I love incorporating models into science lessons. With moon phases, this was especially useful to get students to truly understand the phases of the moon. I used three (yes three) different models and had students compare and contrast each model and how that model helped deepen their understanding of the phases of the moon.

First up- Moon on a stick
​With this model, students worked in groups of three to model the phases.

One student played the part of the moon. This student walked around the earth always ensuring that the light side of the moon was facing the sun.

The student playing the earth had to observe what they saw as the moon orbited around them.

The student playing the sun had one job and one job only. Stand proudly as the provider of energy and light. :)

Students switched jobs so each could see the moon from the earth's perspective. When they finished they recorded what they observed on their moon phase sheet.

Moon Phase Board
The class favorite by far. Prep this beauty by getting some white balls. Paint one half of the balls white. Find a piece of cardboard and cut a hole on one side. I used a bowl to trace the hole and a knife to cut it out. Then, glue the balls around the hole- the white side of the balls should all face the same direction. I used foam balls purchased at a craft store but if I were to do it again, I would use ping-pong balls as they are much easier to paint.  I added a sun to the end of the board that the white balls all faced and walla! Model complete. Students took turns spinning around, observing what happened to the moon at each phase as the moved around. After each observed the phases, they worked together to fill out their phases of the moon worksheet.

The Standard Model
The kids had a blast with this one as well but it was admittedly a bit more tricky to observe. This group had to find a dark space (luckily I have a large closet with an outlet in it.) They took turns operating the model and recorded their observations on their moon model worksheet when they were done.
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Students got to observe each model. When we were all finished, we discussed how the use of different models deepened our understanding and made arguments about which model was most effective and why.

Let my start with this: I was first introduced to Interactive Notebooks by an amazing Teachers Pay Teachers author and her absolutely fantastic Language Arts Interactive Notebooks. Her resources added what I felt was missing in my Language Arts Curriculum.

I am a STEM teacher at heart. Kids leave my classroom loving all things Science, Tech, Engineering and Math. A colleague of mine suggested we introduce some Interactive Notebooks into our Science curriculum so I happily jumped aboard. Until I saw the resources... and cringed.

Interactive Notebooks are great. They are also incredibly time consuming. For grammar instruction, the time in is arguably worth it. The cut and paste activities add a little spice into a subject that is by nature boring. (I am sorry grammar lovers, but it's true!)

STEM lessons scream hands on. To spend an entire lesson cutting and pasting vocabulary words into a journal is a missed opportunity to spark love for learning. While there is absolutely a time and place for the Interactive Notebook resource, please don't let that time and place be Science!

Instead do this:
1. Spend time doing hands on activities 
Science is all about systems and process. A student won't truly understand any of this unless they get hands on with the material. The web is exploding with great STEM resources both free and paid. The activities don't have to be elaborate. They can be a quick and simple 20 minute thing or can spam over a week. Either way, the time spent is much more valuable than cutting and pasting words into a notebook. 

2. Draw it out 
Students should be taking time to diagram things on their own. Instead of cutting and pasting that diagram of flower parts, have your students draw it and label it themselves. This is something a real scientist would do in their real journal anyway. Get your kids used to this. 

3. Journaling
Talk about a perfect time for a two-fer. Squeeze in some Language Arts time into your science curriculum by having your students journal about their experience. Have them record their observations and thoughts on the lesson you completed. When doing an experiment, follow the Scientific Process. Start by having the class make observations about the topic you are studying. Guide them to form a question to answer. Come up with a good hypothesis to the question. Figure out a process that will guide your experiment. Record any observations and dataduring the experiment. Analyze the results. And finally have your students write about the outcome.

Interactive Journals are great. But in science, are they really interactive if all you are doing is cutting, pasting and coloring?