Science Pear-actices

Pear Deck has just released a series of Slides Templates related to science and you can get them by clicking here. They can also be accessed from the Pear Deck Sidebar in Google Slides or PowerPoint


The slide templates are free to use and edit by all and are a great way to start digging into the NGSS Science Practices. If you are unfamiliar with the Science Practice you can read more about them here. In this post, I’d just like to highlight how some of these slides could be used as another way to bring the science practices into your classroom.

Developing and Using Models

When students create and use models they are creating representations of phenomenon. Models are a great way for students to communicate ideas beyond simple text explanations. These can take a variety of forms and that’s where some of these different slide interactions can come in.
Slides like the Draw an Atom give students an opportunity to practice applying atomic models for different elements. It’s simple for teachers to edit this drawing slide to meet their own needs by changing the element name or removing parts of the atomic model.


Labeling a Diagram is another way for teachers to have students apply models that they have discussed in class or accessing prior knowledge as they are introduced to a new phenomenon. By editing the slide, teachers can create different levels of scaffolding. These changes include the use of a word bank and complexity of the included diagram, or even having students draw their own diagram.


In physics, we create a lot of force diagrams as models. The Forces in Action slide demonstrates this. But, creating models is a part of every science course. I challenge you to think of processes students could diagram across other content areas such as diffusion, photosynthesis, or chemical reactions. Change the text at the topic of the slide to address your particular phenomenon. Then, add an image students can annotate on or have them draw with a blank canvas. Think about including symbolic representations you have used in class or have students design their own.

Asking Questions & Carrying Out Investigations

When conducting experiments, multiple science practices are used together. The Pear Deck Slide Templates include a set of Self Paced Lab report slides. Teachers can use these slides as students design and carry out an investigation. Teachers can pick which slides are most appropriate and alter them at will.
Students are able to record their responses right in Pear Deck. These can be run by the teacher and reviewed step by step as a class, or the teacher can use self paced mode to allow learners to work through the lab at their own pace.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data & Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

Pear Deck already has an amazing set of slide templates developed by Stacey Roshan in the area of mathematics that can be useful when analyzing data or applying mathematics that can be accessed here or in the sidebar template library. But, one of the most common ways of analyzing and making sense of data in the science classroom is the use of graphs. A Graph Slide is included in the science templates. What’s nice about this drawing slide is that teachers can easily edit the axes labels or leave them blank and allow students to type on their own based on the data collected. This is a great slide to drop in if you’re thinking about using the self paced lab report slides.

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Once students have evidence, it is important to use it to create an argument or explanation. This evidence could be collected from a lab, found in research, or presented by the teacher. Being able to use this information is essential when explaining a phenomenon or arguing for a claim.
The Describe What’s Happening Slide serves many purposes. It’s a great place to introduce a new phenomenon and have students draw on prior knowledge to evaluate their current thinking and spark conversation. On the other end of the spectrum, it’s a great way to pull together the ideas at the end of a unit. Teachers can alter the image on screen to meet their own needs. They can add an image, gif, or even embed a video from YouTube. Students can construct explanations to describe what is happening.


Using evidence to back up a claim is essential to any argument. In science, the Claim Evidence Reasoning (CER) Framework is a powerful and quick way of summarizing and sharing what was discovered in an investigation. Students create a simple claim, they present the evidence from the lab, and explain the reasoning that ties the evidence to the claim.
The Pear Deck CER Slide can help make this framework an easy to implement practice in class. Groups can enter their information onto the slide. Then, this can easily be projected and shared with the class.


Venn Diagrams are another form of argumentation in which students use evidence to compare and contrast different things. This is no different in science. In creating the diagram, students are constructing arguments in their minds. Having students work in groups will force them to verbalize these arguments as they create the diagram. By creating them on a Pear Deck Slide, they can easily be shared out with the whole class. This can be a launching point for further discussion and argumentation as models are compared.


There are even more slides in the collections than what I highlighted here including draggables. You can get them here!


These slides are a great addition to the many templates Pear Deck already has. The biggest thing to remember is that these are just templates. They can be altered and added to meet your needs. I’m excited to add these to my decks and can’t wait to see what you come up with.