TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Nov 10, 2024
Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive
Conservation Challenge - Purdue University College of Science
Grades
K to 6
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Join the Purdue University College of Science for an eight-day challenge series. All you need to do is watch short, informative videos and submit your answers using the link to ...more
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Join the Purdue University College of Science for an eight-day challenge series. All you need to do is watch short, informative videos and submit your answers using the link to the provided form. The simple challenges allow students to observe everyday items such as leaves, invertebrates, and fall colors. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
tag(s): conservation (92), insects (68), recycling (45), seasons (37), water (100)
In the Classroom
Engage students as they participate in the challenge series by creating an observation sheet to share their findings as they complete each challenge, or search Twinkl, reviewed here to find free, downloadable observation sheets. Extend learning by asking students to create a challenge series using items from your school and community. Create short videos modeled upon those found on this site and share them with students using Flock, reviewed here. Ask students to share images, discuss their observations, and provide feedback to peers using Flock's video conference tool.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Reading Treks: Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 3
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Take a virtual field trip with this Reading Trek based on Susan Hood's book Ada's Violin. This Reading Trek includes a Teacher Guide that uses Google My Maps, reviewed...more
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Take a virtual field trip with this Reading Trek based on Susan Hood's book Ada's Violin. This Reading Trek includes a Teacher Guide that uses Google My Maps, reviewed here as the basis for a virtual journey that tells how music transformed the lives of children and teens living on the edge of a landfill just outside Paraguay's capital city. Activities correlate to Common Core Standards, National Standards for Social Studies and Visual Arts, and Social Justice Standards. In addition to teaching ideas for working with the map, this Reading Trek also includes extension activities and links to additional helpful resources.
tag(s): musical instruments (49), preK (261), recycling (45)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the many lesson ideas in the Teachers' Guide to bring this story to life and provide activities that correlate with the book's theme of recycling and reusing materials. As students read the book, create a timeline of events using a simple timeline creation tool such as the one provided by Read, Write, Think, reviewed here to help students follow the sequence of events in the story. After engaging students in learning by creating recycled instruments, have students write and record a short soundtrack to accompany the story. Share boomy, reviewed here with students to create and record music from their computers using virtual tools.
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Great resource to engage students in reading!Kelly, IN, Grades: 0 - 5
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Resources related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12
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If you are not familiar with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), learn about them through the resources in this collection. The SDGs are the 17 global goals adopted by the ...more
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If you are not familiar with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), learn about them through the resources in this collection. The SDGs are the 17 global goals adopted by the United Nations designed to be a blueprint for achieving a more sustainable future for all. In this collection, you will find helpful information about the SDGs and web resources to help you to teach the SDGs in your lessons. There are resources included for all grade levels.
tag(s): climate (83), energy (131), recycling (45), sustainability (43), water (100)
In the Classroom
Help to deepen your students' understanding (and your own) of the Sustainable Development Goals. Share these resources with your colleagues and students by emailing the page or sharing the link from your school web page and in your school newsletter. Find resources to incorporate into your lessons.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Earth School - TEDEd
Grades
3 to 12
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Earth School contains a 30-day nature-focused series of lessons and activities designed for learners of all ages. Each daily Quest includes a video introduction along with a quiz and...more
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Earth School contains a 30-day nature-focused series of lessons and activities designed for learners of all ages. Each daily Quest includes a video introduction along with a quiz and additional discussion and focus activities. Developed in response to school shutdowns due to the Coronavirus, activities are intended to be self-paced and available for students to complete on any device. Lessons are organized into themes. Create a free account to save and edit activities. Students who complete all 30 activities receive a certificate via email. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
tag(s): agriculture (48), climate (83), climate change (93), design (80), forests (28), oceans (149), recycling (45), remote learning (56), solar energy (34), STEM (284), Teacher Utilities (159), water (100)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site as a resource for science and nature lessons to supplement current materials in your classroom. Because lessons were created for use in remote learning situations, they are perfect for including during elearning or digital learning days. Create an account and customize lessons to personalize activities to fit your curriculum and students. For example, customize lessons easily to change discussion questions to adapt to student abilities, then share the differentiated lessons to different groups of students. Extend learning by adding links to additional activities such as asking students to write a short blog post using edublogs, reviewed here, or create a cartoon based on the activity's content using ToonyTool, reviewed here. Extend learning for all students using Spotify for Podcastors, reviewed here. Begin by creating a discussion question, then share the topic with students. An idea would be to have small groups of students hold a podcast "conversation" about the topic.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Aquation - Smithsonian Science Education Center
Grades
7 to 12
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Play this game to solve the world's water crisis through careful management of resources and responses to global events. Before playing, be sure to check out the tutorial to understand...more
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Play this game to solve the world's water crisis through careful management of resources and responses to global events. Before playing, be sure to check out the tutorial to understand the available options. Your mission is to make water available to all regions through a series of decisions based on cost and research. Be sure to check out the text alternative short story to the game sharing a tale of the importance of water within a small community.
tag(s): conservation (92), DAT device agnostic tool (147), game based learning (182), recycling (45), water (100), weather (161)
In the Classroom
Include this activity with any unit on the environment, water cycles, or weather. Extend this activity further to learn more about water conservation in your community. Ask students to take pictures around the school or at home showing the inefficient use of water. Use PhotoCollage, reviewed here, and have students create a collage of their images to use as a starting point for research. Ask students to enhance their learning and upload their collage to a blog and write analyzing and sharing ideas for water conversation based on their collage. Use a blog tool such as edublog, reviewed here. Use Symbaloo Learning Paths, reviewed here, to create a learning path for your students for your entire unit. Add videos, quizzes, embed this game and add all the information for students to follow. Symbaloo Learning Paths also includes options for differentiation for different interests or ability levels of your students. Ask older students to enhance their learning and create their own Learning Path to demonstrate and share learning throughout the unit.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Your Plan, Your Planet - Google/California Academy of Sciences
Grades
2 to 12
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Your Plan, Your Planet is an interactive that demonstrates how simple changes at home have a positive impact on our environment. The interactive focuses on three components: water,...more
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Your Plan, Your Planet is an interactive that demonstrates how simple changes at home have a positive impact on our environment. The interactive focuses on three components: water, food, and energy. Select any of the three items to begin your exploration of ways to change individual habits at home for the greater good of the planet.
tag(s): energy (131), environment (245), recycling (45), water (100)
In the Classroom
Share this site with your class on a projector or an interactive whiteboard to learn about ways to save water, food, and energy in your school then have students explore on their own. As you and your students learn about ways to positively impact the environment, ask them to create infographics sharing statistics and vital information using a tool like Canva, reviewed here, as an alternative to a written research paper. Have older students create video explainers using Clipchamp, reviewed here, to share with younger students and teach them about environmental awareness. Instead of oral reports sharing student research, consider enhancing student understanding by having them create an ongoing podcast to share with your school community. Include tips for reducing food and energy waste at school, and share success stories from different classes. Buzzsprout, reviewed here is a free tool for uploading and sharing podcasts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Curious George STEM Collection - PBS Kids
Grades
K to 6
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The Curious George STEM Collection contains a variety of hands-on lesson plans teaching STEM concepts through Curious George videos. Concepts taught include simple machines, measurement,...more
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The Curious George STEM Collection contains a variety of hands-on lesson plans teaching STEM concepts through Curious George videos. Concepts taught include simple machines, measurement, sorting, and more. Each lesson begins by watching a video, then using the concepts presented in the video to participate in a variety of learning activities. In addition to the complete lesson, each activity also includes several additional resources for extending learning. Lessons align to National and Next Generation Science Standards.
tag(s): air (103), architecture (68), careers (141), charts and graphs (169), engineering (126), measurement (124), recycling (45), rockets (11), senses (20), simple machines (17), soil (16), sorting (4), STEM (284), water (100)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of these free lessons and videos to add to your current STEM teaching resources. Ask students to blog about their experiences as a substitution for handwritten journals using a tool like Seesaw, reviewed here. This tool makes blogging easy, even for the youngest students. To enhance learning for students, take pictures of class activities, then have students annotate images using Image Annotator, reviewed here, and Voxer, reviewed here. Use Voxer for students to extend their learning by adding a voice recording of their understanding of science and math concepts learned during lessons.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Young Scientist Lab - Discovery Education and 3M
Grades
K to 8
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The Young Scientist Lab features materials for parents, students, and teachers to explore a world of scientific innovation and opportunities. Click Science Starters to find materials...more
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The Young Scientist Lab features materials for parents, students, and teachers to explore a world of scientific innovation and opportunities. Click Science Starters to find materials for teachers that include lesson plans, interactives, and challenge support materials. For students, the site provides activities and features on scientists at work. Under Science Starters you will also find Science At Home with family activities with several engaging experiments to perform at home for students in grades K-8.
tag(s): careers (141), data (148), forces (37), light (53), magnetism (37), recycling (45), rockets (11), sound (73)
In the Classroom
Add this site to your science lesson resources. As students complete activities ask them to create blogs describing their experiments and results. Webnode, reviewed here, is a simple tool for creating and sharing blogs for all grade levels. Have students share their science experiments through weekly or monthly podcasts using a podcasting tool like Podcast Generator, reviewed here. Don't forget to ask students to include both failures and successes when discussing their experiments!
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Environmental Protection Agency
Grades
7 to 12
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Here you will find the home page for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Choose from different areas on the site to search for environmental data, government policies, and...more
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Here you will find the home page for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Choose from different areas on the site to search for environmental data, government policies, and the latest environmental topics. Use the "Your Community" area to search for information within a specific zip code or state. There are also many EPA videos that reside on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.
tag(s): chemicals (41), environment (245), pollution (51), recycling (45), water (100)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site to include with units on the environment and current events. Ask students to search for local environmental issues and concerns using search tools on the site. Encourage students to use a tool like Diigo, reviewed here, to keep track and highlight the important information they find. Upon completion of research, have students create infographics using a tool like Canva, reviewed here, to share the facts they find. Canva is easy to use and provides many templates for creating infographics. Ask students to create a podcast featuring information on the environment along with suggestions on how to solve environmental concerns. Podcast Generator, reviewed here, is a free tool for publishing audio and video podcasts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Life of a Can - Novelis
Grades
3 to 6
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This engaging interactive and classroom program demonstrates the impact of recycling just one can. Students make eco-friendly choices within the interactive to explore Cantown and earn...more
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This engaging interactive and classroom program demonstrates the impact of recycling just one can. Students make eco-friendly choices within the interactive to explore Cantown and earn Green Points for helping to recycle a can. Resources for educators include standards-aligned lessons and activities to download.
tag(s): conservation (92), earth day (60), recycling (45)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plans shared on this site for use with Earth Day activities, or recycling and conservation units. Share a link to the interactive on classroom computers or your class website. Ask students to create a concept/mind map to organize the information they are learning. This could be done conventionally or digiatally. Consider using a digital concept mapping tool to replace the paper/pencil version of a concept map with MindMup, reviewed here. Next ask students to create a simple infographic sharing information on recycling using Visme, reviewed here, or create an interactive poster using Adobe Express for Education, reviewed here.
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Cell Phone Recycling - Help Yourself to a Little Humanity - SellCell
Grades
2 to 12
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Did you know that four cell phones a second end up in landfills? That E-waste represents 70% of our toxic waste? Learn about conservation of precious resources, energy efficiency, and...more
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Did you know that four cell phones a second end up in landfills? That E-waste represents 70% of our toxic waste? Learn about conservation of precious resources, energy efficiency, and how to recycle cell phones for cash or to support a good cause with the infographic in the middle of the page. Use the tabs at the top of the infographic to see how to trade in your iPhone, iPad, Samsung, Smart Phone, and many brands of Cell Phones, Laptops, and Tablets.
tag(s): earth day (60), environment (245), natural resources (37), recycling (45), sustainability (43)
In the Classroom
Students love their cell phones and want whatever is the latest and greatest. Create interest by starting a discussion about what's new on the device front. Then ask students what they do with their old cell phones, tablets, laptops, etc. Assign them to count, that evening, how many of these items they have at home that they could recycle. When they come to class the next day do a quick tally and have students multiply this by however many classes are meeting at the same time on your campus. They should start getting the idea that there are many devices out there that can be recycled. Next, share the Cell Phone Recycling infographic with your students using a projector or interactive whiteboard. Does your school encourage giving to the less fortunate during the holidays? For a class project, initiate a recycling campaign and create a center for recycling e-waste. How about holding a 'green' competition to see which classroom submits the most items. Assign small groups to create a public service announcement for your school or community to encourage recycling. Use one of the many multimedia/presentation tools reviewed by TeachersFirst here. Donate the cash collected to the school's charity of choice, or one of the charities listed on this infographic. Get parents involved. Make sure they are aware via your website and newsletter about submitting these items to the school. Many parents will be able to contribute items from their workplace that was otherwise destined for the landfill.This site is full of information such as kids and recycling, electronics in education, and many more. Find these by clicking Resources.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Recycling 101 - Three Basic Rules - Recycling Facts Guide
Grades
7 to 12
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Get your recycling facts from this source. Find a mountain of information about recycling mountains of stuff! View a variety of articles on this site. Click the menu items under ...more
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Get your recycling facts from this source. Find a mountain of information about recycling mountains of stuff! View a variety of articles on this site. Click the menu items under the title Recycling 101 at the top to find 3 simple rules for recycling, the recycling guide for what can and cannot be recycled, recycling myths, and more.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): conservation (92), consumers (14), recycling (45), resources (87)
In the Classroom
Use the information on this site to inform students about the various items that can be recycled. Consider using the site as background information for student created surveys for students and their families to complete. Use the information from the surveys to develop a campaign to bring awareness to consumption and use patterns that can save money for families as well as landfill space. Create a survey or a poll using Class Question, reviewed here. Use this site for meeting the Common Core Standards for nonfiction reading. Provide a link to the Recycling Facts Guide on your class website. Create a student project where students use information on this site to create a campaign to promote awareness about recycling. Debate recycling and recycling programs by comparing information from this site and others as well as misconceptions many may have. Use the information here to establish a recycling campaign in your school or community. Use this site as inspiration to write a story or cartoon based on the life of a particular resource.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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EarthEcho International - Philippe Cousteau Jr.
Grades
6 to 12
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EarthEcho International offers a collection of videos, lesson plans, and other materials designed to support high-quality classroom experiences and the exploration and protection of...more
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EarthEcho International offers a collection of videos, lesson plans, and other materials designed to support high-quality classroom experiences and the exploration and protection of natural resources (scroll to the bottom of the page and find Educator Resources in the right column). Many are correlated to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. Find and choose resources by filtering program offerings, grade levels, and type of activity. Program offerings include topics such as rethinking waste, water quality, energy, marine debris, and much more. Register with your email address for free access to materials.
In addition to teaching materials, follow past EarthEcho expeditions with updates from the field. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.
In addition to teaching materials, follow past EarthEcho expeditions with updates from the field. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.
tag(s): environment (245), oceans (149), recycling (45), water (100)
In the Classroom
Create a link on classroom computers and share on your class website for students to explore expeditions on their own. To enhance student's learning ask them to complete one of the following: create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Google Drawings, reviewed here to demonstrate information found on EarthEcho, make a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here, or develop maps of explorations using MapHub, reviewed here. Students can add icons, URLs, text, images, and location stops with Map Hub!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Welcome to Recycling 101 - Republic Services
Grades
1 to 12
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Learn about the recycling process. View Virtual Tour videos about recycling processes including recycling of specific materials. Use the Search bar for lesson plans about recycling....more
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Learn about the recycling process. View Virtual Tour videos about recycling processes including recycling of specific materials. Use the Search bar for lesson plans about recycling. Also, search for Infographics for data and information about use of resources and recycling. Don't miss the family activities for kids (they can be used in the classroom, too) in the middle of the page! The videos reside on YouTube. If your school blocls YouTube, they may not be viewable.
tag(s): earth day (60), energy (131), recycling (45), resources (87)
In the Classroom
Use the lesson plans on the site to learn about resources and recycling. Be sure to discuss what is meant by "Reduce, reuse, recycle" in terms of resources and energy (Infographics and resources are helpful for this) and why recycling is not always the best answer. Do simpler activities or lessons with younger students during Earth Day or Earth Week. Include this link with other resources about resources and recycling. Have different groups each become an expert in the processing of one of the resources and discuss the common steps and problems involved in the recycling process.
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