Group items tagged

This resource categorizes and separates all of the types of habitats (arctic, rainforest, desert, salt water, etc.) and has sections you can click on to find out plants and animals that live in which categories. I really like that there are sections where you can find out how plants/animals survive in each type of habitat, as well as interesting facts about that specific habitat. This is a website that each student could go to and simply explore as an add on to a lesson. I selected this source because it aligns with 2-LS4-1.

Students will observe the effects of osmosis on a gummy bear in this guided scientific method lab report. This is a fun visual way to grasp the difficult concept of osmosis. I chose this lesson because when I was in middle school I had difficulty with the concept of osmosis, and I feel that this hands on and visual lab will bring the students to a better understanding of osmosis. Also, this would be a great way to explore osmosis on a deeper level and engage the students because giant gummy bears are cool. I would use this lab during the cells unit in science when we talk about the different properties of the cell wall: osmosis being one of the properties.

This resource shows instructions, materials and photos for creating a shoe box habitat. The website lists that this craft is for 1st graders, but I think that it could be just as easily used in a 2nd grade classroom. Students get to choose which type of habitat they would like to create and are able to work on it at school and home. I selected this resource because I feel that it would be a great activity to reinforce 2-LS4-1. This craft would not be necessarily a lesson, but rather something that ties into the after math of learning about animal/plant habitats. I would use this resource as either an end of the unit craft to discuss in the class and compare/contrast each others, or as an extra credit project to do at home.

Interactive website to help develop kids in the subject of astronomy.

This website has several information about the solar system and space. It could be useful to both the teacher and students. For teachers, it has a lot of useful information to use while planning/presenting a lesson. For the students there are several different links to play game and learn about the solar system and space.

Students work in groups to write research reports and create visuals about countries, put on a culture fair, and use PowerPoint to present their information. I would put my students into groups of two. I would then walk around the room and have them draw out of a hat countries name. Whatever country they pull out they have to do research on the computer about that country and put information on a Powerpoint to share with the class. This is a great way for the students to learn how to work cooperatively, how to do research, and they will all learn about how each country is different and how they are not all like the United States.

This website provides a hand on activity for students. They will all grow their own sunflowers, under different conditions. This website gives you all the different variables. It also provides extensions to the project. I found this website to be useful when talking about the life of plants and what they need to grow.

This website gives you the ingredients and amounts of different liquids and materials to poor into a clear cylinder to determine the different densities of materials. In their lab groups, the students will determine the order that the materials will layer in the cylinder before the materials are actually poured in. I selected this resource because it provides a way do demonstrate density in the classroom and it explains the reason for why each material settles differently. I would use this experiment as a way to introduce volume and density to my middle school students.

This is a simple lesson based on getting young students involved in making observations of their surroundings. In particular, the season change from summer to fall. Students are allowed to go outside and make their own observations about how the environment has changed. I would use this with younger children, kindergarten or first grade, because it is a great start to get their senses awake and start the process of making great observations.

This a science experiment that involves students making a cloud in a bottle. I would use this in my classroom as a fun activity to extend a lesson over clouds and reward my students for all their hard work at the end of the week.

This website could be useful to both students and teachers. Teachers would use this website as a guide to help students understand the steps of the scientific method. This website allows students to take a quiz after reading the material to determine if they comprehend the information

Students will learn about weather by taking walks in various types conditions: sunny, rainy, windy and snowy. On nice days the students can walk around and explore outside of the school, and on the not so nice days the class can participate under an overhang or by simply looking out the window. This teaches students how to identify seasons and weather change over a lengthy time period. I chose this lesson because I know kindergarteners love nothing more than to get up and move around, and what better way to do that than to learn at the same time. I like how the activity can be spanned throughout the entire school year and would give the class a steady routine and plan to look forward to. I would put this weather activity into part of the morning meetings to start everyone's day off on a fun educational note that they can use every morning at home with their parents also.

Learn about evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection. In this activity students will discover how the water cycle works as well as how evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection are conducted. During this activity students get to control the water cycle as they learn about the important process. I believe that this activity can support students in memorizing the water cycle as well as understanding why the process is important.

This activity will allow students to produce a "marketable" product made from minerals in a product that many people use daily. Students will make their own toothpaste using the minerals, calcium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. Students get to test their product against the basic toothpaste that many people use. The activity and lesson familiarize students will the natural compounds that are used to make many everyday things. Students will see that the combination of these two minerals makes something profitable. Students can also compare the prices of toothpastes to integrate math and to learn about the economy. The activity can be used when we are learning about minerals and natural resources, geoscience, or how communities use science.

I wanted to step it up a notch since I loved Dr. Hope's Oobleck lesson plan. I discovered this on pinterest and it is actually Oobleck that moves. This activity incorporates both the texture of the oobleck and the unique sound waves/vibrations that make sound waves. Students ears and fingers will be stunned as they watch and hear the oobleck slide through their fingertips. This experiment can create multiple leading questions, an investigation, and a lengthy discussion.

This website provides several resources for teachers. There are several science experiment lesson plans along with supplemental materials. There is also a JustAsk section that addresses classroom issues such as bullying.

This site has a lot of neat experiments where you can choose the grade level and content. For my unit plan I would select "Earth and Space Science" in order to get ideas on different activities and experiments to do in class with my students. I picked this site because the activities are ones where the students could use their creativity to come up with something unique. For instance, they could make a homemade planetarium, make a spaceship using old CD's, or even make a solar system of students. I would use this site in the classroom to get ideas on how to get the students out of their seats, but yet keep them interested. The activities from this site are ones that the students would definately enjoy.

This interactive map could be a useful tool when teaching about animal species and how they differentiate around the world. The interactive map shows the different kinds of bears that live around the world, and where bears do not live. This map can be pulled up on the projector for the entire class, or on an individual computer to allow the students to explore the map themselves. I think I would put it on an individual computer as part of a center in a bigger lesson about how species differentiate as you move around the world. I think students would have fun with this program.

This website includes information on each planet, the sun, the moon, asteroids, comets, meteorites, explorations of space, telescopes, types of equipment etc... I would use this website for an activity where students learn about each planet, the universe and what is in the universe. I also like this website because it contains videos of the Mars space shuttle, telescopes, etc... I think that would be a useful tool for students who are visual, auditory and kinesthetic.

There are five large oceans on Earth: the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian, the Arctic and the Southern (or Antarctic) Oceans. They are really one 'world ocean' a continuous expanse of water with the continents of the world like big islands of land in this. This is a perfect website to have as a resource when teaching about the oceans and seas. The website is packed with very rich information and great visuals over ocean currents, layers, and waves! Besides talking about the usual oceans topics like ocean life or level of the ocean floor, it covers topics that are less discussed in the classroom. Example from the website includes mapping the ocean floor, threats to oceans, and even fisheries. Another great feature about this website is that it includes an experience over ocean currents. Overall, the website can defiantly be a great source to add to the curriculum! Ways to implement this website into the classroom would be by doing the ocean current experiment with the class. Also, I know that the ocean is still one of the main mysteries to scientist to this day, so I think there is plenty of opportunities for students to use their creative minds. Examples of projects would be have students create what they think animals and plants look like that are undiscovered. The topic of oceans and seas is very broad and fascinating!

Remove "science" tag and re-tag as "earth science" to be more specific. Is this a lesson, activity, background information, field trip, etc.? Tag accordingly.

This is a hands-on activity that allows students to grasp the idea of how far the planets are from each other and from the sun. The activity starts by having the students perform simply mathematics to convert the distance in astronomical units to centimeters. I really like that the students have to perform this task themselves and that it incorporates mathematics into the science lesson. After determining each planets distance from the sun, the students use color beads on a string to show each planets distance from the sun.

Love the science/math integration!