Resources for Teaching Science

This is an interactive site that provides a range of information and resources for students and teachers. The site includes videos, lesson plans, quizzes, games, projects and other resources. I chose this specific topic about animals because it can be used to teach students about the food chain. Students can interact with animals and other living things like plants and learn the process of how the food chain works.

This is a simple and fun experiment that is compatible for elementary school students. It teaches them about basic chemistry. This is a lab activity that can be conducted inside of the regular classroom. The students will be conducting experiments with apple slices, water, lemon juice, and oxygen to see the effects of what turns a sliced apple brown and what can prevent a sliced apple from turning brown. I would use this lab activity in my classroom when teaching students about chemistry because it is safe for younger students and is inexpensive.

The St. Louis Science Center is a great place for children of all places to explore. It has free general admission with lots of science to explore. There are also on-site science demonstrations that cost anywhere from $40 per participant to $50-250 per 100 person group. This is a great field trip that can be free for all students or one that can become more exciting with demonstrations for a fee. In my classroom I would utilize the St. Louis Science Center as a hands on resource to cover different aspects of science taught throughout the school year. This would be an end of the year field trip. Depending on funding I would use the free aspects and have my students participate in one of the demonstrations.

BrainPop Jr. is an interactive website that is aligned with the Common Core Standards. It includes lesson plans, games, movies, quizzes, and other types of learning activities. The site also includes away for teachers to keep up with the progress of their students. There are different ways to purchase membership. The membership categories include, parents, home school, single classroom, school, district, or virtual school. There are also ways to receive funding. I would use this site as an alternative way to keep the students involved. I would only utilize this site in class only because all students do not have internet and computer access outside of school.

In this field trip opportunity, the students will receive the chance to go apple picking, go to a petting farm, go through a fun house, and watch an educational variety show. I chose this field trip location because it fits multiple topics that are learned in elementary science classes including nutrition and animal biology. I would like to go on this field trip at the end of a nutrition lesson and use it to lead into an animal biology lesson.

This would be such a great field trip after studying about how some of the food you buy in stores actually comes from a farm. The students would have the opportunity to walk around the farm and see different kinds of fruits that are grown on the farm, as well as, the students being able to do some apple picking! The tour includes apple or pumpkin picking, petting farm, educational variety show on the grand stage, tractor and wagon ride, and the students would enjoy free apple cider and one free apple per child. This field trip would give the students a visual of where different fruit comes from.

This animated science movie for Kindergarten to 3rd grade classes helps students understand magnets, magnetic fields, and poles. The video explains many things about magnets including that magnets attract things that are made of iron and have two poles. I chose this because it touches on so many facts about magnets in one fun video. I would use this video to introduce the idea of how magnets work and what uses they have.

In this activity, the class will make a map of the solar system using their bodies. Not only do the students learn about the solar system, they also learn about vast distances. I chose this activity because it gets the children up and moving. I also chose this activity because it tackles the tough topic of vast distances. I would use this activity when teaching the students about the solar system.

In this activity, the students will build a fake lung. Watching a lung work is not something that we see everyday, so this activity is important for the visual learners in the class. I chose this experiment because it is a great attention grabber for a topic that may seem dry to most students. I would use this activity when teaching students about the way the body works.

This site provides videos about energy, light, sound, and heat. Students can click on a link and watch a cartoon video that explains what each one of the above subjects are and how they work. After the video is complete, students can take a quick test to test their knowledge of the subject. I would use this source in class as a pretesting measure or as an exit ticket to see if students truly understand the subjects or if they need further explanations.

In this motions and mass lesson plan, which is adaptable for grades 1-4, students use a free online science game to explore the principles of physics, mass, force, and motion. Interactive whiteboard Computers with internet access for BrainPOP This lesson plan uses a free online game called SpaceForce.

This activity is used in conjunction with a field trip to the zoo. Before going on the trip, students are given a clipboard with pictures of different animals on them. Once arriving at the zoo, the students are responsible for locating each animal on the list. I chose this activity because I believe that all field trips should be executed with a specific purpose in mind. This scavenger hunt provides structure and classroom connection to the trip. I also chose it because it can be modified depending on the grade level. For older students, the pictures can be replaced with specific animal facts or attributes. I would use this activity when going on a field trip to the zoo or aquarium, making sure that the animals presented on the list were ones that had been previously studied in class.

This activity shows students how certain animals stay warm in the winter by providing a life-like representation of the effects blubber. A zip-lock baggy containing Crisco is placed into a bucket of ice water. Students then place their hand into the baggy and note the temperature. I chose this activity because it provides an actual representation of how animals stay warm in the winter that students would likely remember in the future. If the lesson is properly constructed, this activity also encourages critical thinking, making predictions, and discussing observations. When using this activity in my classroom, I would first discuss various polar animals with my students, making sure to ask them their opinion on how the animals manage to stay warm. This would then lead to a discussion on how humans stay warm. After creating a list of various ways in which humans adapt to cold weather, I would conduct the "blubber" activity. I would then explain to students that polar animals have an extra layer of fat, called blubber, to keep them warm. As a class, we would then discuss how certain human adaptations mimic the polar animals' survival techniques.

I have used this activity many times along with adaptations for survival. Very clear and concrete experience for students.

This lesson involves using balloons to explain the difference between a solid, liquid, and gas. Before beginning the lesson, the teacher needs to have three identical balloons--one filled with a gas, one filled with a liquid, and one filled with a solid. Students would then be allowed to explore and compare certain traits of the different balloons such as weight, texture, and fragility. After exploring these many differences with students, the teacher could then explain to them the properties of a solid, a liquid, and a gas. This activity caught my attention because it was a cheap, easy, hands-on way for students to actively explore the differences between a solid, liquid, and gas. I would use this activity as a catchy introduction to a lesson on matter. (Although the creator of this activity used it for his/her preschool-aged children, I believe that it can be a great tool for the elementary classroom as well.)

"Monster Physics" is an app that allows the user to create and test his/her own machine using a variety of devices such as wheels, propellers, ropes, etc. After the user invents a machine, he/she is able to test it to see if it works. So, not only does this app allow students to create their own system, but it allows them to evaluate the effectiveness of their creation as well. I chose this app because it looks child-friendly and can easily be used for students to explore different mechanisms that I may not have readily available. Also, this app lets them create a device which may require too much time or space if attempted within the classroom. I would allow students to use this app during a rotation time or if they finish their assignment early in order to further their knowledge of mechanical systems as well as enhance their critical thinking skills.

In this game, students are separated into teams. Each team is given a block of Legos. Students must then take turns crab-walking from one side of the room to the other. Once the student reaches the other side, they are to break off one Lego from their block, set it on the floor, then pass the remaining piece to the next classmate in line. This game is a fun and easy way of explaining the process of the weathering away of a rock through the effects of erosion and deposition. I chose this resource because I thought it was a great way for students to become actively involved in the process of erosion, while allowing them to be active and work with their classmates. I would use this game in my classroom as a conclusion to a lesson on weathering, erosion, and deposition.

In this activity, students are put into small groups to construct 3D candy landform maps. To begin, students are given a blank outline of the United States on a large piece of paper and a landform map. Students must then map out where all of the major rivers, deserts, mountain ranges, plains, and oceans are. Next, students are given various candy, yarn, and paint with which to construct their map and key. I chose this activity for three main reasons. For one, it allows students to work with their peers to create a product. It also provides them with a link between social studies and science. Finally, students are very likely to be engaged in the project because both candy and painting are involved. I could see myself using this project in my classroom as a conclusion to a unit on landforms because it is a culmination of many different types of landforms as well as an application of what has been studied to an actual map of the United States, thus making a real-world connection.

This is an activity in which students use slices of bread to create replicas of various landforms. After introducing the varying types of landforms to the class, the teacher will provide students with slices of bread with which they can create different land types (such as islands, peninsulas, gulfs, straits, and isthmuses) in a hands-on, memorable manner. After the students have created the landforms, they can glue them to a piece of paper, or simply eat them as a snack! This activity caught my eye because I feel as though it would be engaging for the entire class. I also thought it was cost-effective and simple to execute. This activity would be an excellent way to introduce a unit on landforms because it gives the students a chance to become acquainted with the topic in an appealing, memorable way.

A foundation in geography begins with an understanding of the terms geographers use to describe the features of Earth. Help students grow their vocabulary and learn to recognize common landforms such as islands, lakes, peninsulas, gulfs, straits, and isthmuses in a hands-on lesson using soft and squishy slices of bread! I love this because the students get to visually make the landforms when learning about them. It keeps the students involved in the lesson. I would use it when first learning about the landforms to help the students better remember them.

This lesson shows the process of the water cycle. Water is placed in a small cup in the corner of a plastic zip lock bag. With a marker, show the stages of a water cycle in a circular direction. Place the bag on the window so that the sun causes the water to heat, thus starting the water cycle. I thought this would be a good activity to lead into a lesson on water accumulation, condensation, precipitation and evaporation. If a teacher was fortunate enough to live close to a local newscast, they could have a meteorologist come to talk to the class one day during the lesson on the water cycle.

This lesson explores the life cycle and traits of pumpkins. The class first makes a flip chart that shows the life cycle of a pumpkin. The next day the class could go to a local pumpkin patch and pair up with a partner to investigate one pumpkin per group. They would look at how many lines are on each pumpkin, the texture of the pumpkin and the color. Then the class would come back and create a graph to show what they discovered in the pumpkin patch. This is a great way to show the students the life cycle of a pumpkin and allow them to see that every pumpkin has unique traits.

This lesson demonstrates a model of a species life cycle and how traits and the environment effects a species. Rather than looking at a worksheet that explains how traits are inherited or adapted due to the environment, this lesson allows students to see three generations of a species that they observe. Three different colored plastic Easter eggs and googly eyes are used for the outside appearance of the species. Two different colors of pipe cleaners are placed inside the eggs. The students make observations of color of the pipe cleaners and outer appearance. After their observation, they would write down their observation. They would take all the pipe cleaners out and throw them into a container. The next day they would come back to find what the next generation looks like.