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!
This website provides teachers with a way to integrate bug collections into a lesson about observation, questioning, and critical thinking. Students are able to identify and find bugs around the school yard and learn at the same time.
I think this would be a good place to take students when talking about and exploring nature. Students could learn about different ecosystems and how animals live in nature. The watershed has several hands on activities for the students as well as scavenger hunts.
This website provides a hand on activity for students. They will all grow their own sunflowers, under different conditions. This website gives you all the different variables. It also provides extensions to the project. I found this website to be useful when talking about the life of plants and what they need to grow.
This resource describes how to make a rain gauge. This resource is valuable because it is a hands-on activity that will help students not only observe rain patterns, but will also help them to chart them. I would have my students make these in groups and we would then chart the rain fall over the course of the unit.
This is an experiment for students to make their own rain gauge. I would use this in my classroom by having each student make their own rain gauge and them placing them in their yards at home. I would try to do this during the spring and rainy season and have students record their measurements after each rain. Students would then compare their measurements with their classmates and determine where the most rain fell.
This page is easy to navigate and could be used the first day of the lesson to get students interested in the topic. It briefly covers the basics of weather.
This website could be useful to both the teacher and the student. For the teacher it as graphic organizers to guide the students through lesson and also has simulations to watch. The website also has games and practice quizzes for the students.
This resource is an activity that simulates the process of producing precipitation (rain). Although this site is very simplistic, I like it because it allows the students to visually how rain forms. I would use this in my classroom to demonstrate and help reinforce the concept of the water cycle and rain to those students that are struggling with it.
I would use The Weather Channel to show students that learning about weather is important. We are surrounded by weather daily. This website provides practical application, so they understand why they are learning about it.
This website is mostly for the students. They are able to play a food chain game where they have to decide which things depend on others and where they are on the food chain. This would be good for students who finish assignments early or need help understanding the food chain
This website could be useful to both students and teachers. Teachers would use this website as a guide to help students understand the steps of the scientific method. This website allows students to take a quiz after reading the material to determine if they comprehend the information
This website is for the teacher to design a lesson for students to compare and contrast different animals and their habitats. This forces students to use observation, and critical thinking.
I know this is the wikipedia article for physics but it has a lot of good information on the history and need for physics. I could use this article as a starting point for any information I wanted or needed to know and if I find something that doesn't sound right I could double check it with one of the other websites I have saved.
I can see this website being useful for coming up with new ideas for physics excercises especially if the students are nnot understanding the information the way I first say the material. I can also use this website to correspond with other teachers about how they use material and lessons in their classroom.
This website could be used as a personal cheat sheet for me if the students ask me a question that I dont know the answer to right there. It can also be used for the students because it has all of the basic formulas the students will need.
Another pre class video to get the classes intrest going in physics. The video is a clip from the T.V. show The Big Bang Theory that may help the younger students pay attention.
I would recommend starting the video at about 1:15 "What is Physics?" Also re-named the resources to be descriptive and added a tag for grades 9-12, for which I think this is actually more appropriate.
