Resources for Teaching Science

This app allows students to watch videos and then they are able to answer questions about the videos. I like that this app includes multiple subjects besides science, so it is more effective. I also like this app, because the students can watch the videos as much as and as long as they want so that they will be able to understand the material. I also like that the app allows the students to answer questions about the videos they watched.

Is there a specific video you would recommend for a particular science topic?

Students will learn about weather by taking walks in various types conditions: sunny, rainy, windy and snowy. On nice days the students can walk around and explore outside of the school, and on the not so nice days the class can participate under an overhang or by simply looking out the window. This teaches students how to identify seasons and weather change over a lengthy time period. I chose this lesson because I know kindergarteners love nothing more than to get up and move around, and what better way to do that than to learn at the same time. I like how the activity can be spanned throughout the entire school year and would give the class a steady routine and plan to look forward to. I would put this weather activity into part of the morning meetings to start everyone's day off on a fun educational note that they can use every morning at home with their parents also.

Great lesson idea for teaching about plant and animal cells. Watch this video for an overview of this biology lesson and how you can bring it into your classroom. Lesson plan print out is also available. This lesson helps students see a cell in a way that they can understand, which involves food! I think that when students make something they are more likely to understand what they make.

The Saint Louis Science Center has a number of resources available for educators to assist in enhancing your classroom curriculum. From field trips to the Science Center or programs brought to your location, Science Center staff work hard to provide you with the resources you need to be successful. The Science Center is full of interactive science that students can be hands on with. You can study many different aspects of science then reenforce these ideas at the Science Center.

Students will observe the effects of osmosis on a gummy bear in this guided scientific method lab report. This is a fun visual way to grasp the difficult concept of osmosis. I chose this lesson because when I was in middle school I had difficulty with the concept of osmosis, and I feel that this hands on and visual lab will bring the students to a better understanding of osmosis. Also, this would be a great way to explore osmosis on a deeper level and engage the students because giant gummy bears are cool. I would use this lab during the cells unit in science when we talk about the different properties of the cell wall: osmosis being one of the properties.

This activity can be used to tie different school subjects together, social studies, earth science, and math. When introducing the concept of the world they may not comprehend the size of Earth. Have an inflatable globe and let the students toss it to one another, when they catch it have the students identify what each finger is touching water or land, we can also keep a graph of the two to determine if there is more land or water on earth.

Composting is the oldest form of recycling. It provides an opportunity for students to observe the decomposition process and energy cycle at work; produces a valuable soil supplement; and reduces the amount of organic material requiring a landfill or incineration. This is a neat hands on lesson that can last up to the whole year! The students get to understand the process of composting and will learn that there we can use other methods of eliminating our trash. My favorite part is that they get to physically see what is happening in the soil. I would start this activity towards the beginning of the year. The students can volunteer to bring in items from the materials list to help feel involved in the prep. I would have the students keep a journal about the chances they see when we check on the compost bin.

This is a resource video for Middle School Science Teachers that displays simple demonstrations to help instruct on chemical or physical reactions, surface tension, life science, and waves. I would use this video to help utilize creative and engaging lesson starters. I selected this resource because it has multiple ideas to spice up the classroom for both the students and teacher.

This activity has each student growing their own plant. I was looking at the standards and I thought that this activity would work for 3-LS1-1, which says that students should develop models to describe that organisms have unique live cycles but have a common birth, reproduction, and death. I think that it would be interesting for the students to see how different plants grow from a seed and then develop unique characteristics. This activity would also teach the students responsibility, because they would be in charge of taking care of the plant. I would envision using this activity by splitting the students into groups and giving each of them a plant to care for, the students would also be in charge of keeping a weekly journal.

This lesson is used to teach young students the importance of nature. Many students don't realize many manufactured items come from nature. Bring in everyday items from home and ask the children where they think the item came from (paper and books from trees, glass from sand, etc). Have different colored dots and walk around the classroom and label items with colors from what the item might have came from (green=trees, red=animals), this requires the students to think critically. It's important for children to respect nature and understand most everything we interact with on a daily basis is from nature. As a teacher I can use this to teach children respect of nature and each other because everything must work together.

If you have a hard time getting your child to brush his teeth, it might be time to try the Egg in Soda Experiment and its companion, the Egg in Vinegar dental health experiment. In theory, a hard boiled egg's shell works similarly to the enamel on a child's tooth. I picked this activity because I worked in the dental field for two years and I want my students to know how important their teeth are! I think this activity really gives the students a visual to how harmful some things can be to our teeth. I would use this during dental health month, during a time when we are learning about healthy eating. It would be neat to see what happens if we left the eggs in the cup over a weekend!

This lab requires students to analyze what they already know about Newton's Laws of Motion. The students will calculate the speed of the balloon as it soars while implementing the scientific method. This is a great resource to get the students up and moving in the classroom, and I would use this lab as a way to incorporate hands on experimentation with Newton's Laws.

This resource takes Newton's Laws of motion and applies them to concepts that we see everyday in our lives. Also, it uses the popular app Angry Birds that will appeal to the middle school students. I chose this lesson because it has real life applications and is a fun way to discuss the different laws and properties of motion in the classroom. I envision utilizing this source in the classroom as an introduction of a Force and Motion unit.

Students will examine and sketch various trace fossils from an unknown creature and then construct an image of the creature that they believe produced these fossils. This activity will let the students make an educated guess of the creature based on the available information. This can be used to explain portions of the scientific method and examine how scientist can use little bits of information to build towards a bigger solution.

Students will make their own weather station, consisting of several home-made versions of real weather measurement equipment and use that equipment to make observations about the local weather. This is activity is good for the students to gather data and use that data to reach a conclusion.

The students are studying Animal Classification Systems they will make a "foldable" that would help them practice seeing and using the 8 levels of classification. After teaching the students about the 8 different levels of classification, I would have the students each choose a mammal and have them fill out this "foldable" to help them see and use the classification system because there are scientists out there who have the job of classifying animals in real life. This is a great way for the students to be little scientists and take this boring concept and make it their own!

This topic, called Bright Ideas at the Magic House in St. Louis, involves students doing an investigation on electric items. The website says that the students will create their own working switches, games, and working with magnets. It also says that this activity fits in with the standard 4-PS3. I like the Magic House because it requires the students to make their own discoveries through hands on activities. I would also have my students bring a notebook to detail any discoveries that the students have made.

Swings, slides and climbing structures offer different examples of pendulums, ramps, and levers, not to mention forces such as gravity and friction. The students can check temperature on different surfaces and discuss if the heat is absorbed or reflected and why some of the surfaces will be hotter if the temperature is the same.

The Solar System is a very abstract concept for elementary age children. This activity was designed to show children the idea of both revolution and rotation. This activity will also allow children to understand the vast size of the solar system, the students can be taken outside where a "solar system" has been drawn with chalk and scaled down. Students can line up in order and orbit around the sun.

This activity can be used in conjunction with a lesson on rock formation. Each rock is formed through different processes and made up of varying materials. This project lets the students make there own sedimentary rock and observe closely how they are made up of different materials held together by one material.