Category Archives: Interactive Notebook

Interactive Graphic Organizers

Posted on by mysciencelessons

I stumbled upon this website from Holt that included free downloadable interactive graphic organizers. What I love about these is that students can type their notes directly into the pdf file, print them out, then glue them into their interactive notebooks.

Some examples of graphic organizers are:

  • Venn Diagrams
  • Fish bone
  • KWL Chart
  • Word Map
  • Cause & Effect

Here is the link to the Holt website

States/Phases of Matter Venn Diagram

Posted on by mysciencelessons

Triple Venn Diagram: I wanted to show how the three main states of matter and the phase changes are related. Using Publisher, I made a 3 panel brochure with a title flap, a flap with directions, and a Venn Diagram for the inside layout. The Venn diagram has circles/categories for solid, liquid, and gas. Remind students that when the circles overlap, it is something that both have in common. Where all 3 circles overlap, it is something that all 3 categories must have in common.

Using blue colored pencil, the students will fill in the phrases related to the states of matter and their characteristics, such as definite shape or volume. Using a red colored pencil, they can write in the phase changes, such as evaporation.
This would be a good SmartBoard/whole class activity and I am going to try to create a SmartBoard file once school starts. The Venn Diagram would be on the screen and each phrase would be listed on the side. Students could select one of the phrases and drag it to the correct place in the Venn diagram.
I plan to use this as a right hand activity since they are processing the information and seeing how the states of matter and phase changes are related.

Physical and Chemical Properties/Changes Foldable

Posted on by mysciencelessons

Up to this point, in class we would have been focusing on properties of matter such as mass, volume, & density. Now we are ready to wrap up physical characteristics and go into chemical characteristics, & differentiate between physical and chemical changes.
 
 
For this activity, I used a 4 panel brochure template (Publisher) and turned it into a 4-door foldable. This will print out on 8.5 x 14 Legal paper. If you do use legal sized paper, the width of the foldable will be 7 inches and should fit in most notebooks.
 
This is a 4 page document: page 1 is the front (tabs) and back (glued down) of the foldable, page 2 is the inside layout, page 3 contains the cut outs that will go into the foldable, and page 4 is the teacher’s answer key.
Left Side:
Students will be given a blank foldable (photocopy 2 sided). Tell students to cut the tabs on the dotted guide lines, but not to fold yet, instead keep the paper flat and orientated correctly so when they do fold it, the words on the tabs are right side up.
Give each student a copy of page 3. The notes are not grouped together correctly so they will have to cut out each piece of information (follow dotted lines) and reassemble the notes into the correct boxes under the corresponding tabs. All the pieces will fit into the boxes. Tell the students not to glue anything down, just to do a dry run.
This is a good partnered activity, students will work together to piece the “puzzle” together. After everyone has had a chance to work through the activity, we will go over the answers as a class. Students will then glue the correct pieces in as we go over each section.
Once everything is in place, have the students fold it so that the tabs meet in the middle. Glue into notebook.
Right Side:
  • Practice determining physical and chemical characteristics
  • BrainPOP Movie: Property Changes fill in the blanks
Handouts:

Buoyancy Cut ‘n Paste Vocab

Posted on by mysciencelessons

I borrowed the idea of using “cut ‘n paste” vocabulary from my fellow science teacher, Marcia. Students cut out the definitions and match them to the correct vocabulary word. For my cut ‘n paste activity, I like to add a simple graphic to help explain each definition. This helps with visual learners. What I like about this activity is that the students can manipulate the definitions and do a dry run of where they think the definitions should go. If they realize that something is not in the right place, they can easily change its position. Once they are sure the definitions are all matched correctly, they can glue them into place.

Left Side:

When I introduce Buoyancy, we have already been talking about Density for a few days and completed a variety of activities. I show the Bill Nye Video Clip on Buoyancy (part 1) and we discuss it afterwards. Parts 2 & 3 have a few things that I would like to show once I figure out how to edit them and take out the parts that I don’t want or need.

After Bill Nye, I show the BrainPOP movie for Buoyancy. I made up a handout for the students to work on after they watch the video clip. To complete the notes, they work with a partner after we have watched the movie the first time. When they are done, I show the movie again and they fill in anything that they missed. Afterwards, we go over the answers as a class. I find this works much better than having them complete the sheet while they are watching the clip the first time. The students become so focused on what they are writing, that they end up missing a lot, and its hard for them to focus on both writing and watching.

Right Side:

As a review, the students complete the cut ‘n paste vocabulary for buoyancy. They can use the notes we took in class and work with a partner.

Handouts:

Mass, Volume, Density Foldable

Posted on by mysciencelessons

Left Side:
Using Publisher, I made a 4 door foldable for the three density related formulas: D= m/v, v= m/D, and m = v x D. The 4th door has instructions on how to solve a word problem. I used the 4 panel brochure template and on the 1st and 4th panels, I made a guide line at 4.25 inches. To make the flaps, simply cut on the dotted lines.

Along with the formulas, inside the foldable are 3 practice problems, and a few notes about mass, volume, and density. I need to make a ppt to go along with the foldable, it will be posted on my notebook page soon.

 

Right Side:

On the right side are practice problems. Students have to determine which formula is needed, set up the problem, and add the correct units. They can refer to their foldable for the formula and how to solve the problems. The problems are not that difficult, my main goal is having them choose the right formula, set up the formula by plugging in the known values, and adding the correct units when done. Some students may have a little difficulty with multiplying or dividing decimals and rounding to the 100ths place, so I usually go over that before we begin by modelling a few problems with them.

Handouts:

Update: Here is the powerpoint I will most likely use as part of our class discussion

ISN – Table of Contents Rough Draft

Posted on by mysciencelessons

Over the summer, I am working on organizing my notebook and will build a mock-up of how I want the notebook to look. Most of the postings I have read mention that the right side is for input or teacher directed material, and the left side is for out-put, or the student side, but I don’t think that will work for me, I’d like it to be more sequential. I am having what we do in class on the Left side (L for learning) and the Right side for practice (R for reflection). My reflection side will include a mixture of analysis, review, practice, and reflection.

The way that I set up my table of contents is that the left and right pages are next to each other, so it is a visual pairing of what goes together, instead of a linear type of list. When I give the students the table of contents to put into their notebooks, I may have the first few pages typed in to model how it should look, then have the students fill in the rest as we do each activity.

I am posting a rough draft of my table of contents, but I am sure it will change several times before September! http://www.middleschoolscience.com/ISN-tableofcontents-pgs1-33.pdf