Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Padlet TA is a helpful assistant for creating many educational work documents without requiring registration for most tasks. Options include lesson planning, worksheet creation, text-leveling tools, and more. After choosing a tool, complete the form that asks for information like grade level, topic, and additional context. Add a file, content from Google Drive, a link, or a YouTube video. Adding content from Google Drive requires logging in to a Padlet account. After adding information, click the bright yellow/green bubble next to the form to generate content. When finished, copy the text to a document, export it to Google Docs or PDF, or use the share link to share the URL of a view-only version of your prompt and output.

tag(s): artificial intelligence (182), assessment (148), images (264), qr codes (19), quizzes (91), rubrics (38), Teacher Utilities (200), worksheets (70)

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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Geniventure is a gamified, engaging way to explore genetics by breeding and studying virtual dragons. The site is developed by The Concord Consortium, a nonprofit educational research organization. Geniventure includes both online and offline activities. Students play through six levels of challenges, conducting simulated experiments that generate realistic and meaningful genetic data. A free account is required and includes a full teacher guide that tracks student progress and provides teaching strategies.

tag(s): gamification (83), genetics (80)

Science with the Amoeba Sisters provides high school biology resources for educators, including videos, comics, and instructions for collaborative teacher-student video creation. The most robust offerings are the many videos on the Amoeba Sister's YouTube channel. Each video is less than ten minutes long; view the playlist to find content sorted by topic. Many videos are available in Portuguese and Spanish. Several videos also include downloadable recap handouts. The recap handouts are printable worksheets for students that complement each video. Find these handouts by selecting from the box for educators at the top of each video when available. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be available to you.

tag(s): body systems (40), cells (82), ecology (103), genetics (80), human body (93), mitosis (9)

Mensa for Kids provides free, high-quality resources for kids and educators that promote empowering intelligence in children. To promote reading across a variety of genres, take advantage of the Excellence in Reading Program. This program provides reading lists by grade categories that students print, then rate books on a five-star system. Complete the entire list and return to Mensa for Kids to receive a free t-shirt! Select the "Teach" category to find lesson plans and TED Connection Guides for classroom use. The Games portion of the site shares math and language activities shared in conjunction with Arcademics, reviewed here.

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Life Science teachers, this site is just for you! Bioicons is a huge collection of open source icons and Creative Commons images filtered for use by the life science community. Search the over 16,000 options by selecting a category using a keyword search. Click on any image to download as an SVG file or copy onto your clipboard in Chrome/Edge browsers. Some licenses require attribution, be sure to view the attribution information included for each icon.

tag(s): animals (294), cells (82), charts and graphs (172), genetics (80), images (264), molecules (43), STEM (298)

Numerade is an interactive science and math platform that contains over one million video lessons taught by top educators from around the US. Engage with the site's content through several different options, including questions found in many textbooks, test prep books, or "Winter Break Bootcamps" that provide short, focused lessons on topics such as calculus and physics. Each lesson is a video explanation of specific questions and uses whiteboards to draw and share information. Registration isn't necessary to view and share videos; it provides the opportunity to create classrooms by importing information from Google Classroom or manually creating a class. Use your class information to build and share playlists with students. Registered users also have the option to create and share videos with students.

tag(s): chemicals (39), genetics (80), statistics (121), STEM (298), test prep (69), variables (14), video (266)

Adobe Education and Khan Academy have partnered to share guided activities for all grade levels from kindergarten through higher learning. Activities begin with Khan Academy created materials to build knowledge through activities that encourage creation, self-expression, and immersion in the topics provided. Select any topic to view a description and correlation to ISTE learning standards. Topics include math, language and literature, science, and social studies. Sign in to download each lesson to your computer that provides for links to all activities and tutorials for using technology tools included in the activities.

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Do you struggle to find quality resources for teaching STEM lessons? Check out over 260 lessons and units provided on this comprehensive website. Use filters to choose grade level, content, and type of activity, or use the keyword search to locate specific content. All resources include correlation to science standards and most include several interactives and online response options.

tag(s): animals (294), cells (82), dna (43), earthquakes (46), engineering (129), equations (119), genetics (80), measurement (122), plants (146), pollution (53), problem solving (233), space (220), stars (70), STEM (298), temperature (34), weather (160)

Decoding Cancer brings cancer research to the high school classroom. The site includes many standards-based interactive lessons applying knowledge in genetics, pathology, and more. Find a Cancer Treatment Virtual Lab for students to learn how to order tests and treatments for cancer patients. Decoding Cancer also features career profiles introducing students to health-care professions and an extensive glossary featuring doctor and scientist's terminology.

tag(s): genetics (80), human body (93), medicine (57)

Science in the Classroom offers free annotated research articles and teaching materials. Choose any item to read each article in full. Dig a little deeper by selecting a Learning Lens, found at the bottom of any article under Teaching Resources, to focus on specific information within the article such as conclusions or connections to standards highlighted by different colors. Also, this site offers Thought Questions for each article allowing readers to extend thinking beyond the information provided. Some selections include videos. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): animals (294), cells (82), diseases (66), drugs and alcohol (28), genetics (80), human body (93), medicine (57), plants (146), STEM (298)

Find free tools and resources for teaching genetics, bioscience, and health at Teach.Genetics. Scroll down the page to view an alphabetized list of all available curriculum models, or choose the link to the Curriculum Index at the top of the page to find the complete list of available materials. Each model includes complete teaching materials, including student and teacher guides as well as supplemental material such as worksheets and quizzes.

tag(s): body systems (40), evolution (89), genealogy (8), genetics (80), heart (27), human body (93)

Make science fun using Untamed Science. Focusing on biology and ecology, these videos and quick fact pages offer high interest and fast-paced information in many topics. Search or browse through the full list of videos. Begin at either Tree of Life or Biology to find categories within each section. Be sure to also check out the How-to Filmmaking portion of the site to learn about filmmaking, beginning with the basics through advanced filmmaking approaches. If your district blocks YouTube, the video clips may not be viewable. While most topics are appropriate for teenage students, you may want to preview.

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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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This is an extensive, well-designed site which lets viewers create their own personalized study of genetics and DNA. Students can proceed at their own pace through an extensive set of topics, each with explanation, animations, visual materials, and quizzes.

tag(s): dna (43), genetics (80)

Find an impressive array of science resources on this site. View the Big Picture issues that explore issues in science and medicine such as Mental Health, Infectious Disease, Climate and Health to name a few. Download resources for use and use additional online information/interactives.

tag(s): ethics (21), genetics (80)

The Gene Scene offers a vivid and creative way to explore genetics. The site provides interesting facts, interactive games, activities, and information about DNA, cloning, and more. Have you ever been on a Global Grocery Excursion? Students can do this in their cupboards at home or at their local grocery store. Using the Ology questionnaire, plan a genetic journey about curled tongues and wiggly ears.

tag(s): dna (43), genetics (80)

Genetics can be a fairly weighty topic, but this site breaks down complex concepts into easy-to-understand language. Click on each of the six topics - DNA, genes, chromosomes, proteins, heredity, traits - and walk through the videos that provide in-depth descriptions and helpful visuals.

tag(s): dna (43), genetics (80)

This site offers secondary students an extensive exposure to genetics, DNA and gene sequencing, and the problems and procedures that have been tackled to advance current DNA science to its current state. This is a rich resource that could almost serve as a complete tutorial, but teachers will more likely want to use it as a reference tool to supplement classroom or textbook presentations. You'll need strong readers to work through this one.

tag(s): dna (43), genetics (80)

An online resource for understanding the basics of genetics research, as well as related topics such as the Human Genome project and Gene therapy treatments. A good site for High School Biology classes. There is also an interactive children's cartoon helpful for introducing the topic for younger students.

tag(s): genetics (80)