INBs – Math = Love https://mathequalslove.net Lessons Taught and Lessons Learned as a High School Math Teacher Wed, 08 Jan 2025 03:54:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.5 https://mathequalslove.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-Favicon-Heart-Equals-Logo-32x32.png INBs – Math = Love https://mathequalslove.net 32 32 KWL Chart Graphic Organizer Template https://mathequalslove.net/kwl-chart-printable/ Sat, 24 Feb 2024 03:33:28 +0000 https://mathequalslove.net/?p=51083

Enhance your students’ learning journey with this free printable KWL Chart. This graphic organizer is the perfect tool to help students organize their thoughts as they explore new topics.

kwl graphic organizer template.

What is a KWL Chart? 

A KWL chart is a simple graphic organizer used in the classroom to help students engage with a specific topic and organize their thoughts. The concept was created by Donna Ogle. It gained popularity after she published a journal article about this graphic organizer in The Reading Teacher in 1986. 

printable kwl chart pdf

KWL is an acronym which stands for “Know,” “Want to Know,” and “Learned.” Typically, the KWL chart is organized as a three-column table where each column of the chart features a different letter in KWL. 

Instead of filling out the KWL chart all at once, the chart is meant to accompany students throughout the learning process. The first two columns are completed before students learn about a new topic. The last column is completed after the unit of study is complete to help measure students’ understanding. 

printable kwl chart pdf graphic organizer

The first column is the “K” column which stands for “Know.” In this column, students write down what they already know about the topic in question. This is a great way to measure students’ prior knowledge to see if you need to adapt your lessons based on their current understanding. 

The second column is the “W” column which stands for “Want to Know.” In this second column, students can either write down what they want to learn about the topic, or they can choose to write a list of questions that they may have about the topic. 

The third column is the “L” column which stands for “Learned.” This final column is completed after the students have learned about the topic in class or have researched the topic on their own. The purpose of this column is for students to record what they have learned. 

A KWL chart is a powerful tool to help encourage students to be active participants while exercising critical thinking in the classroom. It is an effective teaching strategy to help support students in tracking their own learning progress. 

How to Use a K-W-L Chart in the Classroom

One of the best things about a KWL chart is the wide range of students and subject areas it can be used with. The KWL chart is an effective tool for students in elementary school, middle school, or even high school. 

Most commonly, these graphic organizer templates are used in the history, science, or english language arts classroom. But, I believe they can also be used in the mathematics classroom. 

While you could have students draw a KWL chart on a blank sheet of paper, I recommend giving students a blank kwl chart template to use. I have created several printable PDF templates to make it easy to guide students in using this powerful thinking tool. 

You can easily project the pdf file in your classroom to have a kwl chart example to fill out as students follow along. I recommend having students complete a KWL chart as an entire class for the first time. You could also guide students through filling out the K-W-L chart in small groups. 

If your school doesn’t have interactive whiteboards that can be written on, you could still project a digital kwl chart and have students write things on sticky notes that can be placed in the correct columns. 

Once students understand how the graphic organizer works, you can use it as a tool to help students organize their work on a research project or other independent assignment. 

]]>
3 Circle Venn Diagram Template https://mathequalslove.net/3-circle-venn-diagram-template/ Fri, 10 Nov 2023 01:41:11 +0000 https://mathequalslove.net/?p=49646

This 3 Circle Venn Diagram template is the perfect tool to help you or your students unlock the power of visual organization. Download this free PDF venn diagram template to get started organizing key concepts.

3 circle venn diagram template - free pdf

What is a Venn Diagram?

A Venn diagram is a powerful visual tool that showcases the relationships and commonalities between different sets or groups of data. Using overlapping circles, this graphical representation allows for a clear and intuitive comparison, making complex concepts more accessible for analysis and understanding.

blank 3 circle venn diagram template

This specific venn diagram template features three overlapping circles to help you compare and contrast three different concepts.

History of the Venn Diagram

The Venn diagram, named after mathematician John Venn, has a rich history dating back to the late 19th century. First introduced in 1880, Venn diagrams have since become a fundamental tool in mathematics, logic, and various fields, providing a visual method to illustrate relationships and set theory.

Other Sizes of Venn Diagrams

Two Circle Venn Diagram Template

venn diagram template with two circles and outline

I also have a 2 circle venn diagram template available to download for free!

]]>
26 Chemistry Foldables and Interactive Notebook Pages https://mathequalslove.net/chemistry-foldables/ Tue, 13 Sep 2022 00:56:54 +0000 https://mathequalslove.net/?p=43598

I created many chemistry foldables and interactive notebook pages during the time I taught physical science and chemistry at my previous school. Here is a collection of 26 of these foldables and INB pages that I have shared over the years.

chemistry foldables and interactive notebook pages

Hopefully you will find some inspiration for creating your own chemistry interactive notebooks!

Subatomic Particles Foldable

I want to share a subatomic particles foldable I created for my physical science students to glue in their interactive notebooks. My physical science students are starting our first unit that addresses the periodic table.  I decided to kick off this unit by reviewing the three types of subatomic particles.  

How to Read the Periodic Table Foldable

Since my physical science students are working through their first chemistry unit, I created a foldable to summarize how to read the periodic table.  The inside of the foldable contains a periodic table I found online.  

Chemical Symbol Foldable

There isn’t much to this chemical symbol foldable, but there’s something about it that just makes me so happy.  I wanted to come up with a quick reminder for my students about how to write a chemical symbol that identifies the specific isotope we are looking at.

How Many Molecules? Stoichiometry Lab

We tested our new found stoichiometry skills by figuring out how many molecules we would consume if we drank from the school water fountain for 30 seconds. I had my students make predictions before we started.  Their predictions turned out to be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy off.  

Molar Mass Foldable

Free Download of Molar Mass Foldable

Mole Map

mole map to convert between grams, moles, and particles

I created this mole map as a reference for my students while studying chemistry. You could also call it a stoichiometry diagram, but mole map sounds so much cooler.

Balancing Equations Foldable

I created this balancing equations foldable for my physical science classes. We began our chemical reactions unit in physical science by balancing chemical equations.  

Writing and Balancing Chemical Equations Foldable

I created this writing and balancing chemical equations foldable for my physical science students to complete and glue in their interactive notebooks. We completed this after our basic balancing equations foldable. After we had the hang of balancing chemical equations, I had them translate the equations from words to symbols and then balance them.

Types of Chemical Reactions Foldable

I created this types of chemical reactions foldable for my physical science students to glue in their interactive notebooks. We took a tiny break from balancing chemical equations to classify chemical equations.  I created this foldable to summarize the different types of reactions.

Classifying Reactions Foldable

I created this classifying reactions foldable for my physical science students to give them some basic classifying reactions practice. In this foldable, students are given a chemical equation which they must then classify as synthesis, combusion, decomposition, single displacement, or double displacement.

Predicting Products of Chemical Reactions Foldable

I created this predicting products of chemical reactions foldable for my physical science students to glue in their interactive notebooks. After we had learned about the different types of reactions, it meant we were ready to learn to predict the products of a reaction.

Reaction Rate Summary Notes

We did a quick notebook page to summarize what we had learned about the effects of temperature and concentration on reaction rates from our experiments. We did the following experiments: Glow Sticks Lab, Effervescent Tablets Lab, Rust Lab, and Effect of Concentration on Reaction Rate Lab.

Stoichiometry Practice Converting Between Grams, Moles, and Molecules

I created this stoichiometry practice page for my physical science students to complete and glue in their interactive notebooks. I designed this page of notes to give my students some much needed practice converting between grams, molecules, and moles.

States of Matter Foldable

I’m pretty proud of how the states of matter foldable I designed for my chemistry class turned out! We put this foldable in our chemistry interactive notebooks.

Branches of Chemistry Foldable

The chemistry textbook I am following this year (Holt Modern Chemistry) begins with an examination of the six main branches of chemistry. I decided to give students a foldable to glue in their notebooks so they would have the definitions of each of these branches.

Types of Chemical Research Foldable

Quick post today to share another foldable I made for my chemistry class. Holt’s Modern Chemistry textbook places a big emphasis on differentiating between three different types of research at the beginning of the year.

Atomic Theory Timeline Foldable Projects

atomic theory timeline foldable

I’m super pleased with how my chemistry students’ atomic theory timeline projects turned out. We didn’t have time to cover every theory in class, so this project helped round-out our understanding of atomic theory.

Classifying Chemical Compounds Foldable

I created this classifying chemical compounds foldable because my chemistry students are currently practicing classifying compounds as either covalent, ionic, or both. Yesterday, we practiced this skill by classifying common, everyday compounds.

Chemistry Frayer Model

photograph of colorful chemistry flasks with text "chemistry frayer model" 

I created this chemistry frayer model template a few years ago when I was teaching chemistry. We completed this frayer model in our interactive notebooks after completing a What is Chemistry? mindmapping activity to determine what students thought chemistry was prior to beginning the course.

Physical Changes vs Chemical Changes Venn Diagram

I created this physical changes vs chemical changes venn diagram for my chemistry students to glue in their chemistry interactive notebooks.

Homogeneous vs Heterogeneous Color Coding Activity

I created this homogeneous vs heterogeneous color coding activity for my chemistry students to glue in their interactive notebooks. As we talked through the activity as a class, we decided that some of the mixtures could be classified either way based on our assumptions. It was a good discussion!

Extensive vs Intensive Properties Color Coding Activity

I created this extensive vs intensive properties color coding activity for my chemistry students to complete and glue in our interactive notebooks.

Lab Report Requirements for Interactive Notebooks

I made this summary of lab report requirements for my chemistry students to glue in their interactive notebooks.

Elements Odd One Out Interactive Notebook Page

elements odd one out activity

I created this odd one out chemistry activity to give my students practice determining how the placement of an element on the periodic table tells us about how an element will likely behave.

More Activities for Teaching Science

]]>
How the Periodic Table Really Looks Activity https://mathequalslove.net/how-the-periodic-table-really-looks-activity/ Thu, 09 Dec 2021 00:08:13 +0000 https://mathequalslove.net/?p=35776

I created this How the Periodic Table Really Looks Activity a few years ago when I was teaching chemistry.

periodic table activity

I wanted my chemistry students to understand that our modern day periodic table is structured the way it is because we want it to print nicely and be easily readable.

How the Periodic Table Really Looks Activity in Chemistry Interactive Notebook

To help illustrate what the periodic table really looks like, I gave my chemistry students a periodic table for us to dissect and reassemble in our interactive notebooks.

How the Periodic Table Really Looks Activity Printable

I hope that the act of cutting apart the periodic table and re-gluing it helped the lesson stick in my students’ minds!

]]>
Deriving the Unit Circle Foldable https://mathequalslove.net/deriving-the-unit-circle-foldable/ Sat, 03 Jul 2021 19:16:09 +0000 https://mathequalslove.net/?p=29440

Several years ago, I created this deriving the unit circle foldable for my trigonometry students to work through and glue in their interactive notebooks. I tweeted about the foldable, but the file never made it to my blog. Today, I am remedying that!

We started with a review of our special right triangles.

special right triangles

First, we went over the special right triangles as you typically see them.

special right triangles

Then, we walked through the process of crafting special right triangles with a hypotenuse of 1 since the unit circle has a radius of 1.

special right triangles

First we, defined the unit circle as a circle on the coordinate plane with a center at (0, 0) and a radius of 1.

deriving the unit circle foldable

I gave my students a sheet of triangles printed out on colored paper to cut out.

deriving the unit circle foldable

We started by gluing all of the triangles down with a 30 degree reference angle. We wrote in the angles and the sides. Then, we labeled the ordered pairs where the triangle intersected the unit circle.

deriving the unit circle foldable

We repeated the process for our 60 degree reference triangles.

deriving the unit circle foldable

And, finally we did our 45 degree reference triangles.

deriving the unit circle foldable

I wanted my students to understand where these ordered pairs on the unit circle came from.

]]>
Observations vs Inferences Chart https://mathequalslove.net/observations-vs-inferences-chart/ Sat, 26 Jun 2021 00:50:12 +0000 https://mathequalslove.net/?p=28037

I typed up this simple observations vs. inferences chart for my chemistry students to glue in their interactive notebooks.

Observations vs Inferences Chart
Observations vs Inferences Chart

We followed this chart up by practicing telling the differences between observations and inferences with a dinosaur activity.

More Activities for Teaching Science

]]>
Odd One Out Chemistry Activity https://mathequalslove.net/odd-one-out-chemistry-activity/ Wed, 13 Jan 2021 03:14:52 +0000 https://mathequalslove.net/?p=23075

I created this odd one out chemistry activity to give my students practice determining how the placement of an element on the periodic table tells us about how an element will likely behave.

elements odd one out activity

For this activity, students were given three elements to locate on the periodic table. Based on these locations, they had to determine which element is least like the others. We glued the results in our chemistry interactive notebooks.

odd one out chemistry activity chemistry interactive notebooks elements activity

I vaguely remember thinking after I did this activity that one of the answers on my answer key was incorrect, but I can’t remember now which one it was. Sorry! This is what happens when I blog in 2021 about an activity I did back in the 2017-2018 school year.

]]>
Lab Report Requirements for Interactive Notebooks https://mathequalslove.net/lab-report-requirements/ Wed, 13 Jan 2021 02:59:32 +0000 https://mathequalslove.net/?p=23064
chemistry lab report requirements for chemistry science interactive notebook

I made this summary of lab report requirements for my chemistry students to glue in their interactive notebooks.

chemistry lab report requirements for chemistry science interactive notebook
]]>
5 W’s and H Foldable for Statistics https://mathequalslove.net/5-ws-and-h-foldable-for-statistics/ https://mathequalslove.net/5-ws-and-h-foldable-for-statistics/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2021 00:56:30 +0000 https://mathequalslove.net/?p=22923

I created this 5 W’s and H Foldable for my Stats class to glue in their statistics interactive notebooks (INBs).

The 5 W’s are a key part of how Bock, Velleman, and De Veaux introduce statistics in Stats Modeling the World. I was inspired to create this 5 W’s and H foldable after seeing one that @druinok created.

5 w's and h foldable statistics stats interactive notebook

The outside of the foldable lists the 5 W’s and H: Who? What? When/Where? Why? How? By Whom? When students are presented with statistical information, it is important that they ask themselves these 6 questions.

5 w's and h foldable statistics stats interactive notebook

On the inside of the foldable, we wrote more about why each question is important to ask.

5 w's and h foldable statistics stats interactive notebook

I also created a booklet foldable to give my students some practice asking themselves the 5 w’s and h questions. These questions were taken from Stats: Modeling the World.

5 w's and h foldable statistics stats interactive notebook
5 w's and h foldable statistics stats interactive notebook
]]>
https://mathequalslove.net/5-ws-and-h-foldable-for-statistics/feed/ 2
Extensive vs Intensive Properties Color Coding Activity https://mathequalslove.net/extensive-vs-intensive-properties-color-coding/ Thu, 07 Jan 2021 19:54:19 +0000 https://mathequalslove.net/?p=22604
extensive vs intensive properties color coding activity for chemistry interactive notebooks

I created this extensive vs intensive properties color coding activity for my chemistry students to complete and glue in our interactive notebooks.

]]>