Amoeba Sisters Handouts

Quick Amoeba Sisters Updates!

Scroll down on this page under the purple terms of use box to find the following recently added topics!
Diffusion [new resource!]
Codon Charts [new resource!]
Mutations [updated resource]
DNA vs. RNA & Protein Synthesis [updated resource]

COMING SOON After Winter Break:
(Check back towards the end of January!)
Resources will be added to these new videos:
"Autotrophs and Heterotrophs" Video
"What is ATP?" Video
"Archaea" Video

Tips include how to view a video transcript, slow a video down, see a time-stamped table of contents, and have more control over the ads that sometimes show on YouTube! We've got it on on our blog post here!

Resources Listed or Linked on This Page

Our resources are a tool- and like any tool- effectiveness is based greatly on how it is used.
Please see our "suggested use" information below for some helpful tips!

Recap Handouts

Annotated Video Script TEMPLATES

Unlectured Series

Video Companions

Recap Handouts

What are the recap handouts? FREE and select recap handouts use video cartoons (drawn by Petunia) to help students connect to the content after viewing one of our short videos. They feature questions that can be used as formative assessments to quickly determine what may need to be focused on in class. Many questions are open ended and ask students to put concepts in their own words (or drawings). All recap handouts are in a grid format.

Suggested Recap Handout Use Ideas:
(1) Use 1-2 grid boxes at a time as classroom exit tickets in the last 5 minutes of class. If printed, they all print front--> back. Students can hand the handouts to you as they walk out the classroom door. These formative checks can be used to open discussion the next morning and to give feedback- no grade needed. The next set of grid boxes can then continue to serve as a series of exit tickets for several days.
(2) Project the handout using a projector. Have students complete 1-2 boxes as mentioned above as a warm-up or exit ticket in class, but have them record their responses on their own paper or on a device they use. (There is a "zoom in" feature on Adobe PDF reader so that you can zoom in on the handout). Students can organize their responses in their notes, in an interactive notebook, etc. and also be used for discussion daily.

Where do I find the recap handouts? The FREE student recap handouts are downloadable on this page. You will need to scroll down about a third of the way down on this page underneath the purple "terms of use" box to see where the topics (alphabetical listing) start. Topics with FREE student recap handouts will have buttons next to them that say "Recap- Amoeba Sisters PDF." All of our FREE resources are hosted on this page; we like to avoid double posting our free items to other locations.

Note: Select recap handouts are under the "TpT" column for certain topics on this page --or see all select recap handouts here. Select recaps are different from the FREE recaps only because they include their own answer key and tend to focus on a more specialized topic.

Annotated Video Script TEMPLATES

About and Suggested Use: Our annotated video script templates contain an informal version of our video script with slight improvements to define sentences and remove filler words to help with annotating. They have an annotation key asking students to (1) highlight parts of the transcript that they already knew (which can be built upon), (2) highlight key information that is new to them, (3) come up with their own questions, and (4) underline vocabulary. The template has a spacious right margin for students to sketch concepts that are memorable or relevant to them. It is important to note that these templates are not the same thing as the video captions that play in real time (available for all of our videos in YouTube) as they have been edited for better annotation ability. We also do not suggest having students annotate the template at the same time as watching the video! That would be a pace that could be overwhelming; these are meant to be used after students have watched the video.

Where do I find them? Linked throughout this handout page next to certain topics to Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT). You will need to scroll down about a third of the way down on this page underneath the purple "terms of use" box to see where the topics (alphabetical listing) start. Or, you can see all templates together here. P.S. All of our Unlectured Series topics already include an annotated video script template with them as that is an important component of the Unlectured Series Resource.

Unlectured Series

About and Suggested Use: Our Unlectured Series is an alternative to traditional lecture and notes in class- and places more emphasis on discussion, student questioning, and student creation. All Unlectured Series topics include an annotated video script template, a slideshow of question starters with memorable comics/illustrations for classroom discussion, and a facilitation guide. Each topic has a portion devoted to, "Why does this content matter?" and an opportunity for students to use their foundation knowledge to create a product. See a detailed Q&A on their use and read reviews on our Unlectured page.

Where do I find the Unlectured Series Topics? Topics are linked individually on this page next to certain topics to Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT), but we recommend viewing our Unlectured page where they are all grouped together.

Video Companions

What are video companions?
Unlike the recap handouts and annotated video script templates---which are designed to only be used after students watch the video---video companions can be used both during and after watching the video. However, they are only useful during the video when the video is paused. Video companions often work with our few videos that have a "pause" feature. [Specifically, they work with videos where students are asked to pause the video to reflect on a question]. Video companions may resemble questions similar to a recap handout (such as the codon chart video companion) or utilize a script similiar to the annotated video script template (such as the review video companion).

Suggested Use for Video Companions:
We highly suggest giving students access to these during the video, but it should be emphasized that they are not to be completed while the video is playing unless using the pause feature [the video will suggest when to pause] is used. Then they can be worked on after the video is done. These make great end of class activities that can then be reviewed together the next class day as a refresher. The review companion is especially lengthy as it reviews many videos, so this would be over a period of multiple days.

Where do I find them?
We only have two currently, because these are only created when there is a video that specifically uses a pause feature as mentioned above. You will find one of them under the topic category "Codon Charts" and the other under the topic "Review."

Terms of Use of Video Handouts/Resources:

Our handouts are designed for classroom use, and you can find our terms of use here! Please note: terms of use prohibit publicly posting answer keys made from our handout content as this is a modification of our published content (and a disservice to other teachers and students using them). We do offer official Amoeba Sisters answer keys (linked on this website to Teachers Pay Teachers- TPT) which also have these same terms.

We allow our images and GIFs to be shared on presentations and social media provided they are not edited and that they are not used for financial gain (i.e. our images or GIFs can't be in/on an item that you sell). Learn more about our terms of use here.

Resources Q&A

I'm searching for a certain topic. How are your resources organized on this page and how do I access them?

Resources on this page are listed by topic in alphabetical order under the purple terms of use box---scroll down just a little bit more.

Would you prefer to search by suggested sequence? Wondering which topic name to search for? Check out our new Course Playlist page!

I'm new to your videos and resources. Can you explain all of what you have available?

What we offer for FREE:

Our videos are always free! We work hard creating them; it usually takes us a month to release one video. You can access our full learning playlist here and you can subscribe to our channel to be notified whenever we release a new video!
Many video topics offer a FREE student recap PDF handout that you can download and use for all of your students that you will find below on this page. (Please see our terms of use which outline their use as they can't be sold and answer keys made using them cannot be publicly available online as that makes it difficult for others to use.) Check out their suggested use in this video.
Our GIFs and comics, which you are welcome to use in your presentations, place on websites, or share on social media---provided that you follow the terms of use (which includes that they cannot be put in items that you sell and our name cannot be cropped/edited off of them). We think our GIFs and comics can make great discussion starters and work great for asking questions about the content!

What you will find in the column labeled "On TpT" (Teachers Pay Teachers) on this page for certain topics:

We sell official answer keys which correspond to the free website recap PDF handouts. This helps support our work. You will find them linked on this page next to individual topics. We also have many of our answer keys in bundles, which are discounted from buying them individually. Answer keys offer convenience, and they also can be useful if you are new to the content. As mentioned in product descriptions, please don't purchase a key without first making sure you have the free corresponding handout from this page that it goes to it (and that you have determined that the free student handout is an ideal fit for your classroom).
We sell a few "select recap handouts" which come with their own answer keys. You will find these linked (but not uploaded) on this page. They are styled just like our regular free handouts in the grid format for exit ticket use, but they tend to cover more detailed/less standard topics. For example, water properties and the endosymbiotic theory have select handouts (with accompanying keys).
We sell annotated video script templates for some videos. You will find these linked (but not uploaded) on this page. The template provides an opportunity for students to sketch, identify key points, recognize important vocabulary, and come up with their own questions. Our script is edited on these templates to make them easier to annotate. P.S. All of our Unlectured Series topics already include an annotated video script template with them as that is an important component of the Unlectured Series Resource.
Our Unlectured Series! The Unlectured Series is designed to be an alternative to traditional lecture/notes and encourages student questioning, discussion, and student creation. There are 18 topics total in our complete first series, and these topics are individually linked on this page. We also have them available all together in our 18 topic bundle.

What is Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT)? How do I join? Can my school have a TPT account or use purchase orders? Can I just get one MEGA bundle of everything you have on TpT?

What is TpT?
Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) allows teacher creators to be able to financially support themselves for their work which allows us to continue our creating! TpT contains all kinds of amazing resources (in all content areas PK-12!) created by many who are, or have been, in the classroom. While we plan to always have free resources available (and, of course, our videos are always free) as this is part of our mission, we greatly appreciate the support from those that purchase items that we offer exclusively on TpT.

So I need a TpT account to purchase items on TpT?
Yes, you need an account so you can access the resource at any time. It is free to make an account on TpT. Here is their general sign-up page for a personal account: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Signup

Can my school make a TpT account? Or use purchase orders?
Check out the new TpT for Schools. This allows schools to purchase items that they need through one place for their teachers, and it works well with school purchase orders. Even if your school doesn't have a TpT for Schools account, it is possible to purchase something on TPT with a school purchase order.

Can I just get one mega bundle of everything you have on TpT?
We've been asked this more frequently now, and we know that some TpT creators are able to offer this. The problem we have is that (A) we are always actively creating and (B) we want to avoid making a "growing" bundle because we never know how many resources we will keep creating.

So, keeping that above in mind, here are the options we have regarding the question of a "mega bundle":

Option 1) We do have TpT answer key bundles (which contain only keys). As we make more keys, we keep placing them in new bundles to offer a discount from purchasing them individually. We've had people decide to just purchase all the bundles, but keep in mind that since we are often creating, there may be some keys that will not yet be in one of the offered bundles. Please keep in mind that answer key bundles only contain answer keys; we avoid placing our free items on TpT (to avoid the confusing "double posting") so our free recap handouts tend to be found exclusively on this page. We also offer an Unlectured Series bundle. Both of these bundle types offer a percentage discount.

Added August 2019:
Option 2) Contact us and tell us all the items that you would like in a custom bundle.
In your email, can you tell us which of these you would want your custom bundle to include? In order for us to be able to manage custom bundle requests, we require a minimum of 8 individual items in it. We apply a percentage discount to a custom bundle.
A) Specific (or all currently available) bundles that go to our free recap handouts (note: these are just the keys as the free handouts that correspond to them are on this handout website)
B) Specific (or all currently available) "select" recap handouts (which come with their own answer keys).
C) Specific (or all currently available) Unlectured Series Topics from our 18 topic bundle
D) Specific (or all currently available) Annotated Video Script Templates

Do all of your videos have accompanying resources?

No, not all of our videos have an accompanying resource. This tends to happen when we have a new video and have not yet completed an accompanying resource. Since a video that does not have a resource will not be on this handouts page, please bookmark our complete video playlist to access all of our videos. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified when we release new videos.

What standards do your videos and resources support?

Our videos and resources are designed to specifically focus on and support science TEKS (Texas standards), but there is often standard overlap in many locations. You will find TEKS listed on this page when applicable. We have started to include NGSS that can be supported by our video topics. However, we want to emphasize that our videos and resources cannot be all inclusive of any standard, because we believe a strong lab foundation, student questioning, and discussion in the course is critical to fully addressing science standards. It is our goal that our videos and resources are supplemental to help support the standards that students are mastering.

Your resources are PDFs. I'm using them as exit tickets, and I want students to be able to digitally annotate on them?

There are so many free tools for this now that work in Chrome itself! Consider the free, quick Chrome extension Kami or the free Chrome app DocHub (not affiliated with either tool). These tools allow for annotating and writing on PDFs and work well with Google products as well. Here's an example in our quick screenshot video on our Twitter page! Just a reminder though: always check the privacy policy/terms of use of any tool before using in your classroom.

I read your suggested use for your handouts. Why do emphasize that you find the handouts work best when used in-class (as opposed to being used as an out-of-class assignment)?

When these handouts are used in-class as quick formative checks, you are (1) able to ensure that the responses you receive are from the student that handed it to you, (2) you can assist students for that just-in-time assistance they need, and (3) you can adjust teaching due to reading responses. They can also be built into class discussion. Once the handouts leave your classroom to be worked on, there are many variables that can take those opportunities away.

You mentioned that your intention with designing the videos and handouts is to provide a foundation for student discussion and student creation. Any ideas on student creation in the science classroom?

Yes! Please check out our "Student Creators" page. This is also something that we love to present on! :)

How do you handle typos, clarifications, or errors in your videos or video resources?

We think it's VERY important to bring this up despite not receiving this question yet. We want to make sure to model to students that we all make mistakes, and that it is not only important to fix them---but to grow from them too. We strive to be lifelong learners and to share our learning like this (on Twitter) or this (on Twitter)!

We have run into the occasional typo or grammatical error. Sometimes we will get helpful feedback for a video that we should add a clarification or that something was mispronounced. Textbooks have methods to handle errata, and as edutubers, we have also looked for ways to handle this. Here is some information about how we handle different types of these issues in our videos. Regarding our handouts/resources---if it is a free resource, we can make edits on this page. If it's on TpT, we can update it directly on there. If it is more than a minor typo on TpT, we can send a note to all of the TpT purchasers letting them know why we made an edit.

I notice you have started to add links to your GIFs or comics as resources. Why would one of your comics or GIFs be useful in a classroom?

We have created so many comics and GIFs now on so many of our video topics, and we think they are so powerful in the classroom. Take our comic here about an enzyme (one of our many enzyme comics). Just think about the power of projecting this on a screen and the questions that could be asked about how this relates to the topic being studied. Or, better yet, asking students to come up with the questions. Questions like: How is this comic relating to our content? What kind of environmental conditions could actually denature an enzyme? If this was reality, would all enzyme "customers" have the same request? These are just some examples, and these opportunities are naturally built into our Unlectured Series! We share our individual comics and GIFs to start up discussions like these, and please feel free to use them---provided you follow our terms of use.

I notice a pretty big difference between your old videos / old resources vs. your newer ones. Will you update some of your old videos and resources?

As creators, we hope to continue to keep getting better, which means we do redo videos as our art and audio improves. Still, we try to avoid deleting old videos or resources, because we want students to see this journey. We think it's important for students to know everyone starts as a beginner! If we redo a video, we usually will place the newer version video link on this page and then still keep a link to the old video too. Old handouts can still be used with new videos as we make sure our new videos still include the previous information. Occasionally, we'll update old video handout graphics, but we have found that seems to cause confusion so we are less likely to alter old handouts.

Our videos are FREE! Subscribing to our channel is also free and would make us the HAPPIEST of amoebas!
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Reminder: Terms of use prohibit publicly posting answer keys made from our handouts. This is an editing on our copyrighted work (and a disservice to teachers and students using them).

Alleles and Genes

Free Video

*Texas teachers: Includes material covered in streamlined biology TEKS B.6F.
*Video can support components of NGSS HS-LS3-1.

Free Video Resource

Alleles and Genes Recap - Amoeba Sisters PDF
File Size:	441 kb
File Type:	pdf

Quick Amoeba Sisters Updates!

Resources Listed or Linked on This Page

Terms of Use of Video Handouts/Resources:

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