What is it?
Science News for Kids
Who’s it for?
6th -12th grade
Why bother?
This site has tons of interesting articles about current issues and discoveries in science. For instance, a group of chemists recently discovered poison in a store-bought gingerbread man ornament! There are also science fair tips and games. This site is a great resource for researching life science topics for fun or for reports. Each week, directions are available to conduct a science experiment at home.
But…
The majority of Science News for Kids deals with physical science, but there are also math mind games and other sciences.
What is it?
A Visual interpretation of the Table of Elements
www.rsc.org/chemsoc/visualelements
Who’s it for?
7th-12th
Why bother?
This site provides stunning artistic depictions of each element on the periodic table as well as important information about each element such as who discovered it and when, common uses, chemical structure, and it’s origin. A useful and artistically portrayed resource for anyone interested in learning more about the periodic table of elements.
But…
The site requires Flash player or similar software and takes a few seconds to load. If you do not have Flash player, there is a link on the site to get it. There is not a ton of information about each element, but the information is understandable and practical.
What is it?
The Atoms Family
http://www.miamisci.org/af/sln/index.html
Who’s it for?
K-12th
Why bother?
This site, developed by the Miami Museum of Science, has something for everyone because each link within the site has options for different grade levels. Come here to learn more about the properties of waves, light, and particles through conducting your own experiments.
But…
there is a lot of text and younger students will need adult help to help them gather supplies and conduct the experiments.
What is it?
Learning Games for Kids
Who’s it for?
Kinders-2nd
Why bother?
Space games, science songs, and experiment ideas that are kid friendly. The science songs on this site are informative, fun to follow along with, and easy for kids to practice on their own. Just click on the song you want to listen to and an image will come up as the song is sung and the words appear on the screen so it is easy to follow along with. The games available focus on helping kids develop matching skills and keyboarding skills.
But…
What is it?
The Official Kids Portal to the US Government
Who’s it for?
Kinders-8th
Why bother?
This site is divided into two categories, one for K-5th and one for 6th-8th. Energy, living things, our earth, and space and flight are the tabs in the K-5 category. How things work, careers, earth science, inventors and scientists, life science, physical science, science project ideas, and space science are the 6th-8th categories. Within most of the categories, there are sub-categories so it is fairly easy to find specific information without having to hunt around for it. The physical science and space & flight categories are the most rich in terms of physical science resources. This site has at least 100 links to science web sites aimed at students so it is useful for a wide variety of interests, skill levels, and needs.
But…
In order to access the physical science information, children need to click on the tab for their grade band, click on the topic within the tab, and in many cases choose a sub category tab. This is useful for finding specific information; however, it makes it easy to get set on a specific track within the site. Nowhere is there a general overview of the activities available on the site that can be viewed at a glance.
1, 2, 3 Motion with Me
Grade level: Kindergarten
Time: 35 min
Objective: Children will use their bodies and play to help them understand the concept of motion
Materials
· Science journals
Standards:
· Motion is a change in position
Procedure:
· Welcome scientists! Get your science journals out; we’re going to do some thinking.
o Open to your first blank page and write “Ideas about motion” on the left and “What I think now” on the right. Use pencils, markers, or crayons to show what you know. Independent reflection time. 5 min.
o Opportunity to share with whole group.
· Congratulate students on what they already know. Ask if it’s okay if their ideas change and guide them to the understanding that our ideas are always changing.
· Play game- 1,2,3 Motion with Me (10 min)
o Have students stand in a big circle (outside if there’s no room inside) and show them how to play and sing the tune. I’ll start by saying 1,2,3 motion with me and moving my body then all the children mimic the movement. We’ll go around the circle until everyone has had an opportunity to lead the motion changing the types of motions as we go. For instance, fast motions, slow motions, small motions, big motions, motions using particular body parts.
· Play I spy something in motion in table groups (5min)
o I spy with my little eye, something moving . (ex. very slowly, quickly, ect.)
· Have students work with a partner to come up with a definition of what motion is and share with the others at their table group. (5 min)
· Discuss what motion is as a whole group. Ask do you think motion is important, why? (5 min)
· Close with independent journal reflections- “What I think now” (5 min)
Rubric:
Plus- child demonstrated an increased understanding of motion based on journal reflection, contributed ideas during pair and group work, and participated in 1, 2, 3 motion with me.
Check- child demonstrated two of the above three components.
Minus- child demonstrated one or fewer of the above components
AB- absent
Article with curriculum connections:
Science in Early Childhood: Developing and acquiring fundamental concepts and skills.
Content Connections:
· In order to develop a love of scientific inquiry, explorations should begin at an early age
· Paradigm shift from focus on memorization of scientific facts towards analyzing systems and reporting discoveries
· “less is more” curriculum focus
· The best way to learn science is to do science
· Children need to have opportunities to ask and answer questions, do investigations, and learn to utilize problem-solving skills
· “concepts are the building blocks of knowledge”
· Concepts used in science grow and develop as early as infancy
· In preschool and kindergarten, children are developmentally beginning to apply basic concepts to collect and organize data to answer questions. For instance, a science investigation centered on sprouting lima beans likely uses science concepts, counting, and grouping.
· As children explore, they construct their understandings
· Naturalistic experiences-
o major mode of learning for young children. It is the role of the teacher to create an interesting and rich physical science environment and environment in general.
· Informal learning
o Learning initiated or introduced by an adult while a children is having a naturalistic science experience
· Structured learning
o Pre-planned lessons.
· Math concepts are needed to solve science problems so it is fairly easy to teach them in an interdisciplinary way.
· Science education should be conducted in ways that science is practiced- this means that children, even kinders, should be able to understand and use modes of scientific inquiry and reasoning
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