Resources for Teaching Science

This resource is a lesson plan to help students understand animal diversity. I selected this resource because it gives the lesson plan and it also gives you ideas on how to extend the lesson into future lessons. I would use this lesson during my lesson segment on plant and animal biodiversity to get the students thinking about animal diversity.

This resource is all about plant and animal biodiversity. I selected this resource because it shows all of the different habitat types and gives examples of plants and animals that live in that environment. I would use this resource while preparing my lessons on this topic because it gives pictures of some of the different habitat types and animals that inhabit those habitats.

This resource shows instructions, materials and photos for creating a shoe box habitat. The website lists that this craft is for 1st graders, but I think that it could be just as easily used in a 2nd grade classroom. Students get to choose which type of habitat they would like to create and are able to work on it at school and home. I selected this resource because I feel that it would be a great activity to reinforce 2-LS4-1. This craft would not be necessarily a lesson, but rather something that ties into the after math of learning about animal/plant habitats. I would use this resource as either an end of the unit craft to discuss in the class and compare/contrast each others, or as an extra credit project to do at home.

This resource categorizes and separates all of the types of habitats (arctic, rainforest, desert, salt water, etc.) and has sections you can click on to find out plants and animals that live in which categories. I really like that there are sections where you can find out how plants/animals survive in each type of habitat, as well as interesting facts about that specific habitat. This is a website that each student could go to and simply explore as an add on to a lesson. I selected this source because it aligns with 2-LS4-1.

This resource is a lesson for 2nd grade, rainforest diversity. I specifically wanted to show step 2: Literature and Discuss. This step uses a children's book activity to engage students in the various elements of a rainforest habitat. I selected this resource because it shows an excellent activity that I can use with 2-LS4-1. I really like that this focuses on the rainforest and could be used to compare/contrast with other types of habitats such as deserts and oceans.

This is a video resource that I found on Youtube. The many different types of structures and architectural pieces can help students relate more to engineering by showing them structures that they might pass by daily. However, there are also more historical pieces of architecture to allow students to explore just what engineering can create. With all of the historical background, this is also a great way to show connections between science and another area of study. I would use this as an opener to show my students all the different ways in which engineers solved problems for themselves and for society. My science standard is all about students being able to come up with their own solutions to problems and this is a great starting point for that.

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.

I chose this as an activity resource. This would be a great activity to do with students near the end of the school year after they have gotten the hang of creating their own solutions and putting them to the test to see if they work out well. This particular activity treats a water balloon as a brain and students construct a "skull" made out of different objects to keep the brain safe and secure when it's dropped from a certain height. I would use this with many different materials for students to use so we could study the outcome of all of the materials and then complete some kind of chart or graph to show our findings.

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.

Free downloadable program in which students can build a dam in a virtual ecosystem and see how the animals and plants living there adapt. It shows students what happens to plants and animals when a change is introduced to their environment, some adapt and live while some die. I liked this program because students can place the dam in different places thus having different effects. I would use this program while studying biological evolution to visually demonstrate how a single change in the environment can have a drastic effect on the surrounding plant and animal life (3-LS4).

This lesson is designed to help students understand that vibrations are responsible for the sounds we hear. This is a lesson that I could modify to use to teach about sounds and vibrations. This lesson has a list of resources that could be used individually. I really liked the activities within the lesson. I don't think I would use this exact lesson, but it does have some great components that I could use to create my own lesson

A free application to see if dinosaur fossils have been found near your home. I selected this app because I thought it would be a fun way to bring studying dinosaur fossils a little closer to home. I would use it in the classroom in conjunction with studying evolution and diversity (3-LS4).

This is a video that introduces sound, specifically vibration, and teaches a song to students. I chose this video because I know how much young children love music and learning songs. It has a lot of good information about sound and vibration in the short time the song plays. I would use this song to introduce a lesson on sound, or possibly conclude a lesson and review what students have learned.

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.

Gamestar Mechanic is my technology resource. This game, available for download and online, teaches kids how to create their own video games. There is a big teacher section online for the program with videos explaining how to use Gamestar Mechanic as well as a place for teachers who use the program to blog about their experiences and share lesson plans using this game. I would like to use this as a tool in problem solving where all my students could help create a "game" or for students to use during free time or inside recess. The pdf file and the ideas for lessons are very interesting and I think this can be used as a tool to open up student's to the many different sides of engineering and creating.

This resource is an exercise in perception with a small nod to biology. Essentially, the activity requires a student to stand astride a 2x3-feet mirror and then, with the leg that is against the reflective side of the mirror, bend at the knee and move it back and forth. This will create the illusion of flight. The idea behind this is not only the reflection of light using a mirror, but it also ties in to basic biology and anatomy by proving that the human body is symmetrical. I chose this out of a desire to find fun light and reflection-based activities that are relatable to younger (K-3) students. I would use this in the classroom as part of a lesson about light and reflection, making sure to give the hat tip to the biology element as well.

I found this while searching for field trip ideas. The author of this summary visited the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, which features many "hands-on" exhibits. He speaks mainly of the "Newton's Alley" exhibit, where he spoke of the ability to lift himself using pulleys. However, of particular note to me was the fourth paragraph, where he talked about playing the "harp with invisible strings," which was actually powered by laser technology. I selected this resource both out of a desire to find a fun and relevant field trip as well as my own healthy respect for Isaac Newton and his discoveries. I would use this as a basis for planning a field trip to the actual Maryland Science Center facility.

This resource is a web page that has an entire outline and all of the information to do a field trip at Glacier National Park in Montana. This field trip is designed for 2nd grade (in the fall or spring) and has a duration of 4 hours. The group size listed is for 45 students. This is an excellent field trip that allows students to observe plants and animals in their natural habitats, compare/contrast, and communicate findings. I felt that this field trip would match perfectly with 2-LS4-1. I would use this field trip near the end of my unit, so students could grasp the real life connections and I could somewhat assess their learning of the lessons previously taught for this specific standard. ( I did not see the cost for this field trip listed on the website, so I am led to believe it is a free field trip that Glacier National Park offers.)

St. Louis Science Center's reconstruction of a dig site in the Badlands, of Montana. The fossils at the "dig site" are casts made from the real fossils that can be seen on display in the Prep lab. The Prep Lab features interactive tables where real dinosaur fossils are displayed. Students are also encouraged to ask the workers and volunteers questions. There are also many other interactive exhibits at the St. Louis Science Center that deal with fossils and how they are made, and beginning March 7, there will be a special traveling dinosaur exhibit to visit. I can't think of a better place to take a field trip when teaching about biological evolution (3-LS4) than the Science Center. A large majority of their interactive displays fit right in with what the students are learning, and having the hands-on experience will only enhance the students learning and make it more meaningful. I would take the field trip somewhere in the middle of teaching the material, that way I could reference what the students have already learned in class when we're on the field trip but they would find that there is still more to learn.

This is such a fun end-of-the week activity for teaching the various states of matter with yummy root beer floats. The teacher and students review liquid as they look at just the root beer in the cups. Then they review solids, as they add the ice cream. Finally, they observe gas when the ice cream is added to the root beer. I would definitely do this activity in my classroom. It is all about making science applicable to everyday life, and rewarding your students in the process!

With this activity, you start by having just the root beer sitting in cups at each student's desk. Discuss with the class why the matter in the cup is a liquid. Then move onto showing the students ice cream and ask what makes it a solid. Next add the ice cream to the root beer and discuss how the carbonation of the soda makes the root beer fizz which is the gas. This would be used at the end of a unit on solids, liquids and gas as a reward and fun activity to review the previous week's lessons. I chose this activity to show the students how they can see and apply science in their everyday life. This activity was free but there are lessons and units linked to this activity that cost money.