biologyforkids.com
Who’s it for?
5th or 6th -12th grade
Why bother?
This site is really neat because it explains scientific language and processes with everyday words and lots of informative pictures. It is a great resource for those working on learning introductory life science biology such as the scientific method as well as more advanced concepts like the difference between eukaryotic cells and prokaryotic cells. Interactive true/false quizzes help make the site fun and are useful study tools because all the information can be found somewhere on the site.
But…
This site does a great job explaining cells and functions of cells, but does not explain the big picture of what life science looks like or why we should value it. There are a few ads here and there too.
What is it?
Science World Bodyworks games:http://www.scienceworld.ca/fun_stuff/playstuff/bodyworksgames.html
Who’s it for?
This site provides fun and challenge for any school-age child. The better you get at the games, the more challenging they become!
Why bother?
This site is so fun and there’s a lot of learning to be had in the six games available. Follow a camera through the human body and guess where you are in Art and Spleen’s Most Excellent Adventure, learn about some of the leg muscles and coordination needed to ride a bike as you outrun a dog in Muscle Hustle, explore your ability to make precise movements as a snowboarder in Curve Control, and several others. Watch out, because this site might get you hooked on life sciences. If you get bored with the games, check out the Fun Stuff tab on the left for ideas about projects to try at home, fun facts, and more science games.
But…
The six life science games are part of the Tellus World of Science museum website so a lot of the site besides the games is intended for potential museum visits.
What is it?
Center of the cell:
http://www.centreofthecell.org/
Who’s it for?
6th or 7th – 12th
Why bother?
Two games on this site, Organ Surgery and Explore a Cell are useful and fun interactive tools for learning about anatomy. In Explore a cell, you are the doctor and your patient needs you to repair one of their body systems. To do this, you have to figure out what parts of the body work together to help the patient live. For example, if your patient needs help breathing, you have to figure out which parts of the body are needed for breathing within a set time limit or your patient dies. In Explore a Cell, you explore the contents of different types of 3D cells and the site really shows what the different part of the cells look like, how they are different from other cells, and why they are important.
But…
The two games are accessible from the main web page, but the majority of the site is geared toward educators and those in the medical field.
What is it?
Nutrition Café:
http://exhibits.pacsci.org/nutrition/nutrition_cafe.html
Who’s it for?
4rd-10th graders
Why bother?
Learn about nutrition with these interactive games. If you like hangman, you’ll probably like Nutrition Sleuth or if Jeopardy is up your ally, you’ll likely have fun with Grab a Grape. Grab a Grape is neat because you get to choose your own Jeopardy categories. You can also check and see if you are eating healthily by putting your age, sex, and the foods you eat into the interactive menu planner.
But…
Watch out, you don’t get very many guesses in the games before it explains the answer so it could get frustrating.
What is it?
A Walk in the Woods:
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/woods/02.html
Who’s it for?
Kinders-5th graders
Why bother?
This site takes you through walks in the woods and points out lots of different living things in the forest that you might not usually notice and explains how to stay safe when exploring forests. The site uses real forest pictures and a narrator reads what is written about each image so it doesn’t matter if you’re a reader yet or not. Plus, the site is also available in Spanish! There are also fun art projects you can do and print like designing your own forest scene using things that actually live in forests. The third portion of the site provides lots of pictures of common forest creature and plants. If you click on one of the pictures, it takes you to a story about the creature or plant and the narrator reads all about it to you. If you want, you can send in what you saw on your own forest adventure for publishing on the site.
But…
This is a great site for primary and intermediate students. I suppose, it could get a little boring because the narrator does not sound very excited and the site is mostly him telling about forests using pictures.
Lesson Plan Draft-
Introduction to Wetland Habitats
Grade level: Kindergarten
Time: 50-60 min
Objective: Introduce children to wetlands and the word habitat
Materials
· Science journals
· Wetland area to go on a walk
· Chart paper and marker to record student ideas
· Pencils, markers, and crayons for student work
· Near one Cattail: Turtles, logs, and leaping frogs by Fredericks and Dirubbio
Performance Expectation:
| Grades K-1 | Plant and Animal Parts | Habitats | Classifying Plants and Animals | ||
| Plants and animals meet their needs in different ways. | Habitats are places that meet the daily needs of plants and animals. | Both plants and animals have different characteristics that can be used to classify them. | |||
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Procedure:
1. Pre-Assessment: Individual science notebook work-
a. Use a pencil, paper, or crayons to show what you know about the wetlands.
2. Read- Near one Cattail: Turtles, logs, and leaping frogs.
3. Brainstorm and chart as a group what we need to do to stay safe when we are outside as scientists (ex. Stay with the group, listen to directions, use walking feet, ect.) as well as what should happen if we forget (ex. Stay with teacher, reminder from another student, ect.).
4. Go for a walk in a wetland and take science notebooks.
5. Draw pictures or write notes about what we see.
6. Sit in a big circle outside and discuss our findings. Provide each child with an opportunity to share a small blurb or picture of one thing they noticed. List as children share.
7. Ask-
a. Is this a good place for the plants and animals we noticed on our walk to live? If not, where would be a better place?
8. Use information from discussion about what makes an environment a good place to live or not to introduce the word habitat.
9. Go back inside. On a new page of you science journal, record three things you learned about wetlands today using crayons, markers, or a pencil.
RUBRIC-
0=check in with child. Child could not record any new learning about wetlands.
1/beginning=child noted one thing s/he learned that is accurate about wetlands.
2/approaching= child noted two things s/he learned that are accurate about wetlands.
3/meeting= child noted three things s/he learned that are accurate about wetlands.
Enhancing the science in elementary science methods: A collaborative effort between science education and entomology:
Curriculum Connections
· This article provides suggestions for contextualizing science such as:
o Field studies (ex. Collecting insects)
o Involving students in laboratory investigations rather than simply having them conduct a given experiment (ex. observing insects the kids collect as a basis for learning science concepts)
o Using student generated questions from observations to guide science study
o Integrating games and songs
o Teachers keeping journals to reflect on implications for teaching science and on children’s ideas about the nature of science
o Whole group discussions designed to foster a community of scientists in which each group shared their progress, findings, and questions
o Collaboration between scientists and teachers
o “Much work needs to be done in order to minimize the gap between the vision of reform and the reality of classrooms.”
Relevant Performance Expectations
| Grades K-1 | Part-Whole Relationships | Making Observations | Tools and Materials | ||
| Identify parts of living and non-living systems. | Answer questions by explaining observations of the natural world. | Use simple tools and materials to solve problems in creative ways. | |||
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| Grades K-1 | Plant and Animal Parts | Habitats | Classifying Plants and Animals | ||
| Plants and animals meet their needs in different ways. | Habitats are places that meet the daily needs of plants and animals. | Both plants and animals have different characteristics that can be used to classify them. | |||
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