The National Zoo is home to 2,000 individual animals of nearly 400 different species. Our best known residents are our giant pandas, but great apes, big cats, Asian elephants, birds, amphibians, reptiles, insects, aquatic animals, small mammals, and many others can be found at the Zoo.
You can take a virtual visit to the Zoo any day of the week by tuning into our live web cams, which feature many of the Zoo's animals.
Can't make it to a zoo? Observe animal habits and habitats using one of the many webcams broadcasting from zoos and aquariums around the United States and the world in this inquiry-based activity that focuses on observation logs, class discussion, questioning, and research. Students begin by viewing an animal webcam, making observations, and describing what they see in a notebook or log.
"Here are words that will be helpful to students doing a hands-on science inquiry to view prepared slides of plant and animal cells to identify parts and learn the function of each. They relate their observations to the Essential Question: What are the parts of an animal cell and a plant cell?
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"Researchers have ruled out climate change as the cause of extinction of most of Australia's giant animals, including giant kangaroos, three metre-tall flightless birds and the Tasmanian tiger, around 50,000 years ago."
This is a wonderful citizen science project where users are asked to classify animals on the Serengeti from camera traps to help real scientists survey and track populations of important and endangered wildlife.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Science
"Most of the time, when a cell in our bodies divides, each new cell carries a complete set of chromosomes. The cells involved with human reproduction, however, carry only half after division occurs. In this step-by-step explanation, learn about mitosis and meiosis, the two types of cell division."
"Simple Machines lesson for 3rd grade unit. From Disney's Bill Nye the Science Guy. Levers, pulleys, and wheels. Also clips from Eureka!, a 1980 animated short series from Toronto. Music by John Williams"
Oceans are a great place for learning. It might be learning about tides or about erosion, it might be learning about ecosystems or coral reefs. It might be learning about the animals of the ocean big and small. Here are a number of apps for when your students are studying about the ocean.