Scientific doodle notes for middle schoolers

This project resulted from me asking my 7th-grade school teacher husband what kind of artful science content I could make that might complement his seventh grade science curriculum.

His response was "I need more doodle notes." Doodle notes are a great way to engage middle school students as these types of materials combine visual and linguistic information to help students learn concepts.

The example I share here is a doodle note created to help teach students about trophic cascades. The design was made to show a split between an environmental cascade that either has a keystone species (wolf) present or absent. The elements in the design are purposefully outlined and printed in black and white for students to color.

In the example, a custom font was created that mimicked handwriting to bring a familiar sense and warmth to the design.

The students enjoyed coloring the printed handouts anyway they saw fit and were given points for how accurately they completed the fill in the blanks.

Check out the final version in the video below!