iBiome – Wetland app for the iPad is an engaging way for students aged 9–11 to learn about a variety of wetland ecosystems. By drawing connections between different species and creating a web, students learn about producers and consumers, and predator–prey relationships. Web version
Weather & Climate and Story of Earth instructional modules explore Earth's systems. Each media-rich module contains tools and supports designed to engage diverse learners in core ideas and practices.
The Climate Time Machine is another interesting resource to teach students about how climate change impacts areas over time.
Frontiers Science For Kids - Not only are these articles for kids... they are written by kids. Perhaps your students could be the next contributor.
Discover Your World is a free activity book produced by NOAA. The book is available as to download as a complete package in one PDF or you can download it in three separate sections. The sections are titled Explore the Earth, Understand the Earth, and Protect the Earth. In total the book has 43 activities appropriate for most K-12 classrooms but the majority of the activities seem to be most appropriate for grades four through eight.
Smithsonian Science for Global Goals is a new, freely available curriculum that uses the United Nations’ Global Goals for Sustainable Development as a framework to focus on sustainable actions to local problems, defined and implemented by students. The curriculum was developed to be region and grade-level agnostic so that any student between the ages of 8 and 17 will be able to engage in the material. Among the tentative topics are “Energy” (How do we balance energy and environmental concerns?), “Weather and People” (How do we balance economics and preparedness?), “Biotechnology and Humans” (How do we balance technology, actions, and ethics?), and “Access” (How do we balance support for individuals with special needs?). Students have the opportunity to learn firsthand from researchers who are working on these problems around the world. Students then engage in inquiry-based challenges in their local communities, considering the problems through multiple perspectives (social, ethical, economic, environmental).
The Reading, Evidence, and Argumentation in Disciplinary Instruction (READI) Project, a multi-institutional initiative headed by the University of Illinois at Chicago, supports disciplinary argumentation from multiple sources in middle school and high school science and history/social studies classes The website provides links to integrative curriculum modules developed as part of the project. For example, “Life Sciences: The Spread of MRSA” (versioned for grades 6 and 9) supports science students’ close reading, modeling, explanation, and argumentation practices while building their knowledge of evolution, microbes, and antibiotic resistance. Similarly, the module “Earth Science: How Are Humans Impacting Water?” (for grade 8) supports students’ close reading, modeling, explanation, and argumentation practices in science while building knowledge of water resources and pollution. The “Reading Science Modules” (for grades 6 and 9) support students’ close reading of science visuals and models while building knowledge about the conventions of scientific models and the criteria for evaluating them. Each module includes a freely downloadable interactive notebook with integrated texts, tasks, scaffolds, and routines, along with an annotated teacher guide
Mosa Mack 4th through 8th grade A resource for science teachers and students. Mosa Mack provides students with a variety of short animated mysteries that they have to solve using knowledge gleaned from videos they watch. Mosa Mack adopts an inquiry-based approach to science learning and provides content that is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. Mosa Mack arranges its science content into units each of which is comprised of three lessons that ‘progress upwards on Blooms Taxonomy and the the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) chart.Additionally, each lesson comes with a number of hands-on activities and several other materials (e.g graphic organizers, PowerPoint presentations, assessments, lesson plans…etc).
Carbon Footprint Calculator
Climate Change
GlobalCOlab (GCL) connects students and educators from different cultures and religions from around the world to crosscut disciplines, curricula, and traditional subjects and empowers participants through student-led and student-created topics. These topics are based around global issues affecting each student’s community. GCL addresses these issues in a student-centered, individualized way. Students learn through world topics that they select.
Mystery Science for elementary teachers. Created by a science teacher, Mystery Science provides a wide variety of lessons to enhance your students learning of science and engage them in hands-on activities focused around a given Mystery. Every activity is designed around simple supplies which ’you should already have in the classroom or around your home.’ Each Mystery revolves around a hands-on activity and comes with a number of short videos and discussions
Scientist in the Classroomprovides a platform for teachers and scientists to collaborate as colleagues, peers, and partners in furthering science education. While scientists can act as a resource for teachers and students, in turn teachers and students can help scientists better understand how to convey their work to a larger, more diverse, and often skeptical audience to give scientists a better understanding of the challenges teachers face when presenting these often socially contentious and misunderstood topics.
EcoMOBILE a project of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, uses virtual elements that intersect with real-world experiences to teach middle school students about ecosystem science and the complex factors that contribute to a natural habitat. EcoMOBILE grew out of EcoMUVE, a four-week curriculum that lets students explore virtual ecosystems on their computers. Whereas EcoMUVE teaches students in the classroom about how different elements of an ecosystem affect one another over time, EcoMOBILE guides students out in the field. EcoMOBILE links the fieldtrip to classwork by providing a record of what students explored and the data they collected. Students then take that information back into the classroom to discuss it, analyze it, and see photosynthesis happening. A third phase of the EcoLearn program, called EcoXPT. With EcoXPT, students go beyond making observations to actually conducting simulated experiments using virtual experimental tools.
Personal Energy Meter is a tool for evaluating your personal carbon footprint. The meter asks for your location then asks a series of questions about your energy consumption. The result compares you to the average person in your region.
The Physics Classroom you can access physics tutorials, Mind on Physics Internet Modules (more than 1300 questions designed to improve understanding of common physics topics), problem sets for practice, multimedia (illustrated physics concepts), animations and activity sheets, curriculum corner (pdf downloads to complement the website), laboratories, photos, and more.
Energy and Environment The Children's University of Manchester has collections of animated lessons
Human Footprint Interactive shows you how you compare to others around the world when it comes to consumption of foods and consumer goods. Pick any of the ten items like eggs, bread, or soda pop to see how much you consume compared to people in other parts of the world. You can also compare your water consumption to that of others around the world.
EchoEarth – The mission of this site is to equip today’s youth with relevant tools, interactive resources and timely information to help them take action by identifying and working to solve environmental challenges in their communities. It utilizes service-learning to help students identify the root of a problem, develop an action plan and execute that plan in their community. There is a wonderful collection of rich online resources to assist teachers and students.
Earth Science Links
Technology Resources for Teaching Science This page from Edtech Teacher provides different resources for teachers of science from websites on biology and chemistry to those providing teaching materials on medicine and nanoscience.
Engineer a Sustainable World The National Environmental Education Foundation has published an extensive toolkit to help K–12 teachers introduce STEM projects that put students in the role of sustainability expert. Project ideas range from school gardening to energy efficiency to climate and weather. http://eeweek.org/sites/default/files/GreeningSTEMToolkit_FINAL.pdf
Glean - Ever feel overwhelmed by all the educational videos online? Aided by a team of teachers, this service chooses and catalogs the best videos.
HHMI's BioInteractive is a good place for all science teachers to search for science lesson plans, videos, animations, and slideshows to use with students. You can search the BioInteractive library according to topic, keyword, or resource type.
Teaching with Maps website provides K–12 cross-curricular lessons and activities on integrating visual learning, spatial thinking, and quantitative skills. Educators can browse or search activities by category (K–8, 9–12, AP/IB/Honors) and refine results by resource type, subject, and grade level. Links provide collections of lessons in climate and energy, earth science, geoscience data, Mars, microbes, and more. A section for professional development includes teaching strategies. Click Here to Access Free Lesson Collection
Realtime Satellite Images and interactive lessons
The Satellite Observations in Science Education project (SOSE), provides free tools known as Reusable Content Objects, or RCOs. You can easily and quickly use RCOs to put an interactive web page together and get your lesson taught.
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/sose/
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/
Interactive Simulations
http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/index.php for all grade levels created by University of Colorado.
Classroom Earth
http://classroomearth.org created by the Natioonal Education Fopundation for high schools.content and lesson plans to strengthen environmental education
Greenovation
Green Environmental Projects http://greenovationnation.com/
WISE
A simple yet powerful learning environment where students examine real world evidence and analyze current scientific controversies. Projects are designed to meet standards and complement your current science curriculum, and your grade 5-12 students will find them exciting and engaging. http://wise.berkeley.edu/
Earth and Environmental Science: Research Overview
http://www.nsf.gov/news/overviews/earth-environ/index.jsp
Examines questions that scientists are pursuing: What part do we play in earth's changing climate? What can rock layers tell us about earth's history? How can we understand the forces that lead to earthquakes and volcanoes? How can organisms live without sunlight? How do long-term changes affect earth's ecosystems? (NSF)
SEREF
the Solar Energy Research and Education Foundation, has built a couple of tools that could be of interest to science teachers. SEREF has an energy estimation tool that allows you to estimate the potential solar and wind energy of any location. To use the estimation tool you have to enter your location using on the map and input the size of the solar panels or wind turbine structure. You can also draw out the dimensions of your solar panels on the map. The potential energy is then calculated based on climate, latitude, and typical weather patterns.
Teach the Earth
http://serc.carleton.edu/index.html
Offers hundreds of teaching activities, visualizations, and resources for teaching earth science. Categories include biosphere, climate change, energy/material cycles, geology and human health, geochemistry, hydrosphere and cryosphere, mineralogy, ocean systems, petrology, solar system, and earth history. Special sections are provided on using data and teaching quantitative skills. (NSF)
Kidwind – Educators are invited to browse through countless short videos, PowerPoint presentations, hands-on lessons, and student-friendly online reading that will allow students to begin learning about renewable energy. Every one of these resources is completely free and available for teachers and students to use and enjoy.
A Walk in the Woods
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/woods Aimed at urban students in grades 3-5 - city kids who rarely get away from the concrete. Virtual trips.
Rainforest Journey is an engaging, online Life Science curriculum for students in grades K-5. It takes students on a virtual trip to the rainforest and features vibrant images, multimedia content and nonfiction reading.
Classroom Earth
http://www.classroomearth.org/
An online resource designed to help high school teachers include environmental content in their daily lesson plans.
EEK!
dnr.wi.gov/eek Environmental education for kids aimed at gr. 4-8 and inlcudes links for k-12.
The Ecological Footprint Quiz
myfootprint.org online quiz to determine your family's ecological footprint.
PowerUp
powerupthegame.org free downloadable game where players try to save world from evironmental disassters. by IBM
The Environmental Protection Agency Teaching Center
epa.gov/teachers lesson plans and classroom activities.
Earth - Windows to the Universe
Earth.http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/earth.html
Includes documents, images, movies, animations, and data that explore the Earth.
Explore Geology
http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/education/
The National Park Service has developed this exemplary set of educational resources which draws on their greatest assets, namely national parks from Maine to Utah. The materials are specifically designed for teaching geology, but it's easy to see how these items could be incorporated into general science classes.
Rocks & Weathering
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/science/activities/activity18/activity_18_09-03-26.swf is a great animated site produced by the BBC. The site using interactive animations to teach students all about rocks. The site illustrates and explains how sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks form. In each stage of the site, students can "create" rocks and "inspect" rocks with a virtual magnifying glass
Planet Earth Guide - Discovery Channel
http://dsc.discovery.com/guides/planetearth/planetearth.html
Learn about the structure of our planet and what we are learning from and about it.
Exploring Planets in the Classroom http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/SPACEGRANT/class_acts/
3 - 8 earth studies
DYNAMIC EARTH: http://www.wnet.org/wnetschool/origlessons/
dynamic_earth/index.html
Earthquakes and volcanoes, grades 3 – 8
Digital Library for Earth System Education
http://www.dlese.org/library/
Presents thousands of reviewed resources on atmospheric science, biology, chemistry, climatology, cryology, ecology, environmental science, forestry, geography, geology, mineralogy & petrology, hydrology, mathematics, natural hazards, ocean sciences, physics, soil science, space science, & more. (NSF)
Science Education Gateway (SEGway)
http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/SegwayEd/index.html
NASA project which brings together the expertise of scientists, science museums and K-12 educators to produce science-based Earth and space science curricula for classroom use.
Earth Season's
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Seasons.shtml
For elementary students, Enchanted Learning defines the terms solstice and equinox, and explains why we have four seasons. To complete the topic, there are variety of printable worksheets including an Earth's Seasons Quiz, a Seasons Word Pieces Puzzle, and a Label Me! Four Seasons Printout. Related topics, such as the Seasons Theme Pages (chock full of craft ideas) and The Planets, are just a click away.
Liverpool Museums: Sunbeams & Sundials
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/nof/sun/
With illustrations and animations, this online exhibit from the Liverpool Museums explains how the tilt of the Earth's axis causes the Earth's four seasons, and how a sundial works. Don't miss the SunTracker, an applet that illustrates the sun's path on any day, in any location. "Along the way there are quiz questions to answer, experiments to try and a sundial to make, so there's plenty to do. Words marked in red are glossary words. Click on them to see their meaning."
NASA's KSNN: Why Are There Seasons?
http://ksnn.larc.nasa.gov/k2/s_seasons.html
Best clicks at the Kids Science News Network (KSNN) site for grades K-2, are the activities page (two classroom projects about seasons) and an animated video about why the weather changes from one season to the next.
Oceans Alive
Virtual underwater ecosystem to allow students to observe firsthand what coral reefs are expected to look like by the end of the century if carbon dioxide emissions are not curbed. The researchers have designed an educational experience that makes the impossible possible: students can watch the ocean absorb invisible carbon dioxide molecules, a coral reef degrade, and marine life disappear as the ocean acidifies. Each step in the journey is based on decades of marine science research. This experience is free to download and can be viewed on the HTC Vive.
Marine Missions iPad a bright and colorful game that teaches children about water conservation and the animals that live in the ocean.
Global Closet Calculator National Geographic website to open your eyes to how your consumer goods connect you with others around the globe. This interactive is divided into two parts. First you need to empty your closet, read the labels to find out where your clothes were made, enter the countries, and the game plots them on the map for you. After you straighten your closet, you can play the next part of the game where you get to make decisions about how products that you use are made.
NOAA View is a new project from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On NOAA View you can explore visualizations of data sets in the categories of Ocean, Land, Atmosphere, Cryosphere, and Climate. Each category has multiple subsets of data from which to choose. The data sets can be displayed in weekly, monthly, and yearly units. A basic explanation of each data set is available. NOAA View is a new project from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On NOAA View you can explore visualizations of data sets in the categories of Ocean, Land, Atmosphere, Cryosphere, and Climate. Each category has multiple subsets of data from which to choose. The data sets can be displayed in weekly, monthly, and yearly units. A basic explanation of each data set is available. video overview
NASA's State of Flux image collection features before and after pictures of more than 200 locations worldwide that show the effects of climate change, natural disasters, and land use on places all over the globe. For some examples from the State of Flux collection take a look at the impacts of dam building in Brazil, drought along the Mississippi River, or volcanic activity in Iceland. You can browse for images by clicking placemarks on the State of Flux Google Map or by scrolling through the image gallery. If you're teaching lessons on climate change and human impact on the landscape, State of Flux could be a handy resource. Along with each set of images there is a caption about the area and the significance of the images. You could show some of the images to students without revealing the captions and ask them to propose ideas accounting for the causes of the changes they're seeing.
The Why Files Gr. 3-8) is a resource designed for students to learn about the science of stories in the news. The Why Files doesn't cover every current events news story, just the stories that have connections to science concepts. For example, one of the recent stories is about the launch of the SpaceX rocket. The story goes on to explain in text, image, and video the science and history of rockets being launched into space.
The Great Energy Challenge is a National Geographic feature that offers some nice interactive posters for evaluating personal and global energy consumption. Global Electricity Outlook is an interactive display of electricity consumption across the globe. You can view the global picture or click on the map to view regional consumption. The display shows the means of electricity production globally and regionally. To see how shifting production sources would impact the world or a region use the sliders below the map. Read more about the Great Energy Challenge posters here.
Weather & Climate and Story of Earth instructional modules explore Earth's systems. Each media-rich module contains tools and supports designed to engage diverse learners in core ideas and practices.
The Climate Time Machine is another interesting resource to teach students about how climate change impacts areas over time.
Frontiers Science For Kids - Not only are these articles for kids... they are written by kids. Perhaps your students could be the next contributor.
Discover Your World is a free activity book produced by NOAA. The book is available as to download as a complete package in one PDF or you can download it in three separate sections. The sections are titled Explore the Earth, Understand the Earth, and Protect the Earth. In total the book has 43 activities appropriate for most K-12 classrooms but the majority of the activities seem to be most appropriate for grades four through eight.
Smithsonian Science for Global Goals is a new, freely available curriculum that uses the United Nations’ Global Goals for Sustainable Development as a framework to focus on sustainable actions to local problems, defined and implemented by students. The curriculum was developed to be region and grade-level agnostic so that any student between the ages of 8 and 17 will be able to engage in the material. Among the tentative topics are “Energy” (How do we balance energy and environmental concerns?), “Weather and People” (How do we balance economics and preparedness?), “Biotechnology and Humans” (How do we balance technology, actions, and ethics?), and “Access” (How do we balance support for individuals with special needs?). Students have the opportunity to learn firsthand from researchers who are working on these problems around the world. Students then engage in inquiry-based challenges in their local communities, considering the problems through multiple perspectives (social, ethical, economic, environmental).
The Reading, Evidence, and Argumentation in Disciplinary Instruction (READI) Project, a multi-institutional initiative headed by the University of Illinois at Chicago, supports disciplinary argumentation from multiple sources in middle school and high school science and history/social studies classes The website provides links to integrative curriculum modules developed as part of the project. For example, “Life Sciences: The Spread of MRSA” (versioned for grades 6 and 9) supports science students’ close reading, modeling, explanation, and argumentation practices while building their knowledge of evolution, microbes, and antibiotic resistance. Similarly, the module “Earth Science: How Are Humans Impacting Water?” (for grade 8) supports students’ close reading, modeling, explanation, and argumentation practices in science while building knowledge of water resources and pollution. The “Reading Science Modules” (for grades 6 and 9) support students’ close reading of science visuals and models while building knowledge about the conventions of scientific models and the criteria for evaluating them. Each module includes a freely downloadable interactive notebook with integrated texts, tasks, scaffolds, and routines, along with an annotated teacher guide
Mosa Mack 4th through 8th grade A resource for science teachers and students. Mosa Mack provides students with a variety of short animated mysteries that they have to solve using knowledge gleaned from videos they watch. Mosa Mack adopts an inquiry-based approach to science learning and provides content that is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. Mosa Mack arranges its science content into units each of which is comprised of three lessons that ‘progress upwards on Blooms Taxonomy and the the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) chart.Additionally, each lesson comes with a number of hands-on activities and several other materials (e.g graphic organizers, PowerPoint presentations, assessments, lesson plans…etc).
Carbon Footprint Calculator
Climate Change
- NASA: Global Climate Change- Explore the evidence, causes, and effects of climate change as well as solutions.
- Exodus: The Climate Migration Crisis is an impressive project from the Weather Channel. It examines how climate change is forcing people around the world to leave their communities.
- Climate Kids- Looks at big questions, provides information about people, and includes fun activities to teach younger students about climate change.
- Global Warming Effects Map- Explore changes on the map on the website or in Google Earth
- Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change is a massive story/interactive from The New York Times.
- National Geographic Climate Change- Facts about climate change as well as a short video featuring Bill Nye.
- Teaching Climate Change: Lessons From the Past- Dozens of lesson plans and labs for teaching students about climate change.
- NSF Climate Change- Information on how climate change impacts the sky, land, sea, ice, life, and people.
- Climate Time Machine resource to teach students about how climate change impacts areas over time.
- NY Times Interactive Shows Impact Of Climate Change On Your Town
- Climate Time Machine is another interesting resource to teach students about how climate change impacts areas over time.
- Take this scary climate change test at The New York Times. It shows you what different states will look like in 10,000 years if global warming is not stopped.
GlobalCOlab (GCL) connects students and educators from different cultures and religions from around the world to crosscut disciplines, curricula, and traditional subjects and empowers participants through student-led and student-created topics. These topics are based around global issues affecting each student’s community. GCL addresses these issues in a student-centered, individualized way. Students learn through world topics that they select.
Mystery Science for elementary teachers. Created by a science teacher, Mystery Science provides a wide variety of lessons to enhance your students learning of science and engage them in hands-on activities focused around a given Mystery. Every activity is designed around simple supplies which ’you should already have in the classroom or around your home.’ Each Mystery revolves around a hands-on activity and comes with a number of short videos and discussions
Scientist in the Classroomprovides a platform for teachers and scientists to collaborate as colleagues, peers, and partners in furthering science education. While scientists can act as a resource for teachers and students, in turn teachers and students can help scientists better understand how to convey their work to a larger, more diverse, and often skeptical audience to give scientists a better understanding of the challenges teachers face when presenting these often socially contentious and misunderstood topics.
EcoMOBILE a project of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, uses virtual elements that intersect with real-world experiences to teach middle school students about ecosystem science and the complex factors that contribute to a natural habitat. EcoMOBILE grew out of EcoMUVE, a four-week curriculum that lets students explore virtual ecosystems on their computers. Whereas EcoMUVE teaches students in the classroom about how different elements of an ecosystem affect one another over time, EcoMOBILE guides students out in the field. EcoMOBILE links the fieldtrip to classwork by providing a record of what students explored and the data they collected. Students then take that information back into the classroom to discuss it, analyze it, and see photosynthesis happening. A third phase of the EcoLearn program, called EcoXPT. With EcoXPT, students go beyond making observations to actually conducting simulated experiments using virtual experimental tools.
Personal Energy Meter is a tool for evaluating your personal carbon footprint. The meter asks for your location then asks a series of questions about your energy consumption. The result compares you to the average person in your region.
The Physics Classroom you can access physics tutorials, Mind on Physics Internet Modules (more than 1300 questions designed to improve understanding of common physics topics), problem sets for practice, multimedia (illustrated physics concepts), animations and activity sheets, curriculum corner (pdf downloads to complement the website), laboratories, photos, and more.
Energy and Environment The Children's University of Manchester has collections of animated lessons
Human Footprint Interactive shows you how you compare to others around the world when it comes to consumption of foods and consumer goods. Pick any of the ten items like eggs, bread, or soda pop to see how much you consume compared to people in other parts of the world. You can also compare your water consumption to that of others around the world.
EchoEarth – The mission of this site is to equip today’s youth with relevant tools, interactive resources and timely information to help them take action by identifying and working to solve environmental challenges in their communities. It utilizes service-learning to help students identify the root of a problem, develop an action plan and execute that plan in their community. There is a wonderful collection of rich online resources to assist teachers and students.
Earth Science Links
Technology Resources for Teaching Science This page from Edtech Teacher provides different resources for teachers of science from websites on biology and chemistry to those providing teaching materials on medicine and nanoscience.
Engineer a Sustainable World The National Environmental Education Foundation has published an extensive toolkit to help K–12 teachers introduce STEM projects that put students in the role of sustainability expert. Project ideas range from school gardening to energy efficiency to climate and weather. http://eeweek.org/sites/default/files/GreeningSTEMToolkit_FINAL.pdf
Glean - Ever feel overwhelmed by all the educational videos online? Aided by a team of teachers, this service chooses and catalogs the best videos.
HHMI's BioInteractive is a good place for all science teachers to search for science lesson plans, videos, animations, and slideshows to use with students. You can search the BioInteractive library according to topic, keyword, or resource type.
Teaching with Maps website provides K–12 cross-curricular lessons and activities on integrating visual learning, spatial thinking, and quantitative skills. Educators can browse or search activities by category (K–8, 9–12, AP/IB/Honors) and refine results by resource type, subject, and grade level. Links provide collections of lessons in climate and energy, earth science, geoscience data, Mars, microbes, and more. A section for professional development includes teaching strategies. Click Here to Access Free Lesson Collection
Realtime Satellite Images and interactive lessons
The Satellite Observations in Science Education project (SOSE), provides free tools known as Reusable Content Objects, or RCOs. You can easily and quickly use RCOs to put an interactive web page together and get your lesson taught.
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/sose/
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/
Interactive Simulations
http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/index.php for all grade levels created by University of Colorado.
Classroom Earth
http://classroomearth.org created by the Natioonal Education Fopundation for high schools.content and lesson plans to strengthen environmental education
Greenovation
Green Environmental Projects http://greenovationnation.com/
WISE
A simple yet powerful learning environment where students examine real world evidence and analyze current scientific controversies. Projects are designed to meet standards and complement your current science curriculum, and your grade 5-12 students will find them exciting and engaging. http://wise.berkeley.edu/
Earth and Environmental Science: Research Overview
http://www.nsf.gov/news/overviews/earth-environ/index.jsp
Examines questions that scientists are pursuing: What part do we play in earth's changing climate? What can rock layers tell us about earth's history? How can we understand the forces that lead to earthquakes and volcanoes? How can organisms live without sunlight? How do long-term changes affect earth's ecosystems? (NSF)
SEREF
the Solar Energy Research and Education Foundation, has built a couple of tools that could be of interest to science teachers. SEREF has an energy estimation tool that allows you to estimate the potential solar and wind energy of any location. To use the estimation tool you have to enter your location using on the map and input the size of the solar panels or wind turbine structure. You can also draw out the dimensions of your solar panels on the map. The potential energy is then calculated based on climate, latitude, and typical weather patterns.
Teach the Earth
http://serc.carleton.edu/index.html
Offers hundreds of teaching activities, visualizations, and resources for teaching earth science. Categories include biosphere, climate change, energy/material cycles, geology and human health, geochemistry, hydrosphere and cryosphere, mineralogy, ocean systems, petrology, solar system, and earth history. Special sections are provided on using data and teaching quantitative skills. (NSF)
Kidwind – Educators are invited to browse through countless short videos, PowerPoint presentations, hands-on lessons, and student-friendly online reading that will allow students to begin learning about renewable energy. Every one of these resources is completely free and available for teachers and students to use and enjoy.
A Walk in the Woods
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/woods Aimed at urban students in grades 3-5 - city kids who rarely get away from the concrete. Virtual trips.
Rainforest Journey is an engaging, online Life Science curriculum for students in grades K-5. It takes students on a virtual trip to the rainforest and features vibrant images, multimedia content and nonfiction reading.
Classroom Earth
http://www.classroomearth.org/
An online resource designed to help high school teachers include environmental content in their daily lesson plans.
EEK!
dnr.wi.gov/eek Environmental education for kids aimed at gr. 4-8 and inlcudes links for k-12.
The Ecological Footprint Quiz
myfootprint.org online quiz to determine your family's ecological footprint.
PowerUp
powerupthegame.org free downloadable game where players try to save world from evironmental disassters. by IBM
The Environmental Protection Agency Teaching Center
epa.gov/teachers lesson plans and classroom activities.
Earth - Windows to the Universe
Earth.http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/earth.html
Includes documents, images, movies, animations, and data that explore the Earth.
Explore Geology
http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/education/
The National Park Service has developed this exemplary set of educational resources which draws on their greatest assets, namely national parks from Maine to Utah. The materials are specifically designed for teaching geology, but it's easy to see how these items could be incorporated into general science classes.
Rocks & Weathering
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/science/activities/activity18/activity_18_09-03-26.swf is a great animated site produced by the BBC. The site using interactive animations to teach students all about rocks. The site illustrates and explains how sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks form. In each stage of the site, students can "create" rocks and "inspect" rocks with a virtual magnifying glass
Planet Earth Guide - Discovery Channel
http://dsc.discovery.com/guides/planetearth/planetearth.html
Learn about the structure of our planet and what we are learning from and about it.
Exploring Planets in the Classroom http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/SPACEGRANT/class_acts/
3 - 8 earth studies
DYNAMIC EARTH: http://www.wnet.org/wnetschool/origlessons/
dynamic_earth/index.html
Earthquakes and volcanoes, grades 3 – 8
Digital Library for Earth System Education
http://www.dlese.org/library/
Presents thousands of reviewed resources on atmospheric science, biology, chemistry, climatology, cryology, ecology, environmental science, forestry, geography, geology, mineralogy & petrology, hydrology, mathematics, natural hazards, ocean sciences, physics, soil science, space science, & more. (NSF)
Science Education Gateway (SEGway)
http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/SegwayEd/index.html
NASA project which brings together the expertise of scientists, science museums and K-12 educators to produce science-based Earth and space science curricula for classroom use.
Earth Season's
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Seasons.shtml
For elementary students, Enchanted Learning defines the terms solstice and equinox, and explains why we have four seasons. To complete the topic, there are variety of printable worksheets including an Earth's Seasons Quiz, a Seasons Word Pieces Puzzle, and a Label Me! Four Seasons Printout. Related topics, such as the Seasons Theme Pages (chock full of craft ideas) and The Planets, are just a click away.
Liverpool Museums: Sunbeams & Sundials
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/nof/sun/
With illustrations and animations, this online exhibit from the Liverpool Museums explains how the tilt of the Earth's axis causes the Earth's four seasons, and how a sundial works. Don't miss the SunTracker, an applet that illustrates the sun's path on any day, in any location. "Along the way there are quiz questions to answer, experiments to try and a sundial to make, so there's plenty to do. Words marked in red are glossary words. Click on them to see their meaning."
NASA's KSNN: Why Are There Seasons?
http://ksnn.larc.nasa.gov/k2/s_seasons.html
Best clicks at the Kids Science News Network (KSNN) site for grades K-2, are the activities page (two classroom projects about seasons) and an animated video about why the weather changes from one season to the next.
Oceans Alive
Virtual underwater ecosystem to allow students to observe firsthand what coral reefs are expected to look like by the end of the century if carbon dioxide emissions are not curbed. The researchers have designed an educational experience that makes the impossible possible: students can watch the ocean absorb invisible carbon dioxide molecules, a coral reef degrade, and marine life disappear as the ocean acidifies. Each step in the journey is based on decades of marine science research. This experience is free to download and can be viewed on the HTC Vive.
Marine Missions iPad a bright and colorful game that teaches children about water conservation and the animals that live in the ocean.
Global Closet Calculator National Geographic website to open your eyes to how your consumer goods connect you with others around the globe. This interactive is divided into two parts. First you need to empty your closet, read the labels to find out where your clothes were made, enter the countries, and the game plots them on the map for you. After you straighten your closet, you can play the next part of the game where you get to make decisions about how products that you use are made.
NOAA View is a new project from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On NOAA View you can explore visualizations of data sets in the categories of Ocean, Land, Atmosphere, Cryosphere, and Climate. Each category has multiple subsets of data from which to choose. The data sets can be displayed in weekly, monthly, and yearly units. A basic explanation of each data set is available. NOAA View is a new project from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On NOAA View you can explore visualizations of data sets in the categories of Ocean, Land, Atmosphere, Cryosphere, and Climate. Each category has multiple subsets of data from which to choose. The data sets can be displayed in weekly, monthly, and yearly units. A basic explanation of each data set is available. video overview
NASA's State of Flux image collection features before and after pictures of more than 200 locations worldwide that show the effects of climate change, natural disasters, and land use on places all over the globe. For some examples from the State of Flux collection take a look at the impacts of dam building in Brazil, drought along the Mississippi River, or volcanic activity in Iceland. You can browse for images by clicking placemarks on the State of Flux Google Map or by scrolling through the image gallery. If you're teaching lessons on climate change and human impact on the landscape, State of Flux could be a handy resource. Along with each set of images there is a caption about the area and the significance of the images. You could show some of the images to students without revealing the captions and ask them to propose ideas accounting for the causes of the changes they're seeing.
The Why Files Gr. 3-8) is a resource designed for students to learn about the science of stories in the news. The Why Files doesn't cover every current events news story, just the stories that have connections to science concepts. For example, one of the recent stories is about the launch of the SpaceX rocket. The story goes on to explain in text, image, and video the science and history of rockets being launched into space.
The Great Energy Challenge is a National Geographic feature that offers some nice interactive posters for evaluating personal and global energy consumption. Global Electricity Outlook is an interactive display of electricity consumption across the globe. You can view the global picture or click on the map to view regional consumption. The display shows the means of electricity production globally and regionally. To see how shifting production sources would impact the world or a region use the sliders below the map. Read more about the Great Energy Challenge posters here.
Videos
Scishow This is one of the most popular science channels in YouTube. SciShow discusses science news and history and concepts.
Disruption dramatic documentary on the impact of climate change
Science Daily popular science news web sites. With over 65,000 research articles, 15,000 images, 2,500 encyclopedia entries, 1,500 book reviews, and hundreds of educational videos, there is something for everyone on ScienceDaily.
Reactions Everyday Science is a YouTube channel that provides illustrative tutorials and videos on different scientific events.
New York Times Science Page features a wide variety of short video covering an array of scientific phenomena. Videos are arranged int mean categories: Science Take and CreatureCast.
Disruption dramatic documentary on the impact of climate change
Science Daily popular science news web sites. With over 65,000 research articles, 15,000 images, 2,500 encyclopedia entries, 1,500 book reviews, and hundreds of educational videos, there is something for everyone on ScienceDaily.
Reactions Everyday Science is a YouTube channel that provides illustrative tutorials and videos on different scientific events.
New York Times Science Page features a wide variety of short video covering an array of scientific phenomena. Videos are arranged int mean categories: Science Take and CreatureCast.
Games and Simulations
Ecosystems, Energy and Environment
Energyville - http://ecogamer.org/environmental-games/energyville-energy-game/. Energyville is a game that allows users to choose future energy options while building a virtual city. Students who are enrolled in Environmental Science class must develop a plan for new and renewable energy sources while building their new city. The game displays the many challenges faced when making decisions that could potentially have global impacts.
Energy and Climate Change Games a variety of grade level games with direction for teachers.
ElectroCity is an online computer game that lets players manage their own virtual towns and cities. It’s great fun to play and also teaches players all about energy, sustainability and environmental management in New Zealand.
Environment Games at various levels and includes activities to compliment the games
Invasive Species Start as an Asian carp, and then drive a simulation to prevent this invasive species from entering Lake Michigan.
Feed the Dingo is a fun game that teaches students about the importance of maintaining balanced ecosystems. In the game students have to build and maintain a desert ecosystem. The game begins with a blank slate to which students have to add plants and animals. The game plays out over twelve virtual days. Each day students have to add more elements in order to maintain balance in the ecosystem. At the end of each day students are given feedback as to which plants and animals are healthy, which are in danger, and which have died.
Energy City (National Geographic: Jason Project)
Collapsus terrific graphics for this energy crisis game
Climate Challenge
Oiligarchy
National Geographic Eco Games – Need to Register for Free Download
Precipice – Beyond a certain point there is no return
Starbuck’s Planet Green Game
Harpooned – Japanese Cetacean Research Simulator (must download)
Windfall – Windfarming
SEREF, the Solar Energy Research and Education Foundation, has built a couple of tools that could be of interest to science teachers. SEREF has an energy estimation tool that allows you to estimate the potential solar and wind energy of any location. To use the estimation tool you have to enter your location using a Google Map and input the size of the solar panels or wind turbine structure. The potential energy is then calculated based on climate, latitude, and typical weather patterns.
Interactive Science Animations for Children Energy Environment, animated interactive lesson early elementary/ primary school age. Energy Environment,
NOAA Environmental Visualization Lab
Provides dozens of animations and images about topics such as coral reefs, ocean acidification, humans' impact on the ocean, the dead zone, hurricanes, African droughts, and more.
Your Carbon Diet This interactive allows you to learn about how we use different energy sources and how it affects not only our environment but also our budget. You will look around a typical New England house and click on the various items. You'll see what is draining energy and learn how to make your home more energy efficient..
Global Carbon Footprints map provides four ways of looking at carbon footprints created by the largest economies in the world. You can roll over the map to view carbon footprints on a per capita basis, cumulative basis, intensity, and current totals.
Ozone is a lower elementary science game to show how pollution can affect the Earth's population.
Citizen Science: Back to the Future meets the EPA in this game, where players travel back in time to investigate what led to the local lake’s pollution and what they can do to prevent it in the future. The game is meant to illustrate the social factors that contribute to environmental harm.
Jean-Michael Cousteau Ocean Adventures: Predator Protector players to guide three different threatened shark species to food and away from danger. At the same time, players can learn about the behaviors and habitats of these three species.
Personal Energy Meter is a tool for evaluating your personal carbon footprint. The meter asks for your location then asks a series of questions about your energy consumption. The result compares you to the average person in your region. I was below average in my footprint until I entered the number of flights I take every year. Wow! Flying leaves a huge carbon footprint.
The Great Energy Challenge is a National Geographic feature that offers some nice interactive posters for evaluating personal and global energy consumption.
Plan It Green Live is a game from National Geographic that challenges you to build an environmentally-friendly city.
Global Electricity Outlook is an interactive display of electricity consumption across the globe. You can view the global picture or click on the map to view regional consumption. The display shows the means of electricity production globally and regionally. To see how shifting production sources would impact the world or a region use the sliders below the map.
Electrocity play to learn about electricity production and consumption. In the game students take on the role of mayor of a fictitious town. As the mayor the student has to manage the consumption and production of electricity for the town.
Electric Circuits from Hyperstaffs. On the Electric Circuits site your students can learn about the power sources used by common household products and then safely experiment with the creation of electric circuits. Electric Circuits presents students with a circuit to construct by using virtual power sources and switches.
Close Knit Neighbors Help organize a jar of mud and its plant and organisms
The Personal Energy Meter is a tool for evaluating your personal carbon footprint. The meter asks for your location then asks a series of questions about your energy consumption. The result compares you to the average person in your region. I was below average in my footprint until I entered the number of flights I take every year. Wow! Flying leaves a huge carbon footprint.
Energy City Imagine a world where non-renewable resources, such as coal and oil, are in short supply! What can we do now to prepare for this future event? In this JASON Digital Lab, you will create a new energy portfolio for a city. Research new sources of energy and take another look at renewable and inexhaustible sources that were once considered “alternative” such as sunlight and wind.Ecology Lab (Grades 9-12)
In this lab you will get a chance to build your own ecosystem, and explore the effects of these interrelationships.
The Wild Classroom is a website that features a collection of podcasts and videos for science classrooms. One aspect of The Wild Classroom that impressed me was the Biomes of the World Map. The Biomes of the World map allows students to explore the map and watch an informational video about each biome.
Build a Prairie
The prairie is one of North America's great ecosystems and a vital habitat for many plants and animals. Over 98% of the prairie has been lost in the past 150 years—but some people are trying to bring it back, hectare by hectare. Restoring a prairie is a great challenge, requiring knowlege of biology, ecology, climatology, and even economics.
Build a Fish (gr 3-8) In this interactive activity, you must build a fish whose adaptations make it suited to its ocean environment.
Over Fishing
A player goes fishing over ten virtual days, using a simple graphic to point and click fish into his or her boat. The money earned from selling those fish supports the player's fictional family. But there are two other people fishing, and they always catch the same number of fish as the player. What unfolds is a vivid lesson in overfishing.
Enviromysteries
Asthma. Rising cancer rates. Viruses we have never heard of before. Just a few of the incredibly complex health problems that confront society today. What part does our environment play? That's the Question EnviroMysteries sets out to answer.
Plan It Green ( gr. 5-8) Turn Greenville into an eco-friendly town.
WolfQuest An immersive, 3D wildlife simulation game, WolfQuest challenges players to learn about wolf ecology by living the life of a wild wolf in Yellowstone National Park.
Planet Arcade This arcade is a portal to games and interactive activities focused on ocean and air themes. It highlights the science and the activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other agencies and organizations promoting environmental stewardship.
Electrical Construction Kit
This is an online simulation that will allow you to construct various types of circuits to test what you have learned in your research.
Alternative Energy Systems What could we use to generate electricity? Explore the possibilities in this 3-level platforming game.
Ecosystems, Energy and Environment
Energyville - http://ecogamer.org/environmental-games/energyville-energy-game/. Energyville is a game that allows users to choose future energy options while building a virtual city. Students who are enrolled in Environmental Science class must develop a plan for new and renewable energy sources while building their new city. The game displays the many challenges faced when making decisions that could potentially have global impacts.
Energy and Climate Change Games a variety of grade level games with direction for teachers.
ElectroCity is an online computer game that lets players manage their own virtual towns and cities. It’s great fun to play and also teaches players all about energy, sustainability and environmental management in New Zealand.
Environment Games at various levels and includes activities to compliment the games
Invasive Species Start as an Asian carp, and then drive a simulation to prevent this invasive species from entering Lake Michigan.
Feed the Dingo is a fun game that teaches students about the importance of maintaining balanced ecosystems. In the game students have to build and maintain a desert ecosystem. The game begins with a blank slate to which students have to add plants and animals. The game plays out over twelve virtual days. Each day students have to add more elements in order to maintain balance in the ecosystem. At the end of each day students are given feedback as to which plants and animals are healthy, which are in danger, and which have died.
Energy City (National Geographic: Jason Project)
Collapsus terrific graphics for this energy crisis game
Climate Challenge
Oiligarchy
National Geographic Eco Games – Need to Register for Free Download
Precipice – Beyond a certain point there is no return
Starbuck’s Planet Green Game
Harpooned – Japanese Cetacean Research Simulator (must download)
Windfall – Windfarming
SEREF, the Solar Energy Research and Education Foundation, has built a couple of tools that could be of interest to science teachers. SEREF has an energy estimation tool that allows you to estimate the potential solar and wind energy of any location. To use the estimation tool you have to enter your location using a Google Map and input the size of the solar panels or wind turbine structure. The potential energy is then calculated based on climate, latitude, and typical weather patterns.
Interactive Science Animations for Children Energy Environment, animated interactive lesson early elementary/ primary school age. Energy Environment,
NOAA Environmental Visualization Lab
Provides dozens of animations and images about topics such as coral reefs, ocean acidification, humans' impact on the ocean, the dead zone, hurricanes, African droughts, and more.
Your Carbon Diet This interactive allows you to learn about how we use different energy sources and how it affects not only our environment but also our budget. You will look around a typical New England house and click on the various items. You'll see what is draining energy and learn how to make your home more energy efficient..
Global Carbon Footprints map provides four ways of looking at carbon footprints created by the largest economies in the world. You can roll over the map to view carbon footprints on a per capita basis, cumulative basis, intensity, and current totals.
Ozone is a lower elementary science game to show how pollution can affect the Earth's population.
Citizen Science: Back to the Future meets the EPA in this game, where players travel back in time to investigate what led to the local lake’s pollution and what they can do to prevent it in the future. The game is meant to illustrate the social factors that contribute to environmental harm.
Jean-Michael Cousteau Ocean Adventures: Predator Protector players to guide three different threatened shark species to food and away from danger. At the same time, players can learn about the behaviors and habitats of these three species.
Personal Energy Meter is a tool for evaluating your personal carbon footprint. The meter asks for your location then asks a series of questions about your energy consumption. The result compares you to the average person in your region. I was below average in my footprint until I entered the number of flights I take every year. Wow! Flying leaves a huge carbon footprint.
The Great Energy Challenge is a National Geographic feature that offers some nice interactive posters for evaluating personal and global energy consumption.
Plan It Green Live is a game from National Geographic that challenges you to build an environmentally-friendly city.
Global Electricity Outlook is an interactive display of electricity consumption across the globe. You can view the global picture or click on the map to view regional consumption. The display shows the means of electricity production globally and regionally. To see how shifting production sources would impact the world or a region use the sliders below the map.
Electrocity play to learn about electricity production and consumption. In the game students take on the role of mayor of a fictitious town. As the mayor the student has to manage the consumption and production of electricity for the town.
Electric Circuits from Hyperstaffs. On the Electric Circuits site your students can learn about the power sources used by common household products and then safely experiment with the creation of electric circuits. Electric Circuits presents students with a circuit to construct by using virtual power sources and switches.
Close Knit Neighbors Help organize a jar of mud and its plant and organisms
The Personal Energy Meter is a tool for evaluating your personal carbon footprint. The meter asks for your location then asks a series of questions about your energy consumption. The result compares you to the average person in your region. I was below average in my footprint until I entered the number of flights I take every year. Wow! Flying leaves a huge carbon footprint.
Energy City Imagine a world where non-renewable resources, such as coal and oil, are in short supply! What can we do now to prepare for this future event? In this JASON Digital Lab, you will create a new energy portfolio for a city. Research new sources of energy and take another look at renewable and inexhaustible sources that were once considered “alternative” such as sunlight and wind.Ecology Lab (Grades 9-12)
In this lab you will get a chance to build your own ecosystem, and explore the effects of these interrelationships.
The Wild Classroom is a website that features a collection of podcasts and videos for science classrooms. One aspect of The Wild Classroom that impressed me was the Biomes of the World Map. The Biomes of the World map allows students to explore the map and watch an informational video about each biome.
Build a Prairie
The prairie is one of North America's great ecosystems and a vital habitat for many plants and animals. Over 98% of the prairie has been lost in the past 150 years—but some people are trying to bring it back, hectare by hectare. Restoring a prairie is a great challenge, requiring knowlege of biology, ecology, climatology, and even economics.
Build a Fish (gr 3-8) In this interactive activity, you must build a fish whose adaptations make it suited to its ocean environment.
Over Fishing
A player goes fishing over ten virtual days, using a simple graphic to point and click fish into his or her boat. The money earned from selling those fish supports the player's fictional family. But there are two other people fishing, and they always catch the same number of fish as the player. What unfolds is a vivid lesson in overfishing.
Enviromysteries
Asthma. Rising cancer rates. Viruses we have never heard of before. Just a few of the incredibly complex health problems that confront society today. What part does our environment play? That's the Question EnviroMysteries sets out to answer.
Plan It Green ( gr. 5-8) Turn Greenville into an eco-friendly town.
WolfQuest An immersive, 3D wildlife simulation game, WolfQuest challenges players to learn about wolf ecology by living the life of a wild wolf in Yellowstone National Park.
Planet Arcade This arcade is a portal to games and interactive activities focused on ocean and air themes. It highlights the science and the activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other agencies and organizations promoting environmental stewardship.
Electrical Construction Kit
This is an online simulation that will allow you to construct various types of circuits to test what you have learned in your research.
Alternative Energy Systems What could we use to generate electricity? Explore the possibilities in this 3-level platforming game.