K-12 Science Teachers
Professional Development
Game-based Learning in the Science Classroom
Learn how to utilize board games to teach science effectively. Through hands-on activities and demonstrations, educators will gain practical strategies for incorporating board games into their teaching practice to enhance student engagement, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
Exploring Our Universe. Here are the recorded videos and all the resources from the 2024 summer PD.
Solar Eclipse (Summer 2023) PDs
In the summer of 2023, we had three teacher professional development workshops. All of these were related to the solar eclipse.
Recorded Virtual PD Sessions
We have a variety of recorded professional development sessions that you can watch to gain valuable information related to classroom teaching. Many of these are the session content that we have presented at conferences (no fee or travel required). The playlist can be found on our Superheroes of Science YouTube channel.
K-12 STEM Virtual Open Conference
STEM Open Conference is a virtual conference on teaching coding in the classroom. The sessions are available online anytime.
On-Campus Programs
Hands-on Lab Experiences for Middle and High School Classes
Teachers can bring classes to the West Lafayette campus to participate in labs instructed by Purdue faculty, staff, and graduate students. These sessions take place in our updated K-12 Outreach lab space, located in the Brown Laboratory of Chemistry.
Lesson Plans and Resources
Looking for College and Career Readiness? This page has resources to help teachers enlighten students about various careers in STEM fields. It includes a repository of different videos by professionals searchable by keyword. We also have a link to STEM Career highlights. Which is a page of student handouts about some selected careers in STEM.
A collection of science demonstrations that can be done in the classroom or viewed online. This repository includes a short video of each demonstration. A separate video includes an explanation of the science behind each demo and set-up tips for doing them on your own.
Middle and High School Labs and Resources
Lesson plans for laboratory activities that can be taught in person or assigned to students to complete virtually. A variety of resources are provided for each lesson to support instruction.
Understand Your Learning Questions
"What should my chemistry students know before they get to college?" Are you a high school chemistry teacher? Thanks to the efforts of Prof. Hannah Starr and graduate students Hailey Hiatt and Caroline Sorrells, Superheroes of Science has created a playlist with the goals to both make chemistry more accessible and help prepare students for Purdue University collegiate level chemistry. Videos include step-by-step guides for solving general chemistry problems.
This is a growing collection of (1-minute or under) science shorts. They are sorted by general content and can be used as phenomena, bell ringers, engagements, or assigned to students to show concepts.
Interviews with STEM professionals highlighting content from their field of expertise, as well as various career opportunities.
Lesson plans for escape room type activities that can be completed using simple materials that are probably already on hand in the classroom.
This enrichment program consists of 10 videos (3-5 minutes) for each level, and includes assessments. Students have the option to complete a quiz at the end of each video where they will earn a code. Collect 10 codes and be eligible to earn a ‘degree’ from Purdue Science. This program can be completed individually by students, or together as a class. There are many new degrees in development.
This resource hub is designed to empower teachers with tools, strategies, and inspiration to foster a growth mindset in their classrooms. By fostering these mindsets, we help prepare students to thrive academically and beyond, giving them the tools to face life’s challenges with courage and determination.
Lessons for High School Chemistry
Chemistry I lesson plans.
Saturday Morning Astrophysics Lessons
Google Drive consists of middle and high school lesson plans.
Google Drive consists of middle school lesson plans.
Teacher developed high school lessons written for use with various lab equipment.
Purdue University Superheroes of Science