Resources for Teaching Science

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.

This app shows the user a picture of the sky that they are viewing, by using a compass. The app tells the user all of the names the constellations, stars, and planets they are seeing. I chose this app because it could help make a real world connection with the students. If I had the opportunity to send iPads home with my students, I would instruct them to use this app at night and make observations about what they see.

This is a downloadable app that provides an interactive, virtual dissection. Not only can students virtually dissect a frog, but they can also learn about the habitat of frogs, the different types, take a quiz, and compare frogs to humans. They will also be taught about the different tools that are used for dissecting and when it is appropriate to use each tool. This app can be used in the classroom in order to dissect frogs without the mess and smell, but still allow the students to learn the necessary information.

This activity is designed for lower level elementary students. It helps the students to realize and categorize the different parts of plants by sorting various veggies.

This is a super simple science experiment for the classroom, involving how seeds grow. It does not take much preparation, and it will not take much time doing the experiment in the classroom. Despite the little time going into the setup of the experiment, students will be able to observe their seeds for weeks and record their data. I would most definitely consider using this in the classroom. It doesn't take much prep, it's not very costly, and the unit could last several weeks. In addition, this experiment is perfect for getting the students to think scientifically, and learning to record observations.

Skeletons are the structures that hold our bodies together and are very important to keeping us healthy. Students can play do an online interactive activity while learning about moving and growing by sorting and labeling the bones of a human skeleton. For added difficulty, or to use this link associated with a different unit, students are also able to label the skeletons of other animals such as an insect, fish or horse. I would use this website in a lower elementary classroom for a quick, fun assessment on the bones.

The Children's University of Manchester produces this page. It is absolutely fabulous! The website is interactive, teaching students about a variety of different subjects in a way that is appealing to children. The brief lesson could be used as a quick introduction to a topic, or a quick recap over a topic. The site I have linked to is about the phases of the moon. The children can see a short animated clip showing the sun with the earth and moon orbiting around it. The clip has facts throughout, and a brief quiz at the end. I would highly recommend incorporating this site into your classroom!

This multimedia learning app teaches children about the water cycle. This app allows children to both learn about the water cycle, and test their knowledge. For each stage of the water cycle, the children learn about the process, fun facts about the stage, as well as how it can be seen in nature. Ie.: "Precipitation can be rain, snow, hail, etc." This app was the awarded the 2014 American Association of School Librarians Best Apps for Teaching & Learning in the STEM Category.

The Field Museum is a science centered museum located in Chicago, IL. This specific tour allows students to investigate how DNA analysis has changed our understanding of the relatedness of life on Earth through hands on activities. The students will be able to extract DNA in a lab and interview scientists. This field trip supports NGSS MS-LS4-2. I chose this location for a field trip because it engages students' learning and furthers their knowledge of DNA through hands on activity. I would take the students to participate in this DNA extraction after we finished our lesson on DNA. This way, they would be able to be even further engaged with questioning and answering with the scientists and apply our textbook knowledge to the activity.

This is a game that requires students to identify simple machines around the house and compound machines in the shed. Once students select one of the objects, they are given two multiple choice questions about the use of the tool and then what type of simple machine is being used. Then the students are given a visual aid explaining the job of that simple or compound machine. I chose this interactive website because it gives students real life application as it shows everyday uses for simple machines. I would use this in the classroom during a lesson on simple machines so that the students would benefit more from connecting the simple machines to previous experiences.

Simple Machines is a science game for students in grades 2 - 6 to identify simple machines around the house, and simple machines that make up compound machines in the tool shed. This is a very interactive activity. I chose this because it is informative and interactive as well as a free resource. I love that there is a free teacher's guide available and the national standards are listed so that you can see where this activity falls in the standards. I think this would be a great tool to use throughout the chapter or lesson on simple and compound machines. This will help reinforce the concept.

This is an app that teaches students all about dinosaurs. The app shows the user pictures of hundreds of dinosaurs, as well as their sizes, weights, and other stats. I liked this app because many students are interested in dinosaurs and this app will let them explore that interest. I would incorporate this app into a lesson about dinosaurs or prehistoric species.

This is an experiment in which students will compare three different solutions that have different levels of salt. Students will use food coloring in order to visually see which solution is the most dense and which is the least dense. They will also see how the density of a liquid affects the objects in it. I chose this experiment because while teaching about density, this will allow my students to receive a visual understanding. I also like this experiment's website because it offers questions to think about and has real life application as it talks about rivers, oceans, and the Dead Sea.

This is a website that contains twelve books all about oceans. They talk about sharks, marine mammals, crabs, seashells, fish, and much more. I enjoy this website because it lists the title of the book, the author, and a summary of what you will get from the book. In the classroom, I would have these out for the students to freely view while we talk about our oceans chapter. Some of the books would even be helpful as a teacher in order to teach a lesson and further the student's understanding.

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.

In this experiment, students will create their own terrarium. Creating a mini-habitat is a great way for the students to learn what it takes to make an ecosystem work. Not only do the students learn about ecosystems, they also get a sense of responsibility when it comes to keeping their ecosystem alive. I chose this resource because it was something that I did when I was in elementary school and I still remember what I learned from it to this day. I would use this experiment throughout a unit on ecosystems.

This resource is a field trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Students can tour the gardens, learn about plants, and take classes. I chose this because it would give the students an opportunity to see the plants that they are learning about in real life. I would use this field trip as a supplement to a unit about plants.

Taking a field trip to The Botanical Gardens will let the students see plants and their pollinators in real life. I would use this field trip to wrap up my lessons on plants needing sunlight and water and also the role of insects and birds while pollinating flowers. Before the field trip begins, I will have my students bring a notebook and pencil with them. They will write down anything they observe. They could write if they saw a butterfly on a flower, or if a flower looked dry because it was in the sun too much. I want my students to put what they learned into a real life context. I really liked the idea of a field trip because students get to leave school and observe what they have been learning. It is always fun to get out a desk and do some hands-on observing/learning.

This is a fun activity that will show students the process of rain. They will take a glass of water, place shaving cream on top to represent the clouds, and drop food coloring through the "clouds" to depict rain. The lesson is also partnered with a book about clouds that describes each different type of cloud. I chose this resource because it will be something the students can get excited about while also being able to watch exactly what it looks like when rain comes out of the clouds. I would use this resource when introducing photosynthesis.

In this activity, students completely build a habitat. They choose the weather, who lives there, vegetation, etc. The game has a compatibility meter that tells them how close they are to building the perfect habitat. I chose this resource because the game tells the student when they are doing well, or if the conditions are not working together. I would use this as a part of a lesson about biology and wildlife.