, National Science Foundation, and even NASA.

2. The Great Backyard Bird Count is a website run by the Audubon that encourages students to get outside and start birding.  They are looking for regional data where people can upload pictures and species of birds they see in their neighborhoods. Time to dust off those binoculars!

3. National Geographic has a list of citizen science projects, ranging from wildlife observation, measuring night sky brightness (light pollution), butterfly census, listening for frog and toad calls, and more. 

4. SciStarter.org is a website put together by Arizona State University and the National Science Foundation. You can search for projects near you or online only.

5. Project Green Challenge is a website that gives students environmentally-themed challenges. You can register your school and enter to win prizes!

6. Zooniverse is "people powered research." This website has a ton of ongoing projects that also venture into other content areas outside of the natural sciences.

7. inaturalist Do you ever take pictures of insects and cool species in your yard or neighborhood? inaturalist is a website (and phone app) that allows you to upload pictures of your findings and share/discuss with fellow naturalists.

8. Captain Planet Project Hero is a PBL driven website where students can help threatened species and ecosystems in their area.

9. The GLOBE Program is looking for people to contribute data for cloud types, mosquito habitats, and land cover observations.

10. Project Budburst was created by Chicago Botanical Garden. Their goal is to uncover the stories of plants and animals affected by human impacts on the environment.

11. Gorongosa Webcams If you've ever used curriculum from Biointeractive, you know it's pretty stellar. In this lesson students study webcams from Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique and do animal identification.

12. Pollinator Live is a website that includes links to a bunch of citizen science projects centered around attracting and monitoring pollinators in your area. Teach students the importance of pollinators!

Looking for low stress and low prep ideas as we navigate distance learning? Here are 5 ideas you can use with your secondary science students:

1. CLICK HERE to check out virtual field trips your students can explore!

2. CLICK HERE to see a full list of science related movies, TV shows, and documentaries.

3. Check out American Chemical Society's blog post on kitchen chemistry ideas!

4. Have students create a photo journal!

5. Have students build something out of recycled materials. Ideas could include a rube goldberg contraption, a parachute, or a solar cooker.

Hope those tips help you through this tough time!

Don't have the funds to take students on a field trip? Living in the age of technology allows us to virtually visit and see sights around the world (or solar system!) that most of us wouldn't get the opportunity to ever see. I've compiled a list of science-related virtual field trips you and your students can experience. Happy travels!

1. Virtual Field Trips.org is a great place to start. They have videos that can take students to the galapgos, national parks, and the amazon. Head here to watch!

2. I've always been fascinated with caves. Visiting Carlsbad Caverns was one of my favorite vacations. Let students visit the world's largest cave, Son Doong, which is located in Vietnam. This place looks pretty spectacular! They can take a virtual walk through with 360 degree views HERE. 

4. I'm sure you have played around with Google Earth, but did you know there is also Google Moon and Google Mars? Let your students explore the solar system and see what the surface of the moon and Mars look like! You never know, humans may be regular visitors to these places in their lifetime!

5. Another cool site to check out if you have students interested in space is Stellarium. Students can visit this online planetarium and check out constellations visible from their current location. 

6. You might think of Easter Island as more of a history trip instead of a science trip, but this island has an interesting (and disastrous) history relating to ecosystem collapse and sustainability. What is now relatively barren land, Easter Island was once lush and heavily populated. There is some debate about what wiped out the trees (deforestation? invasive rats?) and the ecosystem collapse that followed, but either way it is a good lesson on population growth and sustainability. Students can check out the island HERE. 

8. Would you like to view webcams from different zoos and aquariums? I often put live webcams up on the classroom board when students are doing independent work. If they finish their work early or need a brain break, watching animals is a fun thing to do! Check out this blog post to see which zoos and aquariums offer streaming webcams. 

9. The National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC offer virtual tours using Google Street View. Check them out HERE.

10. Google Art and Culture has virtual field trips from TONS of locations worldwide. Click here to view US national parks and explore places like the Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, Yellowstone, and more! (Warning: It's addicting).

Do your students truly understand protein synthesis? Not just knowing how to convert DNA to mRNA to amino acids, but TRULY understand how and why the process works? I struggled with this for a while. My students were great with A's, T's, C's, and G's (and U!) but couldn't explain the bigger picture.

I wanted students to be able to answer this question: If every cell in the body has the exact same DNA, then why do cells look different and do different jobs? Why are muscle cells long and stretchy while nerve cells are web-like, yet they have the same set of directions inside?

To answer this question students needed to understand that genes can be turned on an off. Even though every cell in the body has the same DNA, cell types only read the genes that apply to them. Eye cells only read and use eye genes, skin cells only read and use skin genes, etc. So how do specialized cells know which genes apply to them?

I created an activity that likens the genome to the blueprint of a house. A house blueprint includes all the information needed to build the house- the electrical, the plumbing, the framing, it's all there. When the electrician shows up to install the wiring and outlets, he only needs the information on the blueprint that applies to him. The same goes for cells.

In this activity, I put students in groups of 4. Each student was assigned a different job- a plumber, an electrician, a framer, and a roofer. On each job card is a promoter sequence. (Promoter sequences are used by transcription enzymes to know where to begin transcribing the gene).
Each student will scan through the DNA looking for their specific promoter sequence. Once they find it, they begin the transcription and translation process until they reach a stop codon. 

Once each student has their genes transcribed they go to the house blueprint and look up which trait the house will have based on the amino acid sequence (see image below). If you have honors or pre-AP students you can have them complete all 4 jobs, or 8 genes total instead of 2. 

I hope you check out this activity and your students can really understand the process of protein synthesis. If you would like to purchase this activity, you can find it HERE in my TpT store.

States of matter is a topic that is covered in middle school, and reviewed again in high school chemistry with more depth. I've compiled some resources to help you teach this concept! Take a peek!

FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL

1. I created this powerpoint when I taught phase changes to my 8th and 9th graders. It is editable and can be adapted for higher or lower grades. It also includes a foldable!

2. This PHET simulation goes over the basics of phase changes and students can visually see what happens to the atoms as you heat them up and cool them down.

3. I read the book series "Stop Faking It" when I was in my first few years of teaching. In the air, water, and weather book he talks about how students can act like air particles when teaching high and low pressure. This also works great for teaching students about properties of solids, liquids, and gases. For solids, have students huddle up close and vibrate. Then yell out "liquid!" and have students spread out more and shake their arms and legs a little more. Then yell out "gas!" and have students run like crazy around the room waving their arms in the air. I know it sounds silly, and I thought students would hate it... but they ate.it.up!

4. This virtual lab from my.hrw is great for middle school, but does require flash. Be sure it loads on student devices before assigning.

5. I love card sorts! They are a quick and easy way to review new content. HERE is a quick card sort activity on the states of matter.

FOR HIGH SCHOOL

6. This PHET interactive is similar to the one listed above, but includes phase change diagrams. Great for high school students!

7. American Association of Chemistry Teachers has a simulation and quiz students can work through that can be found here.

8. This NOVA interactive website allows students to see particle movement in water, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen. It also requires flash, so make sure to check the link before using with students.

9. When I taught 9th grade physical science we reviewed states of matter and looked at phase change graphs. Typically teachers have students boil water and graph the temperature change, but I wasn't comfortable getting out hot plates with my squirrely freshman. So instead of dealing with hot plates I had students turn water into ice (without using a freezer!) and graph the temperature change. Check out this video to see the basics of how this lab works:

If you are interested in downloading this lab, you can find it here.

Cheers!

If you want to introduce the CER method to students or have them practice periodically, using video clips is a fun way to go. (If you aren't familiar with the CER method, check out this blog post on ways you can use it in your classroom). I prefer short video clips because they are great for bellwork practice or a good time-filler if you have a few minutes left at the end of class.

A popular video teachers use to introduce CER is this Audi commercial. In it, the daughter gives the claim that her Dad is a space alien. Students should be able to pull out the evidence that she gives, including: he speaks a weird language, he drinks green stuff, just look at him (he dresses weird), and he has a spaceship. In the reasoning section students should be able to explain how the evidence supports the claim.

Here are some additional video clips you can use if you have YouTube access at school:
JUST FOR FUN VIDEOS

• Cheryl's She Shed: In this State Farm commercial, Cheryl gives the claim that someone burned down her she-shed. Is there evidence to support her claim?
• Shamwow: Can these towels really hold 12 times their weight in liquid?
• Gorilla tape: This Gorilla tape commercial claims that their tape is 3 times stronger than the leading brand of duct tape.
• Invisible Man: In this video clip a magician gives the claim that he can make people invisible. (There is a curse word, preview before showing students).
• Be Like Mike: Can drinking Gatorade make you a baller like Michael Jordan?
• Sketchers: Can sketchers make you run as fast as a cheetah?

SCIENCE BASED VIDEOS

• Yellowstone wolves: This video clip on Yellowstone wolves is one of my favorites to show during ecology when we discuss keystone species. The claim is that wolves can change rivers and students need to figure out the trophic cascade that makes this possible.
• Hydrophobic Shoes: In this video clip, the group claims they can walk on water.  (In actuality there is a platform below the surface of the water they are running on). See if students can come up with any valid evidence that they can truly run across the surface of the water.
• Flying penguins: The BBC came out with this video for April Fool's Day that penguins can fly.
• Make a Light Saber: Another April Fools day video! This video from Steve Spangler shows how to make a light saber. Do you think students will believe this claim?
  
• Troglobites: How did these cave salamanders become blind?
  

If you are interested in a graphic organizer I use for CER practice, click here!

If you have any other video clips you use, I'd love to see them! Leave the URL in the comments!

Do you love college basketball? I grew up in Tucson, AZ and UofA basketball was all we watched in March. It is really fun to incorporate some sort of science themed tournament in your classroom during March. Here are some ideas to get you started!

MARCH MAMMAL MADNESS
This lesson is taking over science classrooms by storm! What is March mammal madness? "It is an annual tournament of simulated combat competition between mammals. Scientific literature is cited to substantiate likely outcomes as a probabilistic function of the two species' attributes within the battle environment. Attributes considered in calculating battle outcome include temperament, weaponry, armor, body mass, running speed, fight style, physiology, and motivation." They update the bracket every year, so be sure to go download the new one.

FAMOUS SCIENTIST TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
In this lesson created by Surviving Social Studies, students fill out a NCAA style bracket using famous scientists. Students have to prepare a persuasive speech on which scientist made the greatest impact, and winners advance onto further rounds. Check it out here!

FLINN SCIENTIFIC BRACKETS
Flinn Scientific has quite a few bracket options on their website for free. If you teach biology, be sure to check out this sweet 16 cell biology tournament.
If you teach chemistry, you can check out this sweet 16 periodic table tournament or a sweet 16 chemistry of gases tournament.

Not wanting to take up multiple days of class for brackets? You can also check out these cool posters from Chevron dealing with the science and math behind basketball. They are especially great for physics teachers.

Valentine's day is almost here! One fun activity to try is an oh-so-romantic-science-themed speed dating lesson. I've tried it with my students multiple times and they really enjoyed it. I even hung up red twinkle lights and put candy conversation hearts and flowers out on the tables (gotta set the stage to engage!) Here are a few options you can try based on your curriculum:

Since I teach genetics in the spring, this punnett square speed dating lesson is always perfect timing. Students are given a monster card where they can see their genotypes and phenotypes. They go on dates with other monsters and fill out punnett squares on each date. There are both mendelian and non-mendelian versions included.

If you teach chemistry, this element speed dating activity is a sure hit. Students are assigned an element, fill out a dating profile, go on dates with other elements, and figure out what type of bond they would make. You can download the lesson here.

If you are teaching ecology, here is a symbiosis themed speed dating lesson. Each student is assigned an organism card, and they go on dates with 5 other students in the classroom. They need to meet each other, discuss their traits, and decide if the relationship would be mutualistic, commensalistic, parasitic, competitive, or predatory.

In this GMO speed dating lesson, students are assigned an organism and go on dates with other organisms, looking for genes that they could potentially share. It's a great way to get students thinking about gene editing and lead to discussions on ethics of CRISPR technology. You can download the lesson plan here. Note: I have done this lesson before and would recommend it for upper biology/AP students.

If you happen to be teaching cells around Valentine's day, you can have students do this organelle speed dating activity. Each student is assigned an organelle and they need to identify relationships they might have with other organelles. It is a great way to reinforce cellular processes!

I came across a version of speed dating for biomes that many AP environmental science teachers use. I wasn't able to find a reliable link, but if you try googling "biome speed dating lesson plan" I'm sure you will find a few versions floating around for free.

In this forms and transfer of energy speed dating activity, students are assigned an energy card. They will go on speed dates with 5 other students and have to come up with objects that transfer energy between the two types. For example, chemical energy (in a battery) could be transferred to a light energy (bulb) in a flashlight. This version is great for middle school students.

TIP: You may have some students that are shy and don't want to talk much on their dates. One issue I had arise during this activity was students were just trading cards, copying down the information, and not talking to each other. I made a rule that students were NOT allowed to show each other their cards, and had to ask their dates specific questions. It went much smoother after that.

I hope your students have a blast with one of these activities! If you are looking for some valentine ideas other than speed dating, check out this blog post.

The water cycle is taught starting in elementary school. It seems like in high school biology when I get to the biogeochemical cycles (water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus) the water cycle gets glossed over because we assume the students know it and it's too basic. But water is vital to life! It's important to take some time to dig a little deeper with the water cycle and there are ways to ramp up the rigor. Check out a few activities you can use to take a deep dive into the water cycle:

TAKE A RIDE THROUGH THE WATER CYCLE
Even though this activity is good for younger grades, older kids still enjoy it. In this activity, students roll cubes that tell them how to move through the water cycle. It allows students to review the steps of the process but also realize where more water is stored within the biosphere. You can download the game cubes here.

WATER FOOTPRINT
How much water do students use each day? At watercalculator.org, they can calculate their water footprint.

EVAPOTRANSPIRATION AND URBAN HEAT ISLANDS
In this free lab from ASU, students see first hand how evapotranspiration from trees can cool down an area and have an impact on the urban heat island effect. You will need clay terra-cotta pots and thermometers. You can download the lab for free HERE. If you would like to see more resources dealing with urban heat islands, check out this blog post.

WHERE DID EARTH'S WATER COME FROM?
Water has been around on our planet for a very long time. But where did it come from in the first place? You can students this Ted YouTube video:

SCALED MODEL OF EARTH'S WATER
We tell students that the amount of fresh water we have available is very small compared to the total amount of water on earth, but does it really sink in? In this lab, students create a scaled model of where the water on Earth is located. There are 4 different versions of this lab so you can differentiate based on the amount of inquiry and math you would like your students to do. By the end of the lab, students will see that our freshwater supply is very small and hopefully realize how important water conservation is.

VIRTUAL WATER
What is virtual water? It is the amount of water used to produce a product. In this activity from California Academy of Science, students learn about the hidden water footprint of different products. You can download the lesson here.

THE GRACE SATELLITES
How do scientists monitor groundwater levels? NASA tracks water levels from space using the Grace satellites- super cool! They orbit the Earth and scientists measure the gravitational pull on the satellites in order to monitor how much water is underground (more groundwater = more dense = more gravitational pull).
You can find free lessons on them here, and check out some interactive maps with satellite data here.

ICE CORE LAB
What can we learn from ice cores? In this lab, students learn about how ice cores form, what we can learn from them, and how they are analyzed. It takes about 4 days to set up on your part, but the students love looking at these simulated ice cores. You can read a full blog post on how I made them here.

WATER DOCUMENTARY
There are a ton of documentaries out there on water shortages and conservation. I showed my students one titled "Beyond the Mirage" that is available on YouTube. I chose it because it is centered around Colorado River water, which feeds into my home state of Arizona. If you live in one of the 7 states that uses Colorado River water, I recommend this video. If you would like video questions to accompany the video, click here.

I hope these help and you spend an extra day or two digging a little deeper into the water cycle. If you have any other favorite activities, leave them in the comments!

When I was in college taking education courses I had 2 professors who harped on rubrics. Their logic was that rubrics placed students into a box and didn't allow for any flexibility and creative thinking. I left college thinking rubrics were a terrible way to assess students.

Fast forward to 2015 when I began teaching a course that was taught entirely via PBL (project based learning). PBL is a very fluid and flexible way to teach- you pose students a question and tell them what the final product will be, but the pathway to accomplish the product can look very different from student to student. (If you would like to read more about the PBL process, check out this blog post). Since rubrics were essentially a new grading tool for me, I had quite a learning curve ahead of me. Confession: I still don't love making rubrics, but I've learned how valuable they can be for both students and teachers. After using them for a few years now, here are some things I've learned:

WHY  USE RUBRICS?

• As I've already mentioned, rubrics are great for PBL or any mode of teaching that is student- driven. This allows them to see your expectations and find their own way to meet them.
• As a science teacher, grading lab reports can take HOURS. Using a rubric can save you major time. Instead of leaving comments all over their paper, just circle elements on the rubric.
  
• Rubrics give specific feedback to students. They can see exactly where they fell short and what they need to improve.
  
• Rubrics allow for student creativity/flexibility (more on this in the next section).
• Rubrics allow for unbiased grading. They either met the criteria or they didn't. No favoritism.
  
• Administrators asking how your lessons are aligned to standards? Easy. Show them how your rubric incorporates NGSS or common core learning targets.
  
• Rubrics set clear teacher expectations. No more "but I didn't understand what to do." Students have the criteria laid out for them.

Ready to make some rubrics? Here are some tips:

TIPS FOR USING RUBRICS

• ​Grade a sample together as a class. (If you've given the assignment more than one year in a row, save a student work sample or two. If not, create your own sample). When students can see a sample and assess it as a class, it really  helps clarify your expectations. I know what you are thinking... because I thought it too. "If I show students a sample, they will just copy it." You can avoid this by:
  • Don't choose a stellar example. Show them what a mediocre assignment looks like and they can brainstorm ways they could improve upon it.
  • Choose a different topic. If you are assigning a lab report on heat transfer, it is perfectly acceptable to show them a sample lab report on a different topic and have them critique it. Chances are your lab report rubric is the same each time, so the expectation is the same no matter the topic.
• Give the students the rubric PRIOR to starting the project or assignment. I've been guilty of not having the rubric completed prior to starting the project or lab and scrambling to come up with a rubric at the end. This in no way helps the students. They need to know what the grading criteria are prior to turning in the assignment.
• Use the rubric as a formative assessment tool. Don't have students wait until the end to look at it! Halfway through the project or assignment have students check in. Are they meeting the criteria? You can have them self assess or do a peer assessment so they can see what to improve on before it gets to you. This should greatly increase the quality of their work and save you grading time later.
  
• Want to save even more grading time? If you graded their drafts with the same rubric, have them turn in the draft rubric along with their final copy. That way you can just focus on the areas of improvement and skip over the areas they already did well on.

FREE WEBSITES FOR RUBRIC CREATION
While you can use Microsoft word to make rubrics, there are websites out there that make the process easier. Two sites I like are:

• Rubistar: Create a free account on Rubistar and it will save all your rubrics for you. You can even search for rubrics by topic and use rubrics that have already been created by other teachers.
• Theme Spark: Create a free account on Theme Spark. It not only saves your rubrics but already has standards built in! Create a standards based rubric in minutes your administrator will love.
  

Have any more rubric tips or questions? I'd love to hear them!