Set up a bare-bones Bio classroom!

What are the basics you need to teach Biology, especially a Co-op class?  First, I’ve taught in fully equipped labs, in religious Ed classrooms, in my basement, and in a Maker Space at the library.  You need a table and whiteboard.  If your group is small, you can forego the whiteboard.  Write on a tablet instead.  Ideally, you have a water source.  If not, you can bring jugs of water for lab.  An outlet for the microscope is nice.  However, you can attach a digital microscope to the USB outlet on a laptop and view microscope slides.  Buy safety glasses.  Borrow lap-tops.  Buy digital microscopes.  Buy a set of 25 slides to sketch.  I taught Bio at the CCD classroom with a whiteboard and tables.  I brought in lab materials as needed.  We went to a local park to dissect; dissection was banned at Church.  We did messy labs outside and made Bio work under less than ideal conditions.  You can, too!  Happily there are many low-cost Bio labs: Jelly Belly Dichotomous Keys, Oreo Cell Cycle, Candy Chromatography, Edible DNA, Spinach Leaf Chromatography, Gummy Bear Osmosis, Bean Predator Prey Lab, Edible Cell Model, Mark Recapture Beans Lab, and much, much more.  You may notice I have loads of candy and food related Bio labs.  The year I taught in the CCD classroom, we weren’t supposed to do real labs.  However, we were permitted simulations with candy and food.  Believe me, the kids did not complain. I’ve adopted many candy labs into my curriculum because the kids just love them.   Don’t let constraints stop you from teaching a quality Bio course.

So, you want to teach Co-op?

Are you teaching a science Co-op class for the first time?  I have a few tips.  Start by setting up Google Classroom.  It’s free.  Make this the place for assignments. (Below are screen shots from the Bio Classroom.)  Have families sign a safety contract. Go over safety with the kids.  Texas Gateway has Safety in the Lab.  Use it verbatim.  Show the kids where the fire extinguisher and first aid kit is located.  Mine is by the utility sink—which is the eye wash station.  I also have a big coffee tin, labeled ‘sharps’ for used scalpels and broken glass.  Next to the sink is a dust pan and broom to sweep broken glass.  Now is a good time to show kids where safety glasses, gloves, and lab aprons are located.  

Here is an overview of Day One in Chemistry.  (Below is a copy of the math pretest the kids take in Chemistry.  Here is a more rigorous pretest.)  Distribute a copy of your resume.  I keep a copy in Classroom.  

Go over Lab Equipment.  If you teach Biology, teach kids the parts of a microscope.  

At the bottom are pix from our basement classroom.  The space is pretty large—800 sq.ft.  The pix show safety materials, lab equipment, chemicals, tables, and white boards.  I’ll do a post next about minimum equipment.

Physical Science and Chemistry on a Budget: Alka-Seltzer Experiments

 Did you know Alka-Seltzer has science experiments?  Have you made Alka-Seltzer rockets?  Let your kids experiment with quarter, half, or whole tablets.  Does it matter if the film canister lid is up or down?  Does the water temperature change the results?  (Amazon and Educational Innovations and Home Science Tools sell film canisters.)  Here is a lab with citric acid and baking soda.  Experiment by substituting vinegar for citric acid.  

Here is a scientific method lab with fizzy tablets.  (BTW any effervescent tablet works.  The tablet contains citric acid and baking soda.). Here is a Stoichiometry lab for Chemistry with fizzy tablets. Just for fun, make DIY lava lamps. You can achieve good lab results without breaking the bank.

Physical Science on a Budget: Water Experiments

Apologia’s Physical Science textbook has  ‘The Winder of Water’ in Module 4.  By all means, do the experiments in the textbook.  However, add a few fun labs. I call this unit, ‘Why is water wet?’   Start with Steve Spangler’s Mysterious Water Suspension, which explores surface tension and cohesion.  Drops on a Penny examines hydrogen bonds and surface tension.  This activity is similar to adding drops of water to waxed paper.  Try both.  You can Bend Water to demonstrate hydrogen bonds, too.  Do this lab on a cold dry day.  I rub (charge with static electricity) a glass stirring rod with rabbit’s fur.  Lastly, here are several labs about properties of water to try.  I like to group a bunch of labs to try before I teach the content.  Adhesion, cohesion, and surface tension make more sense after the kids see a few examples.

Physical Science on a Budget: Chemistry lab experiments

When I teach Physical Science I like to add a few chemical experiments.  If this is your first foray into chemical reactions, you probably want to be safe stick with the Apologia textbook.  Take a look at Middle School Chemistry from the American Chemical Society (ACS).  Many public and private middle school teachers do NOT have any background in Chemistry.  What is a Chemical Reaction? has very detailed instructions and notes for each step.  There are questions for the student and answers.  

I use precipitate reactions from Forming a Precipitate in my Chemistry class, too.  The chemicals used in these experiments are shown below. Washing soda is sodium carbonate.  Driveway Heat has calcium chloride.  These experiments would enrich your child’s physical science class.

Science on a Budget: Dollar Tree

Dollar Tree is a great place to find lab equipment. I’m making Topsy Turvy dolls and felt food, such as this felt birthday cake for a bunch of little girls in my life.   (Pix are at the bottom of the page in case you are curious.)  I made an emergency craft run to Dollar Tree and browsed for lab equipment while I was there.  Take a look!

1.  These paint palettes are fine to use as reaction plates for many chemical labs.  There are six palettes, enough for a Co-op class.

2. Disposable gloves for dissections

3. Household Chemicals: rubbing alcohol, peroxide, vinegar, baking soda, Epsom salts, dish soap, Elmer’s glue, Alka-Seltzer, q-tips, toothpicks, etc.  Shop your house first and compare prices at Walmart, too.  

4.  Plastic Baskets—to organize labs or equipment.

5. Dropper bottles for diluted chemicals.

6. Ice cube trays for stream studies.  White trays are useful for sorting macroinvertebrates.

7. Tea candles to heat solutions.

Science on a Budget: Coins!

 My husband and I were sorting coins we’d accumulated.  (We’re too frugal to use Coin-star.). I use coins regularly in lab.  Let me share a few labs and experiments.

Elementary:

Surface Tension: How is the Surface Tension of Water Affected by Soap?

Electricity: Penny Battery

Clean Coins: How to Clean Pennies

Physics or Physical Science:

Centripetal Force: Spinning Penny (Dimes May pop the balloon.)

Density: Density of a Penny Lab (Compare pre-1982 and post 1982 pennies.)

Newton’s Laws Intro: Newton’s Laws

Chemistry

Specific Heat: Determining the Specific Heat Capacity of Copper (Use pre-1982 pennies.) 

Reactions: Let’s Do Chemistry with the Penny! (Try with both old and new coins.)

Gold Penny: Gold Penny (This lab uses 3M NaOH and granular zinc.  Do this lab with an expert!  Ask the local Community College to set up a tour.  Request the Alchemy or Gold Penny lab.)

Apologia Biology: Summer Assignment

 This fall I’m teaching Biology.  My Co-op class has a summer assignment to make a list of 100 species. I launch Biology with Ecology or Ecosystems.  (We do Module 1 concurrently.  Classification, taxonomy, and biological keys dovetail well with Ecology, Module 10.)  The summer assignment is to create a list of 100 species, ideally local plants, fungi, and animals.  Does this seem daunting?  Start with an owl and brainstorm its diet.  (Okay, your kid will likely Google its diet.). Owls eat voles, shrew, moles, mice, and small birds.  Voles and mice, eat grasses, fruits, seeds. Moles and shrew eat insects.  Kids can brainstorm types of wild fruit, such as blackberries and types of insects.  See how the list develops?  The first month of school, the kids will take the list and research scientific names and learn how to create food webs.  

If you really want to get a jump on Biology, consider doing an Owl Pellet dissection.  This can be a nice way to jump-start a species list.

Colorful Flames

 I was at Walmart and bought Color flame crystals on clearance.  These are the type of crystals one adds to bonfires to make colorful flames.  Make your own colorful flames.  Epsom salts produce white flames and table salt makes yellow flames.  My plan is to use the box I bought with the flame test lab.  Here is a post about performing flame tests on a budget.  My kids will burn crystals from the Color flame packets and see if they can identify the metallic salt used.  The only clue is cuprite, written as an ingredient.  BTW copper salts usually burn teal or blue-green.  Yes, I am always looking for science ideas.

Lifepaq at Good Will

I don’t know anything about the Lifepaq curriculum.  However, Good Will online has a set for 8th and 9th grade.  I do know these sets are pricey.  If you use Lifepaq, take a look.

Biology on a Budget: Blood Typing

 When I teach genetics the kids do blood testing—both ABO and Rh types.  The problem is the blood tests are pricey.  In another life, a nurse friend or student’s parent could access the blood typing sera. Lately, I’ve used Eldon cards—also pricey.  If your family already knows each member’s blood type, consider testing or typing with fake blood.  Here is a complete lab, including teacher notes, using milk, food coloring and vinegar.  Here is a more expensive lab, using hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, silver nitrate, and barium nitrate.  If you teach Chemistry, you may already have these chemicals on hand.  FYI silver nitrate is also pricey.  Our Co-op consists of a number of large families; often the entire family wants to test blood.  If you are testing a big group, buy the anti-sera and a bunch of lancets.  Otherwise, the cheapest version with milk and vinegar will suffice.