Starting your lesson with a Do Now is good practice. It sets the tone for the class, gets students settled in (because they have to do it now), and ideally makes them think. A Do Now is a question or quote that either reviews or introduces a topic to students. But what constitutes a good Do Now?

Let’s take a look at 5 different types of Do Nows.

Review

This is probably the most common type of Do Now. After a topic is taught, a question that assesses the previous lesson is used as a Do Now. Review Do Nows allow the teacher to determine if students understand a topic before continuing. However, it can become the only type of Do Now question used and students will grow tired of them.

For example after studying the water cycle, the following question is given:

Do Now: List the major components of the water cycle and explain the role of each step in the cycling of water.

After we study the process for identifying minerals, I like to ask the following question.

Do Now: You are walking down the street and you come across a mineral that is white-ish in color and does not bubble with acid. After a few simple tests you discover the mineral can scratch glass. Using your ESRT, identify the mineral.

Quotes

Using quotes is a refreshing way to assess what students know about a topic. Reflecting on a quote also opens up different avenues for discussion once a topic has been covered. Quotes make students think, because there isn’t just one answer. Quotes also make great writing prompts.

You can find tons of science quotes at sites like Quote Garden or Quotations Page. If you are looking for a quote on something specific, do a google search for the topic name + quote. For example, search “geology quote” for a quote on geology.

After studying the water cycle, you might give the following quote as a Do Now:

Do Now: What did the author mean when he wrote the following statement?

All the water that will ever be is, right now.
– National Geographic, October 1993

Opinion

Opinion or empathy questions are a great way to make students apply what they have learned or to see what they know about a topic. Typically a situation is given and you ask students how they would solve the problem or how they would deal with a certain situation.

Do Now: You have been shipwrecked on an island and you are the only survivor on a remote deserted island. What are the first three steps you would take to ensure your survival? Why?

Do Now: You run into a man selling gold chains for extremely cheap prices. Describe two scientific tests you could perform to determine if the gold chains were real gold or just fake imitations.

Another great opinion question type is the “If you were…”. Asking the students to step into the shoes of a leader or scientist.

For example, when talking about pollution and the use of fossil fuels, I might ask students the following:

Do Now: If you were the President of the United States, what steps would you take to decrease America’s dependence on fossil fuels?

Brain Teasers

Brain teasers are just fun, and they definitely make students think.

Do Now: If I were in Hawaii and dropped a bowling ball in a bucket of water which is 45 degrees F, and dropped another ball of the same weight, mass, and size in a bucket at 30 degrees F, dropping them at the same time, which ball would hit the bottom of the bucket first? Same question, but the location is in Canada?

After studying latitude and longitude, I might give the following brain teaser:

Do Now: There is a house with four walls. Each wall faces south. There is a window in each wall. A bear walks by one of the windows. What color is the bear?

Photograph or Video

Using photographs and video is going to become more common place. People expect to see photographs and video of things they are learning about. The best part about using photographs and video is that you already have the tools to make this happen. Most new digital cameras also take video. If you keep an eye out you can find tons of interesting science images in your area. Besides, being a good observer is part of being a scientist.

After talking about the sun traveling through the southern sky in the northern hemisphere, I would give the following image. I might tell students that fungi does not like to grow in direct sunlight.

Do Now: Using what you know about the motions of the sun, explain the image below.

When talking about the motions of Earth and the Sun I would show the following video and ask students to explain what is happening. Then I would ask students to model this using a plastic tree, flashlight and a digital camera.

Do Now: In your own words, explain why the shadow of the tree is moving.

Conclusion

Do Now’s are a very small, but important part of building great lessons. Using a Do Now for every lesson lets you assess students and lets students know you prepared for them. Coming up with original and interesting Do Nows can be a challenge, but now you have five different types of Do Nows to use when planning. Modifying these five major types can lead to all sorts of interesting Do Nows. I’m sure many of you have some great ideas, please share them in the comments.

Do Now Tips

• Do Nows should be short, they should not take students more than 5 minutes to complete.
• Survey the room and give students points for completing the Do Now.
• A good Do Now must be relevant to the lesson.
• Use a timer, it creates a sense of urgency.

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Below you will find a .zip file with all of the PowerPoint slides, handouts and video tutorials inside. You will need to use a tool such as winzip to unzip the files. All of the handouts are Adobe .pdf files and the presentations are saved as .ppt files. The archive a little large, but should download in a few minutes.

If you have any questions please leave a comment below or ask a question in the ScienceBoom Forums.

Download Slides and Notes (50.47 MB)

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NYC Teaching Fellow Michael Doig wins a $54,000 technology grant

Michael Doig, a Cohort 12 NYC Teaching Fellow, has won a $54,000 grant from the City Council of New York for computer lab and classroom technology at Bedford-Stuyvesant Preparatory High School in Brooklyn. By providing students the ability to learn computer skills in high school or sooner, they can be better prepared for the future.
Michael intends to use the funds toward computer literacy education. He also intends to engage his students in several long-term science projects, including weather tracking, seismology, videos, podcasts, and more.

To secure the grant, Michael located his Council Member and submitted a proposal for the grant. If you’re interested in securing a grant, you may start by using the DOE’s Financial Accounting Management Systems (FAMIS) to create a list of supplies that you would like to obtain through capital funding. You should also include a detailed explanation of how your school intends to use the new equipment. To be successfully funded, all proposals need to be as specific as possible.

Please join the NYC Teaching Fellows as we congratulate Michael on narrowing the achievement gap through this remarkable opportunity!

Thank you Alissa.

The Brooklyn Ink also featured an article on this award.

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This is not the first time I have found a species I thought was tropical living in and around New York. I spotted Parrots nesting in Brooklyn back in March.

Check out the cool “pincher” on the back of it. Defense, mating, or for grasping while climbing?

I was so excited to have found a stick bug that I forgot to switch my camera into macro mode, so the video is a little out-of-focus.

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Watch on: YouTube | Revver | Download

Host: Michael Doig
Duration: 4:19

Materials

• Chalk
• Paper Clip
• Vinegar
• Eye Dropper
• 250ml Beaker

Weathering Fast Facts

• Weathering is the mechanical and chemical breakdown of rocks and minerals, eventually creating soils.
• Chemical weathering reactions include carbonation, hydrolysis, oxidation, solution and hydration reactions.
• Biologically produced chemicals, such as those produced by lichens and mosses, can also break down rocks.

Download your copy of "101 Science Misconceptions" provided by ScienceBoom.

In the following tutorial I will show you how to set up and use Gradekeeper. If you have any problems or questions please leave a comment below or check the Gradekeeper thread in the forum.

If the tutorial seems too small, use the full screen icon in the player or the download link for a larger view.

Watch on: Revver | Download

Host: Michael Doig
Duration: 16:21

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Watch on: YouTube | Revver | Vimeo | Download

Host: Michael Doig & John Herrera
Duration: 3:15

Materials

• Car
• Helium Balloon
• Open Road

Convection Fast Facts

• Lighter than air gases move from areas of high pressure toward areas of low pressure.
• The highest air pressure is near the surface of Earth.
• As you increase your altitude/elevation air pressure decreases.

Download your copy of "101 Science Misconceptions" provided by ScienceBoom.

I want to tell you about a free eBook I’m giving away to my RSS subscribers as part of a site re-launch. I’ve been working hard over the past few months on this book and creating several new ScienceBoom episodes. The book contains 101 science misconceptions along with some great illustrations done by Ramsey Ess.

The illustrations will be available on T-shirts in a few weeks.

The Book

When I first began teaching, I was surprised by the things my high school seniors believed. Such as the Sun traveling around the Earth, dinosaur bones buried by the Devil, and the Moon being larger than Earth. As I was discussing this with my friend John Herrera, the idea for 101 Science Misconceptions was born and now I want to pass it along to you for being a subscriber to ScienceBoom.

How To Download the eBook

101 Science Misconceptions is free to everyone who subscribes to this site via the RSS feed. All you have to do is click the RSS link at the top of this page, in the address bar, or use this link to subscribe -

http://feeds.feedburner.com/scienceboom/sgKG

If you are new to RSS, please watch the following video:

If you prefer you can subscribe by email:

Once you have subscribed, when you read this blog via RSS you will see something like this at the end of every post -

Click the download link or the cover image in your RSS feed and you will be taken to the page where you can download a copy of the book.

If you have any feedback after reading the book, please feel free to leave comments here or in the ScienceBoom forum. Enjoy!

Michael Doig
Author

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Host: Michael Doig
Duration: 3:51

Materials:

• Can of Pepsi
• Can of Diet Pepsi
• Fish Tank or Large Container for Water
• Bag of Sugar
• Packet of Equal
• Spoon
• Digital Scale or Triple Beam Balance

Density Fast Facts

• Denisty = Mass/Volume (d=m/v)
• Density of Water = 1.0 g/cm3
• 1 milliliter (ml) = 1 cubic centimer (cm3)
• Density greater than one sinks
• Density less than or equal to one floats
• Saturn is the only planet that would float if you placed it in water. It has a density of about 0.7 g/cm3

Handout

If you decide to perform this experiment with your class, you can use the following handout to have your students calculate the density of the two cans of soda.
Soda Pop Drop Handout

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