Science+Ideas

Here are some great ideas for teaching science:

[|**http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/**] [|SOL Curriculum Framework] [|SOL Enhanced Scope and Sequence]
 * Standards:**

http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/gems/ http://nsta.org/ [|PBS Teacher Source]** http://sciencepage.org/lessons.htm
 * Lesson Plan Ideas for All Science Topics:

[|BBC Interactive Science Clips] This is a great resource for interactive science activities. These activities are directed at all elementary school students (ages 5 - 11). There are a variety of topics for the students to investigate. A great station in a science circus! [|Bill Nye the Science Guy] An excellent resource with a variety of activities - especially exciting for all of those who grew up watching the show! There is a section on Home Demos, which is broken down into the different types of science and then provides detailed instructions for experiments. There is a question of the week. Wacky Bill Nye e-cards are a bonus! The U-Nye-Verse section includes memos from Bill Nye on current science issues. The Nye Store includes books and videos - as well as apparel for those who are really worship Bill Nye. Episode guides are available; as well as information on Bill Nye himself. [|The Weather Channel Classroom] This website includes a variety of activities, such as Interactive Weather Forecasts, Ask The Meteorologist - where students can submit questions, Backyard Observations, SafeSide Student Activities, Severe Weather Challenge - a game, Watershed Worries - where students can investigate water quality issues, Climate Code - where students can investigate climate issues such as global hotspots and climate change. Resources such as an encyclopedia, glossary and information on Meteorological Careers are also available. http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/ This site has various topics in science. It provides students with information through stories, games, and fun quizzes. http://www.strangematterexhibit.com/index.html Stange Matter, interactive site all about MATTER! Really fun, interactive activities and all the info you could want to go with it. Sites for teachers, families, and students. Ideal for older elementary students, but could definitely be incorporated in younger elementary matter lessons. Find Material Smackdown, The Transformer, and detailed but clever explanations to boot. Click on the Fun Stuff link and scroll down to find the answer to many matter related questions! What is a buckyball? You can find out here!
 * Interactive Websites for Kids**

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/ This website has kid friendly science news articles on all types of science related material and topics. The articles are not long in length are do a great job of being concise and interesting so as to keep children's attention while teaching them. Furthermore, games, experiment ideas, and a space for teachers are other great benefits of this cite.
 * Science in the News (for kids):**

The Sci4Kids website, http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/, which is also listed above as a great interactive cite, is full of graphics to keep kids entertained while providing them with up-to-date news stories. Depending on the graphic showing, a science topic area such as insects or science careers is brought up for children to read news stories about. The stories are presented to children in a creative way with bright colors, graphics, and animated sounds.

[|Exploring Simple Machines] [|The Ocean's in Trouble] http://www.ncwiseowl.org/webquest/spider/default.htm Ocean animals: http://education.nmsu.edu/webquest/wq/ocean/index.html Classification of living things: http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~tah03j/four.htm
 * WebQuests**

How much water do we use? (Grades 4-8) http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/drainproj/ Boiling Point (Grades 6-12) http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/boilproj/ Studies in Local and Global Environments (Grades 1-5) http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/squareproj/ Pond Water and Organisms (Grades 1-5) http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/bucketproj/ a bunch of projects that kids can get their hands into from chemistry mixing to engineering designing the five senses, and force and motion. it's from pbs and the tv show ZOOM http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/ science activities that fit the national science standards http://www.utm.edu/departments/cece/samk8.php
 * Online Projects** Here are some great projects for your students to complete! Visit http://www.k12science.org/currichome.html or http://www.globalschoolnet.org/GSH/ for more ideas!

[|Cell Inspector] is an interactive tool that allows students to test their own knowledge on cell organelles. Key structures include cell membrane, cell wall, nucleus, vacuole, and mitochondria so would not be appropriate for lower elementary school students. [|Science Lab] is a cool, child-friendly, interactive simulation website. Topics include gravity, atoms, vision, volcanoes, human body, earthquakes, sounds, cells, matter, solar system and weather. Click into any topic to receive concise information summarizing and a simulated experiment demonstrating the concept. The states of matter science lab, for example, allows students to change a beaker of water to its solid state and then back into its liquid state (also shows change at molecular level) [|The Great Plant Escape] is a variation on a WebQuest, provided by the University of Illinois, which follows Bud and Sprout as they help Detective LePlant solve the plant mystery. There are a total of 6 different cases, each which begin with an extensive overview of the relevant plant topics and end with an assessment of some variation (multiple choice questions, fill in the blank, etc). A glossary is also provided which defines many vocabulary words for children. [|Meet the Plant Parts] is a short, but fun, activity for students learning about the various parts of a plant. The site hosts common vegetables and asks students to think which part of the plant it is (asparagus is a stem, broccoli is a flower, etc) [|**http://www.scholastic.com/kids/weather/**] This website is excellent to teach about how different conditions contribute to the types of precipitation, temperature, and other things we see and feel when we step outside. It really connects to the fourth grade science SOLs. Your students will get really excited when it snows so much you cannot even see the house! [|**http://www.wxdude.com/topics.html**] We have all learned in Educational Psychology that mnemonics can really help in recall of information and also that we need to make sure we know how to appeal to students of different intelligences. Have you been worried about how to incorporate musical intelligences into different subjects? Well, here you can teach students about the weather through mnemonics AND music. It can almost be guaranteed that you will see your students mouthing the songs when an SOL question is about a topic about which they learned a song. http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/cldtyp/home.rxml This is a wonderful site for students to learn all about weather such as, precipitation, clouds, etc. http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/teacher_resources/activity.html This website specializes in lesson plans and activities in relation to science with a heavy emphasis on weather experiements and activities. It was a great resource for coming up with ideas for my fourth grade Weather Science Circus! video: http://www.brainpop.com/science/energy/magnetism/ lesson plan ideas: http://www.proteacher.com/110077.shtml experiments: http://www.kids-science-experiments.com/cat_magnetic.html
 * Various Science Topic (Interactive/Informational) Websites**
 * Cells**:
 * Plants**:
 * Weather:**
 * Magnets:**

An informational site for students. They can choose information based on topics: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/

[|Kids Inolved Doing Science] features tons of great hands-on activities for elementary school children! Activities are organized alphabetically, as well as by topic. Includes the famous Pepper-Run activity! At home science experiments http://members.ozemail.com.au/~macinnis/scifun/miniexp.htm
 * Hands-On Activities**

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/ http://education.jlab.org/vocabhangman/ http://funschool.kaboose.com/parent-teacher/k-2/games/index.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/reallywild/fun/
 * Games:**

http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/brooklyn/camouflage/ http://www.arts.ufl.edu/art/rt_room/sparkers/camouflage/camouflage.html
 * Some great websites on Camouflage**:

The Howard Hughes Medical Institutes is a renowned institution known for excellence in science. They have created a site just for kids to explain basic science topics in a fun and interesting way. I have used this website to contrinue my science module on life cycles in 2nd grade. [|HHMI]

[|Prairie Diaries]**-** This website is very useful because it include lesson plans that could be used in conjunction with a field trip to the museum to see the exhibit called Listening to the Prairie. The site lists lessons for grades ranging from pre-K all the way up to 12th grade. It also gives tips on how you can incorporate the lessons into the standards for your grade such as using the information to teach about ecosystems.
 * The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History-**