Resources for Teaching Science

Videos can be a good tool to use in the classroom. Students just need a break from the teachers' voice and hear things in a new and different way. This is a resource with links to all sorts of free videos for lecture.

Most of these seem like upper level, maybe even college/adult videos. Be sure to preview before you show any videos in class to avoid surprises!

Very cute game for young learners to expose them to bugs and other species. You could make a work wheet to go along with it or just for fun. It would be really need on an Ipad or Smart Table.

I don't see any science content here...just different kinds of animals?

I thought how fun and interesting it would be to have a hands-on science project for Dr. Suess' birthday. This is a website that explores different ways to approach hos books through pictures. I think that the children would love to have this project on a day that they are reading his books, and celebrating his birthday.

Fun idea, but I don't see any actual lessons, just pictures.

This website includes several different lesson plans on recycling. The one that I enjoyed the most is teaching them how long trash lasts, discusses decomposing along with other things. The lesson plan includes what subject areas are included in the lesson, a brief description, grades, objectives, keywords, materials, along with many other key components. It is a very good lesson for teachers to use as a guideline.

While this is interesting information, the activity focuses on a lot of guessing without linking to prior experience or involving students in finding out for themselves. You say "guideline" as a use, and I would suggest it be only that, perhaps related to a unit on food chains that involves the concept of decomposition. Students could design their own experiment to observe the decomposition of different objects over time.

This is a lesson plan for a pre kindergarten classroom learning about recycling. They are not only learning about recycling, they are also learning social skills. Since they are working in groups and then they speak to the class as a whole. I like this website because there are many other lesson plans as well, and they are easy for teachers as well.

I'm going to argue with the categorization of this as Pre-K, even though that is what the website itself says. 3 & 4 year-olds do not know the reasoning behind recyclable/non-recyclable items. Older students could research this or design tests to find out about decomposition, etc.

This is a website to show children ways that they can help the earth by recycling. There are 5 main ways that are offered, and clicking on "Kids for Saving Earth" takes you to another website. This is interactive and very child friendly. I think both of these are good and helpful for both the teacher and the student.

The five ways aren't really so much all about recycling as different ways of conserving materials. For example, using cloth napkins doesn't result in recycling, but in reducing what is consumed. I see this as more of a resource for adults or older children than a website for kids. The "Kids for Saving Earth" is a bit more kid-friendly.

This resource is a unit plan that can include up to five lessons on human body cells. It covers cells from their beginning to cell aging and death and is very relatable in its presentation. Allows students to connect the scientific content to their 'everyday lives' Also addresses different cells with specialized functions but shows how they work together. Selected because the cell forms the foundation for the study of life.

This was a fourth grade physical science experiment that can be used when studying electricity. Although it is not completely free it uses minimal household items so the cost is very low. The students are able to see what goes on inside a battery by completing a circuit. I would use this in my classroom because the students become actively involved in learning and it is something new and "shocking" for them to discover.

Grade level probably more like 4-8 than K-5

This is a great lesson plan series that teaches 5th graders about the ecosystem. It goes into great detail about all the things that are necessary for it. It has things you can do for your more gifted students. It is a challenging lesson that pushes your students to critically think.

If it is for fifth grade, tag should say so, rather than K-5. 5-8 would be a better fit.

This website is a branch of The Butterfly House located in the Missouri Botanical Gardens. This website has an amazing list of classes/programs and their descriptions offered for grades K-6. The programs are designed to foster a greater understanding of butterflies and their importance to the balance of life on Earth. There is also information about times, fees, and dates. I think this is a great way to enhance a field trip by giving the students a fun, hands-on, and interactive experience.

The house is actually operated by the Garden but not located there.

This site gives tons of step-by-step experiments in different categories (air, animals, astronomy, chemistry, etc.) I like that they caution you on what could happen if you do a certain step wrong!!!

I found lots of dead ends when I clicked through the list...be aware of out-dated resources!

This is a technology-based tool in which students can build a DNA molecule. Based on your rate of construction it calculates how long you would have to work in order to successfully transcribe the DNA in one human cell (my rate was 50 years day and night). Underneath this graphic tool there is also a large amount of material on the structure of DNA. I selected this resource because it is a great interactive tool for students to use, and I think it will help them in conceptualizing DNA related material. This tool can be used to help students understand and appreciate how rapidly and accurately DNA processes, such as transcription, occur within a cell. 

I love the fact that this tool will help students understand how rapidly this process really works. It is mind boggling that these things happen and we aren't even conscious of it. Having students perform activities like this opens their eyes to the wonders of the human body, and to some may even motivate them to ask more questions!

This is an interactive 3D Brain application for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. This application allows individuals to use touch screens to navigate 29 interactive structures of the brain. It allows individuals to learn haw brain regions operate, what happens if they are damage, how it is linked to certain mental illnesses, etc. This is a valuable resource because I have heard of schools already using iPads in the classroom, so different biology based applications can be incredibly useful if this type of technology is available to you. If I had iPads available to be utilized by my class, this would be a great way for my students to really visualize and explore the brain if I was covering brain structure and function in my classroom. 

WOW! I love this because a large amount of students are very fluent in their technology. Having these types of apps available for students to use at all times is fantastic. Now even though it does cost, some students do have the option to purchase it at home. In classrooms with apple products, it can be used all the time for every student. This is going to be something of the future. It beats still images and allows students to interact as if a brain is right in front of them.

This website is a fantastic resource to use to get the conservation status for ANY plant or animal on planet earth. Type in the common name for any animal and it will be cross-referenced to its scientific name and linked to its status. Other links include articles and sites providing information on that animal.

I really like this webpage because it shows what is going on in the world today, and because there are so many species that are endangered, threatened, etc. it can be a real eye opener for students. It may be a big motivator for students to ask why. This is a good supplement when studying biomes or the effects of human interaction in an ecology class.

This webpage has a lot of information on the macromolecules in which students can choose to hear it, read it, or go through more visual animated slides. I would use this in conjunction with a fill in the blank worksheet of some sort to use as a scavenger hunt. It would be a good introduction or review depending on the background knowledge of the class.

This tool is a great supplement to a lesson. It gives a visual as to how an enzyme reacts in the cell as well as allows students to modify parameters to understand the effects of the change in environment. This can be used as review and accessed at home as well.

This is a comprehensive lesson plan that provides many options for the introduction and activities as well as reinforcement. This lesson also provides external interactive resources. I think this is a wonderful lesson for developing a unit.

This animation reviews the electron transport chain in simple visually supplemented steps. It is also a wonderful tool to provide to students to review content at home.

This interactive animation explains how the Krebs cycle works, and to validate the information learned, there is a short quiz following. This is a great interactive tool that students can access at home tor review the content

This website provides procedures for creating static electricity using a variety of materials. The lesson also provides objectives and suggestions for "gearing up." The procedures are geared towards 6th and 8th graders but I can do the challenging demonstrations and just have my students observe. I like this lesson because it provides a variety of activities to show students how static electricity is made. There are activities provided in this lesson that would be appropriate for elementary students, and I will modify this lesson for my elementary students accordingly.

This site provides everything from objectives to assessment strategies and also lists related books and links for more information.