Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Visit this beautiful space science site that offers lesson plans centered around a variety of space topics. Be sure to check out other sections of the site to view educational cartoon videos, worksheets, games, and other resources.

tag(s): mars (26), moon (73), planets (113), space (222), sun (71)

Looking for some FREE, animated storybooks about science? Here you will find storybooks on electricity, the life cycle, the solar system, technology, weather (such as earthquakes and volcanoes), the rock cycle, the water cycle, and more! The lessons even have a recommended grade level (K-6). Depending on your curriculum, you may find useful materials at other grade levels. Some have audio; others have video; and a few are just simple animations. This is a MUST-SEE site for any elementary (and early middle school) science class.

tag(s): animals (295), audio books (26), ecology (103), electricity (61), environment (252), human body (93), life cycles (21), light (56), plants (146), plate tectonics (22), rocks (35), space (222), stars (71), water cycle (22)

Use Calculator.com to access a variety of calculators to use in a classroom or as a reference tool. Choose from standard, fraction, scientific, percent, mortgage, area, units converter, as well as other calculators. Note: This site has many ads as calculators are chosen.
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tag(s): calculators (36)

Nobelprize.org is the official website of the Nobel Prize. Here you find information about Alfred Nobel, the prizewinners, interviews, and photos. Videos of interviews of Nobel peace prizewinners, speeches, ceremonies, interviews, banquets, lectures, announcements, award ceremonies, and documentaries fill the gamut of all of the prizewinners. The Nobel prizes awards are in literature, chemistry, medicine, peace, economics, and physics. Under the Education tab at the top find arieties of educational games/activities and lesson plans help explain many of the Nobel Award winners' work. This site clearly explains and illustrates the purpose of the awards, the award winners, and their ideas. Videos give an insider look at each of the winners.

tag(s): creativity (86), literature (221), medicine (57)

Space.com is your one stop extraterrestrial resource! Featuring current information and articles about all things out of this world, Space.com is a resource full of images, videos, and interactives. Images here are brilliant and beautiful. Articles are professional and meaningful.
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tag(s): moon (73), nasa (30), space (222), stars (71), sun (71)

Photojournal is a good collection of NASA images of the solar system and other space objects. Click on a planet, small bodies, or the universe itself. Search various objects or choose from among the gallery. Search images by mission, spacecraft, or type of image collector. Add images to your favorites. Note that, with the exception of the NASA and JPL logos, all the images in this Photojournal may be used in projects and web projects as long as proper credit is given. See the FAQ pages for full information on terms of use.

tag(s): mars (26), moon (73), planets (113), solar system (110), space (222)

The JASON Project home page is a portal to a huge number of scientifically significant activities, video clips, curricula packages, lesson plans, and more! While you could create an account to use one of the current curriculum pieces individually, it is a far more valuable resource if you register and join the website for FREE! Once registered, you can easily access all of the interactive content and archived activities. In fact, to fully access all archived curriculum you MUST register for a free account. Once inside the "member only" Jason site, simply click on the Curricula tab on the left side to see all current and past missions still available on the site. This could turn into your next "go-to" resource for online interactive science in the classroom. This is a MUST-SEE site with a ton of high interest topics for students. It is definitely worth the 1-2 minute FREE registration. Looking for some examples of topics? There are lessons/activities about Mysteries of Earth & Mars, Humpback whales, Monster Storms, Rainforests, Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Great Lakes, Measurement, Forces, Velocity, and many, many more. It appears that they update this site frequently, so check back often.

tag(s): ecology (103), energy (133), geology (62), video (266), weather (160)

Curriki is a nonprofit organization that encourages teachers and learners' to collaborate in developing quality educational materials in a global community. Click What We Do from the top menu and slide to CurikiStudio, and click Creators to create a free account and find resources like questions, photos/images, multimedia, and more for interactive lesson creation. Next under Solutions is CurrikiGo, where you will publish your lessons, etc. Last on the dropdown list is the CurrikiLibrary, where you can search by subject area, grade level, or resource type (interactive, video, or podcast). For a thorough summary of Curriki click the Explore a CurrikiStudio Activity. Join different groups for a more involved way to explore new areas in online learning, subject area interests, or focus questions. Create collections of your resources to keep private or share with others. This site focuses on providing free access to teachers, schools, students, or parents to many new creative ideas for in-class learning, digital learning, and hybrid or blended learning in a global community. Free membership includes monthly newsletters. Follow Curriki on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), or blogs.
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tag(s): graphic organizers (48), literacy (122), OER (43), operations (72), resources (84), rubrics (37), Teacher Utilities (198)

This site offers a complete lesson plan to use with students prior to beginning a first research project. The lesson takes students through the process of analyzing book titles to determine ones that would be helpful in their research. It then builds on class discussion to enable students to make informed decisions on appropriate research material. One especially useful part of the lesson is the Hints About Print interactive link included in the lesson plan. This would be a wonderful site to use on your interactive whiteboard to lead the class through basics of choosing materials for research. Other useful items on the site are the nonfiction book reviews and nonfiction book evaluation forms that are available in pdf form for easy classroom use. Find all resources and print material by choosing the Resources and Preparation tab near the top of the page.

tag(s): book reports (28), interactive stories (22), Research (87)

This free software offers real time views of outer space, and you can select where you want to view. It has zoom capabilities, settings for labels, and a neat demo of what the software can do. Not for the casual user, this interactive download requires some practice. This is not the type of tool to put in the hands of students and just say, "play," unless the students are advanced. One caution with downloads such as these: be sure to have administrative access or permission to install on computers. If it cannot be installed on student computers, then it could still be used with the your computer and an interactive whiteboard.

tag(s): geology (62), planets (113), solar system (110), space (222), stars (71), sun (71)

This website includes a stunning collection of over thirty videos and essays from women who contribute to NASA's mission in many different ways. The stated goal for the site is "we hope that these stories will inspire girls everywhere to reach for the stars, and explore the myriad of opportunities available to them through pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics." Each story includes a biography, story, and video about the woman highlighted. Stories include information about their background, academic degrees, current work, and future goals with NASA. The site includes a blog, X (formerly Twitter) feeds, and a Facebook page which you can subscribe to. The videos reside on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): careers (156), scientists (67), space (222), STEM (297), women (151)

ScienceFix is one man's blog to show the world his educational and scientific demonstrations. It is clear, straight forward, and entertaining. These video clips and explanations are fantastic. The site offers a great variety of topics: What Makes a Planet a Planet, Water Bottle Rockets, Flaming Dollar, Books Smash Eggs, Magnesium Reacts with Oxygen, Isotopes, and much more. At the time of this review, there were eighteen pages worth of science videos (and fun). This is truly a MUST SEE for any science class. The videos are all hosted on YouTube. These demonstrations would be great for science classes, students experimenting at home, or independent science fair projects. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may be blocked at school.

tag(s): blogs (65), density (18), experiments (55), fire (22), motion (47), planets (113), rockets (11), space (222)

This site has embedded videos from over 1600 documentaries located all over the internet. These videos are not necessarily "short" clips. Some are longer than 15 minutes. Search the videos via several methods: browse the library, most popular, recent videos, or by categories. The categories vary greatly and include the bullying of those with disabilities, 9/11, aftermath of the Japan Tsunami, import and export of oil, and countless other topics. Each video comes with a short explanation and ratings (out of 10 stars). Viewers can also leave their own rating. Many include suggestions for related videos. Be aware: some of topics may not be suitable for the classroom. Please preview before (or IF) you choose to allow students to peruse on their own. You may want to share only specific videos with the class. It has been noted that this website opens rather slowly at the busy times of the day. But it is WELL worth the wait. Note that videos are recommended for inclusion by the video creators, so there could be very strong bias in documentary presentations. What better way to challenge students to stop and ask, "What is the source of this information and can I trust it fully?"
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tag(s): archeology (28), biographies (94), bullying (48), disabilities (32), psychology (65), senses (20), sexuality (15), tsunamis (15)

Did you ever wonder what you weigh on other planets? This site offers the opportunity to compare the effect of gravity across our universe in a personal way. Simply input your weight to find out what you would weigh on other planets, moons, and even stars. Be sure to check out the explanations and information provided below the weight calculations. Information is provided on mass, weight, gravity, and distance, and the formula for calculating the weights are provided.

tag(s): density (18), gravity (43), mass (19), planets (113)

Have a student stumped by homework? Find exercises and extra help in various subject areas in this kid-friendly site. Navigate through the various resources and friendly graphics to areas of the site such as "Sweet Stuff" which features neat interactives, "Needed Knowledge" with great tips, "Book review" to view video book reviews, and "Getting Historical." Watch informative (don't confuse with boring) videos of various math problems whether it be basic math, solving word problems, or even geometry. Find videos for other subjects such as science, language arts, social studies, health, and art. Review information in various subjects by trying age-appropriate interactives.

tag(s): homework (29), tutorials (52)

The articles found on this NY Times site can be used for any number of classroom activities. View the headlines of the day and click to go to the original articles. This site includes a link to each science reporter to read more articles from him/her. Find the Science Times Podcast link on this page too.
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tag(s): news (229), newspapers (93)

Amelia Earhart's birthplace and home in Atchison, Kansas has been turned into a museum to honor her accomplishments. Their website offers several resources geared toward showcasing her life and accomplishments. You can visit the link entitled Learn to read a short biography, childhood information, aviation accomplishments, and much more. Be sure to check out the Experience portion for podcasts and Trivia about her adventures. Unfortuately, the virtual tours are not free

tag(s): aviation (40), careers (156), women (151)

View this interactive video timeline to look at obsolete technologies from the past, including rotary hand mixers, cassette tapes, and other technologies. These short videos share "obsolete" items from the 1860s to 2000s. (Note: if your school blocks YouTube, this site will not be accessible. Ask to have this specific url unblocked).

tag(s): inventors and inventions (80)

Zooniverse is one of the largest and most popular citizen science projects. Choose from the feature projects found on this page or click See All Projects to be able to choose from a category. The categories include Arts, Biology, Climate, History, Literature, Medicine, and several others. Click on the category of your choice to go to that project page and read more about the purpose. View interesting information and discoveries that occur when people around the world contribute to a citizen science project. Create a login that can be used for any project shown. Registration requires and email address. Read tips for safely managing email registrations here.
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tag(s): citizen science (27), earth (184), moon (73), Project Based Learning (23), Research (87), space (222), sun (71), weather (160)

MrNussbaum.com was developed with the idea that crucial concepts, themes, ideas, and fact sets taught in the classroom can be enhanced over the internet through interactivity. Furthermore, for teachers to have a reliable k -8 internet site to use in the computer lab or in the classroom, that likely covers one or many themes currently being taught. The Science portion of the site is mainly devoted to information about animals; however, there are also portions on space, biomes, and the periodic table. The animal section is divided into portions by animal such as penguins, birds, sharks, insects, mammals and more. After clicking the link there are several activities matching games, scavenger hunts, anatomy, and other themed activities.
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tag(s): animals (295), biomes (110), insects (69), mammals (22), space (222)