EDUC 5215_04

Web Sites for Elementary Education

Simulations

Animated Gas Lab by Tom Benson

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/Animation/frglab2.html (the actual lab)

This is a little animation to help you and your students investigate relationships between mass, pressure, temperature, and volume.

Small Particle Model with Temperature Effects by Physics 2000

http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/bec/temperature.html

This is an interactive animation of the effects of adding heat to particles in a closed container.

Funderstanding: Roller coaster

http://www.funderstanding.com/k12/coaster/

This is an interactive roller coaster that can help students investigate concepts in gravity, mechanical energy, speed and mass.

Electric Circuit Similator

http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~mihyewon/ci335/circuit/light_bulb.htm

This can help you simulate several different electrical circuits.

Electric Current Simulator – Ohms Law

We have already investigated electric circuits. This helps you put some of the relationships together. Ohm’s law states that the voltage in a circuit is equal to the current x resistance (V=IR where “I” represents current and R represents resistance).

http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/users/Murphy/LightBulb/default.html

Electric Resistance Similator

http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/users/Murphy/Resistance/default.html

Change the resistance and see how this effects the rest of the circuit.

http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/users/Murphy/PicnicCooler/default.html

Related applet to show the effects of height on flow of water. This is supposed to be an analogy for electric current and voltage.

Phases of the Moon

http://www.chabotspace.org/vsc/planetarium/themoon/moonphases/default.asp

This is a nice applet that tries to show why the moon looks different at different times of the month.

There are many java applet simulators here, you will have to check them out.

NASA Solar Systems Simulator

http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/

You can pick your planet and determine where you want to see it from and on what day you want to see it. You will get an image based on your criteria. Pretty cool.

Kids Sites

Energy Quest

http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/index.html

This is an interactive site about different kinds of energy that are used everyday.

Rico’s Mad Science Lab

http://www.spartechsoftware.com/reeko/

This is mostly text information, but it has related activities. Not bad.

Chem 4 Kids

http://www.chem4kids.com/

This is a wonderful site for learning about chemistry both for you and your students. This site has many colorful pictures that can help students visualize small particles and how they interact with one another. You will learn a lot from this site and so will your kids. Awesome.

Rainforest Alliance

http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/

This site is for teachers and kids. There is an online exploration into the rainforest with several activities and questions for children to think about. If you go to http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/kids&teachers/index.html you will find the kids stuff.

Cool Science for Curious Kids

http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/

This is a kids site but you need to determine how you would use it in the classroom. Topics are mostly life science.

The Yuckiest Site on the Internet

http://yucky.kids.discovery.com/

That’s what it’s called. This site can help students learn about boogers, farts, zits, ear wax and cockroaches.

Virtual Frog Dissection

http://teach.virginia.edu/go/frog/

Yep, it is virtual frog dissection with online tutorial.

The Great Plant Escape

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/gpe/case1/case1.html

This is a mystery game to help students learn about plant life.

US Naval Observatory: Complete Sun and Moon in One Day

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html

This is the Sun and Moon Information Center that we used in class to study photo-periods and seasons.

NASA for Kids Only Website

http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/index.html

Another cool website that has activities for kids to learn about everything from continental drift to remote sensing. There are some cool mini-applets. I will say that there is a lot of text-based information but the information and the mini-applets are priceless.

MORE NASA KIDS-Different

http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/puzzles/

NASA has so many good sites. This one has coloring books, online activities, post cards, crafts, games information-Check it out.

JPL NASA KIDS LAUGH AND LEARN

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/kids/

No kidding, another NASA site dedicated to kids. History, games, why-files.

Brain Pop

http://www.brainpop.com/

This is one of the coolest sites I have found. You get two free movies per day but you can register for unlimited access for a few bucks (one night out for dinner). Children LOVE these movies. Please check it out.

Teacher Resources for Learning Science

Adopt a City USA: Weather

http://vathena.arc.nasa.gov/curric/weather/adptcty/heat.html

Physics 2000

http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/index.pl

This has a lot of undergraduate level physics information and interactive applets. It is cast nicely in a frame where students ask the scientists questions and he tries to help them understand sophisticated concepts through visualization.

Endangered Species.com

http://www.endangeredspecie.com/states/co.htm

This is a list of endangered species in Colorado.

Alien Explorer

http://www.alienexplorer.com/

Although this is really a site for kids, I put it here because it is a very good site for learning ecology. This can be a great thematic unit about aliens. I highly recommend the site, you might use it in your class but you would have to figure out a clever way to do so. Click on “enter here” and then click on “Teachers Corner” then click on “Aliens Explore Earth” you will get to: http://www.alienexplorer.com/ecology/Ecology.html This is where the good stuff is.

NASA Space Biology Research

http://brp.arc.nasa.gov/Science/Y_GBL/bsc_resrch.html#art

Just in case you are interested in what NASA is up to these days.

USA Today has some good info with a mini-sim on weather

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/wevapcon/wevapcon.htm

Information about weather offered by USA Today. I think it is pretty good, with good visualization tools and explanations.

Seasons Information and Pictures

http://k12.ocs.ou.edu/teachers/reference/seasons.html

Information and pictures to help you visualize the seasons phenomenon.

National Science Teachers Association

http://www.nsta.org/

You should become a member.

Teacher Resources: Lesson Plans

Force and Motion Activities from the Saskatchewan Evergreen Curriculum

http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/midlsci/gr7ucmsc.html

This is actually the 7^th grade page but if you scroll down, it shows the expected knowledge (and related activities) for the 7^th grade curriculum. There are links to K-5 activities in force and motion.

Amusement Park Physics

http://www.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics/

These are some activities that can help students learn physics by building a roller coaster. You might wish to use the related simulator found at:

http://www.funderstanding.com/k12/coaster/

Play ground Physics

http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/mary/play/

These are lesson plans for doing physics in the playgound.

Everglades National Park Classroom Activities and Resources for Teachers

http://www.nps.gov/ever/ed/

This site has songs, poems, and actual printable activities on the topic of ecosystems and nature. Good site.

Weather and Climate Activities

http://explorer.scrtec.org/explorer/explorer-db/html/836283619-81ED7D4C.html

What can I say, a whole bunch of activities about weather and climate. I have not investigated all of them yet.

Finite Resources: Once Gone-Gone Forever

http://www.askeric.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Environmental_Education/ENV0210.html

This is a single activity that I like because it focuses on Environmental Stewardship.

Geological Society of America

http://www.geosociety.org/educate/resources.htm

Lots of lessons about geology and stewardship. You can sort by topic or age group.

NASA AstroVenture

http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/projects/astrobiology/astroventure/avhome.html

Lessons and information about AstroBiology.

USGS Learning Web: Lesson Plans from the U.S. Geological Society

http://www.usgs.gov/education/index.html

Good site, there is a place for teachers, students, and explorers.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Good Unit on Water

http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/wsb/index.html#3-5

I mean, this is a whole unit on water. I think it is very good and it is free. Please check this one out and think about how you could integrate it into an entire year’s worth of Language Arts, Math, and Social Studies. It is very appropriate in Colorado these days.

Exploring Science In the Classroom: Hands-on Activities

http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/index.html

What can I say, this site shows you how to explore science in the classroom with hands-on activities. I am not that familiar with this site. You might let me know what you think.

Weather Eye: Lesson Plans and Activities

http://weathereye.kgan.com/

Teachers and Parents learn of activities to do with their kids. Lesson plans

Zoom School

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/

Printouts and activities.

Teacher Resources: Curriculum Helpers

Bonus.com Curriculum helpers-All content areas

http://www.bonus.com/etc/pt/images/curriculum_02.gif

This site has pictures, ideas, games. You might use it for learning content as well. One thing that makes it very useful is that it has excellent pictures that can serve as visualization tools.

Virtual Science Center

http://www.chabotspace.org/vsc/

Nice visualizations and explanations of space phenomena.

Whale-net Resources

http://whale.wheelock.edu/Welcome.html

All kinds of resources for studying Whales.

The Connecticut State Museum of Natural History-All about Frogs

http://www.mnh.uconn.edu/frog.htm

Just a site with lots of information about different kinds of frogs.

Rainforest Action Network

http://www.ran.org/info_center/

Awesome site that provides a very good movie for students to watch to help them understand rainforests and human impact on the environment. Go to the teachers and students section at http://www.ran.org/info_center/teacherstudent.html to get the movie and other good lesson ideas. Also students can send an electronic postcard as a beginning of their environmental activism: http://www.ran.org/action/sendpostcard.html

Pictures and Explanations of Celestial Phenomena

http://www.ucolick.org/~kory/AY3/notes/week2.html

Seriously, this is nothing more than some pictures and explanations of hard to visualize stuff that happens in the sky.

Exploring the Environment

http://davem2.cotf.edu/ete/aboutus/AUintro.html

An excellent website about appreciating the Earth. There is a lot of information here for teachers and students and you might even find some lessons. Go to Modules and Activities at http://davem2.cotf.edu/ete/modules/modules.html

Biomes

http://davem2.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/summary.html

This is actually a product of the work of the Exploring the Environment gang.

NASA QUEST Video Archives

http://quest.nasa.gov/ltc/soho/index2.html

This site has a whole bunch of short movies about space, Sun, Earth and some curriculum guides. Worth a look.

NASA Space Quest from the Stratosphere

http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/lfs/resources^.html

Virtual field trips, lessons, resources. Am not that familiar with this site. Let me know if it is any good.

NASA Earth Science Enterprise

http://www.earth.nasa.gov/

Lots of stuff for teachers and kids. A link to the kids only site.

US Naval Observatory main Moon Page

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/moon_phases.html

This is the same Navy page that gave us the photo-period calculator. This has some great visualization tools.

Just a picture of sunlight hitting the Earth from Adopt a City

http://vathena.arc.nasa.gov/curric/weather/adptcty/shape.html

Good picture. Not perfect, but good.

The NASA Space Place

http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/index.shtml

This is a very cool site that helps you think of crafts and other things you can do during an integrated unit on Space.

Tom Snyder Productions

http://www.tomsnyder.com/index.asp

There is lots of good software here, some free trials. Check out the cultural debates.

Mama Lisa’s Children’s Songs and Rhymes for all Nations

http://www.mamalisa.com/world/asia.html

Some good songs and rhymes to beef up your integration.

WISE Internet Lessons

http://wise.berkeley.edu/

You have to check this out. This is a collection of internet guided activities that are pretty good. I do not think they are stand alone, but they can be useful.

Exploratorium Museum Cool Stuff

http://www.exploratorium.edu/

Great site, you have to check it out.

Class Participation Worldwide Sites

Journey North: A global study of wildlife migration

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/

This is a site where teachers register their class to track the migration of birds, insects, whales etc. If you register your class you will receive a full curriculum to go with the website.

Kids as Global Scientists

http://groundhog.sprl.umich.edu/

A great global participation program.

Teacher Resources: More Lesson Plans-Not Science Specific but GOOD

Marco Polo Internet Content for the Classroom

http://marcopolo.worldcom.com/

Standards based activities that involve cool internet activities. Art, Economics, Language Arts, Science, Math. When you go here, look to your right and click on the links under “Our Partners.” These sites are AWESOME.