Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Find the name of that unknown tree with this easy to use resource. Choose from prominent characteristics at each step to find the name of the Northeastern US tree. Though this site is about the trees in Ohio, many of them can be found throughout Northeastern US. Pictures accompany each characteristic to better make the right choice. Click each correct characteristic to reach the name of the tree. Click on the name to read more about the characteristics of the tree, including leaves and fruit. Continue to read about the history, uses, and environment where the tree grows.

tag(s): plants (146), trees (18)

Find resources to enhance student understanding of groundwater and issues related to its use. Resources include coloring pages and word puzzles, experiments suitable for primary and secondary students, and fun facts and activities to use with your class. Be sure to check out the lesson plans found with the experiments for great ideas for young people of all ages.

tag(s): conservation (102), ecology (103), natural resources (37), pollution (52), water (102), water cycle (22)

Classmill allows you to create your own online classes by uploading videos, links, files, and images. Create your account to start your own class or explore classes already online. When creating a class choose from privacy options such as invite only for attendees. Add content within modules for each class using tabs to upload or embed information. Once your content is complete, use the "Ready" toggle switch to make it accessible to participants. Use the "Invite" button to invite users using their email address.

tag(s): classroom management (120)

Do you need to choose items in a truly random way? If so, this site is for you! Random.org offers many different categories for receiving randomized information. Choose from the links for random lists, coin flippers, dates, passwords, dice rolls, and much more. Follow directions on each page to set the form and receive results. There is also an app for both Android and iOs devices.

tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (147), gamification (83), probability (99), resources (83)

Science Trek is an integrated web and broadcast T.V. project introducing science topics to elementary students. In addition to the broadcasts, Science Trek provides accompanying material for teacher and parent use. Each month of the school year a new broadcast answers students' science questions and provides additional resources. Currently, there are more than 90 topics available. Choose from any topic to view the web broadcast and explore resources such as games, facts, and glossaries. Some games lead to outside resources such as PBS and NASA.
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tag(s): animal homes (57), animals (294), archeology (28), body systems (40), brain (56), earthquakes (46), ecology (103), endangered species (27), food chains (19), forces (37), fossils (41), gravity (43), habitats (92), heart (27), human body (93), mass (19), moon (73), planets (113), plants (146), rocks (35), simple machines (19), soil (16), sound (72), STEM (297), volcanoes (55), water (102), weather (160)

Discover the uses and challenges for rivers throughout the United States! This organization has a record of protecting and restoring rivers. Find your region of the US under My Regions. Find Regional Projects and News about environmental issues. Click on What We Do to read about initiatives the group works on in the various areas. Find a current Most Endangered Rivers list. Also, see the slide shows for Featured Rivers. There is an engaging three-minute video about why one child loves the Northwest's Rivers. It is hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the video may not be viewable.
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tag(s): pollution (52), rivers (16), water (102), watersheds (8)

Here is an excellent site for finding images for non-commercial use that will have the proper citation downloaded with it. Find a photo you want to use. Click the download link under the picture. The downloaded image will have the appropriate attribution information with it. Note: right clicking on the photo will not produce the attribution information. Our editors found all photos to be "class appropriate." However, it is always best to use caution with image searching. Provide students with clear guidelines and expectations.

tag(s): images (263), photography (130), search engines (48)

Explore two interactive maps to find the number of "ideal" summer days per month (70F -90F degrees) or Temperature & Rain averages in over a thousand cities in the United States. Click on any state and choose a city to view graphs displaying monthly averages of summer days for each place. Select the Temperature & Rain Averages map to see a graph of any city displaying average high and low temperatures, as well as inches of rain per month. Remember, if the temperature is above 90F, the amount of "ideal" summer days may be less in that state. Comments from this site can be shared on Facebook.

tag(s): seasons (37), temperature (34), weather (160)

Looking for great information on Antarctica? This site offers a variety of information about explorers, views from space (not available at the time of this review), dinosaur fossils, surviving the cold, and more. Some of the topics still require Flash; however, there is plenty here to learn from the other topics.
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tag(s): animals (294), antarctica (30), continents (33), dinosaurs (43)

This is the ultimate site for finding out about Evolution! Find excellent information in the Evolution Library where there is an unbelievable amount of resources about Darwin, History of Life, Evolution of Diversity, Why Evolution Matters, and more. Find online courses in the For Teachers section. View the various lessons, resources, and online material about evolution found in the For Students section of this site. Find even more resources by clicking on the icon for various evolution topics: Darwin, Change, Survival, Sex, Extinction, Humans, and Religion. Though some of the features on this site require Flash, MOST of them do not.

tag(s): animals (294), evolution (89), fossils (41), geologic time (12), plants (146)

Find answers about any energy question you may have with this site. View information and graphs on both energy production and consumption in the US. Click the Energy in Your State tab to view a breakdown of energy in various states. Compare the US to other countries using the International tab. Find a variety of topics along the left side. Find topics for Renewable and Non-renewable energies, energy calculators, and more. Be sure to check the tabs at the top that include Sources and Uses (of energy), Topics, and Geography.

tag(s): conservation (102), energy (133), solar energy (34)

Explore an Inventor's Workshop through the eyes of Leonardo da Vinci. Click Menu in the upper right corner to choose different areas of this site like the Inventor, the Scientist, the Artist, and more. Discover elements of machines, gadget anatomy, linear perspective, and the golden ratio. Also included on the site are activities for having students sketch and build their own inventions. Other portions of this resource take viewers deeper into the world of Leonardo by providing perspective on Renaissance times, exploring his special way of writing, and discovering Leonardo's activities in different Italian cities.

tag(s): artists (84), inventors and inventions (80), italy (30), leonardo davinci (3), renaissance (38)

Give your students practice and instruction in standardized test style format. Find an easy way to create Common Core assignments using PARCC and Smarter Balanced question types. Passages allow for highlighting, graphs, image labeling, and video sections for background knowledge. Questions include a section for written response to improve evidence-based answers as well as multiple choice. Teachers can share their assignments or use other teacher created assignments. Students receive immediately graded feedback. With a free teacher account, save questions to your library.

tag(s): assessment (147), test prep (69)

Join the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count every February anywhere in the world. Help scientists collect data to get an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds. Detailed information contains a tool kit with instructions and a how to video, data forms, bird lists, and an online bird guide. Submit your observations and explore the data that was submitted by area, range, and submission map. Count birds any time of the year by clicking on the ebird link on the home page.

tag(s): birds (46), service projects (17)

Make your story-telling come to life in any content area with this free tool! Story Map uses a map or pictures to tell the story. The simple editor in this tool syncs to Google Drive editor to create a storymap. The created storymap is a sequence of slides for a map location or image that includes a heading, text, and even images and embedded video. The map or image and included information appear side by side. You can click between the slides connecting one location to another (or portions of an image to another). Your story is now interactive! To use: Follow the prompts to connect your Google Drive to the tool. Choose the type of story to create, Map or Gigapixel (image). Don't worry about the map image showing on the first page. When building a map, the front page will include the portion of the World Map based on map points throughout the project (ex. USA or Europe). Add a headline and detail to the appropriate areas. Include links and change font to bold and italic if desired. Add images to any page by uploading from your computer (through Google Drive) or by entering a link to an image. Enter the URL of the Vimeo or YouTube video you wish to use. Need help? Click on the Gigapixel tab along the top for help in uploading images and videos. The Media box not only has an area for the URL, but also an area to enter a caption and credit for the image. Add additional pages by clicking "Add Slide" in the left-hand menu. Add points to your map, one per slide, by typing the building, street, city, and country. Use the zoom bar in the top left to find the location. Customize the map style, background color, and font using the Options buttons. Click Share to send through social media or to use an embed code. The embed code can be used in any site, adjusting its width for different sites. If using Gigapixel, use a large image (as the image will literally be the "map" and your points move around the image). Save your image to Google Drive and copy the URL of the image as you will need it in the first step.

tag(s): maps (220), stories and storytelling (58), timelines (56)

Find great information on the factors that affect gas prices and ways to improve fuel economy! Be sure to click on Gas Mileage Tips for great ways to improve fuel economy. Use the Fuel Cost Calculator to identify changes in miles per gallon when making changes in improving fuel economy. View the frequently asked questions in Understanding Gas Prices.
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tag(s): energy (133), fossil fuels (10), resources (83)

Find an impressive amount of information about water conservation on this site. Though created for conservation in Arizona, the information is applicable to a variety of areas. This is a hot topic in many locations suffering through droughts. Be sure to look at the latest news and information in the energy saving toolkit. The toolkit includes interactive activities to teach water conservation. Find 100+ ways to conserve in the tab along the top and numerous resources under the Kids and Resources tabs.

tag(s): conservation (102), natural resources (37), water (102)

Find more than 350 ready to use ideas for training games and activities at Thiagi Training Games. Titles include types of activity, for example, whether it is a card game, role play, etc. Choose a title and view a full description including playing time, number of players, and materials needed. Although created for corporate training sessions, many ideas fit right into classroom use such as debate ideas, getting to know you activities, and more.

tag(s): back to school (55), debate (42), firstday (22), game based learning (205)

ABC Splash is a large educational website from Australia containing videos, games, and audio clips. Special sections for parents include informational articles, teaching resources, and education news. Choose from primary or secondary level to view offerings sorted into categories or go to games and sort by topic or grade level to find resources. Register on the site to store and save favorite activities for later use. The site was created in the Australia, so some of the pronunciations and spellings may differ from those in American English.

tag(s): addition (129), animals (294), antarctica (30), atmosphere (22), australia (28), cells (82), climate change (99), continents (33), counting (60), decimals (85), division (98), earth (184), earthquakes (46), ecosystems (83), egypt (56), energy (133), environment (252), food chains (19), forces (37), forensics (12), fossil fuels (10), game based learning (205), gold rush (15), human body (93), immigration (68), insects (68), light (56), maps (220), molecules (43), money (113), multiplication (122), nuclear energy (20), nutrition (140), oceans (149), parts of speech (39), percent (59), perimeter (20), place value (34), plants (146), probability (99), rhymes (22), rocks (35), songs (46), sound (72), subtraction (110), time (91), vietnam (38), volcanoes (55), weather (160), whole numbers (9), world war 1 (77), world war 2 (161)

Ask Smithsonian answers fascinating questions via videos that are less than two minutes long. There is a new video each week. Find out if your interesting science question has an answer here. Sometimes you may think your question is not scientific, such as "Will Chicken Soup Cure a Cold?" or "How Do People Get Phobias?" Well, the answer to those questions is at Ask Smithsonian. Give it a try and see if your question has an answer.
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tag(s): animals (294), bacteria (22), human body (93), insects (68), plants (146), space (222), time (91), video (266)