What is it?
Web Weather for Kids
Who’s it for?
2nd-5th graders
Why bother?
This site is neat because of its information about tornados & thunderstorms, hurricanes, blizzards & winter weather, and clouds. For each type of weather, the site explains how it impacts our lives, how it can cause chaos referencing specific events, and how it forms. The information about how each type of weather can cause chaos helps link weather to current events. There are also a couple of matching games to help us learn about the different types of clouds and ideas for science experiments using weather. The glossary has a long list of weather terms and definitions.
But…
This website has some good information, but it is not very big. If you want information about seasons or weather particular to where you live, this is not the place to find it.
What is it?
Geology for Kids
Who’s it for?
5th-8th
Why bother?
This online textbook is divided into the following five chapters: 1) Examining the soil. 2) Earth, rocks, and landforms. 3.) The earth inside and out. 4) An introduction to erosion. 5) Erosion by water processes. Within each chapter, there are roughly a dozen subheadings. As a reader, you can either link to a specific sub-heading by clicking on it in the sidebar or read through the entire chapter. This site is a good resource for research or simply learning more about how the earth works because it describes scientific processes simply and offers a lot of information.
But…
If you choose to read the chapter through rather than click on the subheading links, you only get a little portion of text at a time and have to click the arrow at the bottom of the page to continue. Some people might like having the text broken up in chunks like this, but I found it a little annoying. There are also two google ad boxes on each page which detract from the flow of the text.
What is it?
The Disaster Area
http://www.fema.gov/kids/dizarea.htm
Who’s it for?
Kinders-8th graders
Why bother?
This site has a breadth of information about natural disasters that affect the United States and about how to prepare for them. What an opportunity to link earth science, current events, and safety! The layout of the site is very user friendly and attractive, there are directions on how to protect pets and create a disaster toolkit, and stories written from kids’ perspectives about experiencing natural disasters by “Julia and Robbie, the Disaster Twins.” There is also an option for kids to e-mail FEMA with questions or stories about their own experiences. A multiple choice quiz provides kids with the chance to test themselves on their recall of the information in the site. Each part of the site offers different activities such as wildfire coloring pages and winter storm math (addition word problems). The photos really help visualize what each type of natural disaster can look like.
But...
The site has enough information about each type of disaster and what creates it to serve as a springboard for learning about the science behind them, but does not delve very deeply into the science of each.
What is it?
Oceans and Marine Life Science
http://www.earthskids.com/ek_science-marine.htm
Who’s it for?
Kinders-12th graders
Why bother?
This site has a wealth of resources for all ages! If it has to do with the ocean, you’ll probably find it here- there’s everything from coral reef and whale conservation to preschool lesson plan ideas to marine biology live cams of Monterey Bay to a video depiction of tidal flow around the world.
But…
This site is has so much information that it might be hard for kids to navigate on their own. If I were using this in my lesson planning, I would specify which part of the site I wanted students to explore or have something from the site ready to pull up. Also, no matter what you click on within the site, it opens up in a new window which I found mildly annoying.
What is it
Living in the Greenhouse
http://eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/
Who’s it for?
2nd – 8th graders
Why bother?
This site is all about the climate of our planet. It explains how earth’s cycles affect climate, the greenhouse effect, ancient climate changes, climate events, and news. This site does a great job of explaining some of the different systems that affect and create our climate using detailed images and text that relates the system to our everyday experiences. For instance, the portion about the nitrogen cycle starts out “Take a deep breath. Most of what you just inhaled is ” it then goes on to explain what the nitrogen cycle is and why it matters. I would definitely include this site if I were teaching about weather/climate or if I wanted to learn more about how it works. Plus, you can set the games to three different levels of difficulty so they are challenging for kids of a range of readiness levels.
But…
If you are here for the games, beware that not all of them relate to science, and the ones that do are mostly activities (science crosswords and word-searches) rather than games that will help you further your learning.
Lesson plan draft
Climate
Grade level: 1st/2nd
Time: 45-50 min
Objective:
· Children will be able to articulate what climate is in their own words and gain practice taking turns through engaging a small group share.
Materials
· Science journals
· Internet access
· Chart paper or document camera
Standards:
· Answer questions by explaining observations in the natural world.
Procedure:
1. Pre-assess: “Climate is…” Students respond in their science journals using words and/or pictures. (5 min)
2. Share ideas in table groups using a speaking stick to help the children take turns speaking (3 min)
3. Whole group share and children create their own working definition of climate together. I will record the definition. (5 min)
4. Ask children to think about their definition and think about what they would add or change while we watch Bill Nye the Science Guy: Climates (available on youtube.com ~25 minutes)
a. Have children write or draw two things they learned as they are watching the movie
b. Think-pair-share after the movie about what things the children learned
5. Revise definition of climate based on what the children learn from watching Bill Nye
a. Ask children if it’s okay that the definition changed and our ideas changed? Ask what would happen if our ideas never changed?
6. Post-assess: “Climate is…” Students respond in their science journals using words and/or pictures. (5 min)
7. Closing debrief- group discussion about the importance of having different climates and the interdependence of life. Lay the groundwork for talking about climate change and the formation of a class action project. (5-10 min)
Rubric:
2 (meeting) - child expanded on their initial definition and included in their response something that showed the child understood that climate is the usual weather in a place.
1 (approaching) - child either did not expand on their initial definition in an accurate way or did not convey the understanding that climate is fairly consistent.
Article with curriculum connections:
Good science education: What it is and why we need it
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/44/7a/ba.pdf
Recommendations-
· Science is often viewed in isolation, but it has strong connection to art and math and children’s natural curiosity could be better engaged if teachers taught in a more interdisciplinary way.
· Good science education emphasizes how to think, not what to think. It guides children in observing and understanding the world around them.
· Hands-on inquiry based instruction is where it’s at.
· Have children share preconceptions about each topic, explore in a risk-free environment, reflect on what they have learned, support the conclusions they draw, demonstrate understanding by applying what they know to a new situation.
· Include multiple activities that build on each other to help foster conceptual understanding.
· Five components of quality K-8 science instruction: Inquiry centered, professional development in science methods and inquiry based instruction, centralized science materials available to all teachers in the school or district, performance assessments of student learning, administrator and community support.
· Build bridges between formal and informal science education.
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