What background do you need to teach a science Co-op class?

 Guess what!  You may be asking yourself this question because the teacher who agreed last spring to lead Co-op has vanished.  Now you have a gaping hole in the Co-op schedule.  All of you were hoping to cover something for Biology or Chemistry.  In a moment of weakness you agree to host the class.  How hard can it be?  Anticipate that you’ll experience moments of terror all year, self-doubt, and defeat.  These are all normal.  For several years, I was an adjunct at a local college.  Talk about imposter syndrome.  You may experience it, too. Also normal.

What background do you need to teach a science Co-op class?  Is it nice to have a background in science?  Sure.  Is it necessary?  Nope.  Are you interested?  Your interest is key.  I have a science background.  It doesn’t prepare me for every question or experiment.  I have to do research.  I recommend leading a Co-op class with the experiments rather than trying to teach the course—at least the first time.  Your job is to try each experiment in advance, prepare the materials, and supervise the lab during Co-op.  Students will read, answer questions, and test at home.  Trust me; many families will be overjoyed to have you lead labs.  

The biggest issue is safety.  Buy a set of safety glasses and require students to wear them for every lab.  The only exception is if they are doing a microscope lab.  Here and here are slide decks with safety and lab equipment links.  BTW, it is not plagiarism to use other links, websites, etc for class.  Educators have more latitude to use other people’s stuff for class, as long as they don’t try to sell it or pretend it’s their own work.  

Ideally the Co-op will meet weekly for 60-90 minutes to complete the experiments.  Decide how to fund supplies.  Most are inexpensive; however, it’s easier and more practical for you, as the instructor, to bring all the supplies, rather than depend on a parent. Buy a big bin. See if families are willing to invest $25-$50 for each child to defray costs.  If you dissect, costs are greater; specimens are pricey.  

Before Co-op class, do the experiment.  Am I cavalier about this step?  Maybe.  Have I glanced over the lab and decided I didn’t need to try it?  Hmmm.  Guess when things go wrong.  How long does the experiment take?  If an experiment takes 15 minutes, kiddos will need about 30 minutes.  Have extra materials on hand.  For example, when you introduce the Microscope parts, plan to make slide sketches..  Bring copies of a microscope quiz.  Your kiddos are going to read and follow the experiment’s instructions verbatim.  Then you can reinforce the lesson.  When a teen asks if he could try a different approach or substitute a chemical, the answer is NO!  Skip any lab with lye.  Period.

Each module has a different number of experiments.  Be sure to have materials for three or four experiments from the modules to do during each Co-op session.  If you don’t finish all of them, so what?  Things go south when you don’t have enough to do.  Remember, you may want to have student repeat an experiment; ideally, every experiment is repeated three times.  Lengthy experiments, such as calorimetry labs or the DNA Extraction are usually performed once, because they take so much time.  I do allow variations with the DNA lab.  Try different soaps: liquid, hand soap, laundry detergent, Dawn, or shampoo.  I bring extra materials to allow students who finish early to try it again.  

What happens when something in lab goes wrong?  Try Apologia’ Support page.  For example, click on Chemistry, and review the articles with questions and answers.  Look at What help do you have for Calorimetry problems?  Apologia has a sample lab report and Lab Report Guide.  (BTW, one zinger in Apologia’s Chemistry textbook is Experiment 5.1 (2e) or Experiment 7.1 (3e).  Here are sample calculations.)  Okay, what happens when the lab didn’t work at all.  First, panic!  Just kidding!  Reread the lab.  Did the kids miss a step?  Repeat the lab.  If it still doesn’t work, shrug it off.  There are many reasons a lab doesn’t work.  For example, I learned the hard way to use fresh meat tenderizer to do the DNA Extraction lab.  The enzyme breaks down pretty quickly.  What did I I do?  I brought a fresh jar and we redid the experiment during the next class.  We were all expert at the DNA extraction lab because we had trouble-shot every other variable before arriving on the meat tenderizer.  You are going to make mistakes.  Things are going to go wrong.  Labs are going to fail.  None of these events portend the end of the world.  Although it helps to have a robust self concept.  

Where can you go for more help?  There are loads of free YouTube videos, such as Apologia’s Chemistry 3.2 (2e) below.  No, getting help is not cheating!  It’s fine to Google a question on your cell phone, too.  Yes, during class!  Crash Course is fantastic!  You might want to broadcast a video related to the topic, such as fermentation after doing the experiment.  Yes, watching a video is part of teaching!

Take one more step.  Look up the key concept.  For example, if you are doing Experiment 4.2, be sure to do a little research before class.  What is fermentation?  What is methylene blue? What is an indicator?(Methylene blue, crystal violet, phenol red, etc are indicator solutions, dyes which change color at different pH levels.  Think dye lots in fabric or yarn.  If the dye solution is slightly more acidic or basic, the color changes.  That’s why many dyes make interesting inductor solutions.)  What is the point to the experiment?  You’ll feel much more confident leading the experiment with the class.

What can you do if the experiments are done is 15 minutes and Co-op lasts 90 minutes?  First, teens can answer ‘On Your Own’ or study guide questions from the textbook.  (They need their textbooks anyway to do the experiments.)  Define the terms in bold from the textbook or outline the module.  In Chemistry, print Chemmatters articles and questions from the teacher’s guides.  Watch a Crash Course video.  In Biology, you may be comfortable doing a related activity, such as Creating a Food Web or doing an extra Dichotomous Key  (Here is the answer key.  Do activities with answer keys!  Let the kiddos check their answers and make corrections.)  Keep emergency word search puzzles or cryptograms.  Try a project.   Make a cell model.  Assemble a Mitosis Flip Book.  Adopt an Element.  Look at you growing in confidence!

As you grow in confidence, stretch a little.  Add a few labs: Gummy Bear Osmosis, Jelly Bean Biology,  or Reaction in a Bag. Food related labs build confidence: Bread in a Bag or Candy DNA.  One key tip is to have the answer keys and Apologia Solutions’ guide  with answers.  Learn as you go!  Teaching is hard work.  It is also enormously rewarding.  Be honest with your kiddos if you don’t have a science background.  Explain you all will learn together.  Buckle up and buy a set of safety glasses!