If your third grader has to write a report about landforms, try these websites:

1. Continents explained (with humor)
2. Explore the Colorado
3. Geography Games
4. Geography Quiz Game
5. Geologic movies–great and fun
6. Landforms—matching games, etc.
7. Mapping Game
8. Rainforest life—people, etc.
9. Rainforest tree house—virtual game
10. Rainforest—Enchanted Learning
11. Rainforests
12. The Colorado River
13. Virtual tour–undersea  

If any of these website links don’t work, please click here for an update. (more…)

Time: About 30 minutes

Steps:

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On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first man to place foot on the moon. Commemorate that this year with an exciting collection of websites and apps that take your students to the Moon. Here are some you’ll like:

1. Apollo 11: Countdown to Launch via Google Earth
2. Apollo 11 VR
3. Google Moon–see the Moon in 3D with your Google Earth app
4. How we are going to the Moon–video
5. If the Moon Were Only One Pixel…
6. JFK Challenge — takes kids to the Apollo 11
7. NASA Educator Guide to the Moon (for teachers)
8. NASA’s Musical Playlist–88 million viewers of 188 songs
9. Moon Phase Simulation Viewed from Earth and Space (interactive, elementary and middle school)—and associated Lesson Plan
10. Observing the Moon in the Sky (interactive, elementary)
11. Moonrise to Moonset (media gallery, elementary)

More on space

1. DIY Sun Science
2. Earth Song (video)
3. GoSkyWatchP–Easily and quickly identify and locate stars, planets, constellations and more by simply pointing to the sky
4. Mars
5. Mars is a Real Place–visit via VR
6. NASA Kids Club
7. NASA Selfies
8. Planet sizes–compared
9. Samorost—problem solving
10. Satellites—build a satellite
11. The  Scale  of  the  universe
12. The Size of Space
13. Solar system
14. Solar system–3D
15. Space–explore it
16. Space sounds
17. Space station game
18. Space Websites
19. Space—write your name in galaxies
20. Spacesuits–clickable
21. Stardate Online
22. The Flame Trench via Google Earth (when a rocket launches)
23. To Scale: The Solar System–a video
24. We Are Go for Launch via Google Earth

Copyright ©2023 askatechteacher.com – All rights reserved.

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Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

Citizen scientists come from all walks of life and have made invaluable contributions to scientific knowledge and understanding. Consider:

1. Charles Darwin: Darwin often relied on the observations of amateur naturalists and enthusiasts during his research
2. Mary Anning: a fossil collector in the early 19th century
3. William Herschel: an astronomer who discovered the planet Uranus
4. E. O. Wilson: an influential biologist and conservationist who promoted citizen science initiatives such as the “School of Ants”
5. Margaret and Geoffrey Leaney: husband-and-wife team who developed methods for rearing insects

Are you interested? Here’s what you should know:

Becoming a Citizen Scientist: What You Should Know 

Human scientific endeavors have consistently expanded in scope and complexity over the last two centuries. From pondering over simple natural processes such as the transitions between day and night to complex genomic studies, science has come a long way. 

Apart from careful studies conducted in complex laboratories, science also runs on data collection, observations, and statistical analysis. The extension of scope has led to larger experiments that need vast groups of individuals to be involved in the process. This is where citizen science comes in. 

Scientists are often strapped for time, they are cognitively overloaded and stretched thin due to the already demanding nature of their professions. They often require extra sets of eyes to help them carry out a variety of scientific tasks such as data collection, data processing, collation, and even statistical studies. 

Citizen science allows the common public to participate in important scientific studies, partnering with scientists and helping them with work crucial to the enhancement of human knowledge. It allows participants right from young children to retirees to participate in important scientific work. A classic example of teamwork, citizen science is a community effort that brings together both professionals and novices to help bring about change for the greater good. 

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The popularity of bridge building as a school activity has fluctuated over the years, once a right of passage for 8th graders and then avoided. Recent years have seen a resurgence for some great reasons:

• Problem-solving skills: Bridge building requires you to identify and solve problems, such as how to make a bridge strong enough to support a certain weight or how to make a bridge that is aesthetically pleasing.
• Critical thinking skills: Bridge building requires you to think critically about the different factors that affect the design and construction of a bridge, such as the materials used, the forces acting on the bridge, and the environment in which the bridge will be built.
• Teamwork skills: Bridge building is a team sport, and you will need to work effectively with others to design, build, and test a bridge.
• Communication skills: Bridge building requires you to communicate effectively with others, both verbally and in writing. You will need to be able to explain your ideas to others, listen to their feedback, and work together to solve problems.
• Creativity: Bridge building requires you to be creative and come up with new ideas. You will need to be able to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions to problems.

If you’re having a bridge building lesson at your school, here are great links to support that:

Bridge Building (hands-on)

1. Bridge Constructor (app)
2. Bridge Designer by SourceForge
3. Open Bridge Modeler (software download)
4. Structural Bridge Design by Autodesk (free)

Basics (resources, info)

1. Bridge basics
2. Bridge building contest
3. Building Bridges
4. How to Build a Bridge (an infographic and more)
5. Model bridge Design
6. World’s Strangest Bridges!!

Competitions

1. DiscoverE Bridge Building Links
2. Mississippi Department of Transportation Bridge Building Competition
3. National Society of Professional Engineers

–images from Deposit Photo

Here are popular online resources for physics classes (click for updates):

1. CK12 Physics simulations
2. Concord Consortium–chemistry, earth science, engineering, life science, physics
3. Crash Course: Physics (videos)
4. Monster Physics
5. PhET Simulations for chemistry and physics
6. Physics Catalyst
7. Physics Classroom
8. Physics Forums
9. Physics instructional videos
10. Roller coaster simulator
11. Simple Physics

Copyright ©2023 askatechteacher.com – All rights reserved. (more…)

Every year, the world celebrates Earth Day on April 22nd, a day the United Nations recognizes as International Mother Earth Day. It is a day to remind ourselves of the importance of clean air, fresh water, and unlittered land. It’s when we can all participate in making that happen rather than accepting the trash-filled oceans, the smoggy skies, and the debris-laden land that is becoming the norm in our lives.

Despite the questionable health of our world, we have made progress. Back in 1970, when Earth Day was first celebrated, trucks spewed black smoke as they drove down the highways, toxic waste was dumped into oceans with no repercussions, and the general opinion was that the Earth took care of itself. That changed when U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day’s founder, witnessed the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara California and decided it was time for someone to do something. When he looked around for that “someone”, it turned out to be himself. He started with a “national teach-in on the environment” with a simple goal: Encourage people to recognize the importance of protecting the Earth:

“It was on that day [Earth Day] that Americans made it clear they understood and were deeply concerned over the deterioration of our environment and the mindless dissipation of our resources.”

Here are online resources (click for updates) to help you share the importance of Earth Day with your students:

1. Breathing earth– the environment
2. Breathing Earth YouTube Video–of CO2 use, population changes, and more
3. Conservation Game
4. Earth Day—NASA Ocean Currents
5. Ecotourism Simulation–for grades 4 and above
6. The Four Seasons – An Earth Day Interactive Children’s Storybook (app)
7. Green Kitchen (app)
8. iRecycle (app)
9. My Garbology
10. Starfall — Every Day is Earth Day
11. Storyboard That! Earth Day lesson plans

How effective is Earth Day

In the 49 years since the inception of Earth Day, there have been more than 48 major environmental “wins”. Here are some of those:

• The U.S. Clean Air Act was passed, a comprehensive federal law that regulates air emissions.
• The U.S. Clean Water Act was passed to regulate the discharge of pollutants into U.S. waters.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was passed.
• The U.S. Endangered Species Act was passed to protect animal species that are disappearing.
• The Acid Rain (what happens when normal rain becomes loaded with offensive chemicals and scalds the skin) Program obtained emission reductions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
• The importance of the ozone layer to the health of the Earth is better understood.
• The consequences of too much plastic in the Earth’s oceans is coming home to roost.

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Invention Convention Worldwide is a global K-12 invention education curricular program mapped to national and state educational standards that teaches students problem-identification, problem-solving, entrepreneurship and creativity skills and builds confidence in invention, innovation and entrepreneurship for life. Signups for the annual Raytheon Technologies Invention Convention US Nationals (2023) start March 31st.

Here are websites to help you and your students learn about the excitement of inventions:

1. A Guide to Inventions
2. Famous Inventors
3. How Inventions Change History (video)
4. How the popsicle was invented (a TEDEd video)
5. Invented by accident I
6. Invented by accident II
7. Inventions from the Military –crazy ones

Check back here for updates on this list.

More about inventions

• Teach About Inventions with PowerPoint
• 5 Ideas for Teaching Students the Most Important Skill They’ll Need
• 5 Fun Science Experiments Kids Do at Home

Here are popular online resources about Chemistry:

1. Beaker–a digital beaker app
2. Chemistry collection from Carnegie
3. ChemCapers
4. Chemistry instructional videos
5. ChemmyBear–resources for Chemistry and AP Chemistry classes
6. CK12 Chemistry simulations
7. Collisions Chemistry
8. Concord Consortium–chemistry, earth science, engineering, life science, physics
9. Crash Course: Chemistry (videos)
10. EMD PTE — periodic table
11. Interactive Periodic Table
12. Molecules–Molecules is an application for viewing three-dimensional renderings of molecules and manipulating them using your fingers.
13. Periodic Table of Elements–interactive
14. Periodic Table videos 
15. PhET Simulations for chemistry and physics
16. Reactions–short videos on chemistry topics
17. Slow Motion Chemistry — videos on chemistry

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Many Fridays, I report on a wonderful website or project my classes and parents love. This one is teaching architecture to youngers:

Lesson Plan:

Three projects over six weeks and your students will learn about blueprints, room layout, dimensions, and more. Plus, they’ll understand how to think about a three-dimensional object and then spatially lay it out on paper. This is challenging, but fun for first graders.

Spend two weeks on each projects. Incorporate a discussion of spaces, neighborhoods, communities one week. Practice the drawing, then do the final project which students can save and print. Kids will love this unit.

• First, draw a picture in your drawing program of the child’s home. If you don’t already have a class favorite, check this list. Many have architecture tools so show students how to find them. Have kids think about their house, walk through it. They’ll have to think in three dimensions and will soon realize they can’t draw a two-story house. In that case, allow them to pick which rooms they wish to include and concentrate on what’s in the room.

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