Summer is Over and I am Back to School!!

I started back to school yesterday.  I was really bummed at first at the prospect of returning to school.  I LOVED having more time with my children, and having more time to spend with Mother Nature.  (Take a look at my earlier posts on my nature encounters of the summer!)  But the minute I walked into my classroom yesterday, my excitement for teaching a group of new students filled me up.  I just get so excited about science, and I just jump for joy when I see one of my students getting excited about science.

At the end of each school year I take the time to evaluate my entire course.  I try to identify what I think is the weakest part of my biology curriculum, and then I spend my summer revamping and improving this area of my course.  This summer I decided to completely overhaul all of my lessons on ecology.  I am so pleased with the result and can't wait to get started teaching these units to my students this year.

I decided to break down ecology into 6 mini-units of study:

• Introduction to Ecology
• Population Ecology
• Community Ecology
• Ecosystems and the Biosphere Part 1:  Energy Flow and the Recycling of Matter
• Ecosystems and the Biosphere Part II:  Biomes of the World
• The Human Impact on the Environment

I have written new PowerPoints, quizzes, labs, worksheets, homework assignments, unit tests and more.  I am especially excited about the new PowerPoints.  They are packed with super cool pictures that I am sure will spark some lively class discussions.  I hope so, at least!

To date, I have written 27 new products and have them posted in my store on TeachersPayTeachers.com.  You can find them and browse through all of them at this link:  Ecology Teaching Materials.  

Two of my new products are free and can be found here:

Backyard Ecology: An Ecological Assessment of Your Neck of the Woods

Ecology Crossword Puzzles - Set of 6

Be sure to grab these freebies.  I hope you like them and I hope you have a wonderful school year!

Have Fun Teaching!!