Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

The Cow's Eye Dissection site offers middle and high school students a chance to take a virtual walk through the dissection process. In addition to clear instructions and explanations, the site offers a glossary of terms, and an introductory video. From the San Francisco Exploratorium.

tag(s): dissection (6)

Learn fun facts and viewing tips for visiting the giant panda at Smithsonian's National Zoo. Included on this site is a panda cam, physical description, and conservation information. Be sure to also check out the panda news with all of the latest panda news from around the world.

tag(s): animal homes (57), animals (295), habitats (92), video (266)

Discover videos and animation, adventures in STEM, online lectures, citizen science, and more on this Education Resource page. Scroll through the slides at the top and choose a topic, or choose from the menu on the left. Levels are divided into grades K-6, 7-12, and Undergraduate. Once you land on the page for your topic there will be more links on the menu to the left. Each topic has a complete teaching module, structured classroom activities, and digital data or images.

tag(s): amphibians (17), animals (295), biomes (110), birds (46), caves (7), citizen science (27), climate (84), climate change (99), earthquakes (46), ecosystems (83), environment (252), erosion (15), floods (10), fossils (41), geology (62), mammals (22), minerals (13), plate tectonics (22), rock cycle (12), rocks (35), soil (16), tsunamis (15), volcanoes (55), water (102)

The American Association for the Advancement of Science offers this publication to probe some of the issues raised by genetic research. Based on issues raised by the Human Genome Project, the site offers a set of "what if..." case studies designed to start discussions of issues related to genetic research. What can genetic testing reveal? Who should know the information? Does the fact that we can clone an animal mean that we should? The site provides lots of great discussion starters accompanied by sound scientific explanations.

tag(s): genetics (80)

Here's a site which offers answers to imponderables such as, "Why is the ocean blue?" The site offers numerous articles of interest. You can join (for a fee), but the articles are available for free. The site is published by the British periodical New Science.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (147)

A page of information about the Mojave Desert, this site is a web resource for the TeachersFirst interactive Biomes of the World Unit.

tag(s): biomes (110)

A page of facts about desert plants, this site is a web resource for the TeachersFirst interactive Biomes of the World Unit.

tag(s): biomes (110)

A page of facts about the tundra, this site is a web resource for the TeachersFirst interactive Biomes of the World Unit for grades 4-8.

tag(s): biomes (110), tundra (14)

This rainforest site is a web resource for the TeachersFirst interactive Biomes of the World Unit for grades 4-8.

tag(s): biomes (110)

A page of facts about temperate deciduous forests, this site is a web resource for the TeachersFirst interactive Biomes of the World Unit.

tag(s): biomes (110)

This set of lesson units, designed by Scripps Institute, offers more than a dozen topics dealing with ocean environments and inhabitants. Many of these lessons include hands-on activities that can require only minimal equipment. The units also include extension activities to make the content suitable for secondary or upper elementary students.

tag(s): oceans (149), whales (11)

Conception through Birth - with pictures.

tag(s): reproduction (7)

This site from the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse offers on-line laboratory materials - primarily color photos of laboratory slides - which are sorted by major classifications. The result is an on-line resources which can supplement in class activities or help compensate when suitable laboratory facilities or materials are not available. The structure of the site makes it suitable for either sequential use of to reinforce specific topics.

This site is a collection of data about the evolutionary history and characteristics of organisms using branches of a tree to link data. Very extensive database.

This site is a gold mine of illustrations, artwork, and images for teaching biology. Divided into separate sections for human biology, histology, etc., the site offers hundreds of downloadable illustrations in GIF and Corel vector formats. Convenient thumbnail pages make selection simple, though there's lots to choose from.

tag(s): images (263)

Get involved in real-world water conservation issues, investigate STEM careers in science and engineering, and meet scientists and engineers from those disciplines. Also, watch Youth in Action videos where young people work for positive change. Expeditions are designed around conserving water with titles such as Water by Design, Shell Shocked, Beyond the Dead Zone, Into the Dead Zone, and Plastic Seas. Also, find many Educator Resources that can be filtered by grade level, Program (Food, Toxins, Energy, Marine Debris, and several others), and media type (Videos, Lesson Plans, Worksheets, etc.). EarthEcho was Founded by Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau, grandchildren of Jacques Yves Cousteau, in honor of their father Philippe Cousteau, Sr. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): conservation (102), engineering (129), scientists (67), STEM (297), sustainability (50), water (102)

Learn about the life and careers of many famous scientists by viewing intriguing videos. Find out about scientists such as Richard Feynman, Rosalind Franklin, and Gregor Mendel through interviews with scientists in their field today. Don't let the cartoon figures fool you: these videos are not "juvenile." The scientists included may not be household names to everyone, but the videos make their work accessible and interesting. At the time of this review, there were over a dozen scientists included, and more were being added regularly. Note that the actual videos are hosted on YouTube so may not be accessible in some schools.

tag(s): biographies (94), darwin (13), scientists (67)

This lesson explores a large amount of debris that washes up on the most remote islands in the world and the effect of this garbage on ocean animals. The lesson features the video, "Trash on the Spin Cycle" and includes pre-viewing activities, focus questions, and post-viewing questions. Be sure to also check out the many additional resources included on the site. Viewing the video requires flash which is not available on all browsers; however, the lesson plan can be modified by using other available videos.

tag(s): environment (252), oceans (149)

Choose between still images and videos that explain complex Biology concepts. Find great animations of ATP synthase, the electron transport chain, protein modification, photosystems, photosynthesis, transcription, and more. Use the navigation on the left hand side to choose between "Cellular Processes" and "Molecular Processes." Find descriptions for many of the animations on the front page along with a direct link.

tag(s): cells (82), photosynthesis (21), respiration (11)

Find online video lessons and free resources on this MIT site. BLOSSOMS features great STEM videos as well as links to other STEM resources on the site. Find great resources that focus on the use of science and math knowledge to bring these topics to life. View a variety of topics such as Using Geometry to Design Simple Machines, Galaxies and Dark Matter, and Classifying Animals by Appearance Versus DNA Sequence. On each video page, click the link to view the video, read a summary of the information, and even download the transcript, teachers guide, and images that are used for the video. Downloads are available in Word or Adobe Reader format. Interested in the topic? Use the links at the bottom to view other sites and resources.

tag(s): engineering (129), STEM (297)