Monday 23 December 2013

Experiments to Enhance Chemistry in the High School Science Curriculum

The importance of learning the costs and the trade-offs of decisions cannot be understated. For every action there is a reaction. As students complete the modeling and comparing of fossil fuel and biofuel combustion, they will become enlightened as to carbon footprints, cost and effect of various fuels.

What is released when the three fuels burn? How do they calculate the amount of energy released? These can be taught with the printed word and the module that accompanies it. It will make chemistry real. A high school science curriculum exciting for every student in the class.

Wednesday 9 October 2013

More Advanced Concepts In The School Year's Second Experiment

Now that the year's first school science experiments have been completed, you have gotten your students back into the groove of how education is supposed to play out. Your students have successfully gotten their hands dirty and are starting to get an idea of what makes the middle school science curriculum different from all the science classes that they've had before. But now that they have experienced their first experiments, it's time to really get their minds into the science world.

The first experiment of the school year is traditionally one of relative ease. The idea was to get your students into the proper frame of mind for the coming year full of school science experiments. Now that this has been accomplished, your students have been reminded about the proper way to take notes and the proper etiquette for participating in experiments in the classroom. For some students, we know that this may have been their first ever experiment in the classroom setting. They learned a lot form this experience, but now it is time to move on.

Wednesday 25 September 2013

3 Tips To Encourage High School Science Students To Study

Keeping your student's minds sharp is a challenge that science educators face every day of the school year. The simple fact of the matter is that high school science students, like students in any other class taught in your school district, don't like to study. More and more, students are finding themselves graduating from high school and moving on to college without ever having studied for a single test in their lives. To help encourage your students to study, here at 3 tips you can put to work in your schoolscience classroom.

Verbal Reminders
Students often forget that they have tests coming up until it is too late. You're all too familiar with students walking in to your classroom and frantically grabbing their books or notebooks as they realize that today is test day. If you continually remind your high school science students that the test is coming, some of them will bother to study, and may even improve their grades because of it. By being told every day that they need to study for the test, you may just get through to some of them.

Wednesday 11 September 2013

End The Hunt For Materials Outside The Classroom

Is there anything that is quite as annoying as running out of a key component for an experiment that you've created? What begins as a plan to set up for a simple chemical reaction ends with you driving all over town in search of a bottle of hydrochloric acid. In the end, you find yourself either paying far too much, or scrapping the experiment altogether in favor of something that you do have the materials on hand for.

As a basic part of the middle school science educational experience, your students are going to have their hands on these chemicals, and you need to be able to keep them in stock. But finding these school science materials can be a headache if you don't know have access to an easy supply source.

Wednesday 10 July 2013

The SEPUP Provisions For Your Classroom

If you've been searching around for new supplies for your middle school science curriculum for the coming fall semester, then chances are that you have encountered the name SEPUP several times in your research. This isn't surprising, considering all of the new breakthroughs in classroom science supplies that this company has made over the years. There are multiple ways that your classroom can benefit from using the SEPUP brand.

For starters, the SEPUP tray has provided middle school science curriculum instructors with a way to replace all of those old, worn out test tubes and the less than reliable racks that usually hold them. This innovation in science materials has turned these large test tubes into a single tray covered with indentations of multiple sizes.

Thursday 27 June 2013

The Skills That Serious Students Can Get From A Solid Science Education

While you are working out your high school science curriculum for this coming school year, you should keep in mind those students who you are preparing for college careers. Teachers often lose track of those students who have a bright future ahead of them, letting them get lost in the shuffle of the science education guidelines and making sure that no student is left behind.

What you can do for these students is amazing, and begins with the knowledge that even the smallest skill that prepares them for college life will be a wonderful help, even while they are still in high school! These skills can be mixed in with the science education initiatives easily enough. It just takes an instructor who is willing to go that extra mile in order to give these students the head start that they need.

Monday 17 June 2013

Break Up The Monotony Of Your Middle School Science Classes

Even though school just let out for the summer, educators are already planning for next year's crop of students. You know that the students will be out enjoying their summer break, but lingering in the back of their minds is the dreaded start of the school year in the fall. As a science curriculum instructor, you need a way to spice things up for them. You need a way to turn the everyday lecture into something that your students will actually enjoy doing.

Wednesday 29 May 2013

Introducing The New Classes To Middle School Science Experiments

We all know how awkward and confusing the middle school years can be on students. You find the early weeks of each new school year to be a blur of students lost in the corridors, jammed lockers, and vast adjustments from the elementary setting that the students were all too recently in. When you are tasked with adding experiments to the middle school science curriculum, and students have their first experience with hands-on science, you need to know that you can stay in control.

When students suddenly find themselves in the group setting of middle school science experiments, the initial temptation to goof off instead of doing their work can be overwhelming. The average first year middle school student has never encountered hands-on experiments before, and can be all too distracted by the concept of mixing chemicals and causing explosions like they have grown up seeing on cartoons.

Tuesday 21 May 2013

How Immature Is Too Immature For Middle School Science Experiments?


A common apprehension that we hear from middle school science teachers is a concern about the potential combination of an immature class level mixing poorly with scientific experiments. As part of science education, we here at Lab-Aids understand these concerns, and would like a chance to address those worried teachers. When it comes to school science, we believe that there is no such thing as a class that is too young or too immature to experience the scientific method first hand.

What we will encourage, however, is a selective approach to the middle school science experiments that you select for your less mature classes. Among our offerings at Lab-Aids, we do have those science education kits that are more involved, and those that could be considered suitable for a younger school science class. It is due to this reasoning that we go out of our way to present you with a detailed description of what our kits and modules contain, including a basic overview of what students will be asked to do during the experiment itself.

Monday 13 May 2013

Explaining The Practical Uses For School Science Experiments


As a teacher of the middle school science curriculum, one of the problems that you undoubtedly face with every new batch of students is a complete lack of interest. It's not that your teaching methods are incorrect, it is simply that your students are at the critical age where school science experiments, and anything involving school in general, are deemed by your students to be a complete waste of their time.

Here at Lab-Aids, we are all too familiar with the problem you face. Your students have reached that crucial point in their development where members of the opposite gender are more important than Newton's laws, and the latest fashions in music, technology and clothing far outweigh the lasting implications of fundamental geologic studies. Trying to engage your students and make them care about your lessons is a daily struggle that it seems like any small distraction is capable of derailing.

Monday 29 April 2013

Science Kits Make Better Use Of Experiment Situations In Classrooms

Today's middle and high school educators have a lot on their plates. They have to cater to generations that are brought up fully in the digital world, fight with technologies to keep their student's attention spans at any given moment, and deal with modern threats that previous instructors didn't have to concern themselves with. When it comes to providing a national science education that is universal for all students in America, teachers may have their hands full in trying to balance everything that needs attention in the modern classroom setting.

Because of this, educators across America are turning to pre-constructed science kits in order to help them make better use of their classroom planning time. These kits, and even modern textbook selections, come with a packaged set of materials for teachers to make use of in the way of science experiments. Students are introduced to important scientific concepts in the lecture setting, before being instructed to read further information for themselves that will be discussed in small group situations.

Monday 22 April 2013

Adding Experiments To Your High School Science Curriculum


For high school science teachers across America, the upcoming NGSS changes mean that we must all introduce different aspects of science into the overall understanding that our students take away from the generalized courses we once taught. For the high school science curriculum, this means introducing individual concepts such as geology and earth sciences as a part of our existing school science materials.

Here at LAB-AIDS, we know that earth sciences and geology are best taught with the hands-on approach. You can lecture on solar energy, water pollution, and ore extraction all semester long, or you can get in there and let your students experience the hands-on experiments that will really drive your point home.

Wednesday 17 April 2013

Using Middle School Science Experiments To Teach Kids How To Think


As a general rule, the SEPUP designed science modules that we sell here at LAB-AIDS are designed to do more than just teach students the basics of how a part of science works. We believe that students need to incorporate all aspects of their daily responsibilities as future citizens into their education process so that these actions become ingrained in their very way of thinking. When it comes to middle school science experiments, our Fruitvale module fulfills all of these roles.

A science education sticks with students best when they can incorporate real world scenarios into their learning process. When this is done, students begin seeing how important their involvement is in their own world. Here at LAB-AIDS, we believe this understanding should be introduced early on in a child's education. As with most of our science modules, this understanding is built in to the experiment that we call "Groundwater Contamination: Trouble In Fruitvale."

Monday 15 April 2013

The Consumption Rate Of SEPUP Kits


Across America, teachers are encountering the SEPUP program for teaching. In the almost 50 years since we shipped our first kit, we have been proudly providing school science curriculum kits to teachers across the nation. While these kits have become extremely popular, those who encounter them for the first time frequently question the consumption rate of the items in the SEPUP kits, including the extremely useful SEPUP trays.

Each of the science kits that LAB-AIDS sells comes with everything that is indicated on the package details. For some of these school science curriculum products, there are additional items or tools that the teacher will need to provide for their own classroom.

Wednesday 10 April 2013

How Middle School Science Experiments Help Students Learn

Book learning is good. The teacher opens the textbook and reads along with the students or assigns students to read. They may have quizzes along to test the knowledge learned, but some students struggle with learning this way. Perhaps it is because they are bored. Some may have trouble grasping the written word. Some may not understand it fully seeing it in one dimension. Seeing is better at helping to learn. Middle school science experiments help students to gain an interest in science by actually doing instead of just reading.

Monday 8 April 2013

What Makes Up School Science Materials


Every single science teacher will tell you they need a lot more than a book and a lesson plan to teach science properly. Most schools give allowances to teachers with which they are to purchase the learning tools and aids they need. Science teachers, especially, have long lists of school science materials. Every science subject has his or her own labs and experiments that can be performed. Teachers know that students thrive on learning by using their hands. Nothing quite drives home a point than by actually experiencing it. Sure, they can see what the microscopic critters look like in a photo on a page, but it is so much more exciting when they can handle a real microscope and see it live.

Tuesday 2 April 2013

How Science Kits Help To Teach Science


One of the best tools for helping middles school and high school science teachers teach the subject of science is through science kits and science modules. In this day of worldwide access to companies that make these, there is no reason not to include them within the classroom. 

These give a great three-dimensial view of science to the students, to where they can see, touch, and feel the science at work. It is one thing to teach from a book and to lecture. Sure, a teacher can give a good lecture, or pull images up on a Smart Board, but it is quite another to put their hands on an actual kit or module to help see and understand it in person in three dimensions. Take a survey of your classes and find out if the students would be interested in more hands on learning through science lab time. The overwhelming vote would be a big fat yes. Students love this kind of interaction in the classroom.

Tuesday 29 January 2013

3 Ways To Make High School Science More Fun For Students


Millions of teachers across the nation are facing a new breed of teenager. The teenagers of today are not quite excited about school in the traditional sense and sometimes can be hard to reach because they are hit with modern technology at every turn. They have tablet computers, phones, and a constant Internet connection that has thwarted a lot of the endeavors of even the brightest of education professionals. It’s with that in mind that many have found new ways to make highschool science more fun for students, and it’s through a variety of non-traditional ways. It’s been proven time and time again that visual learning and unorthodox lessons can not only be effective in teaching harder concepts of a scientific nature but also cement existing lectures, plans and more. Consider the following 3 ways that teachers are finding work out best to invigorate lessons in their students.

Interactive Learning – The first option that is making high school science fare more fun than ever before is the idea of interactive learning. For instance, many education professionals are finding that science kits can be ordered and implemented in a classroom setting. The kits have several components that are meant to have students interactively learn lessons and concepts of science that would normally be reserved for lab settings only. They will further get to become familiar with experimentation and ways that great minds of the past fell in love with the subject matter.

Technology in Class and at Home – The second way that many are finding ways to implement new ideas into the minds of students is through science modules that are free online. These are accessible by anyone at home or at school that has an Internet connection. A teacher can lecture in class, and assign students to go through the modules at home and read through the offerings. The modules contain several interactive simulations, maps, and videos that can help solidify even the hardest concept.

Experiments and Visual Aids – Prepackaged experiments that are low cost and can be used as a demonstration work great to produce a variety of different results when trying to educate teenagers. Even the harder lessons to learn can be taught using experiments, and much like interactive learning this type of visual education can go a long way to present and promote science on many different levels.

It’s up to education professionals to learn how to implement new world strategies to high school science, lest students get bored and frustrated with reading, writing, and trying to take notes from pure lectures alone. It’s in modern teaching techniques that many students find their paths to great ongoing educational ideals.

Friday 25 January 2013

Making Middle School Science Fun


One of the hardest roles to take on in these modern times is that of a teacher. Education professionals face a harder time than any other time before, especially as modernity seems to be slow to be adopted in the classrooms of many schools. While some are finding traction with a lot of different old world methods, a greater number is seeking a way to make subjects such as middle school science fun through a new way of teaching. Those that are engaging their students with curriculum that is prepackaged and meant to entertain seems to work wonders in terms of creating fun in the classroom.

There is nothing wrong with a little fun in the classroom, especially when dealing with middle school science, as it is a great way to present what seems to be the harder of topics to get enthusiastic about. No matter what lesson you present, it can be made so much brighter if you look into science modules that can instruct, entertain, and push students to enjoy their work rather than simply try to stay awake during another lecture.

You might be an experienced teacher, and you know the days when your students seem sluggish, tired, and malnourished. Trying to wake them up, answer questions, ask questions, and genuinely be enthused about coming into your classroom can seem like a task that is painstaking at best. In order to change things up at least one day out of the week or for one plan in your many points of progress, why not look into science kits that can transform the way curriculum is presented? This type of push can work miracles in many instances.

There are many ways to make middle school science fun, and it starts with thinning outside of the proverbial box. As an education professional it’s important to look at the students in a way that allows you to gauge where they are in their process of learning. If you can put yourself in their shoes for a moment, you can see why it’s crucial to make sure that you’re pushing the limits as an educator to engage their minds with the subject matter, even when it seems dry. If you can simply find new ways of presenting the material, you’ll be light years ahead of many traditional methods. In these modern times, modern techniques are definitely worth exploring. Make sure that you never stagnate in your presentation, lest you lose your classroom to boredom. 

Tuesday 22 January 2013

3 Reasons To Employ More School Science Experiments


Getting students excited for a variety of subject matters can be difficult. That includes the sciences, especially the higher level classes that can be full of complicated math and concepts that aren’t easily taught. Classrooms today can be either boring or exciting, depending on how the curriculum is taught. In traditional roads, a lot of material is covered through reading, writing, and lecture. Those 3 elements can seem tough, but they are spread out across a school year and can be easy to implement. However, despite the changing landscape of education, students aren’t grasping the material quite the same as before. A lot of things are to blame when things go awry, but one thing is for sure, changing things for the better can be easily done by adding more school science experiments.

When you first consider the idea of adding more school science experiments, you can see the primary reason why, it engages the imagination of young people. No matter what you do as a visual representation, you will find that more participation and learning interaction will be the main result. If you increase the number of these showcases, you can definitely see a difference in the classroom in terms of learning. Even if the visual is a short and simple one, it sure beats another lecture that could take a long time.

Today’s experiments aren’t complicated to produce and in many cases you can buy a kit that you can utilize in any school room. If you’re looking for complicated projects and more, there are a variety of different things that you can do. The key factor here is that you’ll be bridging the gap between entertainment and education and that can prove to be a major help in increasing interest in the sciences.

One of the best reasons to employ these experiments in class is because it gives young people a sense of pride that they have learned the concept and have seen it in action. This type of learning outcome is the ideal scenario for teachers that are looking definitely add more science fun to the classroom. School science experiments can be purchased and then done in front of a class, or they can be created by an individual that is trying to prove certain things true about the text and lecture presentations. When moving forward, always look at new and innovative ways of creating learning stability for today’s youth. 


Thursday 17 January 2013

The Basics of Middle School Science Curriculum

Middle school science curriculum is a bridge between the science learned in elementary and the science that will be taught in high school. The completion of at least two maybe three sciences is required with most high schools in the USA for graduation. These science classes must be passed with sufficient grades. Middle school science classes help to prepare for the upper classes. In order to instill the love of learning the teachers have to make science class interesting and fun. This is where choosing the best curriculum comes in handy at this point.

Middle school science curriculum normally includes teaching of earth science and life science which are the prerequisites to biology and physical science when precursors physics and chemistry. If the curriculum includes computer time, the students will have opportunity to use advanced technology along with their science lessons and this will have a greater impact on their education. Starting in the sixth grade with life science, mild lab experiments and science kits come into play to increase the learning experience for the students. Seventh grade normally includes the study of earth science while 8th grade may include physical science or environmental science.

A sampling of middle school science curriculum includes learning about how the earth was created, how the mountains were formed and the rivers, lakes, deserts, and oceans too. Animals are introduced, with lessons that surround animal habitat and environments, their habits and their migrations. This offers opportunity to introduce videos to the classroom, showing the different animals and their interaction with nature. A field trip to the zoo may be in order here, making science one of the most favored classes among students. Where else can they go to see animals close up and alive but at the local zoo?

Middle school science curriculum should include fun projects that help to hold the interest to learn more. Lab time is so important even in middle school level, though it is scaled back from the projects high school students do. Lab ideas can be simple formations of sedimentary rocks to creating things like kaleidoscopes. Science kits are handy for middle school levels as well as the use of science modules in the classrooms. Students need to see how science is all around them in everyday life and it is during the middle school years they develop the love for learning more about it.

Wednesday 9 January 2013

Science Education with SEPUP

SEPUP is Science Education for Public Understanding Program. This project program works with middle and high schools in helping them to provide hands-on training and materials mainly for chemistry. They work with public and private schools and community organization groups in helping to educate children about science. Their original name was Chemical Education for Public Understand Program or CEPUP, which started back in 1987, but they wanted to broaden their reach and scope so they changed it from Chemical to Science to be more all-inclusive. They are a non-profit organization working with teachers in the United States.

SEPUP gains their support through grants, which enables them to pursue the science education program further. Their first aim is to supply middle and high schools with science curriculum and lab aids. They provide curriculum all over the United States. They provide the textbooks, workbooks, science kits, and science modules on their website as well. They enjoy working with the schools and hope to give students a good and fun learning experience with science projects. Their modules have an aim to help make students aware of their environment and develop an interest and love for learning more science.

SEPUP works with students in gaining a better knowledge of issue oriented science, which is a part of their environmental awareness. Students learn how to take issues such as what to do with old recyclable items and learn the scientific concepts for dealing with this. It is a means of teaching how to "reconsider" issues such as what to do with an old computer, what to do with old plastic containers, etc. Science concepts help to derive answers to these issues and thus help with environmental concerns. It teaches students how to be good stewards of the earth and of all the material things in their possession.

SEPUP helps to bring student interaction with the concepts of science. The science education helps them to take any issue or problem and look at it with scientific evidence rather than just face value. It helps to make the world a better place by understanding the consequences of our actions with how we deal with everything things. This curriculum expects students to learn these concepts and to be able to debate the issues while having group discussions. This type of science education teaches students with skills and knowledge they can carry with them the rest of their lives.

Monday 7 January 2013

On Teaching High School Science

High school science is a requirement for all of students to pass in order to graduate. The high school science curriculum should include the latest textbooks for study as well as a lab set up with the right equipment including all the tools and safety gear necessary for running experiments. Most curriculums suggests a small percentage of the learning time be spent in a lab, using science kits or modules and using real items such as microscopes as a part of the learning experience. Normally a graduate needs at the very least 2 completed years of science and with some diplomas may need three or four years.

High school science consists of physical science, biology, chemistry, physics and the elective courses of AP biology, AP chemistry, and AP physics. Some high schools may also offer anatomy, zoology, astronomy, environmental science, and marine science. Those are normally electives and can only be taken if one or two of the basic levels were completed to satisfaction. All of the science classes include lab time, but the degree and ability of the lab depends on the course. Biology, chemistry, and physics may have more lab time than say physical science.

The two main high school science courses are physical science and biology. If a school requires a third year, they may offer chemistry or physics or one of the AP courses. Some schools may offer earth science over physical science, though these two may interchange with those of middle school science classes. The AP sciences generally require the satisfactory completion of the basic level as well as one other level. AP means advanced placement and normally is offered to students who excel or show potential to excel with their classes. Teachers who have received extra AP training teach the AP classes.

If a student wishes to study for a science degree in college they will need to take chemistry and physics in high school science, which will at the very least look good on their transcript. These two science classes are for upper high school, normally juniors and seniors and taught by teachers with special training with chemistry and physics. Just a general degree in science will not be enough to teach these upper high school classes. The courses are heavy with facts and knowledge. If a science teacher uses all the materials available these can be super fun classes for the students too.


Lab-Aids is the leading publisher of Middle School and High School Science textbooks, science kits & modules, and all materials. Lab-Aids has been working hard to bring excitement back to the classroom, and help engage students in all learning aspects.For more information visit the website: https://lab-aids.com/

Thursday 3 January 2013

The Basics of High School Science Curriculum


The middle school science experiments pave the way for the fulfillment of the high school science curriculum. Students of middle school age are first introduced to serious science, it is then they will develop a passion for learning more. The curriculum for high school classes needs to continue with the same learning scale, in introducing more lab time, science kits, and the use of science modules, though by this point, the lab time should hold more weight. There needs to be a good mix of textbook learning, lecturing and lab time each week in the lesson plans for high school science.

High school science curriculum contains the basics required for graduation by most all high school seniors and some electives. The basics are biology and physical science. Sometimes earth science is traded with middle school science curriculum for physical science. Occasionally you may find a high school offering environmental science as one of the basics. Biology is the one where the lab experiments are more necessary. It is during biology that dissections occur; bug and leaf collections are done. It seems these are a rite of passage through the high school years and have been a part of the curriculum for decades.

The high school science curriculum electives are chemistry, physics, anatomy, zoology, astronomy, and the AP classes for biology, chemistry, and biology. If a student desires to go into any medical field or any technology field, they should take as many science courses as they can in high school. These science electives are more involved and a little tougher than the basics, because they go over a lot more materials. Normally in order to take these classes the student must have passed and must maintain a certain grade level. Taking these elective science classes look good on transcripts for applications to colleges and universities later.

The National Science Education Standards helps to create high school science curriculum that gives the students a well-rounded education with science. Once a student graduates from high school, they should have had plenty of lab time, practicing on lab experiments as well as the textbook training and lecturing. If these classes are taught right, the student will be well prepared for their college years and learning science in college will be a bit easier for them.