Group items tagged

Pocket Universe resembles many stargazing apps in it's layout, hi-def images of all the space you could ever want, but in addition to that Pocket Universe has animated planets and a customization tool for star maps. It's designed for browsing, but also for educational purposes, as it's ability to review astronomical news is built right in next to tours of planets. Pocket Universe, as a resource could provide hands-off student directed instruction extremely easily. This allows students to explore astronomy on their own, without the concern of incorrect or unknown material. I envision this app being cycled through as an activity for students to utilize after their work is finished, as well as possibly being the basis for small group projects- especially those that center around specific planets or astronomical events/news.

Pocket Universe resembles many stargazing apps in it's layout, hi-def images of all the space you could ever want, but in addition to that Pocket Universe has animated planets and a customization tool for star maps. It's designed for browsing, but also for educational purposes, as it's ability to review astronomical news is built right in next to tours of planets. Pocket Universe, as a resource could provide hands-off student directed instruction extremely easily. This allows students to explore astronomy on their own, without the concern of incorrect or unknown material. I envision this app being cycled through as an activity for students to utilize after their work is finished, as well as possibly being the basis for small group projects- especially those that center around specific planets or astronomical events/news.

After having a lesson on plants, this activity would be a great way for students to learn how to grow plants and also learn about the kinds of things that promote growth (warmth, sunlight, water, soil). Their activities involve learning about how seeds and plants grow and participating in a simple, in-class gardening project. I would provide plastic cups, soil, seeds, and water for each individual student and allow them to plant their own seed. This would be a great way for my students to see first hand what plants need to grow, and for them to learn how to records their observations of their plants.

After having a lesson on plants, this activity would be a great way for students to learn how to grow plants and also learn about the kinds of things that promote growth (warmth, sunlight, water, soil). Their activities involve learning about how seeds and plants grow and participating in a simple, in-class gardening project. I would provide plastic cups, soil, seeds, and water for each individual student and allow them to plant their own seed. This would be a great way for my students to see first hand what plants need to grow, and for them to learn how to records their observations of their plants.

This is a fantastic site for science projects, as well as guides for teachers on topics such as how to use a microscope. This site also offers products for sale for your science classroom, but the project ideas and printables are free. It is very user friendly, broken down by age group (students k-12 are covered), and discipline (Life Science, Physics, etc.). I would use this to begin researching something I haven't taught before to look for inspiration and supplemental material.

This site is an accompaniment to a children's show on PBS called Zoom. The webpage provides tons of science projects for kids, some of them in printable form for educators to use in class, that ask students to consider their discoveries without flat out telling them what they're supposed to be learning. There's a link for parents and educators as well. Free, and fantastic supplemental materials for elementary school kids.

Lots of fun stuff here! You could refer parents to these for weekend supplemental science activities for elementary students.

This website provides procedures for creating static electricity using a variety of materials. The lesson also provides objectives and suggestions for "gearing up." The procedures are geared towards 6th and 8th graders but I can do the challenging demonstrations and just have my students observe. I like this lesson because it provides a variety of activities to show students how static electricity is made. There are activities provided in this lesson that would be appropriate for elementary students, and I will modify this lesson for my elementary students accordingly.

This site provides everything from objectives to assessment strategies and also lists related books and links for more information.

This link is to the College Board's website. They set the regulations for AP classes and exams. This specific site describes the requirements for the AP Chemistry course curriculum along with what the yearly audit entails. On this site, teachers and students can also access practice tests and sample questions to prepare for the AP exam, which students must take if they want the course to count as college credit. I know schools who offer these courses are encouraging their students to take advantage of this opportunity. I will utilize this resource in the future to prepare a detailed syllabus that will allow my curriculum to meet state and national standards and help my students succeed.

The Molecular Workbench provides an exciting opportunity for teachers and students. Students can choose which science they are interested in and then complete modules, which illustrate concepts through demos and asking questions to check for comprehension. Some of the questions are multiple choice and some are open ended, which will allow for curriculum differentiation. Teachers will be able to see not only if the students remember specific facts but also how deep their understanding goes. Plus, the demos and animations are interesting for the students!

As technology in schools continues to advance, teachers must be on the lookout for ways to integrate new technology into the classroom. This website overviews 30 science apps for IPad covering topics such as physics, chemistry, anatomy, geology, weather and the solar system among many others. Most are free, but some charge a small fee and would be suited to many grade levels, at least grades 3-12. I would use to introduce or supplement a lesson, but could also see this as a treat for kids ready to work ahead.

"The Science Spot" is great resource for labs as well as interactive technology for the students. The general website covers all areas of science, but the specific part I have tagged here is for Chemistry students and includes interactive activities for students to participate in to learn about the periodic table, its trends, and some fun facts. I think having students complete these activities in a computer lab would be beneficial to their learning process and would offer them a chance to receive instant feedback about their work through technology.

This website has a printable journal for the student's to record their observations of a plant. For my lesson plan, I am going to have the students plant seeds and record their growth. This journal is more for first grade than just a plain piece of paper to write on. It additionally has a box in the daily journal pages to draw what the plant looks like. It is perfect for the students to see the changes in the plant day by day as well.

This activity shows how a cloud makes rain. For this activity you fill up a jar most of the way with water. Top the water with shaving cream. Drip food coloring into the shaving cream until eventually it fills up and starts dripping through the shaving cream. I chose this activity because there are a few simple items needed, shaving cream, water, jar, food coloring which could be found around the home and would be interesting for children. This would help simplify the understanding of clouds producing rain for young children. This activity can be used during the studying clouds/weather I would use during the lesson while explaining how clouds make rain for a visual.

This lesson is so simple and adorable! It's about teaching students the types of clouds and precipitation. It gives a very simple and eye friendly teacher outline for the types of clouds and directions for a demonstration. I think this project could be taken down or up a few notches to match the age group someone was teaching. It's a very wonderful lesson for active and visual learners. It provides a bit of hands on involvement and visual demonstrations about rain fall. I would use this lesson to teach to my class as a whole, but I would love to put my student's into groups to do the experiment. I think it would be a good time for them to practice the scientific process that we would've previously discussed, by allowing them to think critically and predict what would happen to the food coloring droplets and so on.

This website is more for the experiment that you might do after teaching a lesson. This particular experiment is the old fashion "making a volcano". I believe that students can learn from this experiment. There is an objective on the understanding of volcanoes and guiding questions at the end. I would probably do this experiment in the middle of the week for lessons on volcanoes. I would definitely give my students background knowledge on what volcanoes are, how they are formed, and what happens when they erupt. I would then have them do this experiment. After, the website gave a great idea for a homework assignment such as, looking into the volcanoes we have on earth and possibly writing a paper on them. I enjoy experiments, especially in science so I believe this would be great for any lesson involving volcanoes.

This is an interactive 3D Brain application for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. This application allows individuals to use touch screens to navigate 29 interactive structures of the brain. It allows individuals to learn haw brain regions operate, what happens if they are damage, how it is linked to certain mental illnesses, etc. This is a valuable resource because I have heard of schools already using iPads in the classroom, so different biology based applications can be incredibly useful if this type of technology is available to you. If I had iPads available to be utilized by my class, this would be a great way for my students to really visualize and explore the brain if I was covering brain structure and function in my classroom. 

WOW! I love this because a large amount of students are very fluent in their technology. Having these types of apps available for students to use at all times is fantastic. Now even though it does cost, some students do have the option to purchase it at home. In classrooms with apple products, it can be used all the time for every student. This is going to be something of the future. It beats still images and allows students to interact as if a brain is right in front of them.

A great place to start for science activities for kids (chemical change, states of matter, motion, plants, human body, etc) This site includes free activies that can be done in the classroom and then a section where the teacher can asses his or her students on their knowledge of the content. I picked this website because it has so many ideas in different aspects of science that I can always come back to this site in order to get a new idea for an activity. I can use it in the classroom to either begin or follow up a lesson with because students are always engaged with hands on activities and that is what this site mainly includes.

Direct link to the Journal Archives of The Association for Science Education, the British equivalent of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) in the US. The ASE publishes four journals, which are all archived here. Some articles are available for free, but others are locked. Articles feature classroom and research-based ideas for teaching science at a variety of levels.

The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL is filled with many hands on activities for all kinds of science. Why does a tornado spin? Why does a wave break? Why does a flame burn? Why does lightning strike? Our questions about the world begin almost as soon as we're aware of it. I have been to this museum but it has been a long time. After trying to think of an interesting place to go and looking at several, this museum seems to be filled with many hands on science experiences and that is why I chose this museum. Also, for field trips, chaperons and students get into the museum for free but there are small fees for the omnimax and certain special exhibits. I also loved that there were labs you could rent, online resources, and they also include worksheets for activities they do in the museum. For the labs they also include standards on their website, including the next generation standards! Many exhibits interest me but this one on Science Storms would be great to take your students after doing a lesson on weather in science. This would give students an insight to mother nature, it's strength in an up close view. There are so many more to include though. So you could even do an end of the year field trip, or maybe an 8th grade trip and include an educational engaging experience for the children.

In this set of activities adaptable for grades K-2, parents and educators will find ideas for teaching about pushes and pulls. Of these activities, my favorite and one I could see myself using in my future classroom is the Push Pull Hunt. The teacher needs to have multiple objects in the classroom that need to be pushed or pulled or both. The teacher then breaks the students down into groups and gives them a sheet of paper containing objects they need to find on their scavenger hunt. The students then describe where they found the object and if it needs to be pushed, pulled, or both. For example, the students would need to find a door that could be pushed open. I chose this activity because I thought it would be a fun way for students to apply what they have been learning in class. I would use this activity for the day after learning about pulls and pushes. Right before the activity we would review what a push and a pull is and then I would break the students into groups to begin the scavenger hunt.

The website is a great resource for any elementary school teacher. It is broken down into sections such as organization, search engines, games, activities, etc. While I obviously didn't look at all 100, the ones I did look at seemed like they had great potential. The organization section seemed especially promising because I struggle with keeping things organized. It has websites similar to diigo to provide you with more ideas and inspiration. I think this will be a great starting point for any new lesson that I decide to try. Picking any of the 100 sites is sure to bring up something helpful. It includes free audiobooks, body maps, worksheets, electronic field-trips, etc.

I found several of the links to be faulty--leading to old sites no longer functioning, or to sites that looked questionable. However, I did also find Climate Zone, which allows you to use a clickable map to select a region of the world, and then a country, for which the site then provides latitude, longitude, and climate information about the location. This would be a good resource for students researching regions of the world or biomes.

A great collection for K-8 teachers of free resources for experiments, lesson ideas and supplemental information. I would use this as a starting block to research different ideas to supplement my lesson plan...it really is the "trunk of the tree"...so many links to get you to what you're looking for.

This website provides a resource for students to learn Chemistry through playing interactive computer games. A teacher can register the class or the students can just login as a guest. Videos and songs are also posted to make Chemistry more interesting. Additionally, the site offers links to resources for getting tutoring help as well as safety rules and lab experiment suggestions for teachers. This website seems like a useful tool in the classroom and to refer students and parents to if they have questions or need additional information.