Friday, April 27, 2012

10 Science Blogs and Websites



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Here's a list I compiled of some of the best science blogs and websites I found on the web. A summary of each is included below its link. Enjoy!

            This is a great blog written by a middle school science teacher outlining tons of science activities and experiences. Even though he is a middle school teacher, most of them could easily be done in the elementary classroom, or adapted to be appropriate. There are videos included which make it very easy for a teacher to see how to carry out the experiments or activities, or to show students if it is not possible to complete the experiment in the classroom.

            This is a useful blog for teachers interested in incorporating more technology into their classrooms and their children's learning experiences. The blog offers many tips on how to integrate technology into lessons, especially those dealing with science. It also provides links and many resources for teachers to free technology that is easy to use. It is a very user-friendly blog that allows you to choose grade levels and subjects from a drop-down menu, so teachers can find what they're looking for easily in a pinch.

            This website is split into two main areas: the teacher entrance and the student entrance. The student’s section of the site includes an “elevator” that the children may “ride” to a desired floor, each of which are labeled with a different aspect of science. Once at the floor, there are different rooms that serve as the subcategories of the floor’s topic, which the students can enter and learn all about that category. The teacher entrance includes activities for the teacher to complete with children in the classroom that correlate to every room and floor in the student’s entrance, so that the things they are learning on the site become more real to them. The site focuses on dinosaurs and the era they lived in, as well as Earth science.

            This is a valuable website for children of any age and grade level. To access the science portion of the site, there is an easy to use navigation bar at the top with a single button labeled “Science,” which takes the user to a page full of information and science exploration activities. It includes photographs and videos of how things in our world and everyday lives work, that we may not have considered to be scientific before, including animal processes. Students may use the site to explore different science topics and teachers may use it to research interesting lessons and facts to infuse into the classroom unit.

            This website is run by NASA and is geared toward children and enhancing their science learning experiences, specifically in the topic of outer space. It includes real pictures taken from space as well as games that children can play to help them learn more about what it’s like in space and how to run a space station. It also includes links for students to explore to discover why we study space, as well as a link to space art project cut outs and supplies. There are teacher and parent pages as well, that give tips for how to infuse science learning into their children’s lives.

            This is a kid-friendly website that includes science activities to be completed either at home or in the classroom, as well as a spotlight of a cool science fact that changes every week. There is also a link for all kinds of science-related careers for kids to explore, to get them interested in science as a future job, and ones that they may not have previously known about or considered. It also includes a career quiz that a student may take in order to find out which science career they are best suited for.

            This website provides thousands of ideas for students’ science fair projects on tons of science topics and subject areas. The projects provided on this site can be used by children in upper grades to come up with fun science fair project ideas, or by teachers as inspiration for engaging experiments to complete in the classroom. It includes photographs of children completing the different activities and experiments, along with step-by-step directions for each, and discussions on what is being tested and conclusions that the experiments may show.

            This is an awesome site that includes links for teachers (or students and their parents) to try their own science experiments, take scientific field trips, or participate in science “adventures.” It also includes links for teachers that offers many resources such as classroom science activities and lesson plans. There is also a parents’ page that explains the importance of science and how to be involved in their children’s’ learning, which is also offered in Spanish for families that do not speak English.

            This website was created by a TV meteorologist Nick Walker. His website includes links for teachers, parents, kids, and future meteorologists alike, with many resources for learning abut and exploring different aspects of the weather. He also has a link specifically for books on weather that teachers and parents may find to read to or with their children, as well as a kid-friendly A-Z reference guide on all meteorology topics.

            This is a blog created for teachers that focuses solely on elementary science. It provides links for science resources, great advice and teaching tips, and offers many hands-on activities and experiments to be completed in the classroom, along with photographs that correspond with the directions. It also includes links to professional development opportunities, including seminars and conferences geared toward teaching science.

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