Group items tagged

This is an activity resource I found about a robot arm activity for students. The information for the activity along with the full pdf file and the student worksheet are free to download. I liked all the information that the page offered, as well as the complete list of items for each group of students to use to create their robot arm. I think that this is another great way for students to see the many different sides of engineering. It's not all just about space or building skyscrapers. The goal of the project itself is for the robot arm each group creates to be able to grab and carry a foam cup. It's not too much of a daunting task and the goal is clear and is easily viewed when it comes to assessment.

This website contains activities for all grade levels and covers many different topics including how new medicines are found in the ocean, climate/weather, lesson sets addressing ocean littering/pollution, make your own weather station, and more. It includes basic fact sheets or interactive projects and games for students to work on. NOAA also heads up a Teach at Sea program where kindergarden through college educators can spend a given amount of time on a boat with scientists, researchers, and the boating crew to gain new experiences about human impact on the ocean, marine life, weather, etc and bring that new knowledge back to the classroom. I have also included a link to the Teach At Sea Program below. http://teacheratsea.noaa.gov/

This link allows students to either move the moon around the earth and see the phases, or they can click what phase they want to see and the moon jumps to the position it would be in when in the sky. Bellow the big picture you can also advance the moons position around the earth day by day. Using this simulator may dispel so misunderstandings about what causes the phases of the moon. There are several different views of the same information so students can choose which ever one makes more sense to them to look at. As I also said above there are several different ways to manipulate whats in front of you. I would most definitely use this in a chapter about the moon. I might have a worksheet that asks students to show me where the moon would be at each phase, I might follow that with questions about why they think the moon looks the way it does. I love this tool, it was introduced to me in astronomy. I love how easy it is to use. Again you can manipulate it day by day, you get to see what the moon would really look like up in the sky if you had the chance to see it, and you get to see and understand what rotates around what.( We rotate around the sun, the moon rotates around us.)

This looked like a great free app that can be used on an ipad or iphone. You can look at the sky in a 3D or 2D form. It shows the star consolations in relation to the planets. This would be a great app to use when learning about the solar system and the stars. The app is free and it gets great reviews. This would be a good way to integrate technology into the curriculum.

I have the star walk App, which is not free. This looks Iike a good free alternative, with perhaps fewer ways to get "lost" in space with zooming in on objects, a good thing for younger students!

Although this field trip would only work for a school in Chicago, I found that the Adler Planetarium has an amazing exhibit about the solar system. Besides extensive information about each planet, students can participate in a space walk where they have the chance to explore the different terrain and atmospheres on the other planets. My favorite thing about this exhibit is that is gives the students the opportunity to touch a piece of Mars and the moon! I think the students would find this field trip very interesting and it would be much more entertaining to them than staying in the classroom and watching videos of the solar system!

This video uses humor and science to give a brief history and explain what constellations are and what they represent to both astronomers and ordinary people. I chose this resource because it's been my experience that kids LOVE BrainPOP videos. These videos are a useful tool because they make they make good use of humor while still conveying the facts behind the topic presented. They're also good because each video contains quizzes and other activities after the video. I would use this video to introduce what constellations are before having students look for them with either a telescope or a picture of the night sky.

The science movies teach kids educational topics like animals, habitats, plants, land, matter, forces, space, energy, and weather. I really enjoy the animals section since it talked about different types of animals and their habits such as hibernation, camouflage, migration and food chains. Throughout the early years i feel like this would benefit students since they are given videos, and text. This site is reliable and gears towards many learning styles.

This site was created by NASA's Planetary Science Division. Their hardworking robots explore the planets and more on the wild frontiers of our solar system. NASA keeps their websites up to date and are user friendly. I would utilize this website in conjunction with a lesson on the solar system. I would pair students up and the group would use the website to explore their planet and then they would create a travel brochure using publisher. Incorporating technology into the classroom is important and this allows me to do that.

This is site talks about the ways to defy the laws of physics through space travel.

"Monster Physics" is an app that allows the user to create and test his/her own machine using a variety of devices such as wheels, propellers, ropes, etc. After the user invents a machine, he/she is able to test it to see if it works. So, not only does this app allow students to create their own system, but it allows them to evaluate the effectiveness of their creation as well. I chose this app because it looks child-friendly and can easily be used for students to explore different mechanisms that I may not have readily available. Also, this app lets them create a device which may require too much time or space if attempted within the classroom. I would allow students to use this app during a rotation time or if they finish their assignment early in order to further their knowledge of mechanical systems as well as enhance their critical thinking skills.