Resources for Teaching Science

"Underskin" Metro map in the style of the London Tube provides a visual of 8 body systems. Useful in showing anatomy in a simplified and unique way that may "hook" some students more than the usual body system diagrams. Also useful in the way it "maps" the different systems on the same body.

QR codes for each element lead to a video related to each element on the periodic table. Print out for each student to generate an interactive table for students to use with smart phones

Pinterest is a wonderful blog site for almost anything, including future teachers. This is a weather experiment that has students understand how rain comes through a cloud. Fill the cup with water. Put shaving cream on top for a cloud. Explain that when clouds get really heavy with water, it rains! Then put blue food coloring on top of the cloud, and watch it rain. Students would enjoy this hands-on experiment and help them to raise questions about weather.

Pinterest is a wonderful blog site for almost anything, including future teachers. By putting pipe cleaners in a 2 liter soda bottle, students can examine magnets. You can also click on that information to open up another website full of wonderful magnetic activities. http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/12/another-science-center-marvelous.html Students who are learning about magnets will be able to create fun, easy experiments through this website. Also, it suggest having students learn what is magnetic and what is not magnetic. Teachers would have fun allowing their students to experiment with these types of materials.

This is from the Alabama Learning Exchange. Students will learn the difference between reusing, reducing, and recycling. Teachers could use this in their classroom, specifically, when learning about Earth Day or how to keep our planet green. It also has wonderful ways to integrate among other subjects: math, social studies, art, and cooking.

This website includes the instructions for a kinesthetic approach to teaching the layers of the earth. The project consist of layering different color Playdoughs on top of eachother to simulate the earths layers. After completing their mini earth sculptures, students will be able to cut the earth in half and visual see the different layers through the different color Playdough. This project is going to be a great addition to my "The Place I Call Home" lesson as it not only consists of a kinesthetic approach to learning, but it also includes the visual approach.

This website allows students to interact and learn a lot about plants. It is very interdisciplinary. I selected this resource because I think it would be fun for kids and grab their attention. I would use this resource during a unit on plants, and this website alone could be used for at least a week to talk about all of the different things that are involved with plants. I think students would have a good understanding of plants after going through the different lessons of this website. 

Tons of content, which requires a LOT of reading! I would up this to grades 3 and above, I think. Especially like the bilingual aspect!

This is an iPhone app that helps kids learn about plants. It examines the life cycle of a plant, different types of plants, and allows students to grow their own plant. I selected this source because it is very colorful and has good information about the plant process. It allows kids to watch videos and create their own plant. It seems like a good app for $0.99. I would use this app in my classroom to get students engaged and to review material about plants.  I could also use it as an activity for early finishers.

Looks like the price has changed to free!

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.

Geocaching is a great way to get kids outside and observing the world around them. Geocaching give you a set of coordinates and your job is to find the hidden object. It is usually a small box containing small trinkets like children's toys, CDs, coins from around the world, etc. When you find the box, you take something and leave something and you can track where your items go across the globe. They are literally all over the world. They can be found in oceans, on mountains, at gas stations, in the woods, etc. It would be a great field trip to take the kids out to a local bike trail (there can be more than 15 Geocaches on 1 trail) and take some time to be outside, talk about nature and try to find something cool! As a teacher, you can even make a Geocache for your class and check out who is finding it online. My husband and I have a Geocache of our own and go out geocaching often. It helps keep you active and allows you to enjoy the outdoors. Older students can also benefit from learning about coordinates.

This bulletin board is a place where people exchange ideas on how to use Eric Carle's books in the classroom. A couple books such as "Little Cloud" and "Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me" are great for science lessons.

This site would be so much more useful if the sections were searchable or organized in some way. I found it to be a LOT of reading to find what the different ideas were for each book.

This is a cute idea to incorporate visual arts into a science lesson plans. I loved using Crayola lesson plans when I was teaching pre-school. This lesson is cute because it deals with baby animals and the students get to work on fine motor skills as well. Be sure to check out the rest of the website.

This website has some great ipad apps. I don't know if they are all free, but it looks like some of them are. There are apps for for both students and teachers. The rest of the website also has resources for teachers and it looks like a great place to find all kinds of information to use in the classroom. I like the idea of mobile apps and I use them when i can.

This website shows lesson plans for 4th grade science classes. This came from the uen.org website which several of us used for our lesson plan analysis project. I think they do a thorough job of planning their lessons and presenting appropriate demonstrations.

This is a fun computer activity for students to practice their knowledge of the periodic table. They can practice the spelling of the elements or the recognition of them. Teachers can incorporate this as part of a center activity or advise students to practice with this computer activity at home.

This website offers ideas for all age science classes in the Saint Louis area. It will help teachers to find a quick idea for a field trip and connect it to a science concept. It also would be helpful to connect the field trip to other subject areas as well. Grade Level: all Main Content Area: All Resource Type: Field Trip Cost: Varies

Astronomy facts of the day present by the Saint Louis Science Center is a great way to introduce the topic of Astronomy, as well as, to build my students knowledge of the topic. Not only does this website include facts, but it also includes occurances that happen on that specific day in the sky which students may be able to witness. This resource could be used daily during my planet and constellation lesson plans, in addition to randomly the rest of the year after the students learn about the topic.

Great resource! SO interesting.

Join the Saint Louis Astronomical Society as the host public star parties at the Science Center on the first Friday of each Month! This resource is an excellent, not-to-mention free, field trip opportunity for students to get up close and personal with our solar system. This weather permitting event is open to the public and allows the student to visually explore the stars through telescopes while also having the opportunity to ask the St. Louis Astronomical Society any questions they may have. This field trip opportunity, if not allowed to travel as a class, is a great resource to share with parents to extend their students learning process. In addition, this website includes nightly sky updates that can be shown via a projector in class, as well as, Astronomy facts of the day.The Saint Louis Science Center would prove to be a great field trip experience during my planet or constellation lessons.