For a lot of people, education boils down to how they get the information from someone who is more informed than they are. Obviously, in the 21st century, we are concerned much more than just information - we want to learn procedures, concepts, high-level analysis, and more. But information is still the foundation of everything else, especially in science.
Hands-on (manipulatives): By far, I've seen the most success when using hands-on activities with my students. When students can experience what they are learning, then they are not only engaged, but they form important connections to existing information and concepts. Hands-on experiences can be done poorly, especially when they are disconnected from the material that is being taught. My rule of thumb for hands-on activities is to walk through the activity myself and make sure that at least 80% of the time being students spend on task is explicitly connected to the concept; what students do must be connected to why they are doing it.
Videos: Ahh, yes, the famous cop-out of teaching. The video. What's that? It has pedagogical value? Yes, it can. Videos as an educational tool are never stand-alone. They always have to exist within a broader educational context, like a lesson plan, and the students have to be accountable for the content that they present. Even if a video is just used for engagement, it needs to lead to some bigger lesson. When showing a video, I always preview the video and write down questions that I want students to be able to answer. There are some wonderful series to use in biology, like the Amoeba Sisters and Crash Course Biology (they also have quite a few other subjects), many of which come with their own graphic organizers and handouts.
Audio: I haven't dabbled in audio nearly as much, but I find podcasts and readings of textbooks to be useful in particular situations. I have assigned podcasts for supplemental material before, and I have recorded myself reading the alternative biology textbook that I wrote. I think these are two helpful ways to use audio, but obviously there are more specific contexts (listening to different bird calls, etc.) that work in biology, as well. However, audio can almost always be enhanced with video (why not display the bird along with the call?).
Verbal: This is how most of us experience school: the teacher tells us something new, and we remember it. If only it worked that way! The ability to make sense of and remember something that someone else tells us is contingent upon so many variables that it makes it nearly impossible to adequately lecture to a large group of learners. But presenting information verbally is not only necessary, but offers good practice for college and career, so doing so well should not be overlooked. Of course, the best verbal presentations include some sort of visual aid(s), so work on your PowerPoint or Prezi game, have a demonstration ready or use a role play acted out by students. Don't be the teacher who just writes every other word on their whiteboard and says, "Ta-da!" In my experience, lectures work best when the students already have been exposed to the information in a format like the flipped classroom. I also always make sure to build in time to answer student questions, but I don't assume that every student will be ready to receive that knowledge!
Non-fiction: Otherwise known as the dreaded informational text (like textbooks), non-fiction has the reputation of being dry and dense. But it doesn't have to be. Well-written textbooks take students on a journey through the material with pictures, figures, drawings and diagrams painting a more complete picture. I will often use sources like NewsELA and augment them with attractive visual aids to help illustrate the concepts. The most important aspect of informational text that you can master is that of reading level. There are a variety of ways to determine reading levels, like lexile score and Flesch-Kincaid score. I tend to err on the side of caution for reading level, ensuring that almost all of my students will be able to read what I present to them; for many classrooms, this can mean offering two or more different assignments to match the reading levels of the students.
Fiction: My masters work had to do with storytelling in the science classroom; I have recently revisited this topic for a unit having to do with climate change. There is a paucity of digestible fictional science appropriate for the classroom, but there are entire libraries of science fiction! I have worked with many teachers who have advocated for the use of science fiction texts to augment the classroom experience, but I have found it difficult to integrate into my own teaching. This is why I have turned to writing my own stories.
