Embedded Files
University of Colorado
Phet is a phenomenal free resource. In addition to simulations in Math, Physics, Chemistry, Earth Science, and Biology there are tons of shared lessons for the elementary, middle school, and high school levels created by educators all over the United States. It can be a great way to differentiate by leveling to meet the student's abilities with the simulation. It is a great interactive tool that provides students with opportunities to manipulate data and see how experimental simulations can reproduce scientific applications. Furthermore many are tangible models for theoretical concepts that allow students to put into practice and visualize content that may be difficult to relate to intangible demonstrations. Two of my favorites are the atom simulation and natural selection.
Nova Labs is an online platform that allows students to look at real data in order to explore authentic science exploration. From current climate issues to cybersecurity attacks, these labs provide information through multiple ways of learning (visual, audio, and physical) while asking students to answer key concepts as well as design solutions to current problems. A second great resource to this site is the opportunities page which provides educators and students an area to investigate competitions, field experience, online resources, and career opportunities with real scientists involved in the research.
This is a great resource for many hands-on Inquiry-based activities for K-12. Some are quick activities that involve few materials and others are more complex and may require ordering specialty materials. Many are simplified activities created for home science and can be easily elevated to meet classroom goals. I have used this one to create sedimentary levels with the students, and it has been a GREAT example of experimenting and learning together with my students where they have helped me to modify and application of the project.
This picture to the right is not of my students' though ours looked very much like this. They took an incredibly long time to dry out so I tried small flower pots with holes in the bottom. Those did not hold nearly enough water.
I love this tool. It allows students to annotate or complete PDF files and can pair seamlessly with many education platforms, such as: Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas, and others. I like it for digitizing worksheets, teaching students to read and analyze digital text, and is a good option for activities that require online drawing or sketching. It has a built-in dictionary and read-aloud and has options to embed videos and voice instructions, feedback, and supplemental information for students. It is perfect for having students label diagrams and maps. Students can also share and collaborate with texts.
Mindmeister is a great tool for creating mind maps. This can be used for introducing content, students sharing ideas, Brainstorm for creating 50 potential ideas in the classroom for research. Students can use it to build notes on topics as well or even to organize content and roles in group projects. It can also be used to form outlines for essays, projects, or study guides.
quick formative assessments, exit tickets, or even quizzes. It can be used for rapid polls and even for student choice. I often use it as a monitoring tool with one or two check-ins during class to hold students accountable for the content they should be engaging in. While monitoring class I will pop up a question on the board and scan for answers. I can see each student's answer and even project graphs or individual student's answers (I typically do not do this, but it is surprising how often students want to see everyone's answers). I printed my QR code cards on thick card stock and have used the same set multiple years. You can see reports and real-time answers for comprehension checks, and a sample of the QR cards.
Page updated
Report abuse