Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

National Geographic offers a rich and extensive site for educators through its Education homepage. Scroll down the page to find resources, reference materials, maps, media, collections, and much more. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find Explorer Classroom. For specific content searches use the search bar to find and filter results by grades, subjects, resource type, and audience.This site is frequently updated. Check back often!

tag(s): animals (295), climate change (99), commoncore (73), earth day (60), ecology (103), energy (133), food chains (19), map skills (63), maps (220), migration (45), multimedia (53), oceans (149), STEM (297), weather (160)

Learn about the history of house structures in Eastern Canada, with connections to home building in general. See how homes adapt to the settings in the Living in the New World section. See a timeline of homes in Canada (similar to homes history in some portions of the U.S.). Learn about the skilled builder trades on the Youthzone. The architectural Glossary is great for learning the names of all those things that stick out or hold up your house! The Homo Renovus section is all about terms and techniques in home renovation.

tag(s): architecture (75), homes (5), structures (18)

View science careers galore! Although this site is rather "plain vanilla," it is filled with sprinkles of knowledge! If you need ideas for science careers in Earth and Physical Science, this is a great resource. Research careers, find out what employees actually do in these careers, learn the requirements to obtain a job. Along with the salary and degree requirements, view the future job outlook in the career. View video interviews of real scientists and profiles of those currently on the job.

tag(s): careers (156), scientists (67)

The ten videos on this site highlight events and people that captured the public's imagination during past Summer Olympics. The series of film clips are part of a larger site in which some parts require payment, but this part is free.
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tag(s): olympics (45), sports (82), summer (28)

Create or view Excursions to learn various science topics! Find the available Excursions by clicking on Browse. Click Educational to see the catalog topics in Mathematics, Physics, Biology, and Technology. This site includes Excursions created by the International community. Each Excursion plays like a PowerPoint. Advance through the slides to see embedded content included as part of the Excursion. Content includes Wikipedia entries, websites, quizzes, videos, and more. Create an account to make your Excursion. Click the + sign at the top to create. Add a title, description, and tags. Click to add content (photos, videos, text, quiz, etc.) Have a PowerPoint you would like to use? Export it as a PDF file and upload to Vishub. Another upload possibility is ZIP files, among others. Easy to use tools include changing background, animation, and style. Save, preview, and publish. Favorite and comment on popular excursions. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): animals (295), cells (82), environment (252), Learning Management Systems (20), medicine (57), OER (43), plants (146), remote learning (54), solar system (110), Teacher Utilities (198), water cycle (22)

Get ready to have a good laugh. Come on over to XKCD, a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. Find comics with stick figures featuring mathematical, scientific, and cultural humor. Scroll down the page to find Comics/Enjoy! Dig through the archives to find the perfect one for you! Creative Commons License allows reprinting of the comics. Each comic has an individual URL that can be shared to direct students to that specific comic. Be sure to PREVIEW before you share any comics with your class. Our editors found a few that may be questionable depending on the maturity of your students.
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tag(s): comics and cartoons (55), humor (15)

Discover some of the world's best online courses with Springboard's search engine. Enter what you want to learn into the search bar. Explore the offerings provided or browse by subject, university, or providers. Narrow results down by starting date, teaching method, or credentials. Each entry includes a short description of the course, fees (many are free!), start dates, length of course, and skill level required. Many classes also include reviews from other Springboard's users. Click the "Enroll" link to go directly to the course or save to your wish list after creating a free account. Some of the videos are hosted on YouTube. Most do not require Flash. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
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tag(s): professional development (385), search engines (48)

So what can you do with a tool that is used for analysis of videos? How about tracking the motion of an object across frames, including data on position, velocity, and acceleration? Download this tool for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Start by obtaining a high speed video using YouTube, a portion of a taped movie on a DVR, or from other video footage. Open the Tracker software and import the video. Find the portion of the video you want to use (frame numbers are given). Click video properties in the lower right. If the video segment is large, change the step size (number of frames looked at each time) to more than one. Set the end frame number. In order to view speed, you need to create a scale for the video. For example, choose an object in the video that you can measure. (Make sure you know how big the object actually is.) Click the tape measure tool, then drag the blue arrow around to define the size of the object. Use the tutorials on the download page to learn to manipulate and analyze the position time graph. Be sure to check out the Tracker Video Tutorials for directions for using Tracker.

tag(s): data (151), forces (37), motion (47), video (266)

This YouTube channel covers a variety of science topics in an entertaining and engaging way. View playlists for various subjects such as AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics, and more. View the most popular videos such as A Tour of the Cell and Photosynthesis. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.
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tag(s): atoms (44), cells (82), dna (43), elements (34), energy (133), forces (37), mass (19), meiosis (8), mitosis (9), molecules (44), motion (47), photosynthesis (21)

This site offers over 10,000 lessons aligned with the Common Core and the Next Generation Science Standards. The lessons were created by 130 Master Teachers. You can browse resources without registering. Click the blue "Browse" button to get started. Choose along the top from Common Core Math, Common Core ELA, or Next Generation Science. Lessons are arranged by grade level or Math, Language, and Science subjects. However, if you want to create your own resources, registration is required. After registering, create a class and then create a unit for that class. Finally, create a lesson for that unit, fill in an objective, select a state standard, and estimate the total time on task. Upload files (or drag and drop) to assign them to the lesson or keep them "unassigned" for later use. Additionally, simply add other members' files to your own curriculum. Search for files by keyword, age-level, and type of format. Click on a result to see every lesson plan using that file.

tag(s): commoncore (73), professional development (385), Teacher Utilities (198)

Discover a constantly changing, blog-style collection of articles about all areas of science, designed to engage readers in science and instill a desire to learn more. The articles are grouped into headings such as Environment, Technology, Space, Health and Medicine, The Brain, Plants and Animals, Physics, and Chemistry. Articles share recent discoveries, timely experiments to try (such as cold weather explorations during winter), and intriguing (but true) revelations about scientific mysteries. There are topics of interest to almost any reader, such as "Why Most Food Labels Are Wrong About Calories" or "How Smartphones Can Lead The Fight Against Air Pollution." Click tags to find similar articles. Note that subject material is intended for adults, though our editors found nothing objectionable in the actual articles shared by IFLScience. Avoid clicking on ads and items under "More Stories" and "From the Web," as these lead to other sites of less predictable quality. If sharing this site with teens, be sure to point out which links stay within IFLScience. The site does allow reader comments from the general public. Preview if sharing in a classroom.
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tag(s): brain (56), environment (252)

The Annenberg Learner Foundation's goal is to advance excellent teaching in American schools. Annenberg Learner's multimedia resources help teachers increase their expertise in their fields and improve teaching methods in all grade levels in all subjects. There are video resources for all subject areas. Find lesson plans for all subjects by grade level. A variety of interactives accompany lessons or can also stand alone. Follow the monthly updates and blogs for the latest information.
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tag(s): art history (103), butterflies (13), conversions (37), critical thinking (127), dna (43), earth (184), environment (252), geometric shapes (135), immigrants (34), medieval (32), native americans (109), patterns (61), periodic table (46), renaissance (38), rocks (35), russia (36), south africa (13), spelling (98), statistics (121), volcanoes (55), weather (160)

Algodoo is a 2D-simulation software to create simulation scenes using simple drawing tools like boxes, circles, polygons, gears, brushes, planes, ropes and chains. Interact with objects using click and drag or tilt and shake. Add physics to any simulation using fluids, springs, hinges, motors, thrusters, light rays, tracers, optics and lenses. Explore and play with gravity, friction, restitution, refraction, and attraction within each scene. Begin by downloading to your Windows or Mac computer following instructions on the site. Algodoo is also available as an iPad app. To make the most of all the site features, be sure to visit the Learn It link for a three-session tutorial to help understand the software. Videos on this site are hosted by YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.

tag(s): friction (9), geometric shapes (135), gravity (43)

Join a journey to eleven countries and three continents as part of a global STEM learning adventure aligned to Next Gen and Common Core Reading standards. The site navigation itself takes a little "exploration," but the time is well worth it. Learn about locations around the world as you explore science and technology at each stop along the way. Learn about the captain and crew under Flight Briefing. Follow the clickable flight route under Flight Tracker. Take a flight tutorial at Fly with Us (under Flight Briefings). Explore videos on the Blog and under Flight Briefings. Watch the intro video on the home page. Some of the videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.

tag(s): aircraft (16), animals (295), architecture (75), ecosystems (83), endangered species (27), flight (34), oceans (149), STEM (297), volcanoes (55), weather (160)

Looking for a challenge that can really make a change? The Biomimicry Design Challenge encourages participants to solve real-world problems as teams, basing their ideas on nature's own "design." Past challenges include Transportation and Water. You must be in a degree program to participate in the actual challenge, but anyone can read about current and past challenges. Read the Challenge details including judging criteria. View the Submission Gallery and past challenges to get ideas for your own challenge. Refer to the Biomimicry in Youth Education resource, reviewed here, for more information about the basics of Biomimicry.

tag(s): STEM (297)

World Science U offers high-quality science courses from the world's best educators. There is also some math content. Videos and graphics help you to understand rigorous content in meaningful ways. Find quizzes along with a visual archive of quick answers to common science and math questions. Begin your exploration of World Science U by choosing from three areas: Science Unplugged, Short Courses, or University Courses. All courses include a general description along with information on the workload required and background math and science levels needed. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): forces (37), gifted (66), light (56), mass (19), space (222), video (266)

Free Video Lectures is a resource offering over 1000 free (upper high school and college level) online courses and 25,000 video lectures from more than 30 universities. Begin your search by choosing a subject or university to explore. Use the search bar to find specific content. Icons for each course offer a short description along with the number of included videos. Find topics ranging from accounting to web designing to business management and many others. Download or embed any videos using links and download instructions. Ignore the advertising; the site content is worth it. Note that these videos are NOT hosted on YouTube so may or may not be locked at your school.
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tag(s): business (52), cultures (180), genetics (80), literature (221), medicine (57), oceans (149), psychology (65), video (266)

Make science fun using Untamed Science. Focusing on biology and ecology, these videos and quick fact pages offer high interest and fast-paced information in many topics. Search or browse through the full list of videos. Begin at either Tree of Life or Biology to find categories within each section. Be sure to also check out the How-to Filmmaking portion of the site to learn about filmmaking, beginning with the basics through advanced filmmaking approaches. If your district blocks YouTube, the video clips may not be viewable. While most topics are appropriate for teenage students, you may want to preview.

tag(s): amphibians (17), animals (295), biomes (110), cells (82), ecology (103), evolution (89), fish (18), genetics (80), mammals (22), planets (113), reptiles (12), video (266)

Ignite interest in STEM and bridge the gap between learning in the classroom and the real world! Peruse from a variety of short 10 minute interactive videos that highlight real-world problems. Videos are aligned to STEM curricula throughout the US and contributed by partnerships with businesses, government agencies, non-profits, and academic institutions. Use the resources to engage your students in problem-solving and inquiry based learning. Videos and resources are found in the Science, Technology, and Math tabs. Be sure to click the Educator tab for downloadable resources to help you Plan, Engage, and Inspire with your students. While looking at the materials in the Educator tab, find a Best Practices webinar date you can attend (held monthly). This one hour training session is instrumental in using the interactive video and instructional materials to facilitate inquiry based learning effectively and increase 21st century skills in your students. Each video includes resources developed by Industry, lessons by educators, and education pathways for students seeking careers in certain STEM careers.

tag(s): STEM (297)