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This lab activity teaches students about convergent and divergent plate boundaries, structure of the earth, and the differences between oceanic and continental plates. Students use a fruit roll-up to present the oceanic crust, a graham cracker to represent the continental crust, and frosting to represent the asthenosphere. This hands-on activity shows students convergent and divergent plate boundaries, structure of the earth, and the differences between oceanic and continental plates. There are questions that go along with the activity to check for understanding. Then let the students eat the activity!

This is a brief explanation on why the sky is blue followed by an activity. I chose this source because I have always wanted to know the definitive answer to the question: Why is the sky blue? I would use this in an older elementary classroom as a lesson followed by a lab activity.

This is an activity illustrating how the tiny particles of the ringed planets can be seen so far away despite their small size. I chose this activity because I liked it, and because I liked that it had a discussion after its completion. I imagine my class will complete this activity and then we will discuss our findings as a whole group.

This is a lab activity where the students cut out the shapes of the planets and hang them from string making a solar system mobile. I chose this source because I like the hands on learning aspect it brings to the classroom.

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.

This site is an interactive lab teaching about volcanoes. The students need to have a variety of outlets for learning. This is a all computer based lesson to give them a new way to learn instead of just listening to me. I would instruct them at first, but then I would let them explore this lab.

I found this lesson and was immediately intrigued by the different activities. For a young group of students, I would set the different activities up in a stations format and let them explore the sounds and vibrations. This lesson also asks a lot of questions that encourage students to expand on their knowledge of sound. I chose this as a resource because I love the lab stations. I would use the lab stations in a lesson, but I would not follow the lesson exactly as it is written.

In this exploratory activity, the students will play around with different producers of sound to test what they see, feel, and hear. The students should figure out that vibrations make sound. I chose this activity because it is very hands on and gives the students the opportunity to discover things on their own. I would use this activity after already introducing the simple ideas about sound.

This is a fun and creative way to get students thinking about size and shape. This lesson could also be used for osmosis. Students could use different liquids to soak the gummies in overnight and make measurements and predictions about size and shape in a journal. It would be fun to do this lesson, because at the end you get to eat gummy bears!

Let's eat our way through the layers of the Earth! This lab activity allows to students to use food to create the layers of the Earth and then enjoy the results. The activity takes for 45 minutes-1 hour. After passing out each item the teacher explains that layer of the Earth. A gum ball is the core, cool whip dyed red is the mantle, chocolate chip and raisins are for the bedrock, graham crackers represent the clay layer, and crushed Oreos to represent the topsoil. This hands-on activity with help students learn the layers of the Earth!

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.

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.

Exceptional website with multiple resources for teaching various lessons on evolution...30+ links to individual pages with everything from PPT presentations, handouts, assessment tools, photos, and lab projects. May be the most complete place for a teacher to go to get everything he/she needs when putting together a lesson.

Good place to go to get detailed information on science demonstrations you can do in class (or at home). This site is beneficial because not only does it outline the steps to doing the demo but each has a link to a video that shows a successful demo.

One of my favorite resources. Quick and easy experiments to wow your students!

This is a great place to find science classroom ideas. All you need to do is search for elementary science and lots of boards come up where people have "pinned" ideas for the classroom. Be prepared to spend hours on this website because it is very addicting. I would definitely use this for unique ideas in my classroom.

The Biology Corner is a site that contains tons of resources for biology teachers. It provides lessons, quizzes, labs, interactive websites, and general science information. This website even breaks down chapters and topics that should be covered in AP Biology, Freshman Level Biology, and Anatomy and Physiology classes. Within these chapters power-point presentations, review guides, reading worksheets, etc. are all provided and are encouraged to be utilized and modified. I selected this resource because I can use many of the resources provided on this website in my own classroom. I also think it will be valuable to compare my own teaching materials and methods to another individual's and modify my own if I feel that they can be improved from what I have seen from this website. 

This site will be extremely useful to the science teacher. Pages include PowerPoint presentations, review guides, reading worksheets, crossword puzzles and any other specific resources used for that chapter or unit within that subject. Especially nice is the owner and keeper of this website is working to integrate Common Core into a large number of the lesson plans, especially Biology. Whereas a lot of website do not actively update and change their content this one seems to do that.

This website is a great resource for staying up-to-date on current events in elementary science. It provides information about upcoming conferences for professional development and also has a section for useful magazines, textbooks, and other print resources to use in class. It includes articles that can cover a range of topics or address very specific lessons for a particular grade level. This website could be a great way to demonstrate to students how science is being used right now. It also includes a section of interactive resources and lab ideas.

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.

This resource is a great resource to consider when covering plant and animal behaviors. It is basically a tool that a teacher could use in the classroom to help get the students to understand different behaviors, but it could also be a guide in helping a teacher bring in a plant or animal and using this tool to talk about the different behaviors of that plant or animal.

This website includes: lesson plan, worksheets, higher-level thinking and reasoning questions for students. It has four weeks of activities to better understand the solar system and the entire universe and what it is made of. The four weeks are sections off into groups: Universe, Solar System, Earth and Geography. This website list all materials needed, the background information needed, higher-level thinking questions asked to students, diagrams and visual on each subject matter. There is a lab that gets the students working together and reasoning through their connections and answers. I would use this in my third grade classroom to help the students reason on why the planets rotate like they do, and other higher-level thinking questions. This will help the students reason, think on higher-levels of questions not just in science but in all subject areas.

Great find!

This is a fun, very easy experiment for students to try when learning about the laws of motion. Students are able to see first hand Newton's first law of motion. Students can do this experiments in groups and discuss why the penny doesn't fall.

This activity allows students to work hands-on to observe and to collect data. It would be a fun activity that could engage students. This is also uses materials that would be accessible to students at home. Therefore, they could always show others.