How to Create a Makerspace in the Classroom

The makerspace movement has a few origin stories including the Maker Faire events that were developed by Make: magazine and MIT’s FabLabs developed by Neil Gershenfeld. Maker Faire events still continue today (you can check them out here) and FabLabs (trademarked and run through the Fab Foundation) are found throughout the world. But smaller versions … Read more

Learning Styles in the Classroom

For a long time, I taught my middle school life science curriculum with a “smallest to biggest” approach. I started with the smallest living organisms in the first half of the school year- cells and other micro-organisms, followed by body systems, then genetics. In the second half we moved onto large living systems and their … Read more

Fun Interactive Science Models for Middle School Genetics

Teaching the principles of genetics to middle school students is possibly one of the most difficult concepts to cover. The subject is layered with complex vocabulary (what’s the difference between an allele and a gene again?) and abstract ideas. Plus, there just isn’t much in the way of lab work or experimentation that you can … Read more

A hands-on approach to xylem and phloem

If you teach science, or interact with students who have taken an elementary or middle school science course, there is a good chance they have taken part in a lab that demonstrates how colored water can change the color of a plant. Sometimes this lab is carried out with white carnations (a little pricey, but … Read more