Resources for Teaching Science

This website is really cool. There is a ton of great information on topics that I think would be interesting for kids of all ages. The images included with the information are awesome.

This site contains activities and projects for students to work on like creating their own space probe or looking at interactive maps. Its full of videos, current events, extra teaching resources and even describes way that everyone can get involved with helping the environment. It's a great interdiciplinary resource that can tie together a broad range of subjects and topics. The webiste resources are free but the magazine subsription does cost money. In addition to the teacher resources link there is also a special page just for young learners that includes music, games, movies, and more.

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 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 is a link to the Missouri Botanical Garden website which makes for a great field trip. At the Missouri Botanical Garden, students explore plants from around the world and go into greenhouses. There is also a Children's Garden geared specifically toward younger students. I selected this resource because I have experience with the Missouri Botanical Garden. Kids really enjoy exploring and learning about the plants. A field trip to the gardens could be used to bolster units involving plant life, photosynthesis, and changing seasons.  I could use this resource at any grade level because the Garden does a good job at having activities for kids of various ages.

This is a video of a song that shows the basic parts of a plant and how a plant grows to the tune of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." This song would be really fun for kindergartners or first graders. I selected it because I want to infuse music and movement into the curriculum whenever possible, and I think this resource does both. This would be great for musical and bodily-kinesthetic learners. I could integrate art as well by having students create little props for use during the song. All of this could happen at the same time as they are learning about plants.  

This link is to a lesson that helps students understand photosynthesis by engaging in dramatic arts. It also helps students understand the relationship between photosynthesis and decomposers. I chose this lesson because I think it is very creative. I like the idea of having dramatic arts in a classroom, and I think it would be a good way for visual and bodily-kinesthetic learners to remember the material. I would use this resource when discussing photosynthesis in an upper elementary classroom. The lesson allows for the process to take place over a week.

This lesson plan helps teach students about pollination and the different ways that plants are pollinated by different animals. Students create flowers and try to match animals to the different flowers based on characteristics. I like this resource because it combines art and science. Kids get to make their own flowers. Also, I think it is a really creative way of talking about pollination and gets kids thinking about how bees are not the only creature that pollinates flowers. I would use this resource during a plant unit in an upper elementary classroom. I would use this resource when we are discussing pollination and the reproductive parts of a plant. I would modify it to meet the needs of my students and the constraints of my classroom.

This resource includes numerous books that can be used in the classroom to teach kids about plants and get them engaged in the topic. I chose this resource because I view children's literature as a very powerful tool in getting students interested in academic material. Some of the books included are very well-known and popular with children, and I remember reading some of them myself as a student. I would use this resource when planning a unit on plants. I would gauge the level of the book with the grade level of my classroom.

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.

This is a YouTube video that lasts about 5 minutes that discusses the solar system. It explains how the planets were formed, the two regions of the solar system, dwarf planets, and also incorporates several facts. I picked this video because it explains the material in a way where the students would be able to understand without being completely confused. It delivers the content of the video very well. I would be able to show this video in class so that the students can visually see what takes place in our solar system.

This website provides several resources for teachers. There are several science experiment lesson plans along with supplemental materials. There is also a JustAsk section that addresses classroom issues such as bullying.

This site has a lot of neat experiments where you can choose the grade level and content. For my unit plan I would select "Earth and Space Science" in order to get ideas on different activities and experiments to do in class with my students. I picked this site because the activities are ones where the students could use their creativity to come up with something unique. For instance, they could make a homemade planetarium, make a spaceship using old CD's, or even make a solar system of students. I would use this site in the classroom to get ideas on how to get the students out of their seats, but yet keep them interested. The activities from this site are ones that the students would definately enjoy.

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 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 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 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 site is an accompaniment to a children's show on PBS called Zoom. The webpage provides tons of science projects for kids, some of them in printable form for educators to use in class, that ask students to consider their discoveries without flat out telling them what they're supposed to be learning. There's a link for parents and educators as well. Free, and fantastic supplemental materials for elementary school kids.

Lots of fun stuff here! You could refer parents to these for weekend supplemental science activities for elementary students.