Last week, I shared an article with you about five myths that prevent science teachers from doing more labs in the classroom.
This week, I'm going to share with you the myth-busting (<-- see what I did there?) solutions which will increase the number of labs a science teacher can do.
When I left the classroom, the number one problem I wanted to solve was that I wanted to have more kids 'doing' science. Now that the 5E lessons and station labs are complete, I've been able to turn my attention to a complete product line of traditional and inquiry labs.
Inquiry Labs for Middle School Science Teachers
Come with me on a detailed exploration of the new inquiry lab series.
The format of the labs has been peer-reviewed by classroom teachers from various states across the country. I'm very proud of the outcome and feel like we nailed the setup.
First and foremost, every lab is going to be editable to meet the needs of your students. <insert roaring applause!>
Every lab will contain three different modification levels: Independent Inquiry, Dependent Inquiry, and Modified Inquiry.
The teacher directions will include some general information about grouping suggestions, and a time-frame for the lab. The TEKS and NGSS standards will also be listed here.
I have been very mindful of the supplies needed for each lab, but most of the labs will require some standard science supplies and perishable items. I will list the supply requirements in the item description so that teachers will know what is needed before making the lab purchase.
The student document starts with an essential question and a background or phenomena.
Depending on the lab version, students will begin working on the procedure or begin to develop their independent inquiry lab.
Data collection with graphs, charts, and diagrams are a large part of the lab experience.
At the end of every lab, students will be answering the essential question with a CER statement. The modified inquiry labs include sentence stems which will provide a little extra help. Don't use CER? I've provided some resources on why you should be, but you can always edit them out.
A set of reflection questions allows the students to think back on their findings and make connections with the content.
Of course, I have also included a teacher answer key with suggested answers and data sets where necessary.
When the inquiry labs bundle is complete, there will be over 100+ uniquely designed labs at your disposal.
I'm not ready to announce the release date yet, but the inquiry labs bundle will be available at a discounted price in April. Next week I'm going to be giving away a free lab for you to download and investigate on your own.
You won't want to miss the time-sensitive announcements. Sign-up below to receive notifications about the free inquiry lab and lab bundle release date.
