When I begin my unit on birth defects and prenatal care, I like to review the basics of genetics especially when we talk about inherited diseases. A fun and tasty way to do this is to have students participate in the cookie genetics edible review activity. Not only do students review and apply their Punnett Square knowledge, but they have fun making and eating their creation!
My junior high classes rotate every six weeks which doesn’t leave a whole lot of time to cover all the material that I need or want to. Because of this, I find myself trying to piggyback multiple concepts and standards into a lesson or activity. So when I teach about how to calculate unit prices and read package labels, both ingredient lists and nutrition facts, it makes sense to combine the two into a hands-on hot cocoa mix taste testing lab. Not only does it get the students into the kitchen, but it ties back to everything we covered so far in the rotation, helping them to review the concepts previously learned. In the lab students determine which product they think tastes the best and then in the follow-up students use the product labels to compare everything from unit price to ingredients to nutrition. Do students know their brands like they think they do? Can they determine the healthiest brand for their dollars? This lesson helps them find out!
What do you do when your custodian has leftover tiles from various school projects? Ask him if you can have them for a class project! That’s what Laurie Hagberg, a FACS teacher from Mankato West High School, Minnesota did. Laurie uses these tiles in a refurbished coaster project in her Interior Design class that not only reinforces the color schemes, but show’s her students how they can recycle items into gifts for their future homes, apartments and/or dorms. Students enjoy this creative, hands-on project and are excited to take them home!
Students spend a lot of time researching and making comparisons on various colleges from location to majors offered and cost, so it only makes sense to spend some time looking at options of financing their ambitions. While I am no expert, going through this process with my daughter last year has at least upped my comfort level with the material and terms (at least a little bit). Because of this I wanted a simple way for students to learn what options were out there to help them afford college so they could at least have a starting point. This assignment asks students to take an article on college loans and not only read it, but create a graphic organizer around the theme to help them become more familiar with the information. While students often have additional questions specific to their circumstances, our school also offers a financial aid night for students and their parents which allows them to ask those questions and get the answers that I cannot afford them.
There’s a lot of information out there about eggs; often referred to as the perfect food! So, if you are in need of some ideas for teaching a unit or just a few lessons or labs about eggs, here are a variety of ideas and resources to choose from.
Wishing you and yours a joyful and restful holiday season! We would like to take this time to thank you for your contributions, suggestions and comments this past year! May we continue to be a helpful resource in your teaching experience and classroom! See you in 2016!
Some of the most cherished gifts our family has received over the years have been made by the hands of the people we love. In fact we look forward to those gifts every year as they’ve kind of become a tradition. Sometimes those gifts made with love were born out of necessity due to limited resources available to go out and purchase store bought gifts, but many times they were made and given out of love for the recipient(s) of the gift. For example, many years ago, very close friends of ours began making us a delicious candy-like treat that can only be described as “Christmas Crack” because once you start eating it, you can’t stop! We love the candy and our friends and look forward to that gift every year! After all, how can you look at, use or consume that wonderful gift without thinking fond thoughts of the talented person/people who took the time to make it for YOU! Why not teach your students how they can use their talents, time and resources to make gifts of love to give to those in their lives that they cherish most during this Christmas and Holiday season?
Teaching about insurance can get a bit intense and to be honest, sometimes boring. In order to make the insurance unit aMayhem.Project.Scene little more exciting and hands on, I had students create 3-D scenarios and scripts as though they were pitching new material for an insurance advertisement similar to All State’s Mayhem commercials. Students created some humorous, yet realistic scenes and then rotated through the stations to apply their insurance knowledge. How do you make teaching insurance more interesting and fun? Share in the comment section below.
Teaching about families in crisis can be difficult especially when you don’t always know what’s going on in the home lives of your students. However, it is important to discuss because every family, at one time or another, will face one or more at some point in their lives. No one is immune. This lesson and video case study is just one of many that could be used in the classroom. I like it because it is a way for students to apply all of the information learned about families as well as explore some crisis themes in more depth.
Many equate being pregnant with being able to eat “whatever” you want. After all, you are eating for two! However, there are many foods that are off limits during pregnancy. This unique lesson engages students by having them individually examine an assigned food to ascertain whether it should be eaten or avoided during pregnancy. With their newly acquired knowledge, they create a mini-poster using technology for use in a gallery walk activity. From there, t-charts are created and a group discussion ensues as to the correct placement of each food. “To eat or not to eat? That is the question.” Give it a try and see if your students aren’t highly engaged as they discover the answers to this infamous question.
