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Online 3D simulation of the Solar System and night sky in real time - the Sun, planets, dwarf planets, comets, stars and constellations ______________________________________________________________________ This website provides a 3D simulation of the Solar System including everything from the plants to comets and stars. Students can use this simulation to learn everything they want to know about the Solar System. This simulation allows students to click on each individual planet to learn more information and also allows students to locate the major stars and constellations found in our solar system. Students can also watch the planets orbit around the sun (in real time) and go to any day of any year to see where each planet was at that time. All for free! I selected this resource because I think it will really benefit visual and hands-on learners. Giving students the opportunity to research the Solar System on their own gives them a feeling of independence, even while they are learning. I think this resource is very valuable in the classroom because it provides a lot of information about everything there is in the Solar System. This resource could be used during a lesson about the Solar System. Students could each be given an individual planet, star, or constellation to research, and students could create a poster with information on their individual planet, star, or constellation. This resource would benefit in their researching.

This site from the Kennedy Space Center has a lot of children's books that all incorporate space ranging from $3.00 to $20.00. These books would be a great way to start off a lesson in order to get the students interested in the content. The books on this site are aimed for younger kids. Also, this site includes DVD's, gift ideas, toys, apparel, and even space food to buy. I think that by having a variety of space books in my classroom library would encourage the students to find out more about space. I mainly picked this site because a teacher can never have too many childrens books, and this site has several choices for reasonable prices.

This would be a great field trip idea to the St Louis Science Center for students of all ages. The general admission is free but it is 4.00 per child to see the planetarium show. The planetarium includes the SBC Learning Center, that give visitors a glimpse of what it's like to live and work on the International Space Station. In the Crew Quarters, students can see how astronauts eat, exercise, sleep and dress in space, as well as how medical needs and the stations internal and external environments are maintained. The planetarium show features more than 9,000 stars onto an 80 foot dome and includes special effects such as eclipses, meteor showers. The show lasts roughly 25 minutes and each session is designated for certain age groups. I would love to someday take my class to this planetarium because I think it would be an amazing opportunity and a great learning experience.

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.

In this lesson you go over 6 different habitats in the world. The list contains grasslands (or savanna), temperate forest, tropical rain forest, desert, polar ice, tidepools. You separate your class into six groups and assign each group a habitat. Each habitat has its own assigned question that the students need to find the answer to through research of their habitat using a computer. For example the grassland group has to explain why speed is such a good thing for animals who live there, while the temperate forests are going to explain what tree leaves have to do with frozen water available in their climate. When the assignment is done students have to present their work to the class and teach each other what they learned through their own research. The lesson is basically about adaptations and how they come in handy in certain parts of the world but not others. This link also has web links embedded in it to help students look for their answers. I think this is great for a unit on adaptations and habitats. I would have loved to do this in my upper elementary classes. i feel like i would have learned and remembered so much more. It definitely fosters more constructive learning. I don't tell you about adaptations and then ask questions, you are sent to find the info on your own.

This WebQuest teaches the states of matter through the use of research, activities, music, and games. The site allows chances to go back and forth between tasks, and is very user friendly and easy to navigate. The students will examine solids, liquids, and gasses in an interactive and fun way that will keep them focused. I like this webquest because it allows the students to learn about the states of matter in multiple different ways. This gives each student a chance to excel at some part of the program, and makes it fun for everyone. I enjoy how many different pieces there is to the site, and it has tons of useful information that is shown in an interactive way. The students also get the chance to use technology independently and are able to do some research. I would introduce this web quest after an introduction day to the stages of matter, and have the class work on a few tasks each day to keep them motivated and wanting to keep going.

This website provides several resources for teachers. There are several science experiment lesson plans along with supplemental materials. There is also a JustAsk section that addresses classroom issues such as bullying.

This site has a lot of neat experiments where you can choose the grade level and content. For my unit plan I would select "Earth and Space Science" in order to get ideas on different activities and experiments to do in class with my students. I picked this site because the activities are ones where the students could use their creativity to come up with something unique. For instance, they could make a homemade planetarium, make a spaceship using old CD's, or even make a solar system of students. I would use this site in the classroom to get ideas on how to get the students out of their seats, but yet keep them interested. The activities from this site are ones that the students would definately enjoy.

The Touch of Nature environmental program offers both land-based activities and water-based activities for students. The best way to experience Touch of Nature is to spend three-five days in their camp program. Students are set up in cabins for the night while during the day they can go on field trips to the local lake, ponds, or night trips looking for owls. This extended field trip is more specified to students grades 6 to 12. It gives students the opportunity to learn about their surrounding environment and how they can use ways to conserve it. "Your Touch of Nature experience can be designed to supplement and enrich classroom curricula or enhance youth group experiences. With nature as your classroom, it can provide insight to groups of all ages and backgrounds. You are encouraged to request a program that serves your specific needs (SIU Touch of Nature)

This resource allows you to change the temperature of the air and a cloud to see what type of precipitation will be formed. I chose this resource because it is an engaging and interactive way for students to explore precipitation and to see what makes different types of precipitation form. I imagine this resource being used to reinforce their knowledge of precipitation.

This experiment uses a plastic bag, string, scissors and a small action figure. As you might have guested you are going to make a parachute. After you construct the parachute you will drop it as slow as you can. This shows air resistance. This is a great start to a lesson, an experiment, and even an example of a fair test! I would use this to start a lesson on air resistance ( or maybe even gravity). I would first drop my parachute in the class and ask students what happened. I might even drop both an action figure by himself, and an action figure on a parachute to farther demonstrate the air resistance. I might ask questions such as "why did this action figure fall more slowly? What was stopping him? Why/how? Then after a discussion I would get out materials for the whole class. I would ask students "What could we test using what we now know to create different parachutes and find out which one will work the best?" We would talk about how larger surface area creates more resistance and will make a parachute fall more slowly. In the aspects of a fair test I would try to guide the idea towards testing out maybe 5 different parachutes. The controlled aspect would be using the same material, and same size parachute. What would change would be how many holes we would put in the top of it. Holes in the top cause air to go through the parachute not around it, this causes the parachute to fall more straight. (This is something we might have found out through research.) The goal would be to make a parachute that falls as slow and straight as possible. The challenge would be where to place the holes and how big the holes should be.

I think I would take three days to go through the scientific method from testable question to conclusion with my students and in the process we would do the experiment. Testable Question: Do Skittles dissolve faster in warm water or cool water?On the first day, I would introduce the question, hypothesis, plan, variables, and materials. Then on day two we would perform the experiment the students created while recording our findings in our science journals. On the third day we would improve our experiment and address any inaccuracies that developed. I like this resource because it gives clear directions and it is an affordable experiment to introduce students to a difficult process. The ability to make it hands-on makes it more memorable.

This activity is a great way to review what animals need to survive. We will do this project at the end of our animal lesson. Students will already know what animals need in order to survive. For this activity, students will fill in their foldable with the correct needs of animals and draw a picture to go along with each need. I chose this activity because foldables are very popular in elementary grades. Having the students write the needs on a foldable instead of a regular piece of paper makes the activity more fun for them. They also love to color, so they will be excited to draw pictures! These foldables would be very cute to display in the classroom, but are also easy for students to store in their desks and refer back to them later.

It is really easy to paste these kinds of foldables into science notebooks for long-term keeping, too!

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.

This is an activity in which students use slices of bread to create replicas of various landforms. After introducing the varying types of landforms to the class, the teacher will provide students with slices of bread with which they can create different land types (such as islands, peninsulas, gulfs, straits, and isthmuses) in a hands-on, memorable manner. After the students have created the landforms, they can glue them to a piece of paper, or simply eat them as a snack! This activity caught my eye because I feel as though it would be engaging for the entire class. I also thought it was cost-effective and simple to execute. This activity would be an excellent way to introduce a unit on landforms because it gives the students a chance to become acquainted with the topic in an appealing, memorable way.

A foundation in geography begins with an understanding of the terms geographers use to describe the features of Earth. Help students grow their vocabulary and learn to recognize common landforms such as islands, lakes, peninsulas, gulfs, straits, and isthmuses in a hands-on lesson using soft and squishy slices of bread! I love this because the students get to visually make the landforms when learning about them. It keeps the students involved in the lesson. I would use it when first learning about the landforms to help the students better remember them.

This activity will help students identify what is magnetic by testing different objects. Students will work in small groups for this activity, and be provided the necessary materials. They will use magnets to test each item to determine whether or not it is magnetic. Once they have made their decision, they will record it on their worksheet. I selected this resource because it is a great hands-on activity for the students to work together on. The free downloadable printable makes it valuable to me as a teacher because I do not have to take the time to create my own worksheet. I envision this resource being used for a science center. I will provide the objects to the students in a small bucket, and have them use their coloring materials to record their data.

I like the idea of the blank worksheet, so students could gather up their own collection of items to test, or you could provide some, and then have them select others they would like to try.

I enjoy this lesson because it is another hands on activity for students. Students will get to compare and contrast what they know about the seasons. The students will get to place pictures in the correct poster for what season that picture may be related to. This lesson also involves reading books to the children to expand their knowledge on each of the seasons.

"Shadow puppets offer a great way of investigate light and shadows. It also links to literacy, storytelling and design technology. Try out this cross-curricular activity." This activity is a great way to demonstrate to students how light travels as a wave, showing them that when you put a shadow puppet in between the lamp and the wall, the puppet blocks some of the light waves. For this activity, I would have sample shadow puppets made along with a script to go with the characters. I would allow volunteers to work the shadow puppets as I read the script aloud. To boost the creativity of this activity, I would allow students to create shadow puppets of their choice. I think this would serve as a great extension activity to a lesson about light and shadows especially because it gets students engaged as it requires their involvement. To make sure students fully understand and grasp the relationship between the light and the shadow puppets, I would make sure that each student has a chance to use their shadow puppet on the "stage."

Here's a great Science lesson for students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. This lesson helps students learn about magnets. Storytelling, journaling and teaching from the heart all play a part to make this an effective Science lesson. _____________________________________________________________________ This lesson is taught by Mr. Rutherford. This lesson discusses magnets and allows students to participate in hands-on learning. Students create a journal allowing them to follow what they are learning as well as keep track of the data they are finding. I chose this resource because not only does it give a good idea on an effective science lesson, but it also encourages teachers to be effective as well. I think this lesson is effective because it allows students to become engaged in their own learning. Mr. Rutherford allowed his students to be in charge of their learning, which helps keep all students involved in the lesson. I would definitely teach this lesson in my class. All the students seemed to stay focused on the activity. I would use this lesson to help students learn more about magnetism and how think can effect the magnetism of an object.

Introducing Discovery Channel's "How Big is My Universe." This Discovery Channel school video was created to show students the many different parts of our galaxy along with the properties of its elements. This is not only a great introductory resource for my Solar System unit, but it also encompasses a program overview that includes a lesson guide. This extra resource includes discussion questions, teacher activities, related resources, and important vocabulary words. As the video guide suggests, " What better way to answer the eternal question about size than to bring the solar system down to earth?"

This is such a cool concept that I really wanted to find the video available online. I'm surprised I can't find it! I did, however, locate it as a DVD available as DVD from software express (swexpress.com) for 31.95. Steep price. Maybe libraries have it?