Materials:
- SpongeBob® Safety Rules and Scenarios Activity Teacher’s Edition (pptx)
- this power point can be modified as needed
- 47 slides with answers for each scenario
- Scenarios – Student Handout/Notes (pdf)
- Safety Rule Task Cards
- Pencils and highlighters
Procedures Part 1:
Prior to the students starting the activity on their own, I read the scenarios out loud for the class. As I read the text, students independently made a light pencil mark in each paragraph to indicate broken safety rules – anything that they thought might be an infraction. After I read the story, they worked with their partner to find the broken safety rules using the task cards. After a few minutes, I modeled the first broken safety rule to make sure everyone was on the right track and understood the directions.
- Each student will have a handout with all 5 of the scenarios.
- Each group will have one set of safety rule task cards.
- Groups will need to identify the safety rules that were not followed for Scenario #1 and pull the safety rule task cards related to Scenario #1. The rules that were not broken will be placed in a pile to the side.
- Students will lightly underline where the rules weren’t followed in their notes and write the number of the rule for each violation along with a brief 2-3 word description of the rule that was broken in the margin of their notes.
- Once they have found and identified all the safety violations for Scenario 1, they will do the same for Scenarios #2-5.
- Students will find as many of the 18 violations as they can.
- I don’t tell the students how many safety violations there are, then they can use process of elimination for the last scenario, I tell them that each safety rule task card will be used at least once so they know that there are at least 16 violations to find.
Procedures Part 2:
- Once the groups have completed the 5 scenarios, they will share their findings with the class.
- On the ppt, advance to Scenario 1.
- Ask one group to start – What was the first safety violation in this scenario? Which rule did SpongBob’s crew break?
- Advance the slide and the answer will be highlighted in either yellow or green font (see image below).
- The number in parenthesis is the safety rule number.
- All students will use a highlighter to highlight the phrase and make corrections if needed.
- Ask the next group if there are any other violations in the scenario, if so, what is the next one?
- Each group will contribute an answer until all of them have been identified for Scenario 1.
- Do the same for scenarios 2-5.
- Discuss your results/debrief.
Additional Resources for this activity:
- The original worksheet for this activity is from ScienceSpot.net (pdf)
- Interactive Notebook version of this worksheet (pdf)
- Marcia has some nice additional activities for Safety on her website (link)
- This ppt was modified from the original source found at (link)
- SpongeBob SquarePants® and all related characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.
- For more lessons on Science Skills, click on this page (link)
Middle School Science Blog 
Thank you for this activity! I love how creative you were. I have used SpongeBob many times in my middle school classroom for different activities and scenarios and it has always been a hit with my students. I look forward to adding this to my tool kit and activities when we go over lab safety. You have so many valuable resources that have been so helpful in my classroom! Thank you!
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Hi Liz- about how long do you think this activity will take with 7th graders. I have 40 minute periods. Thank you for all of your hard work & being generous with sharing!
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It would take about 1 period and a half to explain, model, work on it, then go over answers and discuss. Hope it works out!
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My students and I have also really enjoyed this activity. The task cards make it so much more engaging. My only hitch was my Spanish speaking students. I’m wondering if you would consider including a Spanish set as an option. Again, thank you so much!!
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Glad you enjoyed the activities! Sorry, but I do not know any Spanish 🙂
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So glad I discovered you and your blog. I will teach science for the first time next. Year – 6th. The kids love Sponge Bob! I only wish the background color wasn’t so deep because it will use a lot of ink. Will still use though,
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Do you print your rule cards in color or black and white. If in color, will the local Office Max print them?
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I printed mulitple sets in color (4 slides to a page) then laminated and cut them apart myself, placed each set in a large zip top bag, and keep the bags in an expandable folder. Office stores can print for you in color, you can ask for an educators discount, they might have one.
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I use your resources every year…thank you so much! I just have one question about this new update. What are you giving the students as far as a worksheet or notes page. I tried enlarge the image to see what the worksheet they were writing on looked like but I could’t get clear view of it. I know you linked the notes page but doesn’t look the same.
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Hi Georgina, The worksheet that the students are using in the picture is the same as the one I have posted. It has the instructions and 5 scenarios. This is where they underline the sentences that describe a broken safety rule, write the rule number, and summarize the rule into 2-3 words in the margins. In this picture, I don’t have the mini versions of the rules, just the actual task cards with rules on them. ~Liz
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Just saw that you replied. Wanted to say thank you again for all your help!!! Have a great week 🙂
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This was so successful in my class today!! The kids were all engaged and doing an awesome job with matching rules to infraction. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
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That is so great to hear! I am using this next week and am looking forward to it 🙂 ~Liz
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I LOVE your website!! You make the best activities and provide all the handouts for FREE! Keep up the fantastic work!! : )
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Thank you! Hope the kids enjoy the lessons, too!
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