Resources for Teaching Science

This site has it all! Everything that a teacher could possibly ask for when it comes to teaching space in the classroom. It includes projects, games, images, videos, lessons, and facts about the planets, and quizzes. I picked it because of the numerous amount of ideas and the various ways to teach it. This would even be a site that I could reccommend to parents as a resource for them to use at home. In the classroom, I could allow some students to explore this site on their own if they finished homework early or have free time.

A great place to start for science activities for kids (chemical change, states of matter, motion, plants, human body, etc) This site includes free activies that can be done in the classroom and then a section where the teacher can asses his or her students on their knowledge of the content. I picked this website because it has so many ideas in different aspects of science that I can always come back to this site in order to get a new idea for an activity. I can use it in the classroom to either begin or follow up a lesson with because students are always engaged with hands on activities and that is what this site mainly includes.

Short and sweet videos on science concepts by a student. Could be used to solidify a concept or as an example for a similar assignment for students to make videos on concepts from class. DNA extraction demo is so simple and would be easy for students to replicate in class.

This is a website where teachers can make online education games that go along with their lesson for free! The games are automatically created and provide interactive review for exams or quizzes. No downloads or installation required, create your school review games in the cloud and access/edit it from anywhere in the world! Use the site for unmotivated learners or to turn workbooks or flash cards into fun time. The e-learning games creates a relaxing environment which helps motivate the learner. You can even collect statistical data on who played and how they did. This was taken directly from the website because I really liked the description- I think this would be a great tool to use in the classroom.

Free elementary science activities and interactive educational science games for kids. This is a good website to use in the classroom for down time. There are many games, puzzles, and worksheets for students. I would use this in my classroom for students who finish a project early and need something to do.

Online puzzles and word finds, and a lot of printable coloring sheets. Some background information. Some are science related, some not. A LOT of ads around edges of pages, and tricky embedded links as well, which makes me leery of the idea of setting students loose on this to work independently.

This is a very good site for finding a variety of information about different subjects. There are teacher sites and parent/student sites. You can be connected to different museums, encyclopedias, etc. There are many links to holidays, and special events, science, math, etc. There is a connection to clip art sites. An excellent site for a variety of information year round. Good for teachers, parents and students.

Some of the links (specifically, "Science Teacher") go to pages of links of ads for teachers, so beware. I had better luck going through the "Teacher Web Resources" section and then clicking science. Lessons aren't that well organized though...could be time really time consuming.

This is a very good site for finding information about a variety of events and subjects in class. This is good for K -6 teachers. It is broken into several topics: Lesson Plans, Professional Development, Technology, Administrators, School Resources, Specialties, and Subject Resources. I could definitely use many of these resources in my own classroom.

The link below takes you directly to the science portion. I found some broken links, but also so great images/diagrams (e.g. the cell) that could be linked into presentations. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/archives/sciencemachine.shtml

This website is a video showcase -- on the Internet and TV -- of innovative and effective teaching practices in America's schools. It is fabulous. It has hundreds of high quality (made for TV type quality) videos designed to give educators information on how to conduct lessons of all disciplines. Broken down by 5 different subjects, 4 different grade groups and thousands of topics, lots here for any teacher of any discipline. Bonus--common core standards can be found in most videos!

This website is a teaching resource providing lesson plans, worksheets, and activities for upper elementary and middle school science teachers. All resources on this site are copyright protected but are free to distribute to students in the classroom. Included are links to other websites offering lesson plans, worksheets and activities. Access to literally hundreds of thousands of teaching materials. Broken down into four major categories of life, space, earth and physical sciences.

A lot of worksheets and crossword puzzles related to science content. A few lessons, but my favorite is the collection of different styles of periodic tables (black and white, color, etc.) available for downloading.

This would be a great field trip idea to the St Louis Science Center for students of all ages. The general admission is free but it is 4.00 per child to see the planetarium show. The planetarium includes the SBC Learning Center, that give visitors a glimpse of what it's like to live and work on the International Space Station. In the Crew Quarters, students can see how astronauts eat, exercise, sleep and dress in space, as well as how medical needs and the stations internal and external environments are maintained. The planetarium show features more than 9,000 stars onto an 80 foot dome and includes special effects such as eclipses, meteor showers. The show lasts roughly 25 minutes and each session is designated for certain age groups. I would love to someday take my class to this planetarium because I think it would be an amazing opportunity and a great learning experience.

This site has a ton of neat ideas about space, the sun, earth, the complete solar system, technology used, and a site for parents and teachers. This is a site that kids could get on in the classroom during free time because it is kid friendly and would keep their attention. The different activities are labeled by "Explore" which contains facts, videos, and pictures, "Do" which has activities, books, and coloring pages, and "Play" that has a vast amount of games, puzzles, and quizzes all revolving around space. I think that students would stay engaged with this site and want to keep playing. Not only would they be playing games, but also learning about space

This site from the Kennedy Space Center has a lot of children's books that all incorporate space ranging from $3.00 to $20.00. These books would be a great way to start off a lesson in order to get the students interested in the content. The books on this site are aimed for younger kids. Also, this site includes DVD's, gift ideas, toys, apparel, and even space food to buy. I think that by having a variety of space books in my classroom library would encourage the students to find out more about space. I mainly picked this site because a teacher can never have too many childrens books, and this site has several choices for reasonable prices.

This website contains activities for all grade levels and covers many different topics including how new medicines are found in the ocean, climate/weather, lesson sets addressing ocean littering/pollution, make your own weather station, and more. It includes basic fact sheets or interactive projects and games for students to work on. NOAA also heads up a Teach at Sea program where kindergarden through college educators can spend a given amount of time on a boat with scientists, researchers, and the boating crew to gain new experiences about human impact on the ocean, marine life, weather, etc and bring that new knowledge back to the classroom. I have also included a link to the Teach At Sea Program below. http://teacheratsea.noaa.gov/

This app could work great for teacher or student-directed learning. It shows the universe in a way that is more engaging that simple, flat pictures. It's a versitile app that can be adapted for a variety of in-class or at-home activities. Students can use it to find out how close planets/contellations are to a given object in space or they can simply pick a planet/constellation they want to learn about and teach the class about it. It could be used as a great introductory or motivational tool. It can also be used as a fun reward for students who finish their work early.

This nature center is a great way to teach students about their local environment. The staff address issues like littering, pollution, life-cycles of plants, animals, and insects as well as coastal and forest environments. This trip isn't limited to science content but also touches on Oahu history/traditions and art. This nature center also has weekend activities for children to participate in with friends and family members. This could lead to great class discussions and show students that science is all around them.

This website is a great resource for staying up-to-date on current events in elementary science. It provides information about upcoming conferences for professional development and also has a section for useful magazines, textbooks, and other print resources to use in class. It includes articles that can cover a range of topics or address very specific lessons for a particular grade level. This website could be a great way to demonstrate to students how science is being used right now. It also includes a section of interactive resources and lab ideas.

This would be a good place to take a field trip to. Students can see how Excel's soda is made. It could lead into a conversation about technology and how we have to change and adapt to keep up. I love Ski and the factory is a little place in Breese, Illinois. There is no direct link to set up a field trip, but the contact information is listed on the website.

Do you know if they allow field trips? I didn't see any specific information to that effect on the site.

This is a fun little video that would be a great introduction to a fall science lesson. It talks about whether a pumpkin is a fruit of vegetable and how big the biggest pumpkin was. There is also a little quiz at the end. I like it because it is easy to understand and the pictures are bright and colorful. Also it kept the attention of my two year old so it should work in an elementary classroom.

I can see this being useful and relevant in a unit about fruits/vegetables and/or nutrition, especially if it was being taught in the fall, when pumpkins are prevalent. Good cultural connections, too.

This is a link to the US Geological Service's website. The education portion is really neat. Since i have met my boyfriend, he is a miner, I have become more and more interested in rocks and the earth. This webpage makes it easy to find what you need. Their resources are broken down into categories (K-6, 7-12, and undergraduate). The best part about this is there is a place to look at 3-D pictures of major landmarks. You would need your own glasses, but I think if these were projected on a smartboard, it would be a great way to show students what Mother Nature can accomplish.

This YouTube video is a 25 minute episode of the Magic Schoolbus. In this episode, the class takes a field trip into outerspace. They travel around the sun and to each planet. I picked this video because I always loved The Magic Schoolbus series. They keep children's attention but are very educational as well. I would definately use this video in my classroom. After a long week of studying the planets and solar system, I could play this on a Friday to wrap up the unit.