I am a Science and Chemistry teacher focused on Cambridge IGCSE and AS/A. I am also heavily involved in the National Chemistry Olympiad program.
By way of background I have a PhD in inorganic chemistry and entered teaching after 13 years in the food industry.
I guess I am a bit old fashioned - I don't use twitter and I have no idea what instagram or Pinterest are......but I love my subject and I love working with students.
I am a Science and Chemistry teacher focused on Cambridge IGCSE and AS/A. I am also heavily involved in the National Chemistry Olympiad program.
By way of background I have a PhD in inorganic chemistry and entered teaching after 13 years in the food industry.
I guess I am a bit old fashioned - I don't use twitter and I have no idea what instagram or Pinterest are......but I love my subject and I love working with students.
This is the perfect topic to end the year on. It is fun and the students don't even realise there is a serious aspect to it: healthy eating, analysing food etc. You can adjust the depth and type of learning outcomes depending on the age group (eg. if it is an older group I always include a section on microbiology and we swab surfaces and check for cleanliness, learn about how factories manage food safety etc).
This topic encourages student-led learning and there is considerable enthusiasm in the classroom. You do not need to have an ice cream machine, although I did and there is often someone in the class who does have one). I have written up a rough guide on how the 1-2 weeks would go but I found that the students really enjoyed their own research and in some years this took longer than I originally had planned for.
This resource includes: notes for teacher, a base ice cream recipe, ice cream in a bag activity, taste testing template, energy calculation activity and some other ideas (eg poster design).
It is a lot of fun and will save you that painful end of year "now what do we do"?
This resource consists of 8 worksheets (and answers) that focus on the key words that are used when describing plants: cells, leaves and flowers. There are two versions of each resource requiring either a Chinese word or an English word (usually 1-2 pages of words). There are also resources that require the student to label the diagram using English words.
The feedback from the classroom has been very positive and the resources are being reviewed for use in other schools.
If there are specific topics you would like please tell me as a number of other resources are currently under development and review.
This resource consists of
* 2 worksheets with 3 pages of science terms we use to discuss and describe aspects of ecology. The student is asked to either fill in the correct English word or Chinese word when the opposite word is given.
* A crossword (and answers) that uses some of the English words in the above worksheets
* A worksheet in English with missing words that the student must fill in (answers are provided).
My students tell me they enjoy using these resources because they can use them as references afterwards rather than gluing in their book and forgetting about them. The students also enjoy drawing pictures to help them learn these words.
If you find any mistakes please contact me. The Chinese words have been checked by a native speaker though he is does not have a science background.
This resource consists of a diagram that needs to be labeled and a 1 page cloze-style work sheet to help reinforce the terms in the diagram. Answers are provided.
A series of 10 questions (and answers) on rocks and volcanoes are also provided in a separate w/s that can be used to start a lesson off or for peer-testing.
This resource consists of the list of key words used in Astronomy lessons (15-17 years old).
Tongan students often come to Australia or New Zealand for further education but do not have support outside the TESOL class in terms of key Science words. Would you believe there is no word for spring tide? It requires a lengthy description. It is examples like this one which help illustrate why Tongan students often struggle in the English dominated classroom.
Some cloze-style problems and a word finder are also included.
Topics include tides, seasons and phases of the moon.
This resource would help NZ students who are studying the Internal assessment AS 90954.
This resource focuses on laboratory equipment found in a typical school. There are four worksheets.
The first bundle relates to laboratory equipment that is typically used in schools. The student either provides the English word or the Chinese word. Pictures are given on each worksheet. The answers are also provided.
The second bundle relates to words we typically use to describe what we observe in an experiment. It includes terms that are important for drawing and describing graphs.
The feedback from the classroom has been very positive and some colleagues from other schools have asked to use these resources for their Chinese International students.
If there are specific topics you would like please tell me as it is likely they are currently being developed / or used.