(1) Menus
I have used menus for quite a while, but always struggled with how to organize everything. I love kids having options, but it does make it more challenging on my side to keep up with who did what. With Numbers, I can have different options in different tabs and students can add their product and return it back to me.
Each of the 3 parts of the menu below is a different state objective all connected to plant responses. Students had about a week in class to work on it. I spent my time going student to student checking notes and helping them decide which option to choose and giving them individual feedback and expectations.
I love using stations in class and usually just leave a page of directions at each station. The problem with this was that when students did not finish the station or if they were absent, they didn't have the directions in an organized way. For the next stations we are doing in class, I created a Numbers document and added a tab for each station. Students can move around the room at their own pace and if they don't finish, they have the document with directions so they can complete at home. For this particular activity, students do not have to do all the stations. Most are overlapping information, so as long as they do 2-3 of them, they will get the required information. They will have one day to do as many as they want to do. Each tab is a different location in the room with a different learning experience.
(3) Labs
I use to give students labs as a PDF and had them mark it up using a different app. This past year, I started using Numbers thanks to the idea of Brian Phillips and absolutely loved it. It helps to keep the lab organized for me and students. The data table and graphing features in Numbers are fantastic and help kids learn better graphing skills.
Want an original copy of any of these documents? Contact me and I am happy to email you a copy.
