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Science News
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General
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This web page was created specifically to guide
elementary science teachers in the
Archdiocese of Cincinnati to ideas, projects, web sites, and
organizations that support the revised Graded Course of Study for Science.
This page is general information for all. Go to Grades
K-8 for items specific to your grade level. If you find science resources or material that you would
like to share, please email me at
mkaeser@catholiccincinnati.org. RESOURCES Every science and social studies teacher should be aware of the Principles of Environmental Justice. You'll find it here. A great source for all science topics if Kidport. Check it out! For help with the Environmental Focus for any grade level, visit Kids Ecology Corps. Information on any Life Focus is available on National Geographic's site Kids of all ages can become certified Habitat Heroes by helping to save the environment. FEMA has a site that includes games, challenges, and quizzes for children that teach them how to prepare for disasters and prevent disaster damage. Resources for teachers and parents, too. Try it. BJ's Science, a Canadian teacher's site for middle grade science, features topics like electricity, classification, cells, machines, space, and water systems, plus hundreds of WebQuests and 150 power point presentations to download. Ohio EPA's Environmental Activity Book is a great source of information for games, puzzles, experiments, and classroom resources for teaching any environmental issue from air quality to endangered species. The book is online (pdf file). You can browse for the pages you want to use, and print out those for your class, or download the whole booklet and share it with your colleagues! Share the World Is a great program for grades 3-5 promoting the humane treatment of animals (birds, fish, insects). The free video is well done with captivating animal footage. Video, poster, teaching guide, activity sheets are available online. It contains for short sessions: the amazing world of animals; animals and their feelings; changing times, changing minds; and making humane choices. Army Corps of Engineers has a good Classroom Connection site with activities for environmental biology, chemistry, physics and math. US Geological Survey has resources for all grades, including rocks and minerals, plate tectonics, solar system, fossils, deserts earthquakes, the Life Cycle of a Mineral Deposit, Polar resources, 3D Parks, Volcano Observatory, and Water Science for Schools. To access a list of children's literature to use as a springboard to outdoor ed and nature awareness from the National Science Teachers of America (NSTA) outstanding nonfiction trade books, click here! Kids.gov is a listing of government organizations with student information. All kinds of topics/subjects are listed here. For teaching the environmental focus for your grade level, be sure to check out your local county Department of Environmental Services or Solid Waste Management District. Here's Hamilton County's DOES, and Montgomery County's SWD . There are wonderful lesson plans for just about everything you might want, listed by subject and by age level on Reach Out! Michigan's site For conservation information, visit the National Wildlife Federation site. Find out how to build a backyard habitat, or check endangered species. Have you seen FactMonster ? This website has lots to offer, in science ( space science and "Energy and the Environment" among others) and other areas. Check it out! Check out the FFFBI (Fins, Fur, and Feathers Bureau of Investigation) for all the above plus a fourth "F" -- FUN! Be sure to visit Kid's Health for lots of information and activities on all sorts of health-related topics. Education World has "The Human Body: An Online Tour" available. There's lots of health and fitness information, as well as good material on reading package labels on Amateur Sports.com. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has great information, etc., for ages 11-15 on their website. Check it out! Kids.gov is the place to go for all grade levels for information and activities on health, safety, and fitness, as well as other subjects areas. Traffic Safety Kids Page has a variety of safety information, activities for younger children, and links to many other safety sites. Safety Kids site includes a number of songs to reinforce learning as well as activity pages for children. See Children's Fire Safety Tips for resources on fire safety. Tornado safety and more from FEMA are logged here. National Severe Storms Laboratory has primers and coloring books on all weather-related safety issues. For personal safety issues, check out the McGruff (formerly FBI) website. Kidd Safety is a good interactive site for children. It includes home, bike, playground safety, and more. PROJECTS Having animals in the classroom can be a great asset -- or a liability. If this is something you are considering, check out the ASCAP's site for "Animals in the Classroom: Should You or Shouldn't You? Sometimes the best classroom "pets" are invertebrates. NSTA's Science and Children has a good article on this in the Sept. 2007 issue. More online about the best classroom invertebrates here. If your school is considering putting in a science lab or updating the current one? Sargent Welch has a Science Room Design Planner that can help you get started, look at trends, etc. For chemical safety, Flinn Scientific has material data safety sheets (MDFS) on just about anything you can think of. Click on the safety icon and download free. All Science Teachers, if you or your school can possibly afford it, consider joining the National Science Teachers of America (NSTA). Their monthly magazine, Science and Children, is worth the membership cost. they also publish a quarterly newspaper loaded with websites, free and nearly free materials, and more. Even if you can't afford to join the organization, bookmark its website for lots of good stuff, including reviews of outstanding trade books for children. Locally, you don't want to miss out on Miami University Center for Chemical Education and really Terrific Science programs and activities. Its newsletter is available online, and its workshops are well worth attending (but ya gotta get your name in quick!). |
updated August, 2008