STUDY TIPS

Developing good habits can help us in many ways. Eating well and exercising keeps your body healthy. Discovering new things about yourself, others, and the world around you can help your brain stay healthy.

As we work through our topics this year, and ask each other plenty of questions, we will be exercising our brains together. As anyone who plays sports or an instrument knows, regular exercise and practice is important. Most people find that having a routine is a great way to develop good habits that help us.

In science class, I will try to create a routine that will help you develop good habits of learning. You will know what is expected of you each day. In that sense, there will be few surprises to break your routine. Along the way, however, there will be plenty of surprises during experiments and discussions as you learn new things about each topic.

Each week, as we begin a new topic, you will be expected to do the following:

1- Learn the meanings of the key terms (vocabulary).

2- Write and remember important points from class (notes).

3- Complete your Home Activity safely and with parental knowledge.

4- Participate in a Laboratory Activity working with classmates as partners.

5- Prepare yourself for the weekly assessment by studying in the most effective way.

Remember your learning style? It’s time to think about how you can put that into practice. Let me give you some suggestions how that can be done. As you already know, we are different and learn in different ways. So even though we cover the same topics, you will be learning them according to unique strengths.

For example, you will need to learn the meanings of key terms. For some of you, if you learn best by listening, you may want to say them aloud over and over during the week and have a study partner help read them to you so you can hear them. For others, you may need to see the words individually by writing them down with their definitions. Still others may find it better to play the word games on the computer, clicking the buttons to help you study. Some of you may work better in groups, and some of you may want to be by yourself. Some of you may need silence, while others can have background music playing.

Take advantage of similar techniques to help you study your notes each week as well. In addition to completing the home and lab activities, you will also complete a weekly assessment in the form of a quiz. Each week’s quiz will be less troublesome if you stay up-to-date with your assignments and complete them as requested. Every quiz will be very similar in format, so studying for them should be straight forward. They will all involve your knowledge of the key terms, your understanding of the lesson notes, and your ability to apply what you have learned from the lab. Consider this when studying.

Using what you have learned about yourself and your learning style, come up with a plan. Experiment with your plan and see if it works. Don’t be afraid to change it from time to time. Most of us will benefit from using a variety of methods since we have more than one strong area. Regardless, it is your learning that is most important to you. Don’t expect what works for someone else will necessarily work for you.

In the end, you are expected to take charge of your own learning this year. I am here to help you. If you realize you need help, then you are expected to seek it while asking yourself questions about the possible causes and solutions to your difficulties. Be honest with yourself and with me, and you will do just fine!

Know yourself, relax, take your time, develop a plan, and go for it! Following that plan will result in individual success. The goal each week is for you to become more and more independent. So let’s begin!

Study:

For each topic, you should study your vocabulary, notes, and activities. To help you prepare for the weekly quizzes, take advantage of the website links. On it, you will find review games, practice quizzes, and other helps for you. The format of each quiz is very similar, so studying should become a simple task as you learn the routine.