ONline Graphing Tool!

Just found this little treasure- an online graphing tool that allows students to create a multitude of graphs and then email or download them in various formats. I think it will be nice simply for ease of access!

Biology Corner

This site has been a great help to me this first year of teaching! I can usually find some worthwhile stuff on here when I am in a pinch...

Gas Law Java

I have been teaching the properties and laws of gases to the 8th graders. We are going to do some graphs to show each of the gas laws and I wanted to find some neat Java applications that would show the relationships between temperature, pressure, and volume. It turns out there are quite a few so I am going to put them all out there for the students and have them let me know which one they prefer. Here is what I have so far:

Oklahoma State
University of Oregon
Ohio State
University of Colorado

There is also a company that has some free software available for running a multitude of science applets.

Screencast-O-Matic

I just found out about this and it totally "rox my sox" as the middle-schoolers would say! I was able to create a little movie of my computer screen as I talked my students through how to sign on to their account and access important information for class. I do this with the LCD projector on a regular basis, but it is nice to have the ability to create a series of tutorials for the students. I might try and do this for next year as I think it will save lots of time that was spent getting the kids to sign up. They had a paper to read as they worked through it, but I have found that showing them first, and then letting them do it goes much faster and they have far fewer questions about the process.

Mitosis on YouTube

I am getting ready to tackle Cell Division so I have put together a playlist of helpful videos from YouTube. I would love to see my kids make some of these, but right now the access to technology is an extremely limiting factor. I will, however, have them manipulate chromosomes and spindle fibers until this is stuck in their brains!

Movie Day!

We've all had those days- either we need to catch up, the kids need a break, or we have not enough time to start something big and just enough time that we need to do something worthwhile. Here's a link to several worksheets that go along with movies.

Great Worksheets for Middle School!

This site has lots of great worksheets and experiments! Thanks to M. Poarch at science-class.net

Great Biology Print-outs

I found this site while trying to find a good diagram of a paramecium eating. Turns out it has a bunch of really cool stuff! Go check it out!
Biology-Resources.com

Concept Mapping

I found some great FREEware that allows you to create concept maps and export them as pdf or jpeg or a bunch of other file formats I didn't recognize. Its called Cmap Tools and you can download a version for whatever operating system you use.

Lesson Ideas

There are just a ton of resources to help with lesson plans online. I really like PBS for teachers. I am curious about creating a unit that uses an online simulation like River City to combine science and problem solving. I also like some of the shorter virtual "games" like those found at Edheads. Generally speaking, there are so many sites like Teachnology that provide extensive listings of lesson plans that I surely cannot list them all. This blog is a nice start, though!

Current Events

Staying up to date regarding the latest discoveries and research makes science a topic that is relevant and meaningful in the life of students. I would like to keep current events a big part of my classroom. Some sites that will keep me and my students up to date include the National Science Foundation, Nature, the BBC, and the Discovery Channel. These also have resources that can be incorporated into ppt lectures or online classrooms.

WebQuest Links

I really like the idea of webquests because they are an easy way for teachers that don't have a ton of in-classroom computer access. There are some great ones already out there:
Water Quality WebQuests
Best WebQuests for Science
Nature WebQuests
If searching available resources doesn't turn up what I'm looking for, I might try to create my own using WebQuest.org. My favorite thing about webquests is the possibility of creating content based on cutting edge information, which is pretty critical in the science classroom.

Tools for the Online Classroom

First there's Skrbl, the online whiteboard that allows mutiple users. Then there's Sketchcast. It allows you to create an animated drawing while recording your voice so you can create a drawing with explanation. I also like the potential for Bubbl.us which allows easy creation of graphic organizers. Online picture storage is also key so I like to use Picasa since I'm a googlehead. A great place to host podcasts for free is PodBean. Then there's the place to put it all. I have been playing around with the edu2.0 site and it seems to be pretty easy to navigate. I also have an account at Wikispaces which has free stuff for k-12 educators.

Quest by KQED

This is a San Fransisco Public Television station that produces awesome short segments that would be perfect for ppt or building a lesson around by using the educator guides. They provide useful links for teachers and students, talking points, background, and expansion ideas in the educator guides that go along with each segment. I am excited about this one!

iTunes U

iTunesU is a great way to hear all sorts of new and interesting things as told by professors and guest lecturers from various universities around the country. To access this information, you must have iTunes. Many times once you've found something you like, you can find a link to its other "home" on the web which is usually a university website. This would allow students to bypass iTunes and still access the information.