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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.

Located in Makanda, Illinois, Touch of Nature has an Environmental Education program that, "offers exciting outdoor learning experiences in natural resource education, nature interpretation and resource management. Courses are designed to increase environment awareness, appreciation and stewardship. The do offer lodging (for a fee) to take older students for a fun learning experience. I don't think it's ever too early to get kids thinking about how they effect the environment so if I were in a school close to Makanda, I would take students as early as 3rd grade, however this would be an extremely cool field trip for grades 8 and up.

This field trip has an array of educational experiences, including sensory activities and visual real life connections to both their own bodies and the biological processes they experience on a daily basis. I selected the You Exhibit from the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry for multiple reasons; because of the overarching relevance of the concept in multiple grade levels (many grades could attend together), the independence and personality that can be found within the exhibit that encourages students to look at how they're own actions affect they're biological home, and the "Google Field Trip Days" opportunities that allow a school with 51% reduced lunch to attend the museum for free ( including transportation, lunch, and museum entry.) Assuming this may be the status of the school I teach at, this could create a relatively inexpensive to free field trip opportunity for my class/school.

This site includes games, lesson plans, worksheets and activities, and more. This website would be useful to gather information and plan lessons and activities for students. It also has the grade level expectations.

This website opens into a word document that has a TON of different lesson plans for K-1 grade level. The two lesson plans that I really liked were the Adventures in the Rain Forest, and What's the Point of That? The Adventures in the Rain Forrest talked about how living things are dependent on one another, and where they are at in relationship to their environment (the rain forest). The class will embark on a mini pretend field trip to a rain forest where they will discuss where certain things in a rain forest are located, and why it is important. This relates to the standard 12.B.1a really well! The other lesson plan that I really liked in this huge list was the one that was called, "What's the point?" In this lesson plan, the students learn different characteristics of living things and why it is important that they have them. (i.e. the importance of birds having feathers, etc.) I really like this lesson because students will really get a grasp on how all living things are different in a lot of ways, but the reasons behind why they are different. I'm all about celebrating our differences!

Loads of good info on this free Library of Congress website, including a page on how to get girls interested in science. There are books, activities and internet resources attached to this page, and I think educators could find this useful at all grade levels to get girls excited about science.

This resource contains a video on how to make a pollution catcher. The materials needed for one catcher to be created is a paper plate, yarn/string, a hole punch, Vaseline, and a drawing utensil. I selected this resource because it fits the standard to- obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth's resources and environment (5-ESS3-1). This standard will be the focus of my lesson in this course. Having each student create a pollution catcher would be a fast activity for most grade levels, especially the upper elementary grades. If I was to teach a fifth grade class, I would do this activity as means of teaching the standard mentioned above.

Enjoy our range of fun science experiments for kids that feature awesome hands-on projects and activities that help bring the exciting world of science to life. Plant Seeds & Watch Them Grow Learn about seed germination with this fun science experiment for kids. _____ The link posted is a site about planting a type of seed and watching it grow over time. I like the idea behind the seed germination activity because it would allow students to see the development of a plant from its original stage. I would incorporate this experiment at the beginning of a unit on the growth of plants as my way to capture my students attention. This activity could be used for K thru 5th (ish) grade. In the early grades, students could observe the growth of a plant from its seed. In later grades, the students could compare the growth pattern of different types of seeds. We could either plant one or a few seeds as a class, or each student could be responsible for their own seeds.

So, what does a parade and this lesson plan have in common? A lot of waves! People wave in a parade and this lesson is about waves. Get it? Oh well, that's why I'm a science teacher and not a stand-up comic. Anyway, last lesson we talked about vibrations and frequency. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a great lesson on waves! I think this particular lesson would be appropriate for 3rd through 8th grade. Of course there are adaptations that may need to be made to ensure that it meets the appropriate grade level needs, but overall, I think it would be an interesting and engaging lesson for many grades. This lesson does not include an exact instructional sequence but it is quite informative and teachers will be able to read through the lesson and choose what he or she wants to say about waves. I really like the funny little tidbits throughout the lesson. I really like that there are many experiments available to demonstrate and experience waves. Also, there is a short assessment at the end of the lesson which I think would be a great formative assessment and might even be a great resource for questions of a future summative assessment. Personally, I would use Plickers or iClickers with the assessment to gauge how well the children grasped the material.

In this 3rd through 5th grade video, students use their science knowledge and apply it using physical activity! Learning about the stages of matter, solid, liquid and gas, students perform an exercise for each as the teacher calls out an object such as soup or fog. _________ This link states the activity is good for third through fifth grade, but I think second grade may also benefit. Through a physical activity, students explore different states of matter. I believe movement and exercise is necessary for students throughout the day. This is a great way for students to get up and move around once you realize they are starting to become antsy or even if there are a few extra minutes of down time. Instead of jogging in place or stretching with no instruction information, have your students do certain movements when you call out the cue for an object that could be a solid, liquid, or gas. This idea could even be a good starting points for other lessons such as vocab words. The teacher could say a definition and students could act it out.

Here are a ton of lesson plans for all areas of science. YOU could take these and make them for all grade levels in the elementary level. I would use this in the classroom a ton. No other resource like your colleagues.

Most of these are fairly advanced concepts. I would be hesitant to use any of those I explored below grade 5.

This is a website for the Magic House in St. Louis. It gives all of the information to plan a school field trip. It even breaks it out according to age group (grade level). This is a great resource for teachers looking for a field trip idea! The website has tons of information that any elementary educator would find very useful.

This is a link to the Magic House website. I chose this because I thought it was be a really fun and educational field trip for students. There are so many things to explore at the Magic House. A field trip to the Magic House would fit in with the sound and vibration standard I have because there is a Classic Tour for elementary grades that explores sound.

This website can be used for grades K-12, it can also be used for teachers and parents too. There are fun games that can be played and exploration tools to use. This website is very easy to use and navigate through also.

Taylor, add your description here.

I think this website is suitable for our Math/Science night because it caters to the lower elementary grades. This site has Buzz Lightyear games, galaxy games and interactive activities for the kids to learn information about space. It ties into astronomy great!

This is a website from a first grade teacher's blog. I am using the pictures for a craft idea that I would use for my lesson plan. To understand the life cycle of a plant, the students would need to have a visual of all the parts of the plant. This is also great becuase they would label all of the parts and the elements of what a plant needs to survive. It is so cute, I love it!

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 is a link to the field trip page on James S. McDonnell Planetarium's website. The planetarium is connected to the Science Center in St. Louis.  They offer planetarium shows followed by a Q&A that would be great for a 4th or 5th grade class to experience.

This website could be used in a 5th grade astronomy lesson.  This is an interactive website that students could go to to find out information on our solar system and surrounding areas. You could create a worksheet that could be a website scavenger hunt that the students would have to complete while exploring the website.

I would use this video in a 5th grade lesson on our solar system.  This video discusses the formation of our solar system and then follows through with information on all of the individual planets.  This video could be incorporated into a science lesson very easily without being too distracting due to the short length of the video.

This is another lesson I found that would be great for a 5th grade astrology lesson.  This is a complete lesson that has students do research no computers do gather information on the solar system, after they have been through guided discussions.

The zoo has always been one of my favorite places to visit, and the best part is that our local St. Louis Zoo is FREE! This would be such an awesome field trip for the first grade students to get to go to. What is better than learning and seeing animals up close, and personal? Students will be able to see the different characteristics of each animal, and where they live for their habitat. They may even be able to take a tour where they can touch different animals to know what they feel like. I hope to get to go to the zoo with my future class! I know the students will love it, and will also love the self-exploration aspect of this awesome field trip.