Science Strategies: How many different activities do you do during each Co-op session?

 Our Co-op Science classes meet twice a week for 90 minutes each session.  I’ve taught Co-op classes which met once a week for three hours.  (Yes, we had a break.) During a 90 minute session, we usually have at least five different activities, averaging 18 minutes per activity.  A good rule of thumb is to plan 15-20 minutes per activity.  Right now, I’m teaching an anatomy class.  We start class with ten to fifteen minutes of muscle, bone, brain review. Next, I might do 15 minutes of direct instruction, say slides.  The teens might then sketch slides, do a POGIL, make a model, or take a few notes. We do labs every other week or so in Anatomy.  A dissection can take 30-45 minutes.  The nerve lab we just finished took about 45 minutes.  

How do I plan?  I keep a list of all the events I want to accomplish for the entire module.  In any class, we need some direct instruction.  I do a chunk of instruction most classes.  However, I rarely exceed a 20 minute lecture or lesson.  The kids just shut off after 20 minutes.  It’s better to switch gears.  This is why the activities and labs pivot around a unit or module.

Let me give you an example.  In Chemistry, one topic is Matter.  (Here are my slides.)  I start with a group discussion, typically a question, such as ‘What is matter?’  I might review a few slides.  Then we do an activity, such as Separation of a Mixture Lab. (Do the least flashy lab first.)  We spend time as a class after the lab discussing the point.  Next is the discrepant event and discussion.  After we do a series of density labs.  Typically, we try to create a spreadsheet for data.  The spreadsheet activity can take 20-25 minutes depending on experience.)  In other words, we switch activities about every 20 minutes unless it’s a longer lab or a simulation, such as Bean Bag Isotopes. (We use at least five different beans for this lab.)  Typically, labs, simulations, or models take 30-45 minutes.  However, the kids work in teams and tend to remain more engaged.

When I conduct a once-weekly Co-op class, I’ll have a stack of activities ready—at least ten.  Will we finish?  Probably not.  But it’s important to switch gears frequently to hold the teens’ attention.  One caveat.  If the kids are engaged in a lab and want to experiment or repeat it, I am a happy to invest the time—even if the lab takes most of the class period.  This is true of dissections, especially.  The kids tend to spend 90 minutes on one or two specimens.  Most of the time, I