Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Built to support the next generation of science leaders, The Wonder of Science shares many excellent free resources for science teachers of all grades. Information includes linked lessons offered by grade level, standards, and type of activity. Select the resources link to find printable activities, mini-lessons, assessments, planning, implementation, etc. From the home page, select videos to find videos linked by Next Generation Science Standards. A helpful video walkthrough of the site is available on the home page, and it provides a quick look at what is included and how to find resources. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

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Find ideas for science activities using everyday household items, learn from engaging videos, play games, and complete professional development courses at this fantastic site offered by the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Choose the Science at Home activities to find engaging activities to complete at home, such as making slime or creating a rubber band bungee cord to drop an egg safely. Each activity includes a list of items needed, instructions, and a simple explanation of the science concept. Many activities also include video demonstrations. The video portion of the site shares information on various topics such as hatching baby chicks and understanding forces used in elevators. Be sure to visit the educators' part of the site that includes directions for learning labs, science education webinars, and Jr. Science Cafes, sharing discussions with professionals in the medical field and the impact of COVID.

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The Young Scientist Lab features materials for parents, students, and teachers to explore a world of scientific innovation and opportunities. Click Science Starters to find materials for teachers that include lesson plans, interactives, and challenge support materials. For students, the site provides activities and features on scientists at work. Under Science Starters you will also find Science At Home with family activities with several engaging experiments to perform at home for students in grades K-8.

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Science4Fun is a place for learning about science through short articles and interesting experiments. Choose a science topic to begin your learning experience. Easy to read information and images provide background on subjects including plants, animals, and more. Scroll down the home page to find experiments for learning about floatation, magnets, and energy. Each experiment includes a complete materials list and instructions.
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Design Challenge Learning offers several lesson plans correlated to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards based on STEM concepts. Begin your search by choosing For Educators from the top menu. From there, find a menu on the left that has links to Lessons and Activities, Field Trips, Virtual Student Programming, and more. From Lessons and Activities you can browse content by subject and topic. Each lesson includes questioning prompts, vocabulary, standards, and information on core concepts.

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City Technology offers resources for students and educators to learn about engineering. You learn through the creation of projects and integration across curricular areas such as math and science. The page for kids shares projects for kids to create on their own. Each project features a video showing how to make the item and a list of materials needed. Choose the section for educators to find complete units on Energy Systems, Force and Motion, and Stuff that Works correlated to math and science standards. Each unit includes a video and downloadable lesson plans.

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View this superb YouTube channel that explains physics ideas in simple terms along with animations. Minute Physics includes many wonderful questions to interest students. Annoying ads come up first, so preload and pause before sharing with a group. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
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Play physics inspired games from this website or embed them on your own. These activities are great for any age. Younger students will learn through exploration, trial, and error while older students will be able to understand the physics concepts behind the games. They encourage students to start exploring concepts such as energy, force, velocity, gravity, etc. There is a lot of advertising, but at least the sound can be turned off if it bothers you.
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tag(s): energy (133), forces (37), gravity (43), motion (47)

CK-12 offers a large variety of lessons and resources in STEM topics mostly geared for sixth grade and higher. Choose to access the site as a student or teacher to begin. Search by specific content or to find standards-aligned flexbook textbooks. Download flexbooks in several formats such as PDF or mobi and epub format for use on Kindle and e-readers. Create an account and add flexbooks to your list. Add your own files and resources. Specific topic searches provide links to information from flexbooks as well as available study aids, activities, and assessments.

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Advertised as "An ocean of teacher-approved marine education resources", this site offers resources, lesson plans, and data that teachers can take and use in their classrooms. Resources can be accessed in several ways according to the your needs. Choose Ocean Science topics to sort by type such as biology, chemistry, physics, and more. There are even subtopics within these categories to refine searches further to specific needs such as vertebrates/invertebrates or plants. Another link goes directly to lesson plans with choices for data activities, secondary/middle, or elementary level plans sorted by grade level. Note: Some lessons are offered through other sites and will open in a new page. If you are open to any ideas, you may want to try the Teacher Top Pick or Featured site to find lessons for classroom use.

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This website features answers to new science questions everyday. If the simple answer is not enough for you, there are helpful links, and suggested additional reading if you would like a greater understanding of the concept. Even more information is available through using the categorized science facts found on the left side of the screen. Questions are also searchable by keyword. Subjects include: physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, mathematics, geology, engineering, and medicine.
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Physics To Go is an online, biweekly magazine with great ideas for physics related teaching, experiments, and pictures. The site is easy to navigate and is formatted much like a page out of a newspaper. Archives are accessible through issue and topic organization, subjects under browse, and are fully searchable within the site. Many additional links for more research are available. This could prove to be indispensable for the high school physical science and physics teachers.

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This site designed by School for Champions is a great introduction to the basics of Physics. One of the neatest features of this site, beyond its straightforward scientific information, is that the information can be read to the students. The function is embedded in the site! This would be very helpful for learning support students and other vision impaired students.

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Looking for a variety of physics resources? Wishing there were resources for younger students? Look no more! Find a vast array of physics resources at your fingertips. Browse units arranged by course. Courses include "Physical Science K-8," "Physics First," "Conceptual Physics," "Algebra Based Physics," and "AP Calc Based Physics." Find all topics in your course by a simple drop down menu. Registration and login is not required to use the material though it is required to leave a rating for the material. Our editors noted that some activities, though labeled for younger students, may still be text-heavy.

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Here's another site from the Exploratorium. A high-tech look at the physics involved in hockey, baseball, skateboarding, surfing, and other sports. Younger kids can grasp the concepts; older students can learn the details. There are webcasts, interactives, and more.

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Come to this site to view animation videos, practice online science activities, and learn about science at this interesting site. The videos bring many important science topics alive, including the physics of motion, structures, and more. Examples of movies include "Cleaning Dirty Water," "Exploring Lungs," or "Bouncy Custard Balls." Topics vary from pollution to the human body to levers to making homemade bouncy balls! Print Activity sheets that correspond to the movies as Adobe pdf documents.

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Although this website doesn't have a lot of "bells and whistles." It is very useful to learn more about the physics behind thrill rides, the history of the roller coaster, and more. The site provides statistical information, historical information, construction information, and more about various thrill rides (mainly roller coasters). Did you ever wonder what the tallest steel roller coaster was in the world? This website provides a "record book" with a wide variety of statistical information about what roller coasters can claim to be the tallest, longest, fastest, and more.

tag(s): motion (47)

Here's the latest in the Exploratorium's series on the physics of sports. The science of hockey includes information on the physics of skating, the materials used in the game equipment, and the reaction times required to stop a puck moving at 90 miles per hour. There's lots of great exploring in this one.

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From an exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, this site offers an introduction to Einstein's work that mere mortals can understand. Einstein set the world of physics and cosmology on its head by showing that forces like time and gravity are variable, not constant. The implications of these discoveries let to the creation of entirely new sciences. There is much to learn here.

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This is an extensive collection of multi-media physics lessons that are both instructional and entertaining. These lessons cover a wide range of topics using Flash and (optionally) short Quicktime movies. There are lots of instructional possibilities here.

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