Resources for Teaching Science

Kohl Children's Museum of Greater Chicago strives to be equally available to guests with any level of physical, visual, auditory, or cognitive challenge. This museum allows students to explore, design, build and test musical instruments to discover how sound is created through vibration. I selected this resource because it sounds like it would be an interesting place to visit on a field trip especially for younger students and it fits well with my standard 1-PS4-1 which talks about vibrating materials creating sounds. I would use this resource by taking a field trip here one day and having students explore the different instruments and the vibrations that they make. This field trip would occur after a unit of learning about sounds and vibrations.

This could be a wrap up activity on space, where you allow students to create their own rockets using straws and a rocket cut out image. Students can cut out the rockets and tape them together, trying to figure out the best placements for it, and also figure out where the rocket needs to fit on the straw, for a perfect take off. This would allow everyone to make observations and gather information (K-2 ETS 1-1) from one another to decide what is the perfect way to make the best rocket launch.

This could be a lesson that would revolve around a field trip to a local ice skating rink. During our visit, we could discuss what the temperature of the ice is and what would happen if the temperature, wind chill included, was changed. We could discuss what temperatures are safe to skate on and what would happen if the rink wasn't frozen enough. Overall, this would allow them to critically think about what the right temperature should be for the ice when they skate. While I listed this as a free lesson, it might cost money to go to the rink.

This video shows how you can relate science to other subjects, especially ones that aren't included on standardized testing. While this lesson takes place in Canada, you can easily relate it to the United States with common objects like scissors and pulleys. This really gets the kids involved because they have to use their bodies to show how simple machines work, with each child in their group acting out the different part of the simple machine. With art, they have to really think about how each machine looks from any view. This can give them chances to think about what could be wrong, even if they can't physically seem the problem.

This resource contains a video on how to make a pollution catcher. The materials needed for one catcher to be created is a paper plate, yarn/string, a hole punch, Vaseline, and a drawing utensil. I selected this resource because it fits the standard to- obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth's resources and environment (5-ESS3-1). This standard will be the focus of my lesson in this course. Having each student create a pollution catcher would be a fast activity for most grade levels, especially the upper elementary grades. If I was to teach a fifth grade class, I would do this activity as means of teaching the standard mentioned above.

This is a video that NASA created about Engineers and explaining what they do. The whole point of my standard (3-5-ETS1-2) is students going through many different possibly solutions to figure out the one that works best. This video demonstrates an engineer going through the process of picking out a solution that works best for his problem out in space. It's a great way to introduce a lesson and could work as the beginnings of an activity idea for students to do in becoming "space engineers".

This resource gives a lab (activity) that deal with vibrations. You need to have a large bowl and cover it with plastic wrap- a rubber band will hold the plastic wrap in place. You then place large sugar crystals on top of the plastic wrap and let students get close and talk into the bowl. The students will be able to watch the sugar crystals "jump" because of the vibrations. I chose this resource because it sounded very interesting and it makes me want to actually test it out to see if it works. I think that my students would enjoy doing this and it would help them understand that sound travels and bounces off objects creating vibrations. I would use this resource in correlation to a lesson about vibrations and sound; It would be a follow up activity for students to do.

This resource provides a lesson plan that will help students build an understanding of the concepts of sound (vibration, pitch) through participation in a variety of hands-on experiments. By observing, predicting, and analyzing results, students can actively investigate the science of sound. It says the required time is two weeks but I don't think that much time is necessary to spend on this. It has many activities for students to do that are all hands on and even includes an assessment for the students. I chose this because it fits well with my standard- 1-PS4-1: plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make a sound and that sound can make materials vibrate. I would use this resource in my future classroom by having the students break up into groups and each group would have a different activity to complete and write down their observations.

I found this fun and easy activity on Pinterest for students to do while learning about sounds and vibrations. It would be a very cheap activity for students to create in the classroom because all they need is a Kleenex box, rubber bands, and materials to decorate their guitar with! I chose this resource because it fits into my standard 1-PS4-1 because it will show students that vibrating materials can make sound. I would use this resource after presenting a lesson to my students about vibrations and how it travels through different objects. After learning, I think that students would enjoy making this guitar because it is fun and also shows them how sound travels through objects.

This resource contains a lesson plan for a fifth grade class. The lesson teaches about the affects people can have on water around them. It involves a five minute video, a hands-on activity, and even a song. I selected this particular resource because it fits the standard to-obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth's resources and environment (5-ESS3-1). This standard will be the focus of my lesson in this course. I really liked the way the lesson plan was written to engage students. I could possibly incorporate this resource, or parts of it, into the lesson plan that I will be writing in this course.

This resource contains a multiple day lesson plan for a third grade class. The lesson is about composting. It involves instruction by use of a Power Point, an outdoor exploration, and even an assessment. I selected this resource because it fits the standard to- obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth's resources and environment (5-ESS3-1). This standard will be the focus of my lesson in this course. Although this standard is for fifth graders, I believe this resource will still be useful. In order to make the resource at a fifth grade level only a few things need to be tweaked. The lesson plan in this resource could serve as an outline for the lesson plan I will be creating in this course.

This resource contains an interactive map of Recycle City. The map has four areas that can be explored to discover how the residents recycle, reduce, and reuse waste in the city. I selected this resource because it fits the standard to- obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth's resources and environment (5-ESS3-1). This standard will be the focus of my lesson for this course. The interactive map will go along very well with this lesson.

Great find! Thank you for posting. How, specifically, will the map "go along" with the lesson?

The map could serve as the "Exploration" part of my lesson. However, I could see this as being very time consuming. In a real classroom, it would most likely have to be an activity using up the entire science period.

This resource gives the children an opportunity to get up to the smart board and work on fun but still very educational material. I selected this resource because there is also a host of games that allow the children to showcase some different types of animals into their own animal and also make their own habitats. I would use this resource by first teaching the students what they need to know about the biodiversity of plants and animals and the different habitats and then I would have the students go to the smart board and work with the interactive activities. After this, I would have the students make and explain an animal and also habitat.

A. This resource contains educational games which focus on biology (plants and animal habitats). The link will take you to a particular game where students must find plants and animals in the local environment. Once students complete this game, they move onto others regarding growing plants and specific habitats. B. I chose this resource because it is an excellent introduction for a unit/lesson regarding plants and animals in their habitats, as well as showing students that plants and animals can be found in all types of environments. This resource fits well with my standard which is 2-LS4-1; Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. C. I would use this resource in my future classroom as an introduction for students to make the connection that animals and plants can be found in all types of environments. I would also use these interactive games to assess my students prior knowledge about plants/ animals habitat diversity in order to see which material can simply be a review.

This lesson uses a story of a group of students who cleaned a creek so that salmon could come back to the area. This lesson goes right with my standard: 5-ESS3- Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth's resources and environment. After I read this story to the students, they write a reflection of how they can do something similar to help the environment. I would use this lesson in my future classroom to show them that with a little work, anyone can make a difference in helping the environment.

* This lesson is focused on the identification of structures and functions that plants and need to survive. It lets the students think about what job each part of the plant has to survive along with how important it is for each plant part to do its job or else the plant will not. I selected this resource because I thought it would make for a great introduction lesson for teaching students about plants and how their internal and external structures help them to support survival, growth, behavior, and overall reproduction (4-LS1-1). The structure and processes of plants and animals is my main focus of this lesson, but I feel that this lesson would benefit the teaching of plants.

This lesson allows students to experiment with various sound sources, including their own voices to gain an understanding of the connection between sound and vibration. I chose this resource because I think that it fits well with my standard (1-PS4); Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make a sound and that sound can make materials vibrate. I would use this lesson in my future science classroom by having students break into groups to perform each of the activities from the lesson to demonstrate the different vibrations made from different objects.

This is an awesome lesson plan that can connect most students to something that they enjoy watching on TV and playing with - robots! This lesson allows children to understand the basics of robots and how they work, but also give them the chance to make their own robots. In giving them a chance to build their own robots, they would have to ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool. (K-2-ETS1-1) I would use this whole lesson plan as a fun way to understand what team work actually is and engineering at a younger level.

This resource contains an interactive program of various materials that demonstrate sound and vibrations that make sound. The program allows students to change materials, pitch, and force. I chose this resource because it fits well with the standard (1-PS4): Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make a sound and that sound can make materials vibrate. During my lesson, I will focus on this standard, and this program would serve as a fun activity for students. In my lesson, I would use this program as an introduction. This activity would expose students to a variety of sounds and materials while introducing vibrations.

This is a lesson on the properties of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is structured much like a lesson plan that we learned about in EDU 309, and as such, is easily broken down into individual parts. The lesson itself provides introduction to the electromagnetic spectrum, UV beads, prisms, and diffraction gratings, and also explains the origins of rainbows. I selected this resource because it provides a clear example of the use of the Next Generation Science Standards (despite its origins in California) as well as a valuable way for elementary students to look at the world around them in a different way. It also provides reading and mathematics connections. I would use this resource as a guidepost to structure my own lesson about light waves and the electromagnetic spectrum.

Excellent first post! you've got the hang of Diigo!