Last updated: April 5, 2013
Free Virtual Theme Park
- The leading scientists from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
that brought us the memorable characters Oxy and Hydra in
the Molecularium® Project’s Molecules to the Max! and Riding
Snowflakes have just unveiled NanoSpace.
This interactive, fun online environment is easily accessible
for both the kids who play within it and the teachers who
use the free educational curriculum in the classrooms.
Free PHYSICS Aid for Teachers to Help a Student Outside
the Classroom - Make students think like a physics
teacher: keep the focus of the student on the process, and
make them learn the foundation one step at a time using the
Socratic approaches. And then we asked the question what would
Socrates, Einstein, and Newton do to help a student if they
had the technology of today! 615 Free Videos arranged Soractically
We call it Soratically Arranged Informed Layers - SAIL!
PBS LearningMedia http://ca.pbslearningmedia.org/
(still in beta) is the one-stop shop for free, multimedia
curricular resources purpose-built and standards-aligned by
PBS, public media stations and affiliated organizations across
the country. Registration is free and offers educators access
to over 20,000+ resources to search, save, and share with
colleagues and students. A custom version with robust features,
services that can be tailored to state and district needs
– professional development, sharable content collections,
student profiles for personalized learning, analytics, etc.
– and support is available with a subscription. TheCalifornia
edition of the service is offered by a consortium of public
TV stations in CA with KQED as the administrator. Currently,
the site is almost 50% STEM-focused in its content.
Science of NFL Football is a 10-part
video series funded by the National Science Foundation and
produced by the NFL that links the game of football with lessons
on math and science. Topics such as Newton's First Law of
Motion are presented with a video featuring NFL star Deuce
McAllister combined with a lesson plan entitled "Inertia in
Our Lives." Lessons include hands-on activities designed to
make science and math relevant to students. Find materials
on the Silicon Valley Education Foundation website at http://www.lessonopoly.org.
Cool Chemistry Lessons:
offers a guide to to education sites, resources, and articles
on the web. All education topics and resources are sorted
by subject and lifestage. It is an online education guide
for students, parents and educators. http://www.educationcorner.com/
Findings magazine (http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/findings/),
published by the General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of
the National Institutes of Health, "puts a face on science"
by profiling the work and personality of vibrant scientists.
The current issue features Estela Arrese, a biochemist who
studies fat storage and regulation in insects, and Kevin Tracey,
an immunologist and neurosurgeon who studies why our immune
systems can make us sick. Findings includes a science-based
crossword puzzle and extra online content. Subscriptions are
free, and all materials may be freely excerpted for classroom
use. Check out other free NIGMS resources at http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/order/classroom.html.
a free tool that lets you manage your classroom, find and
share lesson plans, and connect with other teachers. Search
by subject matter, grade level, and for lessons that are California
standards aligned. http://lessonopoly.org/svef/
Microsoft Mouse Mischeif: Mouse Mischief
integrates into Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and Microsoft Office
PowerPoint 2007, letting you insert questions, polls, and
drawing activity slides into your lessons. Students can actively
participate in these lessons by using their own mice to click,
circle, cross out, or draw answers on the screen. For system
requirements and more information visit: http://www.microsoft.com/multipoint/mouse-mischief/default.aspx.
More free tools for teachers from Microsoft are available
Strategic Science Teaching, Grades K-12:
A Sampler of Lessons Connecting Literature with the California
Standards, is an effort to identify important connections
that teachers and students make in classrooms to facilitate
understanding of science concepts. Developed by the Science
Subcommittee of the Curriculum and Instruction Steering Committee
of the California County Superintendent Educational Services
Association, Strategic Science Teaching is now available
for free online at http://www.ccsesa.org/resources/StrategicSciTchgBklt1.pdf.
Online Video Glossary.
The Berkeley Lab has an online Video Glossary for students
and teachers. Each 1-2 minute video clip highlights a Berkeley
Lab scientist or engineer explaining a term that applies to
their research in lay language. Topics include antimatter,
biofuels, carbon cycle, climate change, genomics, nanotechnology,
plasma, quarks, and smart windows, along with 50+ others in
a growing list of terms that you and your students may encounter
all the time and want to understand better. For the complete
list, visit http://videoglossary.lbl.gov/.
Send your suggestions for additional terms to include—more
are added every week.
Inquiry in Action:
A new online resource developed by the American Chemical Society
which provides free physical science activities, molecular
model animations, and more for elementary and middle school
science teachers.The entire 470 page book, can be viewed in
full text and is available for free download in PDF format.
Molecular animations and videos can also be downloaded in
Windows Media or Quicktime form. For more information visit
Why is Science Important? A thought provoking
website and film dedicated to spreading the word of why science
is important. A "must see" for science communicators,
scientist, teachers and beyond!
The Vega Science Trust has created a broadcast
platform for the science, technology, engineering and mathematics
(STEM) communities, so enabling them to communicate on all
aspects of their fields of expertise using exciting Internet
opportunities. A huge selection of science
based videos can be found at
is a site full of "free stuff for science teachers." Lessons,
materials, posters, videos, listservs, and more.
Periodic Table Activity.
Download a great lesson idea on teaching the periodic table
to middle school students, from CSTA president-elect Sue Pritchard.
Let Teachers’ Domain help you supplement
your lesson plans with over 1,000 FREE digital resources in
science, math, language arts and social studies produced by
public television partners. Teachers’ Domain provides teachers
with easy ways to engage students and incorporate technology
in the classroom. Teachers can find videos, activities, online
courses, and more. Register at www.teachersdomain.org.
The Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE)
is a free resource that supports teaching and learning about
the earth system. Resources in DLESE include lesson plans,
scientific data, visualizations, interactive computer models,
and virtual field trips—in short, any web-accessible
teaching or learning material related to earth system. All
resources in DLESE have been contributed by educators, students,
and scientists, are relevant to earth system education, and
are checked periodically for technical stability. The Reviewed
Collection includes those DLESE resources that have been more
closely examined and are considered exemplary. DLESE provides
easy access to quality teaching and learning resources about
the earth as a system for a wide range of learners; services
to help users effectively create, use and evaluate digital
learning resources; and interfaces and tools to allow student
exploration of Earth data Development of DLESE was funded
by the National Science Foundation, and DLESE serves as the
geoscience node in the National Science Digital Library (NSDL).
Find DLESE resources at http://www.dlese.org/library/index.jsp.
QUEST, a weekly television and radio program
from KQED public broadcasting in San Francisco, has lesson
plans, a blog, and other resources of great use to science
teachers. Check it out at http://www.kqed.org/quest.
Introduce Your Preservice Students to CSTA and Professional
Enrichment. New and prospective teachers will benefit
by understanding that they are an important part of the larger
science education community and that professional growth in
their career is a lifelong endeavor. Introduce your preservice
students/teachers to the benefits of belonging to their professional
organizations and participating in ongoing professional development
activities. Download activities to use with your preservice
students: Introduction to
CSTA and Other Professional Organizations; Conference
Attendance Activity; PowerPoint
presentation on CSTA.
The Smithsonian Science Education Academies for
Teachers, through the National Science Resources
Center (NSRC), offers special access for teachers to the resources
behind the scenes at the Smithsonian and other museums and
facilities around Washington, D.C. Contextualized with high-quality
hands-on experiences that can be translated to classroom practice,
these academies provide a powerful professional development
experience. To learn more or to register online, log onto
the site at http://www.nsrconline.org/about_the_nsrc/events.html.
The Exploratorium Institute for Inquiry
website offers hard-to-find inquiry science teaching resources
for teachers, teacher educators, and professional developers.
Includes guides for professional development workshops on
science inquiry, a library of recommended inquiry and education
books, support materials , such as detailed descriptions of
the inquiry process, and access to the "graduate community"—an
online association of educators who've attended Institute
workshops. To learn more, log onto the site at http://www.exploratorium.edu/ifi.
Teachers and students in K-12 classrooms are invited to participate
this spring in Journey North's 15th annual
global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. A
free Internet-based "citizen science" project, Journey
North enables students in 11,000 schools to watch the wave
of spring as it unfolds. Students monitor migration patterns
of monarch butterflies, hummingbirds, whooping cranes, and
other animals; the blooming of plants; and changing sunlight,
temperatures, and other signs of spring. They share their
local observations with classmates across North America and
beyond, and look for patterns on real-time maps. As they put
local observations into a global context - and connect with
field scientists - participants are better prepared to explore
indicators and implications of a changing climate. Spring
projects begin February 1st! http://www.learner.org/jnorth.
California Learning Resource Network (CLRN)
provides educators with a "one-stop" resource for critical
information needed for the selection of supplemental electronic
learning resources aligned to the state's academic content
standards. California educators with specific content experience
are selected through an application process to act as reviewers
once they have completed a rigorous training program. CLRN's
objectives are to: * Identify and review supplemental electronic
learning resources such as software, video, and Internet resources.
* Identify learning units aligned to resources and the state
academic content standards. * Maintain an interactive web
site to provide information about electronic learning resources
through an online searchable database and links to state education
technology projects and resources. Visit CLRN at http://www.clrn.org/home/.
The Infinite Thinking Machine (ITM) is
designed to help teachers and students thrive in the 21st
century. Through an active blog, an Internet TV show, and
other media resources, the ITM shares a "bazillion practical
ideas" for turning the infinite universe of information
into knowledge. We showcase examples of innovative instructional
methods, talk with leading experts, and share real stories
from the classroom to improve how we think, learn, teach,
and live. And we try to have a little fun along the way. http://www.infinitethinking.org/.
The UCLA GK-12 program has developed dozens
of free, field-tested, inquiry-based lessons. The lessons
are posted by grade level and standards. http://www.nslc.ucla.edu/STEP/GK12/inquiry_lesson_plans.htm.
The Futures Channel produces and distributes
documentary videos connecting the mathematics, science, technology
and art that students are learning to exciting real world
careers. For years, teachers across the country have relied
on the Futures Channel’s videos to help answer that famous
question: “When will I ever use this?” Movies connect the
math and science students are learning to the real world and
feature professionals who couldn't do their jobs without the
math and science they learned in school. http://www.thefutureschannel.com.
How do teachers make a cohesive story out of the science
content standards so that students really "get"
the concepts being taught? Using a spiraling approach, the
K-5 Standards Spiral for the California Standards
Science Test starts with the fourth and fifth grade
standards on which students are tested in the fifth grade.
It looks at the standards in the grade levels in a backwards-sequential
order and shows the standards in earlier grade levels that
are connected to the standard that is being tested. Download
The Akron Global Polymer Academy (AGPA)
site includes fully developed lesson plans and videos of sample
lectures, as well as links to science standards, best teaching
practices and polymer resource materials. The academy is part
of The University of Akron¹s College of Polymer Science and
The NSTA Learning Center (http://learningcenter.nsta.org/)
is a state-of-the-art web portal that contains thousands of
standards-based learning resources for science teachers. Resources
include web seminars, e-book chapters, journal articles, Science
Objects, SciGuides, SciPacks, and more. It is customized to
allow teachers to assess their content knowledge and design
a path specifically for their needs and preferences. Teachers
are able to manage their own professional development plan,
track their experiences, and earn a certificate of completion
for their successful achievement. There are opportunities
for administrator support of e-professional learning communities.
Contact Deborah Tucker (firstname.lastname@example.org)
if your school is interested and for other questions about
Score Science has "scores" of
online science resources for teachers and students, including
lessons tied to the California science standards and an "ask-a-scientist"
feature. Visit the Score Science site at: http://scorescience.humboldt.k12.ca.us/.
Science teaching resources, including worksheets for movies,
such as October Sky, are available on the Science
Teacher Association of New York State website.
Teacher kit from Scientific American magazine.
Contact Scientific American, Dept. TK, 415 Madison Ave., New
York, NY 1017-01111; fax 212-355-0408; e-mail MMoser@sciam.com.
(Visit the publication on the web at www.sciam.com.)
Teachers can also sign up for the free school program from
Scientific American Frontiers, the popular television program
hosted by Alan Alda, by accessing the program's website:http://www.pbs.org/saf.
Free Weekley Science Puzzlers. Each week,
share with your students a FREE thought-provoking science
puzzler, drawn from the award-winning Cogno science board
games. You'll receive a weekly e-mail with a fully illustrated
one-page puzzler about astronomy, forces & motion and/or life
sciences, ready to be photocopied for students. The e-mail
message includes the answer and explanation, allowing you
to facilitate as much or as little discussion as you like.
Recommended for grades 3-8. For information, samples, and
to register, see http://www.cogno.com/puzzlers.
LHS Student and Family Programs. Lawrence
Hall of Science at UC Berkeley offers a wide range of programs
for school groups and individuals in astronomy, biology, physics,
math, and chemistry. Various programs are presented as assemblies,
festivals, workshops, courses, and theater. http://www.lhs.berkeley.edu
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