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Get Caught Recycling - The Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Grades
K to 12tag(s): energy (207), natural resources (58), recycling (60), resources (107)
In the Classroom
Research how to recycle materials including e-waste on this site. Follow with research about recycling in your state. For Earth Day or everyday, use this site to raise awareness about the energy that is used to create items and how energy can be saved by using recycled materials. Encourage students to keep track of what items their family throws away (or make an audit of what is thrown away at school). Students can research statistics about the various items used in the United States and abroad including the most discarded items in landfills. Research why recycling is an important endeavor to combat pollution and energy use. Assign small groups to create a public service announcement for your school or community to learn more about the benefits and encourage recycling. Use one of the many multimedia tools reviewed by TeachersFirst here. Initiate a recycling campaign and create a center for recycling many items from the school including e-waste. Classes can tally the pounds of materials saved for recycling including paper. Have students create informational commercials and share them using a hosting service such as SchoolTube reviewed here. Use the many broadcast and print resources on this site as inspiration.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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What Tree Is It? - Ohio Public Library Information Network
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Stumped at the naming and identification of trees? This easy to use resource is a great one for students who tend to be confused with conventional dichotomous keys. Find samples of these trees on your school campus, community, or elsewhere. Use this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector as a class to demonstrate how to use a dichotomous key and explain how features of a leaf are much like our features (different and useful for identifying). Use the samples to work as lab groups to identify the name of the tree and report about tree uses. Be sure to discuss the importance of tree variety in the environment for all living things. Research the animals that call each of these trees their home or depend upon them for food or shelter. Consider clever projects about the trees. Create a wanted poster for your tree including uses of the tree by humans or other animals. For example, the Butternut Tree would read: "Wanted for imitating the Black Walnut. Last seen in ravines and stream bottoms. Reward of the Butternut's sweet flavored and oily nuts offered by squirrels." Encourage critical thinking of students by bringing a variety of leaves (attached to twigs). Students work as a class to create the characteristics to help identify them, focusing on only two choices at one time. Test their identification key with a leaf not encountered yet.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Groundwater Adventurers - National Groundwater Association
Grades
K to 12tag(s): conservation (128), ecology (138), natural resources (58), pollution (65), water (134), water cycle (32)
In the Classroom
Use the many experiments with your students to understand the importance of water, its use, where it is found on Earth, and problems associated with water resources. Experiments are divided by grade into Pee Wee Adventurers, Junior Adventurers, and Senior Adventurers. Use the Edible Earth parfaits with primary grades to identify water resources. Discuss how we use water and how water is necessary for life. For high school students, the Hydrogeology Experiment on Surface Water is a wonderful experiment in observing water runoff of various surfaces. Use these as inquiry activities before discussing fully in class, drawing on what students observe from the activity as you discuss the important content about water resources. Be sure to connect student understanding about the water cycle to material learned on this site. Identify how water is wasted in the home and at school. Create pledges for students and their families to conserve water resources. In the middle grades, create an Aquifer in a Cup. Create an action campaign, pairing a fact about water learned from the site and a specific recommendation to students and their families that can help reduce water use and pollution. Create posters or announcements that increase the knowledge of the student body. Have students create online posters using Poster My Wall, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Carbon Cycle Game - Windows2Universe
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): carbon (23), carbon dioxide (15), carbon footprint (11), climate (95), climate change (70), fossil fuels (18)
In the Classroom
Follow the terrific directions in the For Teachers section including items students should record as they work through the interactive. Review the assessment and extension activities for outstanding ideas. Encourage students to create a paragraph of the journey of their carbon atom or a concept map outlining the stops and science behind the journey. Find many excellent concept mapping tools here. Research climate change and ways to reduce the amount of carbon at specific steps. Research and present to the class various energy alternatives and ways to reduce carbon released into the atmosphere. Identify the carbon footprint of different countries and identify ways to reduce this footprint. Create a public service announcement to raise awareness of small changes everyone can do.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Rainforest Concern - Rainforestconcern.org
Grades
K to 12tag(s): animals (322), ecology (138), ecosystems (93), environment (325), medicine (70), natural resources (58), plants (174), rainforests (21), resources (107)
In the Classroom
The Rainforest Concern will make a colorful overview introduction to the rainforest. Learn about its features as a class using an interactive whiteboard or projector. As you read about the various animals or plants, discuss what the animals would sound like or what the plants would hear around them. Create a travel brochure about the rainforest with the information that you find on this site. Expand your research to find more information than found on this site. For example, assign a project to find other rainforest plants with the potential for medicinal use. Find other items from the rainforest that are useful to others (and whose harvest does not destroy the rainforest). Create a pledge campaign, informing others and joining in to reduce the purchase of items that destroy the rainforest. Become a plant or animal from the rainforest and write a short story from that organism's point of view including the interaction with other organisms it would encounter. Use one of the many Digital Storytelling tools, reviewed here. Publish the class stories as "Stories from the Rainforest."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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American Rivers: Rivers Connect Us - American Rivers
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): pollution (65), rivers (25), water (134), watersheds (15)
In the Classroom
Waterways are an important resource for wildlife, the economy, and recreation. Find great information about their usefulness on this site when discussing waterways with your class. Compare the various regions in terms of waterway use, conservation issues, and wildlife. Use a tool like Calemeo, reviewed here, and this site to create a recreation pamphlet outlining the highlights of different waterways. Bring a local water expert into the class to talk about water resources. Find inspiration for helping a local waterway. This would be a great activity for an ambitious class, environmental club, gifted students, or those looking for community service. Join in the undertakings of this site or find a local group to take action.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Antarctica: The Frozen Continent of the South Pole - Enchanted Learning
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animals (322), antarctica (30), continents (51)
In the Classroom
Provide this link to students on your class page. Provide time to view various pages of the site to gather general information to discuss as a class. Be sure to share the view from space and the map/geography on an interactive whiteboard or projector to the whole class. Identify the various Antarctic visitors (both human and other animals that come and go). Students can write a letter home and pretend to be one of the many visitors using information from this site in their creation. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, have students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Telegra.ph, reviewed here. This blog creator requires no registration. If you are teaching younger students and looking for an easy way to integrate technology and check for understanding, challenge your students to create a blog using EasyBlog, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Evolution - WGBH/NOVA Science Unit and Clear Blue Sky Productions
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): animals (322), evolution (102), fossils (46), geologic time (10), plants (174)
In the Classroom
Provide this link on your class page for students to access. Provide time in class for students to view specific links as groups and report their findings in a class discussion. Be sure to check out the case studies found in the For Teachers section for great advice on teaching evolution to students and overcoming misconceptions and misunderstandings. Use the activities in the downloadable Teacher's Guide. Rather than debate evolution, encourage students to identify the misconceptions of evolution and identify the scientific evidence against these misconceptions. To help students, discuss the reasons why understanding evolution is important.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Science of Innovation - NBC Learn
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): energy (207), human body (132), inventors and inventions (92)
In the Classroom
Although part of a larger pay for use site, this portion of the site is free. Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a unit or lesson on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Use this site as the starting point for individual or group projects. Take advantage of the free lesson plan and incorporate suggestions into your current units. Have students brainstorm or collect ideas on other innovative ideas on a collaborative bulletin board like Scrumblr, reviewed here (quick start- no membership required!). As an extension to the lessons on Bionic Limbs, Electronic Tattoos, Self Driving Cars, and several others, you may want to visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) site, reviewed here, to learn how the inventors patented their creations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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If It Were My Home - Disasters - Andy Lintner
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to show the disaster placed over where students live. Discuss the areas that would be affected, noting waterways, major buildings or attractions, and how the area would be affected by such a disaster. Have a discussion about short term and long term effects on the environment, jobs, and people's lives. Provide time for students to choose locations in the world to place the disasters. Search the various areas for jobs, agriculture, attractions, and native animals/plants that are affected. Identify how all disasters are devastating no matter where they are, including research on other problems that occur after the disaster. Write a letter to the editor expressing viewpoints of a disaster. Learn about how to best prepare and handle a disaster. Identify the different cultures in areas of the US and elsewhere and how relief needs can be different.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Water Use It Wisely - Park & Co
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): conservation (128), natural resources (58), water (134)
In the Classroom
Use the information from this site for inspiration in the creation of digital or conventional posters for water conservation. Create a campaign for increasing water conservation in school and at home. Survey the school community on their water usage using a tool such as SurveyRock, reviewed here. Calculate the amount of water saved as a Math activity. Use this site on a computer during learning centers when studying other environmental issues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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World of Dinosaurs - Virneth Studios
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): dinosaurs (55), paleontology (42)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. The site is text heavy. Consider pairing weaker readers with stronger readers. After students explore the site, have small groups create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here. Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here, to describe the life and times of dinosaur species. At the time of this review the "Eggs" game did not appear to work.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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e-learning for kids - Hearing - Dr. Nick van Dam
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): human body (132), senses (31)
In the Classroom
Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector during your unit on the five senses, body systems, or sound. Setup a station in your classroom and rotate students through it. The text portions might be challenging for ESL/ELL and younger students. Pair stronger readers with weaker readers. Ask students to create flashcards for different parts of the ear, using an online flashcard maker, like Flashcard Stash, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Curriculumbits.com - Curriculumbits.com
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): acids and bases (11), angles (87), computers (102), critical thinking (120), dance (27), design (88), differentiation (53), earth (224), elements (34), french (91), german (66), human body (132), plants (174), pythagorean theorem (33), resources (107), shakespeare (110), video (278)
In the Classroom
Use Curriculumbits.com to enhance the technology in your lessons and capture kids' attention. Use as a model for creating your own videos. Use this tool as an example for students to create videos. Use as a way to review on the subject matter you are currently studying. Discuss the elements needed for creating successful resources. Have our student create videos for summative assessments. Offer gifted students the challenge of synthesizing new knowledge, while you can support differentiation with already made resources, or creating a resource together in a small group. Begin an e-learning school fair at your school, featuring e-learning ideas that students have created. Create a link on your webpage for students to access at home. Share with parents as enrichment to what is happening in your class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ABC Splash - ABC TV and Radio Australia
Grades
K to 10tag(s): addition (227), animals (322), antarctica (30), atmosphere (31), australia (37), cells (99), climate change (70), continents (51), counting (113), decimals (125), division (161), earth (224), earthquakes (50), ecosystems (93), egypt (67), energy (207), environment (325), food chains (24), forces (45), forensics (26), fossil fuels (18), game based learning (139), gold rush (19), human body (132), immigration (60), insects (72), light (51), maps (298), molecules (45), money (185), multiplication (211), nuclear energy (25), nutrition (159), oceans (165), parts of speech (67), percent (82), perimeter (31), place value (54), plants (174), probability (141), rhymes (30), rocks (52), songs (53), sound (105), subtraction (187), time (141), vietnam (34), volcanoes (66), weather (201), whole numbers (16), world war 1 (55), world war 2 (142)
In the Classroom
This site is excellent for enrichment. Include it on your class web page for students to access both in and out of class. Share this link on your class web page and/or in a parent newsletter for help with homework and school projects. These high-quality media resources will engage your students and enhance their learning.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Ask Smithsonian - Smithsonian Institution
Grades
3 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animals (322), bacteria (30), human body (132), insects (72), plants (174), space (221), time (141), video (278)
In the Classroom
Share a few of these short videos on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Choose a video and have students complete a quick write or Know-Want-to-Know-Learned (KWL) chart to put down what they THINK they know about the topic. Find a ready-made KWL chart at 25 Language Arts Graphic Organizers, reviewed here. Show the video and have students write about what they learned. Use some of them as a segue into a subject you will introduce in class or for mini-research.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Geographic Education - National Geographic
Grades
K to 12tag(s): animals (322), climate change (70), commoncore (102), earth day (105), ecology (138), energy (207), food chains (24), map skills (84), maps (298), migration (58), multimedia (62), oceans (165), STEM (174), weather (201)
In the Classroom
Be sure to bookmark (or favorite) this site for use throughout the year to find real-world resources for classroom use. Don't forget to look for materials on National Geographic for use with Earth Day and Arbor Day activities! Differentiate easily using the multiple levels of materials found within National Geographic. Some text portions are challenging, so you should pair weaker readers with a partner as they research on this site. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here, or Venngage, reviewed here. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Wordle, reviewed here, or WordItOut, reviewed here. If you use Apple products in your classroom, be sure to download the interactive iBooks for use in classroom centers or independent reading.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CurriConnects Booklist: Taking Care of Me - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): book lists (131), cooking (31), dental health (22), fitness (50), independent reading (129), nutrition (159), sports (99)
In the Classroom
This collection could accompany a unit in health, science, or physical education. These books provide experience with both fiction and nonfiction informational texts. They often require students to draw inferences about the "facts." Allow students (or partners) to choose their own book. Share this list with your school library/media specialist or public library, as well, for them to "pull" books in support of your science/social studies units. Extend the experience by having students create visual presentations of the concepts they learn. Challenge students to create a presentation using Prezi, reviewed here, or Zoho Show, (similar to Powerpoint, but easier and free) - reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CurriConnects Booklist: Animals and Habitats - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 10tag(s): animal homes (61), animals (322), arctic (46), australia (37), book lists (131), deserts (18), habitats (106), independent reading (129), wetlands (11)
In the Classroom
This collection could accompany a unit about animals, weather, habitats, landforms, or other topics. Some of these books would also connect well when teaching units (or classes) on character, friendship, coping strategies, and more. These books provide experience with both fiction and nonfiction informational texts. They often require students to draw inferences about the "facts." Allow students (or partners) to choose their own book. Share this list with your school library/media specialist or public library, as well, for them to "pull" books in support of your science/social studies units. Extend the experience by having students create visual presentations of the concepts they learn. Share projects using one of these reviewed presentation tools from the TeachersFirst Edge.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Environmental Impact of Human Addiction - Steps To Recovery
Grades
9 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): drugs and alcohol (25), environment (325), plants (174), soil (18)
In the Classroom
Use this resource when discussing the impact human activity has on the environment. Have student groups collect information from this site to present to others in the class along with the health effects they learned in health class. Be sure to discuss as a class man's environmental impact on the world. Tie in other environmental issues such as monoculture (no matter whether the planted crop is corn or an illicit crop). What environmental laws could combat current soil and pesticide pollution in all crops?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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