Animal Cells

I've been teaching both Biology and Physical Science for the last 10 years aside from my Math Courses and since the interactive notebooks worked so well in math I thought it would be a good idea to move them into my science classes as well.  This was not as easy as I had thought and I didn't get as many pages done in Biology last year that I had hoped.  However, this one on Animal Cells was one of my favorites.

This page covered identify the organelles in an animal cell as well as identifying the function of each organelle. I know that the function of each organelle is far more in depth than what I covered but my students have a hard time with concepts that they can not see or experience so I had to keep it simple and to a minimum. This is where you could go more in depth with your classes if this page works for you.

I each of my students a colored sheet of paper as well as the sheet of the diagrams (you can find it here!) They cut flaps that fit each of the diagrams, colored them each a different color than glued them onto the page.

Above each of the flaps we identified what the organelle in the picture was and under each flap we stated what the function was.

The large diagram we glued onto the right page.  Students then had to color the organelle the same color as they had done on the flap and then draw arrows and identify the organelles.  

Trigonometry Task Cards

Towards the end of this past school year, my Geometry students were working on Right Triangle Trig.  Trig is not an easy concept for them to grasp and I had to think of ways to help make it easier for them to understand the process.  Trig has always been a challenge for my students and each time I teach it I go into this unit hoping for the best (because I love it!) but fearing the worst (They don't love it!).  They always get so frustrated and give up so quickly because they view it as being too difficult for them to learn.  In the end, many see the light and realize it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be, while some don't budge and remain struggling.

I had originally made these task cards for my class to use as practice this year but it was something I never had the time to finish up.  The end of this school year was a rough one and everyone was doing their best to keep their heads above water.  So needless to say I never got to use them but plan to this year with my new Geometry students.

Had I actually had the chance to use them I would have used them in one of the following ways:

Option #1 Students work in teams (my room has 4 large tables) and each team would get a task card from each page, work it out together and pass them around until they did all 4 then we would pass out the next page.  All students would complete all problems.

Option #2 Put the cards randomly though out my classroom, have students work in pairs and work their way around the room until they have completed all the problems.

Option #3 Put all cards in a bucket, have students work in small groups, they come up and draw a card out of the bucket and work it out with their team. The only downside to this option is that there is a chance some groups might not get a card from each page so they won't get practice from that kind of problem.

Well here are the cards...Let me know if you have any other ideas for options.  If you use them with your students let me know how it works out!

If you would like your own set here are the links.  If you blog or tweet about my task cards please reference where you got them from.

Trigonometry Cards Pg 1

Trigonometry Cards Pg 2

Trigonometry Cards Pg 3

Trigonometry Cards Pg 4

Trigonometry Cards Pg 5

Trigonometry Cards Pg 6

Domain and Range

In previous years I've always taught Domain and Range when I taught Graphing Functions/Equations (see my previous post) and it was enough for my students to grasp the concept.  However my Algebra 1 group last year, and again this year, needed so much more than what I've previously done.  Some years they are able to catch on quickly while other years need more explanation and practice.  So prior to my Graphing Functions/Equations page I designed one that just focused on Domain and Range to help these groups out.

We started with how to identify Domain and Range, what's the proper way and what happens if a number repeats.

I had the students pick two colored highlighters (one for domain and one for range).  I use a lot of color on my pages but it's always for a good reason.  We don't ever just use color to use it.

As a whole class we went through the different situations they would be presented with: XY Table, Set of Ordered Pairs, Maps, or a Graph.

For the XY Table they had to highlight the Domain and Range then write them in proper order.

For the Ordered Pairs they had to highlight each number that represented the Domain and which ones represented the Range. Then write them in proper order.

For the Map they had to again highlight the Domain and Range then put them in order.

The Graph took a bit more effort on our part.  I gave my students the option to either write out each point as an ordered pair or we could make it into an XY Table.  They prefered the table and found it easier to use so we went with it.  They again had to highlight and write the Domain and Range in proper order.

On the right side of the notebook we defined Domain and Range and then they were given the 5 different examples.  For each they were asked to find the Domain and Range.  Some understood it and no longer needed to use the highlighters while others relied on them for quite awhile. I always allow my students to use materials like highlighters and such on their progress checks, so some of them were still using it even on progress check day while most had stopped using them long before.

This is how the pages look side by side.  How do you teach Domain and Range?  What tricks do you use to help them remember the difference?  I'm always up for some new, fun ideas :)

Laws of Exponents

Every time I teach a unit on Polynomials (I know with my population of students) that I will need to start off going over the different Laws of Exponents.  In the past it always turned out to be a jumbled mess of notes that the students could never use or refer back to because you pretty much needed deciphering key just to understand it.  I tired a good handful of different foldables to get the information across but it just never worked.  I gave up and went on a google search to find someone way smarter than me who had already figured out what I couldn't.  Lo and behold Mrs. Williams came to the rescue with an awesome foldable, check out her blog!

Here are my instructions on how to put it together and the problems I used...

Materials Needed:

2 - 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of paper (2 different colors)

Scissors

Favorite writing utensil  

Start with one of your colored sheets.  Fold it in half and cut it.  Then fold one of the halves in half and cut it again.  You will need 2 of the strips you just made.

 

                                          So now here are the supplies each student will need!
                                     



Take the large sheet of paper and turn it so it's landscape, fold it in half, and then fold it in half again.  It should be folded like an accordion.  Lay it on the desk so that it looks like a W when you look at it from the front. (This is super important!)

Grab the middle part of the W and cut it into 4 equal sections just until the fold. (If you don't cut to the fold the smaller strips will be hard to weave in and out.)

Now lay it back down on the table, again so it's a W, and weave the two smaller pieces in.  The center should look like a checker board.  Now you are done!

 

 

The magic to this foldable is if you put the two center pieces together, to make a point in the middle, you can pull the two pieces of paper apart to reveal a secret section.  This foldable always blows the kids minds!

         

Here is how I used it for the Laws of Exponents.