Group items tagged

This is a video I found on YouTube featuring an experiment that shows how light can be "bent" using water and reflection. I selected it because it goes well with the Next Generation Science Standard that I was given (1-PS4-3). I feel that it lends itself well to explaining to students the reflective properties of light, and I would use the video along with my own version of the activity to explain this. I tagged both K-3 as well as 4-8, though I feel that the activity could be used at any grade level. The video itself uses more advanced language and vocabulary, but I feel that by using grade-appropriate terminology, it could be useful for younger students as well.

Electricity -- we depend on it every minute of every day. And yet to many of us, electricity seems a mysterious and even magical force. Before Ben Franklin did his famous and very dangerous kite flying experiment, electricity was thought to be a type of fire. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I think this is an excellent lesson to teach to grades 3-6. I am pleased with this lesson that it lists the lesson sequence, materials needed, and the objectives. I really like the variety that this lesson includes. It allows students to get up and move in acting out an electric circuit as well as get up close and personal with electricity and how it works with the activity. Not only does this lesson involve interactive components for students, it also provides many videos that correlate with the lesson. This lesson plan seems easy to follow with the instructional sequence and I think it would be easy to fit within the McKendree lesson plan template and add a bit of flair from the teacher candidate. I think this lesson also allows teachers to impose his or her own spin on the lesson and choose what parts to include or omit as well as what might need to be added to the lesson. A lesson like this with so much instructional variety helps to reach students that learn from hands-on activities, students who learn more visually, as well as students who learn best from discussion and instruction. I would follow the instructional sequence if I were to use this lesson in the classroom, but I would tailor it to fit my time allotment for teaching Science, thus it would be done in smaller segments. I would choose one or two videos to share with the class, but post the rest on our class website so the children could view them if the wanted to.

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 website provides a resource for students to learn Chemistry through playing interactive computer games. A teacher can register the class or the students can just login as a guest. Videos and songs are also posted to make Chemistry more interesting. Additionally, the site offers links to resources for getting tutoring help as well as safety rules and lab experiment suggestions for teachers. This website seems like a useful tool in the classroom and to refer students and parents to if they have questions or need additional information.

Modern Biology Inc. supplements teaching biology laboratories. On the website they have free access to over one hundred experiments that correspond to many different concepts that are being taught in high school biology labs today. There is also the option to search by the class you are teaching for experiments. While access to their experiments is free, some of the experiments require equipment or additional materials that would more than likely need to be bought and Modern Biology, Inc. sells any piece of equipment or material that their labs mention. I selected this resource because labs are a critical part of any science classroom, and lab equipment and materials will inevitably need to be purchased. This is a good resource where all labs can be accessed and materials can be purchased in the same location. I will probably use some of the lab exercises from this website, and it is possible that I would need to purchase equipment and materials from this website as well. 

This app allows students to overview the cell as a whole, as well as the individual structures and their functions. I selected this resource because it can act as an interactive diagram and quiz on the cell. Having just created a lesson over the cell, I thought this would be a great tool if the class had iPads.

"The Science Spot" is great resource for labs as well as interactive technology for the students. The general website covers all areas of science, but the specific part I have tagged here is for Chemistry students and includes interactive activities for students to participate in to learn about the periodic table, its trends, and some fun facts. I think having students complete these activities in a computer lab would be beneficial to their learning process and would offer them a chance to receive instant feedback about their work through technology.

This website is interactive and explains how sexual reproduction is different than asexual reproduction. Through the use of flashcards students are able to quiz themselves over descriptions of each form or reproduction. I selected this resource as a tool for my students to help them learn the material as well as quiz themselves. This website also allowed students to hear description of each type of reproduction, do flash cards, play games, type in answers to their questions, and do an online test. I would use this website to see if my students really know the material and have it as tool for studying.

I picked this site because it was very fun and colorful! There were moving diagrams to show how the planets rotate around the sun as well as interactive games. There was information on the solar system as a whole as well as links to each of the planets and the planets' moons. Very educational! I would use this in my classroom as a center on the computer. I would have different centers set up around the room for the children to explore, and this would be an interactive website that would offer information to the students.

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 site is great! It gives a very cute animated lesson about butterfly life cycles and then allows you to play games to practive what you've learned! This would be great for a kindergarten or early elementary classroom and could be done individually or on a SmartBoard as a class as well.

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!

The St. Louis Zoo provides 8 lesson plans on conservation, populations and ecosystems, and characteristics of living organisms. I have used one in the past and adapted it to fit a higher grade level than listed. I selected this resource because I love connecting material to the zoo. It is valuable that students know that zoos are not only for people to go look at animals, but they are put in place to help repopulate endangered species as well. These resources can be used as is or adapted to fit other classroom needs.

This is a video that could be used in a 5th grade science class, during an astronomy lesson.  This video is a great visual to show students the actual size of our solar system and the relation of the planets.  This video is well edited with music that is not too distracting like the other videos that I found.  This video could be use during almost any lesson talking about the solar system or galaxies.

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 is a YouTube video that lasts about 5 minutes that discusses the solar system. It explains how the planets were formed, the two regions of the solar system, dwarf planets, and also incorporates several facts. I picked this video because it explains the material in a way where the students would be able to understand without being completely confused. It delivers the content of the video very well. I would be able to show this video in class so that the students can visually see what takes place in our solar system.

This YouTube video is a 25 minute episode of the Magic Schoolbus. In this episode, the class takes a field trip into outerspace. They travel around the sun and to each planet. I picked this video because I always loved The Magic Schoolbus series. They keep children's attention but are very educational as well. I would definately use this video in my classroom. After a long week of studying the planets and solar system, I could play this on a Friday to wrap up the unit.

This is a cute idea to incorporate visual arts into a science lesson plans. I loved using Crayola lesson plans when I was teaching pre-school. This lesson is cute because it deals with baby animals and the students get to work on fine motor skills as well. Be sure to check out the rest of the website.

A. This resource contains educational games which focus on biology (plants and animal habitats). The link will take you to a particular game where students must find plants and animals in the local environment. Once students complete this game, they move onto others regarding growing plants and specific habitats. B. I chose this resource because it is an excellent introduction for a unit/lesson regarding plants and animals in their habitats, as well as showing students that plants and animals can be found in all types of environments. This resource fits well with my standard which is 2-LS4-1; Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. C. I would use this resource in my future classroom as an introduction for students to make the connection that animals and plants can be found in all types of environments. I would also use these interactive games to assess my students prior knowledge about plants/ animals habitat diversity in order to see which material can simply be a review.

This is an interactive game the students can play either as a center in the classroom or even at home. It shows the students how important it is for plants to grow with a certain amount of sunlight and a certain amount of water. I would use this is a K-3 setting just because it is a very simple game, but also keeps them on their toes as to when the plant needs water and sunlight as well as how long it takes for plants to grow on a weekly scale. I would use this is my classroom as a center game or a resource for them to play at home to keep their minds going in science.