Introducing engineering concepts into the high school physics classroom can help students grasp the relevance of scientific knowledge to the real world. I love to do this through project-based assignments in which students have to apply their knowledge through design-based activities. And what better way to keep students engaged and on their toes than toContinue reading “Lasagne or Spaghetti? The Pasta Cantilever Challenge”
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The Mu of the Shoe
Going out to a holiday party? You will probably want to wear your fanciest shoes. Getting ready for a basketball game? To show off your best moves you’ll need to have a lot of friction out on the court. But which shoes will serve you best? To answer this question, you need to know….“the muContinue reading “The Mu of the Shoe”
How Powerful Are You?
Active learning can literally mean getting your students up and out of their seats and engaged in physical activity. When teaching energy, work and power, there’s no better way to drive home the concepts than to get the students outside the classroom to practice what they’ve learned. That’s why I assign them an activity whereContinue reading “How Powerful Are You?”
Starting Middle School with Science Skills
What do you do to engage students on the first day of the new school year? Give a lecture? Probably not! Go over the class rules? Boring! For my middle schoolers, I like to kick off the school year with a fun science activity that can be used to: 1) teach basic lab skills, (2)Continue reading “Starting Middle School with Science Skills”
End of Year Fun with Famous Scientists
Do you need an engaging end of year activity that will motivate your students to squeeze in a little more learning before the summer break? The Famous Scientist Cereal Box Project combines research, design, organisation, and presentation skills and is ideally suited for 7th to 9th grade students. My students love this assignment which givesContinue reading “End of Year Fun with Famous Scientists”
Storytelling for Secondary Science
Just a few years ago my school principal informed me that I was required to complete more teacher training. Then came the good news. I was being sent to Greece to attend The Mars Mission Summer School sponsored by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Program and the Space Awareness Project. What better place to think aboutContinue reading “Storytelling for Secondary Science”
Newton and Coulomb: Fatal Attractions and Fundamental Forces
Something that always fascinates me about physics teaching and learning is that the basic concepts are closely interrelated. If you can grasp the concepts of Newton’s laws of motion as applied to the acceleration of objects in one dimension, then this knowledge can be used to evaluate the motion of objects in a variety ofContinue reading “Newton and Coulomb: Fatal Attractions and Fundamental Forces”
Resources Galore in 2022
2021 was another year of steady growth for Step by Step Science. With more than 500 YouTube videos and 100 resources in our Teachers Pay Teachers store, we have been able to support and enrich teaching and learning for so many of you during the pandemic. Our goal has always been to offer high quality,Continue reading “Resources Galore in 2022”
Scaffolding Science Lessons
Getting ready to start a new topic in your instruction? Not sure where to begin or what prior knowledge students have? I like to start with an opening question. For my unit on energy, work and power I always ask, “What is the difference between mass and weight?” Most students can not come up withContinue reading “Scaffolding Science Lessons”
Educational Evolution in the Sciences
More than 20 years ago I stepped into my first classroom. Before me sat rows and columns of students patiently waiting for me to teach them something. Today when I go to school things look pretty much the same. The science curriculum has changed little over the years and I still need to cover everythingContinue reading “Educational Evolution in the Sciences”
Step by Step Science 