Introduction to Science

I have been teaching Science for 6 years, and every year I start with an Introduction to Science Unit. In middle school, it was a great way to introduce 6th graders in their first year of dedicated science or to remind 7th and 8th grade students of scientific methods and measurements, as well as the tools that we will be using.

The topics I always try to cover include:
What is science? where I talk about the branches of science and scientific thinking
Scientific Theories and Laws- definitions and the differences of each
Scientific method- including the steps of scientific method
Scientific tools- I try to cover all the materials that a student would see in a middle school science lab
Lab safety- I cover basic safety in the science classroom

This year, I am using them to ensure that my students have a strong foundation for an accelerated high school chemistry course. Because these students are often coming into the classroom with little or no background, it will be necessary to ensure their success.

Because of this less than steller science background, I am changing my Intro to Science Unit up a bit to better suit my high school chemistry classroom. Some of the additions I have planned are:
-adding a section on What is Chemistry? to give students a better understanding of why we have chemistry class
-dropping the sceintific theories and laws
-adding a mini-unit on lab reports and how to write them
-adding more chemistry specific safety information in the safety lesson

DON'T SNIFF. WAFT!!!

Are you are looking to start the year with a solid Introduction to Science Unit? Check out my Introduction to Science mini-lessons!

All my mini-lessons include a photograph-rich presentation, fill-in-the-blank guided notes, a worksheet and a quiz. And don't forget to follow my store on Teachers Pay Teachers to be updated when new mini-lessons are released!

Simple Frozen Fruit Juice Pops

*Contains Amazon Affiliate links!*
Here in Philadelphia it can get pretty warm(not Texas hot, but still toasty!) so my girls love a cool frozen treat after daycare. Which means they devour about 2 a day. That is 20 popsicles a week! And the weekend-forget it! The grocery bill alone....yikes! I also started to feel a bit bad about the sugar water cheap-o pops and wanted something a little healthier for my girls. 

This was the beginning of freezie pops. This is the name my older daughter came up with for frozen popsicles. So cute and so grammatically incorrect!

For several years, every summer I would buy the super cheap popsicle molds and they had never worked out.
However, this summer at my local kitchen shop, I can across a display of individual molds made by Zoku. ABORABLE! There were a bunch of different ones, but I went with the frog. A complete impulse buy! BUT LOOK AT HIS LITTLE LEGS/POP STICK!

Amazon Link

And in case you are curious- the popsicle comes out looking EXACTLY like the picture! All the details showed up and it came out of the mold cleanly!

My older daughter loved them so much, that to be able to keep up with demand, I checked online and found that they have a number of super cute sets! (You can get them from Zoku, Amazon or Williams Sonoma. I have also seen the singles pop up at Home Goods. FYI) We bought the Fish Pop mold as she loves Octonauts.

I have a feeling that any of them would have been just as loved...

So far, I have used fruit juice and pudding to make pops. I love the Honest company juice, as it is less sugary and not as overwhelming as other juices, but any kind will work. The pudding pops were awesome.

You can totally dress these up with add-ins, like fruit or chocolate chips (chocolate-chocolate chip pudding pops, anyone?)

These are a great summer treat that I can feel good about letting my girls have!

What are your favorite ways to beat the heat? Do you have any go-to summer treats? Comment below or on my Facebook page!