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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.

This site is a great resource for teachers planning a caterpillar/butterfly unit. It's actually two units and it breaks each unit down into parts. It also contains links to supplemental material to use during the lesson, including a slideshow, images, and student sheets.

This site has it all! Everything that a teacher could possibly ask for when it comes to teaching space in the classroom. It includes projects, games, images, videos, lessons, and facts about the planets, and quizzes. I picked it because of the numerous amount of ideas and the various ways to teach it. This would even be a site that I could reccommend to parents as a resource for them to use at home. In the classroom, I could allow some students to explore this site on their own if they finished homework early or have free time.

This is a very good site for finding information about a variety of events and subjects in class. This is good for K -6 teachers. It is broken into several topics: Lesson Plans, Professional Development, Technology, Administrators, School Resources, Specialties, and Subject Resources. I could definitely use many of these resources in my own classroom.

The link below takes you directly to the science portion. I found some broken links, but also so great images/diagrams (e.g. the cell) that could be linked into presentations. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/archives/sciencemachine.shtml

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.

This website is really cool. There is a ton of great information on topics that I think would be interesting for kids of all ages. The images included with the information are awesome.

This site contains activities and projects for students to work on like creating their own space probe or looking at interactive maps. Its full of videos, current events, extra teaching resources and even describes way that everyone can get involved with helping the environment. It's a great interdiciplinary resource that can tie together a broad range of subjects and topics. The webiste resources are free but the magazine subsription does cost money. In addition to the teacher resources link there is also a special page just for young learners that includes music, games, movies, and more.

This could be a wrap up activity on space, where you allow students to create their own rockets using straws and a rocket cut out image. Students can cut out the rockets and tape them together, trying to figure out the best placements for it, and also figure out where the rocket needs to fit on the straw, for a perfect take off. This would allow everyone to make observations and gather information (K-2 ETS 1-1) from one another to decide what is the perfect way to make the best rocket launch.

Help your students better understand how pollution gets in our rivers. Read and act out the story as a class. Follow up with a discussion about the pollutants left in the water. I picked this activity because it gives students an image of what happens to our water when we do not keep it clean. I think it is important to teach them early on the importance of keeping our earth clean. I would use this activity close to earth day when we are learning about the earth and pollution.

Students will examine and sketch various trace fossils from an unknown creature and then construct an image of the creature that they believe produced these fossils. This activity will let the students make an educated guess of the creature based on the available information. This can be used to explain portions of the scientific method and examine how scientist can use little bits of information to build towards a bigger solution.

This lessons discusses the four layers of the Earth. This website also shows the ocean floor, oceanic and continental crust, lithosphere, and asthenosphere. It also explains tectonic plates and continental shelves and shapes. I choose this website as a supplemental resource to teach about Earth's systems. This website is easy for students to read and understand. It also provides great images to help students understand these concepts.

US Geologic Survey has created an online interactive depiction of the water cycle. When you scroll over the different types of water action in the image, information about that component of the cycle shows up. This would be useful for student exploration of the water cycle or review.

This resource is an interactive introduction to sound. I would use this resource in a lesson on sound and vibrations, and show the website on a smartboard for my students and I to explore together. This interactive resource has multiple pages of images with sounds and animations that allow students to pluck rubber bands to notice sound and compare the speed of sound with the speed of other familiar vehicles. Another page of animations also shows students the speed of sound in the air in relation to thunder and lightning, something all students should be familiar with. I like this resource but I think teacher involvement would be required. It is not something young students could explore or read on their own.

This lesson shows the process of the water cycle. Water is placed in a small cup in the corner of a plastic zip lock bag. With a marker, show the stages of a water cycle in a circular direction. Place the bag on the window so that the sun causes the water to heat, thus starting the water cycle. I thought this would be a good activity to lead into a lesson on water accumulation, condensation, precipitation and evaporation. If a teacher was fortunate enough to live close to a local newscast, they could have a meteorologist come to talk to the class one day during the lesson on the water cycle.

Students will use oreos to create the phases of the moon. Each student needs 4 oreos and a paper plate. After the students know the phases of the moon and the significance of waxing and waning we would create the phases using the oreos. After they create their phases they may consume their creations while creating a foldable that they will place in their science journals. I am not a huge fan of this resource, but it was one of the better ones I was able to find.

This collection is meant to be of the best resources we can find. If you don't love this one, please remove it from the collection. Also, please note that the moon phases are incorrectly represented in the oreo image included here.