Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Chicago's Shedd Aquarium has built an impressive online collection of lesson plans and other instructional tools, including several nice interactive animations and virtual field trips. While much of the content relates to the aquarium's exhibits, the range of subjects includes most grade levels and many of the topics that might appear in a curriculum on ocean habitats.

tag(s): marine biology (31), oceans (149)

While NOAA might be an unlikely source for information on sea turtles, this site offers a surprisingly detailed look at efforts to raise and release sea turtles in several different locations. This one would make an interesting sidebar to a unit on marine ecosystems.

tag(s): marine biology (31), oceans (149)

Conserving the habitats of birds is an international concern. This United Kingdom site (RSPB) examines various conservation issues, including the habitats for birds. Most of the focus is on the UK; however, there are more than a few links to international efforts, such as the Albatross Task Force. This page is for the Resources for Teachers; however, the main site has a variety of searchable databases as well as these activities on the issues facing different species of birds. Check out their free lessons, including the ones on TES (the link is under the Activity Sheets). Finally, don't forget to look at the For Kids and For Families; you might find something you can adapt for your classroom or online learning.

tag(s): birds (46), conservation (102), environment (252)

Photography can be both an art form and a form of scientific inquiry. Photos of People and Cultures can promote human understanding better than any written words. This site from National Geographic can serve both ends if used properly. Art teachers "focus" on tips and techniques and photography advice areas, while science/social studies teachers will easily locate a wide range of plant, animal, culture, and geography images. As always, the photos themselves are exquisite. You will need to sign up for the free newsletter (with email) to view the photos.

tag(s): animals (295), photography (130)

The American Chemical Society offers a complete series of activities for grades K-8, all based on hands-on experience. Click Education in the middle of this opening page find programs and units for Elementary through Graduate School. Also offered is a section for careers in science. This is a great resource for science teachers who need additional chemistry content or activities.
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tag(s): chemicals (41), energy (133), experiments (55), inquiry (24), matter (46)

This educational software is designed to allow teachers to plan biology and ecology lessons using a helpful, user-friendly simulations. Along with the software, the site has a teachers' guide with suggestions for integrating the simulation into the classroom through three main units. The site also provides a template for planning lessons based on the online curriculum. Be sure to click Learn to find the resources for kids. You will want to read the "readme" files before attempting to download the software.

tag(s): ecology (103), forests (30)

This BBC site has five interesting activities for sensory exploration. These interactive tests allow students to explore taste, smell, and the nervous system's role in sensory perception. Additional resources help explain the science behind these activities as well. Though some resources on this site require Flash, there are many more that don't and that have a lot of information.

tag(s): senses (20)

This PBS site has life-science and biology activities for a wide range of grade levels. While a number of these activities are designed to accompany the Shape of Life video series, the activity guides provided present a range of activities and resources to supplement life-science curricula. Included activities range from arts-and-crafts projects to scientific method experiments.

tag(s): organisms (15)

This site provides a sampling of activities from a larger web-based curriculum on Astrobiology. Developed in conjunction with NASA's astrobiology institute, this site provides a detailed teaching guide alongside activities aimed at creating a dynamic curriculum through internet resources. The site's activities include an exploration of different types of stars, and possibility of life in different parts of the galaxy.

tag(s): space (222)

The Education pages on this site provide helpful links for both teachers and students learning about the ecosystem and life-science topics in the Chesapeake Bay. The Educators' Resources (left menu) provide links to different programs conducted by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, including links to findings at a number of monitoring stations around the Bay. The kids' section has a number of student-friendly sites on wildlife and conservation topics

tag(s): oceans (149)

This site presents teachers with a searchable index of natural sciences resources contained within the museum's site. Scroll down the page and click Resources for Learning. You can browse the web-sites, activities, and experiments by sub-topic, grade level, or resource type. Current subtopics include anthropology, astronomy, biology, earth science, and paleontology. Special collection exhibits present theme-based activities that cover additional topics and change occasionally. Be sure to check out the the Past Exhibitions for topics such as Biodiversity, Antarctica, and deep sea explorations, and much more. This is a great site for sorting out all the wonderful resources the museum has to offer. There are over 1,000 resources currently available on countless subjects.

tag(s): amphibians (17), biodiversity (36), brain (56), climate change (99), darwin (13), dinosaurs (43), diseases (67), diversity (40), fossils (41), light (56), mammals (22), natural disasters (18), oceans (149), paleontology (28), poisons (2), space (222), volcanoes (55)

UCSD has created an interactive flash site that explores Giant Kelp in its ocean habitat, diagrams of the plant itself, and all the many unexpected places you can find kelp all around you in every day life. This site is a creative and kid-friendly with good information for studying undersea life.

tag(s): marine biology (31), oceans (149)

This main portion of this site is best suited for High School Biology and Biochemistry students looking to expand upon their in-class curriculum with virtual labs on DNA, chromosomes, and gender testing. The Animation Console has animations of basic and advanced body system functions and sex determination processes that can be downloaded for in-class demonstrations.

tag(s): dna (43), human body (93)

In this unit, subtitled "The Living Oceans," elementary students can learn how marine environments are interdependent, and the importance of preserving entire marine systems. The site includes interactive games, lots of images and descriptions, all in an engaging context. This unit is part of the American Museum of Natural History's "Ology" series that explores different aspects of the life sciences. The interactives require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

tag(s): ecosystems (83), marine biology (31), oceans (149)

Everything Counts is the theme of this elementary unit on how ecosystems, resources, and cultures all relate to one another. The unit's text and illustrations make their points in simple terms. This unit is part of the American Museum of Natural History's "Ology" series that explores different aspects of the life sciences.

tag(s): ecosystems (83), natural resources (37), resources (84)

This web site from a consortium of several thousand environmental organizations offers a great collection of resources to build awareness of ecological issues and inspire both individual and collective action. These include several games that let students discover how well they and their families conserve resources. Find out how much you know about Earth. Try the Quizzes!

tag(s): earth (184), earth day (60), ecology (103), environment (252)

Plants with very fast growing cycles can be very useful in classroom demonstrations and lab activities. This site from the University of Wisconsin explains how to use these "fast plants" and offers a significant collection of lessons and resource ideas involving them. There are also collections of pointers for students and teachers. This site may be just the thing for teachers who have limited outdoor resources or whose climates aren't in sync with their curricula.

tag(s): experiments (55), plants (146)

The K-12 education section of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution offers a collection of extensive online education tools. Students can search for toxic algae, join one of several expeditions, even learn about women with careers in oceanography. Depending on age level, these exhibits will work for either individual or group use.

tag(s): marine biology (31), oceans (149)

This extremely well-organized site from U.C. Berkeley introduces students to the history of life and how it results in today's biodiversity. The site includes two different levels for grades K-4 and 5-12, making this an introduction that can be used in virtually any classroom setting. There is a Teacher Guide with lesson plans, handouts, assessments, related activities and much more. Created with support from the National Science Foundation.

tag(s): biodiversity (36), diversity (40), evolution (89), fossils (41)

This large metasite offers a well-organized collection of scores of links relating to the study and categorization of insects. Like most sites of this nature, there are no explanations of the links, so you may have to hunt to find what you're after. We've included this one because of the number of resources the authors have found.

tag(s): insects (69)