Weekly Core Subjects Resources
Another week has gone by. Is it just me or has the first part of this school year FLOWN by? Hard to believe that there is only one more week before Christmas break.
Science
1.) 51 Awesome Science Experiments and Videos for kids is a great list to get your students interested in science.
2.) The Interactive Science Dictionary is a site that allows users to learn the meaning of science words. There are videos and it provides users the ability to ask questions as well. Science words can sometimes be hard to pronounce, so this site will also help you learn to pronounce them.
3.) Operation Conservation is a wiki that provides resources for teaching about the environment and learning to conserve energy and resources.
4.) Learn Genetics from the University of Utah is a comprehensive site that allows visitors to learn all they need to know about genetics. A great resource for teachers and students. There are several virtual labs available as well.
5.) Looking to connect with NASA? Well, now you can. NASA has created a directory so that you can collaborate and connect with astronauts and other NASA scientist. You can connect via Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, and Gowalla.
5 Good Resources for Learning the Periodic Table
I am at a science conference this weekend which got me thinking about some of the neat resources I've found over the last few years for learning about the periodic table. Here are some of my favorites.
Glaxo Smith Kline's Active Science offers fifteen interactive games covering a range of science topics. The Interactive Periodic Table is a game designed to help chemistry students practice identification of the elements. To play the game students are given some clues about an element's properties. Using those clues the student has to place the element in the correct place on the table.
The Elements is an interactive periodic table on which students can click an element and learn about that element. Clicking on an element describes all of the element's properties and the common uses of that element. If students just need a snap shot of information, simply placing their cursor on an element reveals a snap shot of information at the top of the page.
The Periodic Table of Videos is produced by The University of Nottingham. The table features a video demonstration of the characteristics of each element in the table. Each element in the Periodic Table displayed on the home page is linked to a video. The videos are hosted on YouTube, but don't worry The University of Nottingham provides an alternative server through which you should be able to view the videos.
The Periodic Table of Comic Books is a project of the chemistry department at theUniversity of Kentucky. The idea is that for every element in the Periodic Table of Elements there is a comic book reference. Clicking on an element in the periodic table displayed on the homepage will take visitors to a list and images of comic book references to that particular element. After looking at the comic book reference if visitors want more information about a particular element they can find it by using the provided link to Web Elements.
The Dynamic Periodic Table is good resource for science teachers and their students. The Dynamic Periodic Tableworks like this, click on an element and a window will pop up to tell you more detailed information about that element. The pop up windows cover properties, orbitals, isotopes and more. There are even links to more information, like the history of each element, for each element. If this had been around when I took chemistry, I might have done a little better.
Videos of Middle School Science Experiments
This morning on YouTube I stumbled across some science videos posted by a middle school teacher in Colorado. Chris Bergmann has posted a number of videos of science demonstrations that he's done in his classroom. Watch the "Elephant Toothpaste" demonstration below.
Popout
Find more videos on Mr. Bergmann's YouTube channel and on his wiki.
Eight Good Resources for Space Science Lessons
Last week one of my colleagues asked if I knew of "any good websites" for space science lessons. I said of course I did and gave the suggestion to turn on the moon view in Google Earth. This post was prompted by that 90 second conversation. Here are eight (for the eight planets) good resources for space science lessons.
Celestia is a free space exploration simulation program. Celestia is a free download that works on Mac, PC, and Linux systems. The advantage of Celestia over other satellite imagery programs is that in addition to seeing the Earth's surface, students can zoom in on moons, stars, and planets. The user controls what they see. Operating the program is easy enough to be used by students as young as six or seven. The user guides for Celestia are very thorough and available in four languages. There is a companion website to Celestia called the Celestia Motherlode that features add-ons to Celestia and educational activities that teachers can use in their classrooms.
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey better known as the SkyServer is a rich website full of images from throughout the galaxy and beyond. The SkyServer aims to, in their words, "build the largest map in the history of the world." The project is supported by NASA, the US Department of Energy, and National Science Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The galleries of famous places is one of the world's most extensive public galleries of space imagery. To date over 50 million images have been captured.
Google Sky allows you view images of space in your web browser. Google Sky offers great images of outer space captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and theSloan Digital Sky Survey.Google Sky has images that have captured x-ray and infrared wavelengths. The Google Sky web browser also has some more basic images in a collection referred to as "backyard astronomy." Watch the video below for a quick overview of Google Sky.
Popout
To view the moon imagery and to view tours of the moon in Google Earthsimply select "moon" from the planet menu in the Google Earth toolbar.
Some of the coolest features of Google Earth moon are the layers based on different Apollo missions as well as the embedded video footage recorded at the moon. Watch the video below to learn more about "moon view" in Google Earth.
Popout
You can also view Mars in Google Earth by turning on the Mars view. See the screen capture above to see where to locate Mars view in Google Earth. Watch the video below to learn more about "Mars view" in Google Earth.
Popout
NASA has an excellent interactive timeline tracing the history of astronomy and space exploration from the Greek philosophers through today. Planet Quest is actually three timelines combined into one. The three timelines cover technology, discovery, and culture as it relates to astronomy and space exploration. Each element on the timeline is narrated. Users can select individual elements on the timeline or choose autoplay to hear the narration of each item in sequence.
Gunn Interactive has a fantastic interactive visualization of the planets in orbit. The visualization was created by Gunn Interactive. Using this interactive visualization tool students can see the different rates of orbit for all of the planets. Students can zoom in and zoom out to see more or less of the planets. Students can also adjust the speed of the orbits.
Amazing Space is a great website for teachers and students of astronomy. Amazing Space has a great collection of virtual tours and online simulations. Each simulation contains valuable lessons about an astronomy topic. The educator resource page on Amazing Space is full of great ideas and lesson plans for teaching astronomy to students in elementary school, middle school, and high school classrooms.
The WorldWide Telescope makes very detailed, high resolution images (scientific quality) from space available to anyone with access to a computer and an internet connection. The goal of the WorldWide Telescope is to enable users to use their computers as virtual telescopes. The WorldWide Telescope can be downloaded and run on Windows-based computers. Mac users will have to use the web client to access the WorldWide Telescope. The educators page on the WorldWide Telescope site has lesson resources and ideas for middle school and high school use.
Bonus Resource or Pluto:
8 Wonders of the Solar System is a Scientific American interactive feature about the solar system. In 8 Wonders of the Solar Systemviewers explore the sites that future "space tourists" will want to view. The sites are depicted through the artist Ron Miller's drawings. The tour includes audio and video commentary about the featured sites. One of my favorite stops on the tour is the Peaks of Eternal Light on the Moon. The Peaks of Eternal Light are one of the few places in the solar system on which the sun never sets.
What Makes Leaves Change Color? Video & Graphic
We're starting to approach the peak foliage peeping season here in northern New England. To help students understand why the leaves change colors in the fall, the Maine Forest Service has ananimated video explaining why leaves change colors. The video is titled Maine's Autumn Magic and you can watch it here. To help students understand some of the terms in the video, the Maine Forest Service has a glossary of tree terms.
USA Today has a simple interactive illustration that students can click through to see how the weather affects the color of leaves. Students can select individual tree leaves to see what different leaves look like throughout the seasons. Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for the USA Today link.
Applications for EducationFall provides a great opportunity for students to see science in action in the form of changing leaf color. If you can't get your class outside to look at the various leaf colors in the fall, the two resources listed provide nice visuals to complement your lessons on changing leaf colors.
DIGITAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: Web 2.0- for science
Digital Learning Environments is a site sponsored by HP and Intel that offers resources and ideas for teachers on how to use technology in education. There are some great ideas and lesson resources for all teachers on the site.
This page of the site has a listing of Web 2.0 resources to use in Science Classes. Resources listed include a varitey of sites listed by subject. There is a brief description about the site and how it can be used in the classroom.
I recommend this page for all science teachers and Digital Learning Environments in general to all educators as a must have resource.
Free DVD - Journey to the Stars
NASA in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History is giving away copies of Journey to the Stars. Journey to the Stars is narrated by Whoopi Goldberg takes viewers on a virtual journey through time and space. Teachers can request a free copy of the DVD here. The DVD comes with suggested lesson plans.
Thanks to Instructify for the information about this DVD giveaway.
Update: It appears that they've run out of DVDs. You can however sign-up to be notified when the next batch of freebies is available.
Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Interactive Tour of the Hubble Telescope
Star Child - Learning for Young Astronomers
NASA Quests and Challenges
Science Fair Project Guide
The Science Fair Project Guide, from Science Buddies, is a terrific, award winning resource for students and teachers. The site has science fair project ideas, science news, a student section, a teacher and parent section. There are also tips and resources on doing research, how-to's, links to other resources, an ask-an-expert section, and a science careers section.
Weekly Core Subjects Resources
Another week has gone by. Is it just me or has the first part of this school year FLOWN by? Hard to believe that there is only one more week before Christmas break.
Science
1.) 51 Awesome Science Experiments and Videos for kids is a great list to get your students interested in science.
2.) The Interactive Science Dictionary is a site that allows users to learn the meaning of science words. There are videos and it provides users the ability to ask questions as well. Science words can sometimes be hard to pronounce, so this site will also help you learn to pronounce them.
3.) Operation Conservation is a wiki that provides resources for teaching about the environment and learning to conserve energy and resources.
4.) Learn Genetics from the University of Utah is a comprehensive site that allows visitors to learn all they need to know about genetics. A great resource for teachers and students. There are several virtual labs available as well.
5.) Looking to connect with NASA? Well, now you can. NASA has created a directory so that you can collaborate and connect with astronauts and other NASA scientist. You can connect via Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, and Gowalla.
5 Good Resources for Learning the Periodic Table
I am at a science conference this weekend which got me thinking about some of the neat resources I've found over the last few years for learning about the periodic table. Here are some of my favorites.
Glaxo Smith Kline's Active Science offers fifteen interactive games covering a range of science topics. The Interactive Periodic Table is a game designed to help chemistry students practice identification of the elements. To play the game students are given some clues about an element's properties. Using those clues the student has to place the element in the correct place on the table.
The Elements is an interactive periodic table on which students can click an element and learn about that element. Clicking on an element describes all of the element's properties and the common uses of that element. If students just need a snap shot of information, simply placing their cursor on an element reveals a snap shot of information at the top of the page.
The Periodic Table of Videos is produced by The University of Nottingham. The table features a video demonstration of the characteristics of each element in the table. Each element in the Periodic Table displayed on the home page is linked to a video. The videos are hosted on YouTube, but don't worry The University of Nottingham provides an alternative server through which you should be able to view the videos.
The Periodic Table of Comic Books is a project of the chemistry department at theUniversity of Kentucky. The idea is that for every element in the Periodic Table of Elements there is a comic book reference. Clicking on an element in the periodic table displayed on the homepage will take visitors to a list and images of comic book references to that particular element. After looking at the comic book reference if visitors want more information about a particular element they can find it by using the provided link to Web Elements.
The Dynamic Periodic Table is good resource for science teachers and their students. The Dynamic Periodic Tableworks like this, click on an element and a window will pop up to tell you more detailed information about that element. The pop up windows cover properties, orbitals, isotopes and more. There are even links to more information, like the history of each element, for each element. If this had been around when I took chemistry, I might have done a little better.
Videos of Middle School Science Experiments
This morning on YouTube I stumbled across some science videos posted by a middle school teacher in Colorado. Chris Bergmann has posted a number of videos of science demonstrations that he's done in his classroom. Watch the "Elephant Toothpaste" demonstration below.
Popout
Find more videos on Mr. Bergmann's YouTube channel and on his wiki.
Eight Good Resources for Space Science Lessons
Last week one of my colleagues asked if I knew of "any good websites" for space science lessons. I said of course I did and gave the suggestion to turn on the moon view in Google Earth. This post was prompted by that 90 second conversation. Here are eight (for the eight planets) good resources for space science lessons.
Celestia is a free space exploration simulation program. Celestia is a free download that works on Mac, PC, and Linux systems. The advantage of Celestia over other satellite imagery programs is that in addition to seeing the Earth's surface, students can zoom in on moons, stars, and planets. The user controls what they see. Operating the program is easy enough to be used by students as young as six or seven. The user guides for Celestia are very thorough and available in four languages. There is a companion website to Celestia called the Celestia Motherlode that features add-ons to Celestia and educational activities that teachers can use in their classrooms.The Sloan Digital Sky Survey better known as the SkyServer is a rich website full of images from throughout the galaxy and beyond. The SkyServer aims to, in their words, "build the largest map in the history of the world." The project is supported by NASA, the US Department of Energy, and National Science Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The galleries of famous places is one of the world's most extensive public galleries of space imagery. To date over 50 million images have been captured.
Google Sky allows you view images of space in your web browser. Google Sky offers great images of outer space captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and theSloan Digital Sky Survey.Google Sky has images that have captured x-ray and infrared wavelengths. The Google Sky web browser also has some more basic images in a collection referred to as "backyard astronomy." Watch the video below for a quick overview of Google Sky.
Popout
To view the moon imagery and to view tours of the moon in Google Earthsimply select "moon" from the planet menu in the Google Earth toolbar.
Some of the coolest features of Google Earth moon are the layers based on different Apollo missions as well as the embedded video footage recorded at the moon. Watch the video below to learn more about "moon view" in Google Earth.
Popout
You can also view Mars in Google Earth by turning on the Mars view. See the screen capture above to see where to locate Mars view in Google Earth. Watch the video below to learn more about "Mars view" in Google Earth.
Popout
NASA has an excellent interactive timeline tracing the history of astronomy and space exploration from the Greek philosophers through today. Planet Quest is actually three timelines combined into one. The three timelines cover technology, discovery, and culture as it relates to astronomy and space exploration. Each element on the timeline is narrated. Users can select individual elements on the timeline or choose autoplay to hear the narration of each item in sequence.
Gunn Interactive has a fantastic interactive visualization of the planets in orbit. The visualization was created by Gunn Interactive. Using this interactive visualization tool students can see the different rates of orbit for all of the planets. Students can zoom in and zoom out to see more or less of the planets. Students can also adjust the speed of the orbits.
Amazing Space is a great website for teachers and students of astronomy. Amazing Space has a great collection of virtual tours and online simulations. Each simulation contains valuable lessons about an astronomy topic. The educator resource page on Amazing Space is full of great ideas and lesson plans for teaching astronomy to students in elementary school, middle school, and high school classrooms.
The WorldWide Telescope makes very detailed, high resolution images (scientific quality) from space available to anyone with access to a computer and an internet connection. The goal of the WorldWide Telescope is to enable users to use their computers as virtual telescopes. The WorldWide Telescope can be downloaded and run on Windows-based computers. Mac users will have to use the web client to access the WorldWide Telescope. The educators page on the WorldWide Telescope site has lesson resources and ideas for middle school and high school use.
Bonus Resource or Pluto:
8 Wonders of the Solar System is a Scientific American interactive feature about the solar system. In 8 Wonders of the Solar Systemviewers explore the sites that future "space tourists" will want to view. The sites are depicted through the artist Ron Miller's drawings. The tour includes audio and video commentary about the featured sites. One of my favorite stops on the tour is the Peaks of Eternal Light on the Moon. The Peaks of Eternal Light are one of the few places in the solar system on which the sun never sets.
What Makes Leaves Change Color? Video & Graphic
We're starting to approach the peak foliage peeping season here in northern New England. To help students understand why the leaves change colors in the fall, the Maine Forest Service has ananimated video explaining why leaves change colors. The video is titled Maine's Autumn Magic and you can watch it here. To help students understand some of the terms in the video, the Maine Forest Service has a glossary of tree terms.
USA Today has a simple interactive illustration that students can click through to see how the weather affects the color of leaves. Students can select individual tree leaves to see what different leaves look like throughout the seasons. Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for the USA Today link.
Applications for EducationFall provides a great opportunity for students to see science in action in the form of changing leaf color. If you can't get your class outside to look at the various leaf colors in the fall, the two resources listed provide nice visuals to complement your lessons on changing leaf colors.
DIGITAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: Web 2.0- for science
Digital Learning Environments is a site sponsored by HP and Intel that offers resources and ideas for teachers on how to use technology in education. There are some great ideas and lesson resources for all teachers on the site.
This page of the site has a listing of Web 2.0 resources to use in Science Classes. Resources listed include a varitey of sites listed by subject. There is a brief description about the site and how it can be used in the classroom.
I recommend this page for all science teachers and Digital Learning Environments in general to all educators as a must have resource.
Weekly Core Subjects Resources
Another week has gone by. Is it just me or has the first part of this school year FLOWN by? Hard to believe that there is only one more week before Christmas break.
Science
1.) 51 Awesome Science Experiments and Videos for kids is a great list to get your students interested in science.
2.) The Interactive Science Dictionary is a site that allows users to learn the meaning of science words. There are videos and it provides users the ability to ask questions as well. Science words can sometimes be hard to pronounce, so this site will also help you learn to pronounce them.
3.) Operation Conservation is a wiki that provides resources for teaching about the environment and learning to conserve energy and resources.
4.) Learn Genetics from the University of Utah is a comprehensive site that allows visitors to learn all they need to know about genetics. A great resource for teachers and students. There are several virtual labs available as well.
5.) Looking to connect with NASA? Well, now you can. NASA has created a directory so that you can collaborate and connect with astronauts and other NASA scientist. You can connect via Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, and Gowalla.
5 Good Resources for Learning the Periodic Table
I am at a science conference this weekend which got me thinking about some of the neat resources I've found over the last few years for learning about the periodic table. Here are some of my favorites.
Glaxo Smith Kline's Active Science offers fifteen interactive games covering a range of science topics. The Interactive Periodic Table is a game designed to help chemistry students practice identification of the elements. To play the game students are given some clues about an element's properties. Using those clues the student has to place the element in the correct place on the table.
The Elements is an interactive periodic table on which students can click an element and learn about that element. Clicking on an element describes all of the element's properties and the common uses of that element. If students just need a snap shot of information, simply placing their cursor on an element reveals a snap shot of information at the top of the page.
The Periodic Table of Videos is produced by The University of Nottingham. The table features a video demonstration of the characteristics of each element in the table. Each element in the Periodic Table displayed on the home page is linked to a video. The videos are hosted on YouTube, but don't worry The University of Nottingham provides an alternative server through which you should be able to view the videos.
The Periodic Table of Comic Books is a project of the chemistry department at theUniversity of Kentucky. The idea is that for every element in the Periodic Table of Elements there is a comic book reference. Clicking on an element in the periodic table displayed on the homepage will take visitors to a list and images of comic book references to that particular element. After looking at the comic book reference if visitors want more information about a particular element they can find it by using the provided link to Web Elements.
The Dynamic Periodic Table is good resource for science teachers and their students. The Dynamic Periodic Tableworks like this, click on an element and a window will pop up to tell you more detailed information about that element. The pop up windows cover properties, orbitals, isotopes and more. There are even links to more information, like the history of each element, for each element. If this had been around when I took chemistry, I might have done a little better.
Videos of Middle School Science Experiments
This morning on YouTube I stumbled across some science videos posted by a middle school teacher in Colorado. Chris Bergmann has posted a number of videos of science demonstrations that he's done in his classroom. Watch the "Elephant Toothpaste" demonstration below.
Popout
Find more videos on Mr. Bergmann's YouTube channel and on his wiki.
Eight Good Resources for Space Science Lessons
Last week one of my colleagues asked if I knew of "any good websites" for space science lessons. I said of course I did and gave the suggestion to turn on the moon view in Google Earth. This post was prompted by that 90 second conversation. Here are eight (for the eight planets) good resources for space science lessons.
Celestia is a free space exploration simulation program. Celestia is a free download that works on Mac, PC, and Linux systems. The advantage of Celestia over other satellite imagery programs is that in addition to seeing the Earth's surface, students can zoom in on moons, stars, and planets. The user controls what they see. Operating the program is easy enough to be used by students as young as six or seven. The user guides for Celestia are very thorough and available in four languages. There is a companion website to Celestia called the Celestia Motherlode that features add-ons to Celestia and educational activities that teachers can use in their classrooms.The Sloan Digital Sky Survey better known as the SkyServer is a rich website full of images from throughout the galaxy and beyond. The SkyServer aims to, in their words, "build the largest map in the history of the world." The project is supported by NASA, the US Department of Energy, and National Science Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The galleries of famous places is one of the world's most extensive public galleries of space imagery. To date over 50 million images have been captured.
Google Sky allows you view images of space in your web browser. Google Sky offers great images of outer space captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and theSloan Digital Sky Survey.Google Sky has images that have captured x-ray and infrared wavelengths. The Google Sky web browser also has some more basic images in a collection referred to as "backyard astronomy." Watch the video below for a quick overview of Google Sky.
Popout
To view the moon imagery and to view tours of the moon in Google Earthsimply select "moon" from the planet menu in the Google Earth toolbar.
Some of the coolest features of Google Earth moon are the layers based on different Apollo missions as well as the embedded video footage recorded at the moon. Watch the video below to learn more about "moon view" in Google Earth.
Popout
You can also view Mars in Google Earth by turning on the Mars view. See the screen capture above to see where to locate Mars view in Google Earth. Watch the video below to learn more about "Mars view" in Google Earth.
Popout
NASA has an excellent interactive timeline tracing the history of astronomy and space exploration from the Greek philosophers through today. Planet Quest is actually three timelines combined into one. The three timelines cover technology, discovery, and culture as it relates to astronomy and space exploration. Each element on the timeline is narrated. Users can select individual elements on the timeline or choose autoplay to hear the narration of each item in sequence.
Gunn Interactive has a fantastic interactive visualization of the planets in orbit. The visualization was created by Gunn Interactive. Using this interactive visualization tool students can see the different rates of orbit for all of the planets. Students can zoom in and zoom out to see more or less of the planets. Students can also adjust the speed of the orbits.
Amazing Space is a great website for teachers and students of astronomy. Amazing Space has a great collection of virtual tours and online simulations. Each simulation contains valuable lessons about an astronomy topic. The educator resource page on Amazing Space is full of great ideas and lesson plans for teaching astronomy to students in elementary school, middle school, and high school classrooms.
The WorldWide Telescope makes very detailed, high resolution images (scientific quality) from space available to anyone with access to a computer and an internet connection. The goal of the WorldWide Telescope is to enable users to use their computers as virtual telescopes. The WorldWide Telescope can be downloaded and run on Windows-based computers. Mac users will have to use the web client to access the WorldWide Telescope. The educators page on the WorldWide Telescope site has lesson resources and ideas for middle school and high school use.
Bonus Resource or Pluto:
8 Wonders of the Solar System is a Scientific American interactive feature about the solar system. In 8 Wonders of the Solar Systemviewers explore the sites that future "space tourists" will want to view. The sites are depicted through the artist Ron Miller's drawings. The tour includes audio and video commentary about the featured sites. One of my favorite stops on the tour is the Peaks of Eternal Light on the Moon. The Peaks of Eternal Light are one of the few places in the solar system on which the sun never sets.
Weekly Core Subjects Resources
Another week has gone by. Is it just me or has the first part of this school year FLOWN by? Hard to believe that there is only one more week before Christmas break.
Science
1.) 51 Awesome Science Experiments and Videos for kids is a great list to get your students interested in science.
2.) The Interactive Science Dictionary is a site that allows users to learn the meaning of science words. There are videos and it provides users the ability to ask questions as well. Science words can sometimes be hard to pronounce, so this site will also help you learn to pronounce them.
3.) Operation Conservation is a wiki that provides resources for teaching about the environment and learning to conserve energy and resources.
4.) Learn Genetics from the University of Utah is a comprehensive site that allows visitors to learn all they need to know about genetics. A great resource for teachers and students. There are several virtual labs available as well.
5.) Looking to connect with NASA? Well, now you can. NASA has created a directory so that you can collaborate and connect with astronauts and other NASA scientist. You can connect via Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, and Gowalla.
5 Good Resources for Learning the Periodic Table
I am at a science conference this weekend which got me thinking about some of the neat resources I've found over the last few years for learning about the periodic table. Here are some of my favorites.
Glaxo Smith Kline's Active Science offers fifteen interactive games covering a range of science topics. The Interactive Periodic Table is a game designed to help chemistry students practice identification of the elements. To play the game students are given some clues about an element's properties. Using those clues the student has to place the element in the correct place on the table.
The Elements is an interactive periodic table on which students can click an element and learn about that element. Clicking on an element describes all of the element's properties and the common uses of that element. If students just need a snap shot of information, simply placing their cursor on an element reveals a snap shot of information at the top of the page.
The Periodic Table of Videos is produced by The University of Nottingham. The table features a video demonstration of the characteristics of each element in the table. Each element in the Periodic Table displayed on the home page is linked to a video. The videos are hosted on YouTube, but don't worry The University of Nottingham provides an alternative server through which you should be able to view the videos.
The Periodic Table of Comic Books is a project of the chemistry department at theUniversity of Kentucky. The idea is that for every element in the Periodic Table of Elements there is a comic book reference. Clicking on an element in the periodic table displayed on the homepage will take visitors to a list and images of comic book references to that particular element. After looking at the comic book reference if visitors want more information about a particular element they can find it by using the provided link to Web Elements.
The Dynamic Periodic Table is good resource for science teachers and their students. The Dynamic Periodic Tableworks like this, click on an element and a window will pop up to tell you more detailed information about that element. The pop up windows cover properties, orbitals, isotopes and more. There are even links to more information, like the history of each element, for each element. If this had been around when I took chemistry, I might have done a little better.
Weekly Core Subjects Resources
Another week has gone by. Is it just me or has the first part of this school year FLOWN by? Hard to believe that there is only one more week before Christmas break.
Science
1.) 51 Awesome Science Experiments and Videos for kids is a great list to get your students interested in science.
2.) The Interactive Science Dictionary is a site that allows users to learn the meaning of science words. There are videos and it provides users the ability to ask questions as well. Science words can sometimes be hard to pronounce, so this site will also help you learn to pronounce them.
3.) Operation Conservation is a wiki that provides resources for teaching about the environment and learning to conserve energy and resources.
4.) Learn Genetics from the University of Utah is a comprehensive site that allows visitors to learn all they need to know about genetics. A great resource for teachers and students. There are several virtual labs available as well.
5.) Looking to connect with NASA? Well, now you can. NASA has created a directory so that you can collaborate and connect with astronauts and other NASA scientist. You can connect via Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, and Gowalla.
1.) 51 Awesome Science Experiments and Videos for kids is a great list to get your students interested in science.
2.) The Interactive Science Dictionary is a site that allows users to learn the meaning of science words. There are videos and it provides users the ability to ask questions as well. Science words can sometimes be hard to pronounce, so this site will also help you learn to pronounce them.
3.) Operation Conservation is a wiki that provides resources for teaching about the environment and learning to conserve energy and resources.
4.) Learn Genetics from the University of Utah is a comprehensive site that allows visitors to learn all they need to know about genetics. A great resource for teachers and students. There are several virtual labs available as well.
5.) Looking to connect with NASA? Well, now you can. NASA has created a directory so that you can collaborate and connect with astronauts and other NASA scientist. You can connect via Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, and Gowalla.
I am at a science conference this weekend which got me thinking about some of the neat resources I've found over the last few years for learning about the periodic table. Here are some of my favorites.
Glaxo Smith Kline's Active Science offers fifteen interactive games covering a range of science topics. The Interactive Periodic Table is a game designed to help chemistry students practice identification of the elements. To play the game students are given some clues about an element's properties. Using those clues the student has to place the element in the correct place on the table.
The Elements is an interactive periodic table on which students can click an element and learn about that element. Clicking on an element describes all of the element's properties and the common uses of that element. If students just need a snap shot of information, simply placing their cursor on an element reveals a snap shot of information at the top of the page.
The Periodic Table of Videos is produced by The University of Nottingham. The table features a video demonstration of the characteristics of each element in the table. Each element in the Periodic Table displayed on the home page is linked to a video. The videos are hosted on YouTube, but don't worry The University of Nottingham provides an alternative server through which you should be able to view the videos.
The Periodic Table of Comic Books is a project of the chemistry department at theUniversity of Kentucky. The idea is that for every element in the Periodic Table of Elements there is a comic book reference. Clicking on an element in the periodic table displayed on the homepage will take visitors to a list and images of comic book references to that particular element. After looking at the comic book reference if visitors want more information about a particular element they can find it by using the provided link to Web Elements.
The Dynamic Periodic Table is good resource for science teachers and their students. The Dynamic Periodic Tableworks like this, click on an element and a window will pop up to tell you more detailed information about that element. The pop up windows cover properties, orbitals, isotopes and more. There are even links to more information, like the history of each element, for each element. If this had been around when I took chemistry, I might have done a little better.
Glaxo Smith Kline's Active Science offers fifteen interactive games covering a range of science topics. The Interactive Periodic Table is a game designed to help chemistry students practice identification of the elements. To play the game students are given some clues about an element's properties. Using those clues the student has to place the element in the correct place on the table.The Elements is an interactive periodic table on which students can click an element and learn about that element. Clicking on an element describes all of the element's properties and the common uses of that element. If students just need a snap shot of information, simply placing their cursor on an element reveals a snap shot of information at the top of the page.
The Periodic Table of Videos is produced by The University of Nottingham. The table features a video demonstration of the characteristics of each element in the table. Each element in the Periodic Table displayed on the home page is linked to a video. The videos are hosted on YouTube, but don't worry The University of Nottingham provides an alternative server through which you should be able to view the videos.
The Periodic Table of Comic Books is a project of the chemistry department at theUniversity of Kentucky. The idea is that for every element in the Periodic Table of Elements there is a comic book reference. Clicking on an element in the periodic table displayed on the homepage will take visitors to a list and images of comic book references to that particular element. After looking at the comic book reference if visitors want more information about a particular element they can find it by using the provided link to Web Elements.The Dynamic Periodic Table is good resource for science teachers and their students. The Dynamic Periodic Tableworks like this, click on an element and a window will pop up to tell you more detailed information about that element. The pop up windows cover properties, orbitals, isotopes and more. There are even links to more information, like the history of each element, for each element. If this had been around when I took chemistry, I might have done a little better.
Videos of Middle School Science Experiments
This morning on YouTube I stumbled across some science videos posted by a middle school teacher in Colorado. Chris Bergmann has posted a number of videos of science demonstrations that he's done in his classroom. Watch the "Elephant Toothpaste" demonstration below.
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Find more videos on Mr. Bergmann's YouTube channel and on his wiki.
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Find more videos on Mr. Bergmann's YouTube channel and on his wiki.
Last week one of my colleagues asked if I knew of "any good websites" for space science lessons. I said of course I did and gave the suggestion to turn on the moon view in Google Earth. This post was prompted by that 90 second conversation. Here are eight (for the eight planets) good resources for space science lessons.
Celestia is a free space exploration simulation program. Celestia is a free download that works on Mac, PC, and Linux systems. The advantage of Celestia over other satellite imagery programs is that in addition to seeing the Earth's surface, students can zoom in on moons, stars, and planets. The user controls what they see. Operating the program is easy enough to be used by students as young as six or seven. The user guides for Celestia are very thorough and available in four languages. There is a companion website to Celestia called the Celestia Motherlode that features add-ons to Celestia and educational activities that teachers can use in their classrooms.The Sloan Digital Sky Survey better known as the SkyServer is a rich website full of images from throughout the galaxy and beyond. The SkyServer aims to, in their words, "build the largest map in the history of the world." The project is supported by NASA, the US Department of Energy, and National Science Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The galleries of famous places is one of the world's most extensive public galleries of space imagery. To date over 50 million images have been captured.
Google Sky allows you view images of space in your web browser. Google Sky offers great images of outer space captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and theSloan Digital Sky Survey.Google Sky has images that have captured x-ray and infrared wavelengths. The Google Sky web browser also has some more basic images in a collection referred to as "backyard astronomy." Watch the video below for a quick overview of Google Sky.
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To view the moon imagery and to view tours of the moon in Google Earthsimply select "moon" from the planet menu in the Google Earth toolbar.
Some of the coolest features of Google Earth moon are the layers based on different Apollo missions as well as the embedded video footage recorded at the moon. Watch the video below to learn more about "moon view" in Google Earth.
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You can also view Mars in Google Earth by turning on the Mars view. See the screen capture above to see where to locate Mars view in Google Earth. Watch the video below to learn more about "Mars view" in Google Earth.
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NASA has an excellent interactive timeline tracing the history of astronomy and space exploration from the Greek philosophers through today. Planet Quest is actually three timelines combined into one. The three timelines cover technology, discovery, and culture as it relates to astronomy and space exploration. Each element on the timeline is narrated. Users can select individual elements on the timeline or choose autoplay to hear the narration of each item in sequence.
Celestia is a free space exploration simulation program. Celestia is a free download that works on Mac, PC, and Linux systems. The advantage of Celestia over other satellite imagery programs is that in addition to seeing the Earth's surface, students can zoom in on moons, stars, and planets. The user controls what they see. Operating the program is easy enough to be used by students as young as six or seven. The user guides for Celestia are very thorough and available in four languages. There is a companion website to Celestia called the Celestia Motherlode that features add-ons to Celestia and educational activities that teachers can use in their classrooms.The Sloan Digital Sky Survey better known as the SkyServer is a rich website full of images from throughout the galaxy and beyond. The SkyServer aims to, in their words, "build the largest map in the history of the world." The project is supported by NASA, the US Department of Energy, and National Science Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The galleries of famous places is one of the world's most extensive public galleries of space imagery. To date over 50 million images have been captured.
Google Sky allows you view images of space in your web browser. Google Sky offers great images of outer space captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and theSloan Digital Sky Survey.Google Sky has images that have captured x-ray and infrared wavelengths. The Google Sky web browser also has some more basic images in a collection referred to as "backyard astronomy." Watch the video below for a quick overview of Google Sky.Popout
To view the moon imagery and to view tours of the moon in Google Earthsimply select "moon" from the planet menu in the Google Earth toolbar.
Some of the coolest features of Google Earth moon are the layers based on different Apollo missions as well as the embedded video footage recorded at the moon. Watch the video below to learn more about "moon view" in Google Earth.
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You can also view Mars in Google Earth by turning on the Mars view. See the screen capture above to see where to locate Mars view in Google Earth. Watch the video below to learn more about "Mars view" in Google Earth.
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NASA has an excellent interactive timeline tracing the history of astronomy and space exploration from the Greek philosophers through today. Planet Quest is actually three timelines combined into one. The three timelines cover technology, discovery, and culture as it relates to astronomy and space exploration. Each element on the timeline is narrated. Users can select individual elements on the timeline or choose autoplay to hear the narration of each item in sequence.Gunn Interactive has a fantastic interactive visualization of the planets in orbit. The visualization was created by Gunn Interactive. Using this interactive visualization tool students can see the different rates of orbit for all of the planets. Students can zoom in and zoom out to see more or less of the planets. Students can also adjust the speed of the orbits.
Amazing Space is a great website for teachers and students of astronomy. Amazing Space has a great collection of virtual tours and online simulations. Each simulation contains valuable lessons about an astronomy topic. The educator resource page on Amazing Space is full of great ideas and lesson plans for teaching astronomy to students in elementary school, middle school, and high school classrooms.
The WorldWide Telescope makes very detailed, high resolution images (scientific quality) from space available to anyone with access to a computer and an internet connection. The goal of the WorldWide Telescope is to enable users to use their computers as virtual telescopes. The WorldWide Telescope can be downloaded and run on Windows-based computers. Mac users will have to use the web client to access the WorldWide Telescope. The educators page on the WorldWide Telescope site has lesson resources and ideas for middle school and high school use.
Bonus Resource or Pluto:
8 Wonders of the Solar System is a Scientific American interactive feature about the solar system. In 8 Wonders of the Solar Systemviewers explore the sites that future "space tourists" will want to view. The sites are depicted through the artist Ron Miller's drawings. The tour includes audio and video commentary about the featured sites. One of my favorite stops on the tour is the Peaks of Eternal Light on the Moon. The Peaks of Eternal Light are one of the few places in the solar system on which the sun never sets.
The WorldWide Telescope makes very detailed, high resolution images (scientific quality) from space available to anyone with access to a computer and an internet connection. The goal of the WorldWide Telescope is to enable users to use their computers as virtual telescopes. The WorldWide Telescope can be downloaded and run on Windows-based computers. Mac users will have to use the web client to access the WorldWide Telescope. The educators page on the WorldWide Telescope site has lesson resources and ideas for middle school and high school use.Bonus Resource or Pluto:
8 Wonders of the Solar System is a Scientific American interactive feature about the solar system. In 8 Wonders of the Solar Systemviewers explore the sites that future "space tourists" will want to view. The sites are depicted through the artist Ron Miller's drawings. The tour includes audio and video commentary about the featured sites. One of my favorite stops on the tour is the Peaks of Eternal Light on the Moon. The Peaks of Eternal Light are one of the few places in the solar system on which the sun never sets.What Makes Leaves Change Color? Video & Graphic
USA Today has a simple interactive illustration that students can click through to see how the weather affects the color of leaves. Students can select individual tree leaves to see what different leaves look like throughout the seasons. Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for the USA Today link.
Applications for Education
Fall provides a great opportunity for students to see science in action in the form of changing leaf color. If you can't get your class outside to look at the various leaf colors in the fall, the two resources listed provide nice visuals to complement your lessons on changing leaf colors.
Digital Learning Environments is a site sponsored by HP and Intel that offers resources and ideas for teachers on how to use technology in education. There are some great ideas and lesson resources for all teachers on the site.
This page of the site has a listing of Web 2.0 resources to use in Science Classes. Resources listed include a varitey of sites listed by subject. There is a brief description about the site and how it can be used in the classroom.
I recommend this page for all science teachers and Digital Learning Environments in general to all educators as a must have resource.
Free DVD - Journey to the Stars
NASA in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History is giving away copies of Journey to the Stars. Journey to the Stars is narrated by Whoopi Goldberg takes viewers on a virtual journey through time and space. Teachers can request a free copy of the DVD here. The DVD comes with suggested lesson plans.Thanks to Instructify for the information about this DVD giveaway.
Update: It appears that they've run out of DVDs. You can however sign-up to be notified when the next batch of freebies is available.
Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Interactive Tour of the Hubble Telescope
Star Child - Learning for Young Astronomers
NASA Quests and Challenges
Science Online
Science Online is a site that contains lesson plans, interactive activities, worksheets and links for K-8 science. The resources are sorted by grade level and topics, such as Force and Motion, Energy, Living Things, Cells, and many more.
The site can also be used by 9-12 teachers for inspiration, other resources, and remedial work. It is also a good place to get work for students having trouble with different concepts.
Thanks to my wife, Cori, a high school biology teacher, for this resource.
USGS Multimedia Gallery
In the past I've written about Google Earth files and some other educational media from produced by the USGS (here and here). Today, I want to make sure that you're aware of some other great materials available through the USGS Multimedia Gallery. The USGS Multimedia Gallery contains large collections of educational videos, animations, podcasts, and image galleries. You can search each collection by topic and or keyword tags. RSS feeds are available for each gallery. In addition to the videos in the USGS Multimedia Gallery you can find many videos on the official USGS YouTube channel.
H/T to Lucy Gray who shared the USGS social media center on Facebook.
Science Online
Science Online is a site that contains lesson plans, interactive activities, worksheets and links for K-8 science. The resources are sorted by grade level and topics, such as Force and Motion, Energy, Living Things, Cells, and many more.The site can also be used by 9-12 teachers for inspiration, other resources, and remedial work. It is also a good place to get work for students having trouble with different concepts.
Thanks to my wife, Cori, a high school biology teacher, for this resource.
In the past I've written about Google Earth files and some other educational media from produced by the USGS (here and here). Today, I want to make sure that you're aware of some other great materials available through the USGS Multimedia Gallery. The USGS Multimedia Gallery contains large collections of educational videos, animations, podcasts, and image galleries. You can search each collection by topic and or keyword tags. RSS feeds are available for each gallery. In addition to the videos in the USGS Multimedia Gallery you can find many videos on the official USGS YouTube channel.H/T to Lucy Gray who shared the USGS social media center on Facebook.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a site that offers TONS of videos related mostly to Math and Science. The videos are basically tutorials or explanations on how to solve equations. From their site "The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) with the mission of providing a world-class education to anyone, anywhere. Despite being the work of one man, Salman Khan, this 1600+ video library is the most-used educational video resource as measured by YouTube video views per day and unique users per month. We are complementing this ever-growing library with user-paced exercises--developed as an open source project--allowing the Khan Academy to become the free classroom for the World."
There are some videos for other subjects, but they don't compare to the number of videos for Math and Science. Not a replacement for your lessons, but a great supplement to what you are teaching and maybe even in a method you might not normally teach it.
“Life Is” Is An Amazing BBC Website!
“Life Is” is just an amazing site from the BBC.
It’s part of television series on “the extraordinary things animals and plants do.”
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a site that offers TONS of videos related mostly to Math and Science. The videos are basically tutorials or explanations on how to solve equations. From their site "The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) with the mission of providing a world-class education to anyone, anywhere. Despite being the work of one man, Salman Khan, this 1600+ video library is the most-used educational video resource as measured by YouTube video views per day and unique users per month. We are complementing this ever-growing library with user-paced exercises--developed as an open source project--allowing the Khan Academy to become the free classroom for the World."
There are some videos for other subjects, but they don't compare to the number of videos for Math and Science. Not a replacement for your lessons, but a great supplement to what you are teaching and maybe even in a method you might not normally teach it.
“Life Is” is just an amazing site from the BBC.
It’s part of television series on “the extraordinary things animals and plants do.”
It’s part of television series on “the extraordinary things animals and plants do.”
Insects...An Informational Website
Science Online: by an educator, for educators (and K-8 students)
from Welcome to NCS-Tech! by Kevin Jarrett
Science Online, “an innovative project that emphasizes the use of technology to deliver the Tennessee science curriculum for grades K-8.”
The BBC Science Clips are a collection of science related activities and games for students who are 5 to 11 years old. Students can grow virtual plants, experiment with pushes and pulls, hearing and sound, forces and movement, electricity, rocks and soils, simple machines, light, solids and liquids, friction, habitats, life cycles, changing states of matter, reversible and irreversible changes, forces, and much more. The site is organized well, by age group, and has several activities at each level. http://www.ilearntechnology.com/
Eco Kids is a website with a great collection of ecologically focused games and activities. Students can complete interactives on wildlife, climate change, energy, the North, water, waste, land use, and more. Build a Food Chain has students order the elements of a food chain. Along the way, students learn why each animal within a food chain is so important. In addition to learning the basics of a food chain, students will learn about bioaccumulation.From: http://www.ilearntechnology.com/
The Mystery of the Poison Dart Frog comes from the North Carolina Museum of Art. Students are introduced to three characters in an online picture book. Zoey and Zeke are visiting their cousin Camilla who works as a curator at an art museum in Costa Rica. Soon students are swept away in a mystery and adventure as they must use clues and match up the Costa Rica art pieces with the notecards that were written by the donors of the art. Along the way students learn to read for information, and learn about art, science, history, and culture of Costa Rica. From http://www.ilearntechnology.com/
Jonathan Bird's Blue World
from Educational Technology Guy by Dave
http://www.blueworldtv.com/index.html
Jonathan Bird's Blue World is an Emmy award winning educational program that explores the wonders of the world's oceans.
The program airs on public television, but the website also has webisodes on the site for you to view. They also have an educators' section with study guides for each episode, sea stories and web links. You can even book him to come to your school and do a presentation (for a fee). He is very dynamic and you can see an example of one of his presentations.
Why Geography Matters - A Video & Video Project
from Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)
http://earth.google.com/
http://www.youtube.com/v/PPGuhJe6Qao&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1
Why Geography Matters is a video produced by Google employees. Clearly the video is a promotion for Google Earth, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't have some educational value. The video features Google employees and students sharing their thoughts on why geography matters.
http://pbskids.org/zoom/games/goldburgertogo/rubegame.html
from ilearntechnology
Students are fascinated with machines that work together to perform tasks. Goldburger to Go is a fun way to challenge your students to think about cause and effect and to consider how all the working parts operate together. The puzzle game is a good way to get your students thinking about and discussing different types of energy. Use this website with the whole class using an interactive whiteboard and discuss the types of energy as they occur. Walk your students through the scientific process as they hypothesize what is going to happen and experiment with adjusting the machine accordingly. The website also lends itself nicely to studying different kinds of simple machines. The built in hints help guide stumped students in their thinking. Goldburger to Go would make a fun center activity or even to play individually in a computer lab setting. This is one of those thinking games that my students could spend hours playing.
http://tskinnersbec.edublogs.org/
Launchball
from The Techie Classroom by techieclassroom
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/launchpad/launchball/play_launchball.swf
This is a site from a Science Museum in the UK and has 30 levels to work through as well as the opportunity to create your own.
CSI: The Experience Web Adventures
from Educational Technology Guy by Dave
http://forensics.rice.edu/
CSI: The Experience Web Adventures is a great web site that teaches students about forensics and then gives them virtual cases to work on and apply their knowledge. It is supported by the National Science Foundation and partners Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, American Federation of Forensic Sciences, CBS, and Rice University Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning. Some pretty big names!
There are three different cases for students to solve ranging from beginner to intermediate to advanced. Each case has the student learning new topics and concepts in order to solve the case. The cases are very well written and designed and I had fun trying them out.
The site also has a reference section for help with the cases, topics and characters and the "fun stuff" section has an educators guide with lessons and activities, family guide and more to make the experience even better.
This is a great site and experience for any science student. It is definitely appropriate for grades 9-12 and I think 7-8 could do very well too.
Nat Geo's Traveler's Guide to the Planets
from Educational Technology Guy by Dave
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/travelers-guide-to-the-planets-interactive#/G/1
National Geographic's Traveler's Guide to the Planets is a wonderful, fun, visually spectacular resource for students learning about our solar system and the planets. When you first arrive at the site, it has a stunning, exciting opening animation and then it gets to the main page.
The main page, seen above, has two panels. The left side panel allows you to select which planet you want to learn about (Pluto is still listed, Earth is not since we live there) and what you want to know about each planet. The site is set up as a true traveler's guide and includes info such as history, trivia, sites, advice, climate, and luggage. This is a great way to get students to learn about the planets in a new way.
It is appropriate for grades 5-12 (and maybe even younger with some teacher help).
http://alteredqualia.com/canvasmol/
Canvas Mol - 3D Models of Molecules
from Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)
Canvas Mol is a website that provides 3D, interactive, rotating models of simple and complex molecules. There are 46 models of relatively common molecules like glucose, fructose, and morphine. Each model can be altered to show or not show bonds, to show or not show individual atoms, and to rotate on the X,Y, or Z axis. Canvas Mol works best in Chrome or Opera, but can also be used in Firefox and Safari.
Penguin Day: April 25
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2010/04/24/the-best-sites-for-learning-about-penguins/
http://www.gameforscience.ca/index.php
from ilearntechnology.com
What it is: Game for Science has to be one of the coolest virtual worlds for kids. This virtual world is dedicated to getting kids excited about science and technology. Students can explore various virtual islands where they will learn about health, aeronautics, genomics, environment, engineering and more. Students can learn more about science careers, what scientists do, play games, learn interesting facts, and explore science photos and videos. Students can play the Game for Science as a tourist without registering, or they can register for an account (this requires an email address with confirmation). This is an outstanding way for kids to get excited about science and technology. As students travel through the virtual world, they can collect neurons (smart stars) by answering questions and playing games. The neurons can be used to purchase items for their avatar.
Science Books Onlinefrom Educational Technology Guy by Dave
http://www.sciencebooksonline.info/
Science Books Online is exactly what it's name says. It is a listing of different, free, online science books.
The list is sorted by topic: astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, math, medicine, etc. and there is a recently added section on the main page so you can see what's new.
There are free e-books, textbooks, lecture notes and other science documents. The texts are either available online or for downloading. I have used quite a few of the physics ones in my classes. They are very well written and designed.
This is a great resource for schools to either supplement their current textbooks, or maybe even replace the traditional, expensive, paper textbook with a free electronic one.
Engineering Interact - Physics Games for Kids
from Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)
http://www.engineeringinteract.org/interact.htm
Engineering Interact is a site for elementary school students designed by the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. Engineering Interact offers five games designed to teach students physics concepts. The games address concepts related to light, sound, motion, electricity, and space travel. Each of the five games presents students with a scenario in which they have to "help" someone solve a problem. The games require students to learn and analyze the information presented to them.
Google Earth in the Science Classroom
http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/29134
Places to Watch Wildlife Live on the Web
from Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)
http://www.wildearth.tv/static/wildearth/home.html
Wild Earth TV provides eleven live video feeds of animals in the wild. As I write this I'm watching the Bear Den feed featuring Lily the Black Bear. Lily has almost 100,000 Facebook fans. While watching the video feeds, registered users can chat with each other about what they're seeing. If the video feed is not live when you visit the website, you can choose from any number of recorded videos.
http://www.fs.fed.us/outdoors/naturewatch/vidcam.htm The USDA Forest Service has four wildlife camera feeds but as I write this only one, the Eagle Cam, seems to functioning properly. In addition to the cameras the USDA Forest Service offers a nice collection of teaching resources including full lesson plans and slideshows about the birds, fish, and mammals recorded on their wildlife cameras.
http://www.africam.com/wildlife/index.php Africam provides four live feeds featuring African wildlife. If you visit the site and the feed is dark (which is likely if you're watching in the afternoon in North or South America), check out the archived recordings.
Learn About Owls & Virtually Dissect a Pellet
from Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)
http://www.kidwings.com/index.htm
Kid Wings is a site designed to provide teachers and students with information and learning experiences about owls. The site has distinct web 1.0 feel, but none-the-less offers some good stuff for students and teachers. The highlight of Kid Wings is the virtual owl pellet dissection activity. In the virtual owl pellet dissection students pick apart an owl pellet, examine the bones inside it, then match those bones to the skeleton outline they've been provided. The names of the bones are read aloud to students when they click on the bones.
In addition to the virtual owl pellet dissection, Kid Wings offers some informational graphics about the anatomy of birds, bird photographs, bird call recordings, and some resources specifically for teachers.
After exploring Kid Wings I took a look at National Geographic's website in search of some more information about owls. On National Geographic's site I discovered a couple of nice resources about Snowy Owls. National Geographic Kids has a nice little photo essay about Snowy Owls and a map of the Snowy Owls' range. I also found the following two minute video about Snowy Owls.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngyoungexplorer/index.html
Explore.org Adds Video-Based Lesson Plans
from Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)
http://www.explore.org/ produces and hosts high-quality documentary films and photographs. The films and images focus on exploring the world and the work of non-profit organizations around the world. The films and images are organized by location and by charitable and or environmental cause. Explore.org is funded in part by the Annenburg Foundation.
Recently, Explore.org added a lesson plan section for teachers. In total there are ten lesson plans for K-12 students. Not all lesson plans are appropriate for all grades and the lesson plans are labeled accordingly. All of the lesson plans are based upon video created by Explore
http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/data_art/newsglobe/
BBC News Globe
from Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... by Larry Ferlazzo
The BBC has developed what they call the News Globe. It has a virtual globe globe that you spin, and there are points on it. When you place your cursor on the points a short introduction to a news story based on that location shows-up, and you can click on it to go to the complete report. You type in a query for the types of news you’re looking for.
Sun And Planets
from Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... by Larry Ferlazzo
http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/cyberspace/Explorers/Solar_System/Sun_and_Planets/index.php#thesun
10 Sources of Educational Science Games
from Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm
Energy Kids provides a wealth of easily accessible information about energy which students can use to play games, solve riddles, and take quizzes about energy. Some of the games students will find include Energy Sudoku, crossword puzzles, and riddles. Energy Kids also provides students of all ages with ideas and outlines for science fair projects around the energy theme. The science fair projects are available as free PDF downloads.
http://forensics.rice.edu/index.html
Rice University has partnered with CBS, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and the National Science Foundation to produce educational web adventures based on the CSI television series. The web adventures are designed to teach students the process of forensic investigation and problem solving. There are three cases or levels to the CSI web adventures. Unlike a lot of educational games, the CSI Web Adventures are created with the highest quality graphics and navigational features.
http://www.mnzoo.com/index.asp
The Minnesota Zoo has some fun activities and games that students can use to learn about tigers and wolves. The tiger portion of the Minnesota Zoo's website has five games designed for students age 10 and above. There are five activities or games in the tiger section. All five games can be played online.
http://www.bronxzoo.com/
The Bronx Zoo has a good page of resources for elementary school and middle school educators. Among the resources available on the Bronx Zoo's educators page are videos (served via YouTube), lesson plans, and interactive online activities. There are four interactive online activities designed for elementary school and middle school audiences. The interactive activities include two identification games, a quiz, and a narrated slideshow about camels adapting to their environments.
http://www.echalk.co.uk/tasters/taster4/taster.html
eChalk offers a mix of free and premium (fee required) educational games. One of the free games is Periodic Table Tetris. Periodic Table Tetris uses the style of the classic video game Tetris to help students memorize the periodic table of elements. To play the game, students use their keyboard's arrow keys to move element blocks into the proper place. The game has three levels for students to progress through.
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/
Crickweb is a UK-based website offering a good collection of simple games for young learners. On Crickweb you can find games for students to practice and learn the basics of numeracy, literacy, geography, history, and science. There is also a collection of games for used on Promethean whiteboards.
http://www.kineticcity.com/mindgames/warper/
Shape It Up is one of many good educational games and activities on Kinetic City. Shape It Up is an activity that would be good for use in an elementary school Earth Science lesson. The activity presents students with "before" and "after" images of a piece of Earth. Students then have to select the force nature and the span of time it took to create the "after" picture. If students choose incorrectly, Shape It Up will tell the student and they can choose again.
http://www.stopdisastersgame.org/en/playgame.html
Stop Disasters is a game designed for students to learn about natural disasters, disaster prevention, and city design. There are five game scenarios that students can play. Students can plan to prepare for hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and tsunamis. The scenarios are set in geographically accurate contexts of Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Caribbean.
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/
NASA Space Place is a sizable collection of fun projects, games, animations, and lessons about Earth, space, and technology. Before playing the games or attempting one of the projects, students should explore the animations and facts sections to gain some background information.
http://www.learningmedia.co.nz/
Learning Media is a New Zealand based company that produces curriculum materials for schools. A lot of their products are only available by purchase, but they do offer some good free resources. Some of the free resources include a collection of seven math, science, and writing games for elementary school and middle school students. In addition to online play, the games can be downloaded as a zip file for use on your PC.
Planet Earth on iTunes - Get the 1st Episode Freefrom Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTVSeason?id=285558902&s=143441
The BBC series Planet Earth was a huge hit when it aired last year. To celebrate the upcoming 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the BBC has brought the series to iTunes. The first episode, Pole to Pole, can be downloaded for free from now through Earth Day on April 22. The other episodes are available for $2.99.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=8-wonders&sc=WR_20100406
from Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)
8 Wonders of the Solar System is a Scientific American interactive feature about the solar system. In 8 Wonders of the Solar System viewers explore the sites that future "space tourists" will want to view. The sites are depicted through the artist Ron Miller's drawings. The tour includes audio and video commentary about the featured sites. One of my favorite stops on the tour is the Peaks of Eternal Light on the Moon. The Peaks of Eternal Light are one of the few places in the solar system on which the sun never sets.
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2009/05/11/the-best-sites-to-learn-about-the-hubble-telescope/
http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/Home.aspx
WorldWide Telescope (WWT) enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world. Experience narrated guided tours from astronomers and educators featuring interestingplaces in the sky.
from Educational Technology Guy by Dave
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/
NASA Space Place is a sizable collection of fun projects, games, animations, and lessons about Earth, space, and technology. Before playing the games or attempting one of the projects, students should explore the animations and facts sections to gain some background information.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/musicinstinct/
Researchers and scientists from a variety of fields are using groundbreaking techniques that reveal startling new connections between music and the human mind, the body and the universe. Together with an array of musicians from rock and rap to jazz and classical, they are putting music under the microscope.
http://www.sciencebob.com/index.php (Science Fair ideas - from Free Technology for Teachers)
http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/
Resources include online interactive learning materials for use on whiteboards or PCs; video clips which will bring the University to your desktop; downloadable resources and educational games. Content will be aligned with, and complement existing Key Stage 2 web-based learning resources.
Museum of Science and Industry: http://www.msichicago.org/online-science/
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm
Energy Kids is a website produced by the US Energy Information Administration for the purpose of educating students about energy and its many forms. Energy Kids provides a wealth of easily accessible information about energy which students can use to play games, solve riddles, and take quizzes about energy. Some of the games students will find include Energy Sudoku, crossword puzzles, and riddles. Energy Kids also provides students of all ages with ideas and outlines for science fair projects around the energy theme. The science fair projects are available as free PDF downloads. (From http://www.freetech4teachers.com/)
http://www.neok12.com/
Free online educational videos for kids about Science, Math, Social Studies and English
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