Group items tagged

Here is an in-depth introduction to the Solar System and the planets that are in it. From the sun to why poor Pluto is no longer considered a planet, come along for a ride across the Solar System. FreeSchool is great for kids! I like this video for a number of reasons. One thing I really like about this video is how it gives the students an accurate perspective of the size of the different bodies in our solar system. It's also jam packed with a lot of great information about the solar system and builds on possible vocabulary words such as matter and mass. The narrator also has a soothing voice, which is a plus. I would use this video after spending a little time defining the necessary vocabulary of our solar system. We could follow up the video by making our own solar system that we could hang in the hallway.

Good resource. Try tagging using K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and/or 9-12 as grade level options. For this one, for example, K-2 AND 3-5 rather than K-5. Thanks!

This is a link to the US Geological Service's website. The education portion is really neat. Since i have met my boyfriend, he is a miner, I have become more and more interested in rocks and the earth. This webpage makes it easy to find what you need. Their resources are broken down into categories (K-6, 7-12, and undergraduate). The best part about this is there is a place to look at 3-D pictures of major landmarks. You would need your own glasses, but I think if these were projected on a smartboard, it would be a great way to show students what Mother Nature can accomplish.

This is a video I found on YouTube featuring an experiment that shows how light can be "bent" using water and reflection. I selected it because it goes well with the Next Generation Science Standard that I was given (1-PS4-3). I feel that it lends itself well to explaining to students the reflective properties of light, and I would use the video along with my own version of the activity to explain this. I tagged both K-3 as well as 4-8, though I feel that the activity could be used at any grade level. The video itself uses more advanced language and vocabulary, but I feel that by using grade-appropriate terminology, it could be useful for younger students as well.

From our small world we have gazed upon the cosmic ocean for thousands of years. Ancient astronomers observed points of light that appeared to move among the stars. They called these objects "planets," meaning wanderers, and named them after Roman deities-Jupiter, king of the gods; Mars, the god of war; Mercury, messenger of the gods; Venus, the goddes of love and beauty, and Saturn, father of Jupiter and god of agriculture. This activity assists students with facts and knowledge on how the solar system works. By providing a diagram that assists the student in the order and distance of each planet, this activity provides the student with a realistic vision of what outer space looks like. I believe that this resource can be used to help students memorize as well as find interested in how the solar system works and how each planet is arranged, what their made of, their distance from the sun, ect.

Edit your tag to be "solar system" so it is in one place. Remove "science" tag, as these are all science. Use teh grade level tags k-2, 3-5, 6-8, and/or 6-8 rather than broader ones like k-5.

This activity is to reinforce the stages of the life cycle of vegetation for lower level elementary students. This activity gives students the opportunity to be creative as they color and explain the life cycle in their own words. It also sets up the students to succeed and reinforce topics because it requires that they use certain vocabulary words in their writings. I think I really would have enjoyed the freedom that this activity gives the students when I was a student. The following is the original explanation of the activity.

remove science tag, since you have biology tag that is more clear. remove k-5 tag and re-tag as k-2 and 3-5.

This is an interactive game the students can play either as a center in the classroom or even at home. It shows the students how important it is for plants to grow with a certain amount of sunlight and a certain amount of water. I would use this is a K-3 setting just because it is a very simple game, but also keeps them on their toes as to when the plant needs water and sunlight as well as how long it takes for plants to grow on a weekly scale. I would use this is my classroom as a center game or a resource for them to play at home to keep their minds going in science.

This resource is an exercise in perception with a small nod to biology. Essentially, the activity requires a student to stand astride a 2x3-feet mirror and then, with the leg that is against the reflective side of the mirror, bend at the knee and move it back and forth. This will create the illusion of flight. The idea behind this is not only the reflection of light using a mirror, but it also ties in to basic biology and anatomy by proving that the human body is symmetrical. I chose this out of a desire to find fun light and reflection-based activities that are relatable to younger (K-3) students. I would use this in the classroom as part of a lesson about light and reflection, making sure to give the hat tip to the biology element as well.

This activity allows the students to get a better understanding of the water cycle while creating a fun art project. Students will color the printable water cycle stages and then paste them on the cloud template in order. The finished projects can be hung from the ceiling to display your class's work and make your classroom cute and colorful! Because the project is 3-D, it can be spun around which shows that the water cycle is constant and repeats itself. This activity will be done at the end of our water cycle unit in science. It will be one of the many activities done to make sure students understand the process of the cycle. I selected this resource because it is an exciting way to order the stages of the water cycle. Instead of just putting different pieces of paper in order, students can color, cut, and paste their stages on a giant cloud. The free downloadable printable also makes it valuable to me.

This is a short audio-only clip that helps teach younger students about chemistry they can find in their own houses - specifically, the kitchen. The clip explains the various properties of water - solid, liquid, and water - and explains that all three, despite their three different forms, are all the same chemical. I chose this out of a desire to find grade-appropriate chemistry experiments for primary students, and I would use it in conjunction with video and a hands-on activity as part of a lesson on the three states of matter.

This is an awesome lesson plan that can connect most students to something that they enjoy watching on TV and playing with - robots! This lesson allows children to understand the basics of robots and how they work, but also give them the chance to make their own robots. In giving them a chance to build their own robots, they would have to ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool. (K-2-ETS1-1) I would use this whole lesson plan as a fun way to understand what team work actually is and engineering at a younger level.

This is a lesson plan for a pre kindergarten classroom learning about recycling. They are not only learning about recycling, they are also learning social skills. Since they are working in groups and then they speak to the class as a whole. I like this website because there are many other lesson plans as well, and they are easy for teachers as well.

I'm going to argue with the categorization of this as Pre-K, even though that is what the website itself says. 3 & 4 year-olds do not know the reasoning behind recyclable/non-recyclable items. Older students could research this or design tests to find out about decomposition, etc.

This site from the Kennedy Space Center has a lot of children's books that all incorporate space ranging from $3.00 to $20.00. These books would be a great way to start off a lesson in order to get the students interested in the content. The books on this site are aimed for younger kids. Also, this site includes DVD's, gift ideas, toys, apparel, and even space food to buy. I think that by having a variety of space books in my classroom library would encourage the students to find out more about space. I mainly picked this site because a teacher can never have too many childrens books, and this site has several choices for reasonable prices.

This is a full lesson and activity provided by TeachersPayTeachers and it costs $3.00. The lesson and activity is aligned with NGSS-2-LS2-1. First the lesson will be taught to explain the importance of sunlight and water to plants. After the lesson is taught, the class will conduct an experiment to test what we just learned. I will have 3 plants. One will receive water and sun everyday. One will be in the closet and only receive water. The last one will just be in the window receiving sunlight. Since purchasing the lesson from TeachesPayTeachers you will also receive a lab journal for students to be able to write their predictions and record their observations. I chose lesson/activity because I thought it went well together. I like that is starts with the lesson then has a follow up activity for students to do. The science journal is something they can do throughout the week, also. I would use this lesson to introduce the topic of "Do plants need water and sunlight to grow" and have the activity has a follow up and something that could expand their knowledge throughout the week.

This bulletin board is a place where people exchange ideas on how to use Eric Carle's books in the classroom. A couple books such as "Little Cloud" and "Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me" are great for science lessons.

This site would be so much more useful if the sections were searchable or organized in some way. I found it to be a LOT of reading to find what the different ideas were for each book.

This is a fun little video that would be a great introduction to a fall science lesson. It talks about whether a pumpkin is a fruit of vegetable and how big the biggest pumpkin was. There is also a little quiz at the end. I like it because it is easy to understand and the pictures are bright and colorful. Also it kept the attention of my two year old so it should work in an elementary classroom.

I can see this being useful and relevant in a unit about fruits/vegetables and/or nutrition, especially if it was being taught in the fall, when pumpkins are prevalent. Good cultural connections, too.

This resource is a Bill Nye video which talks about biodiversity dealing with both plants and animals. The video is 22 minutes and 58 seconds long. Bill Nye investigates and discovers many different plant and animal habitats. He even connects plant and animal habitats and relates them back to one another, showing correlations. I chose this resource because I feel that Bill Nye is perfect for getting students interested and I found the video to be very entertaining, as well as informational. This video would also be a great introduction to a learning segment about observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats (2-LS4). This video does not have a specific age level that it is "meant" for but I felt like it would be great for all ages k-5. You could also just show certain clips to students rather than watching the entire video.

This video shows about how all organisms interact with each other and how they affect each other. He explores different environments and ecosystems. Bill Nye introduces science in a fun way, and he has different experiments that are easy for students to do.

I found this while I was looking for a suitable experiment that might involve snacks. This activity has students constructing a "solar oven" out of an old pizza box, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, and newspaper. The idea behind this is that students can harness the ultraviolet energy provided by the sun to make an oven that will cook food. The experiment had the students cook s'mores, but it is also possible to cook a hot dog. I selected this resource because I was looking for a fun but relevant activity that would include snacks; this way, students can learn a lesson about the sun and the energy it provides while staying engaged with the promise of a snack afterward. I would use this as part of a lesson on the sun and energy, and would probably use it closer to the end of the school year, as the weather warms up and students are looking forward to summer activities.

This resource is a neat little activity that shows how plants absorb water using capillary action to transport water and nutrients from the trunk to the highest leaves. The activity involves cabbage and water colored with food coloring. The site gives a look at the cabbage leaves after 48 hours of "sucking" up the water. I chose this because I found it interesting and a neat, grade-appropriate way to explain plant biology to younger students. I would use this resource as part of a unit on plants, with a bonus use of the title if it is close to Halloween time.

This is a fun science activity that helps students discover the physics of air flow by building a "hovercraft" out of a balloon and an old compact disc. I chose this resource because I feel that the explanation can help students think about how some things are powered using air as the primary resource, and I would use this activity in a lesson that focuses on air as a force.

A free animated video presentation to show students how dinosaur bones become fossils. I liked this video because it really enhances the teaching of how bones eventually become fossils and will help students gain a better understanding of the long process and natural forces at work. It would be a great resource to use in conjunction with teaching students biological evolution (3-LS4).