Resources for Teaching Science

Let one of our knowledgeable Garden Guides be your class's guide to the Garden! Garden-guided school group tours are available weekday mornings from September through December, and February through May. Choose our popular 'Discover the Missouri Botanical Garden' tour to introduce your class to the Missouri Botanical Garden, learn its history and see our featured gardens and conservatories. ________ The Botanical Garden offers many field trip opportunities for students of all ages. Field trips include tours of the gardens which include, the Sensational Seed Hunt, Plants from Top to Bottom, Tropical Rain Forest, Foodology, Asian Gardens Tour, Discover the Botanical Garden, and Green is Here for Good. Each field trip is aligned to standards which explore concepts in botany, ecology and natural science. The field trip I am concentrating on is Tropical Rain Forest. During this tour, students are able to explore the rainforest which is named the Climatron at the Botanical Gardens. The tour allows students to view waterfalls, lush lowlands, approximately 1,500 different types of plants, and tropical birds. Since we don't have access to a real rainforest (and most students never will), I think it would be a great idea to allow my students to explore the Climatron. I would take my students to visit this location at the end of our unit on rain forests to make sure they are able to understand the tropics at their fullest! Taking students at the beginning of the unit would be a great way to introduce them to the topic, however, I feel they will have a better grasp and appreciation on the subject after they have already learned about it.

Here is an in-depth introduction to the Solar System and the planets that are in it. From the sun to why poor Pluto is no longer considered a planet, come along for a ride across the Solar System. FreeSchool is great for kids! I like this video for a number of reasons. One thing I really like about this video is how it gives the students an accurate perspective of the size of the different bodies in our solar system. It's also jam packed with a lot of great information about the solar system and builds on possible vocabulary words such as matter and mass. The narrator also has a soothing voice, which is a plus. I would use this video after spending a little time defining the necessary vocabulary of our solar system. We could follow up the video by making our own solar system that we could hang in the hallway.

Good resource. Try tagging using K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and/or 9-12 as grade level options. For this one, for example, K-2 AND 3-5 rather than K-5. Thanks!

Holding your nose while tasting the potato and apple makes it hard to tell the difference between the two. Your nose and mouth are connected through the same airway which means that you taste and smell foods at the same time. Smell is often considered the least important of our five senses, and I'm sure many students would agree. I would start by taking a poll which hopefully results in a consensus that smell is the least important sense. The following activity involves giving students small pieces of apple and potato and having a partner mix up the pieces while the other student's eyes are closed. The students will then eat the pieces with their eyes closed and try to see if they can guess which food it was. The students should begin to see for themselves how important smell is for tasting foods. This activity involves very few supplies and has an easy clean up. Afterwards, I would have a class discussion about their findings.

Salt water is denser than ordinary tap water, the denser the liquid the easier it is for an object to float in it. When you lower the egg into the liquid it drops through the normal tap water until it reaches the salty water, at this point the water is dense enough for the egg to float. I think this is a neat activity that kids would enjoy, and yet it requires very few supplies and clean up. I would first group students, giving each group a glass of freshwater and an egg. They would first put the egg in the freshwater only to see it sink to the bottom. They would record what they observed and possible reasons for why it sank. I would then give them another glass that is about half full along with a salt shaker. The students would be told to mix a lot of salt into the half cup and then slowly pour some of the freshwater into it. The egg is expected to float in this solution. The students would record their observations and possible explanations. This is a good way to start a lesson about density.

Three Lessons About Energy I designed these three little lessons a long time ago to support a third-grade science curriculum (the particular textbook is now lost to us--or in other words I can't remember the name of it), but they could be used with any elementary students who are studying energy in science class. I like this lesson because it allows the kids to get up, move around, and become a part of the lesson. I would have the students start by slowly walking around the room, making sure to be careful not to run into anyone or anything. If I told them I was adding energy, they would speed up a little bit, and if I told them I was removing energy, they would slow down a bit. If I told them I was removing a lot of energy I would tell them that they need to stop and hold hands with anyone near them. At first the students wouldn't know exactly what they were supposed to be demonstrating. I would later reveal to them that they were water molecules and the energy I was adding and removing was heat. When they were moving slowly they were a liquid, fast they were a gas, and stopping they were a solid. This is a great example of learning by doing.

While some of us stand out in a crowd others tend to blend in and it's the same in the animal kingdom. This animal camouflage lesson plan explains some of the concepts and offers a fun activity to help kids understand how camouflage works. This lesson involves learning about adaptations of animals in their environment. Specifically, we would be discussing camouflage. In the activity that goes with the lesson, students would make cardboard cut-outs of animals, color them, and try to hide them around the room in areas where their camouflage would benefit them most. Students would also learn how some animals prefer to stand out in their environment as a warning to others. For extensions of this lesson, we could discuss how hunters and soldiers use man-made camouflage. I could also take the kids outside and have them find somewhere that they would blend in the best based on their clothing.

To understand that there are different systems within the body and that they work independently and together to form a functioning human body. At this level, children can begin to view the body as a system, in which parts do things for other parts and for the organism as a whole. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This lesson is great because it includes the materials needed, the context of the lesson, an instructional section, and an assessment section. I also really like the "Motivation" section. This seems like the introduction on the McKendree template. I like how this lesson provides verbal prompts that the teacher can use to help guide the students to the correct answer if needed. It seems quote informative and discussed the major systems of the human body. Finally I really enjoy that there are extension activities available with the interactive human body system from innerbody and the body system word find from Discovery Kids and the interactive body system games from All Systems Go. I could certainly see myself using this lesson in my classroom. I think it provides the freedom for tweaks and add-ons as I would see fit and I love the interactive sites and games provided to correlate with the lesson. Also, I think this lesson would be a good fit for many age groups. I think there are some things that would need to be either added or taken away for some ages, but in all it would match will with many.

looks good!

Look at plants & what is needed for photosynthesis. What is the chemical reaction & what does it look like? Where does it all occur within the leaf? I could see myself using this interactive learning video for a lesson in photosynthesis. The video reads out loud to students, giving them important information about photosynthesis and then stops periodically to let them drag items, match terms, etc. I would let students explore using this tool, and then bring everyone together for a whole class discussion on what they learned. This could accompany a larger unit on plants, in which we could grow plants from seeds in a windowsill.

Why are bowling lanes oiled with more oil placed at the start of the lane and less at the end? What is the advantage of throwing a "hook" ball? Students participate in activities to learn about the members of their team and how to work together in order to be successful. There are several reasons I like this idea for a field trip. For one, it's an unconventional type of science field trip. Most students wouldn't think there is a lot to consider when bowling; they just toss the ball down the lane. Before the field trip, I would spend a day or two allowing the students to formulate and hypothesize ideas for how to best knock down the pins with a bowling ball. They would have to consider things like speed, angle, bowling ball weight, where the ball should hit the pins, and whether the ball should be hooked or thrown straight. This field trip allows the students to not only question and hypothesize, but to actually test their predictions. After the field trip we could delve deeper into some of the physics concepts at play (which the webpage has links for) as well as watch a professional bowler bowl.

Creative "spin" on a science field-trip! :) Get it!?

In the 1950's three new whale species were discovered, Waharoa ruwhenus, Tokarahia Kauaeroa, and Tokarahia Iophocephalus. Through the study of their fossils scientists have concluded that these three species of whales are part of a new family (species) of whale, Emysticetids. Emysticetids hold an important position on the evolutionary tree between primitive baleen whales and modern baleen whales. These marine creatures lived roughly 25-30 million years ago when the continent of New Zealand, Zealandia, was reduced to low islands and shallow seas. The article goes into great depth about these three new whale species. From their skeletal structure (elongated snout), size (adults were estimated to be 5-6 meters long), and even migratory patterns (continental shelf waters), it is all covered.

This article can be incorporated into a lesson about marine biology and evolutionary trees. It's a little too much for elementary students to grasp but I think it would be an interesting addition to a 6-8 or a 9-12 grade science classroom.

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.

This is the information for an activity that mimics the idea of launching a rocket. Instead of an actual rocket, however, this experiment uses water and Alka-Seltzer. I think this is a great resource to have because it allows me in have a rocket launch activity with my students at a younger age than what they would typically get to do it. This experiment does not require students to glue, cut, or assemble a rocket. However, they still get the joy of watching one climb into the air. I will definitely use this activity in my future classroom, regardless of the age group. I think this activity is just one of many examples of all the cool things you can do with science. This activity is a great way to get my students interested in science and the suggested questions at the end can persuade them to search farther for questions.

This is a music video about the sun. It talks about the many characteristics of the sun, like how hot the sun is or how far away from us it is. I selected this video because it was very informative, it had an inviting art style, and the song was really catchy. I personally found the song to sound just like things kids listen to today like the "Everything is Awesome" song from the Lego Movie. I think this video is going to show up a lot in my future classroom. I think it will engage the students as well as spark some interests in Astronomy.

StudyJams is a website sponsored by Scholastic that has a plethora of math and science (not to mention free) activities. Most topics have a video or slide show to present the information as well as a test so that the student (or teacher, if formatively assessing) can see how well they have retained the information. My cooperating teacher during my second block introduced me to StudyJams. The reason I selected this resource is because I have seen this site in action and it really does engage the students. I do not see this site being as frequently visited as it was in my cooperating teacher's classroom (which was about everyday). However, I think the short videos and review tests are great ways to grab the interests of my students.

Is there a particular science topic on StudyJams you would recommend?

"Present an activity that uses globes to show that some birds migrate east and west rather than north and south." This activity can incorporate problem solving, prediction, reasoning, and many more options.

SC.E.1.2.3 Students know that our Sun is a star and that the energy of the Sun can be captured as a source of heat and light on Earth (e.g. plants, solar panels) Students will have a basic understanding of the vocabulary words sun, solar system, star, planet, asteroid, comet, orbit, axis.

Many people think that heavier objects will fall faster than lighter ones. This experiment gives students a chance to test that theory. They can drop objects from various heights and record their results on a teacher-created worksheet. This activity would be enjoyable for the students to predict which items will fall faster than another.

This is an experiment that would give students a chance to test their theory on how fast one object will fall in comparison to the other when each object weighs a different amount. This link provides a worksheet that students can use to rank the objects in the order (from slowest to fastest) in which they think they will fall to the ground when dropped. Students will be instructed to explain their reasoning. I would encourage students to first come up with their own individual theories before collaborating with partners or groups. Then the students would have the chance to test their theories (with a partner or in a group). I will be sure to tell the students that in order for the test to be effective, each object must be dropped from the same height at the same time. After performing this experiment and recording their results, I would have students discuss and explain their thoughts and reasoning based off of the results. I like this experiment because it allows students to come up with their own theories and reasoning while collaborating and working with others. It would be interesting to hear some of the theories that the students would come up with along with their reasoning behind those theories.

by Judie Haynes A pumpkin theme unit can be related to either Fall harvest or Halloween. These lessons are written to follow the TESOL Pre-K-12 ESL Standards: Standard 2, Goal 2. How plants grow; experiments with pumpkins Beginning, advanced beginning ESL students grades 2-6 Plant growth vocabulary; how pumpkin seeds grow into mature plants; floating and sinking; predicting and estimating. This lesson can progress through an entire chapter and the activities with growing pumpkins can help give visuals throughout the lesson.

After learning about Pangea and the different continents, this activity can help the students review and determine where the different continents once were. Using the computers to enhance learning is what this generation needs in order to remain stimulated.

This site is an interactive lab teaching about volcanoes. The students need to have a variety of outlets for learning. This is a all computer based lesson to give them a new way to learn instead of just listening to me. I would instruct them at first, but then I would let them explore this lab.