What's Inside Coffee? And How Do You Decaffeinate It? - Videos. The Chemistry of Cookies. Last week, through the Free Technology for Teachers Facebook page, someone asked me if I had any resources about the chemistry of candy. I didn't have anything, and I'm still looking, but I did find this TED-Ed lesson about the chemistry of cookies. The lesson covers why you shouldn't eat raw dough, the temperature at which salmonella is killed, why cookies spread-out (or don't spread if the dough is not correct), and what our noses tell us about the cookies. The video from the lesson is embedded below. Applications for Education As the holiday season progresses, baking season comes right along with it.
The Chemistry of Cookies is a good lesson that is timely and could be assigned as homework for parents and students to watch together. Nature in Focus: Using Short Videos to Teach Science. Science teachers frequently scour the Web for short videos, knowing they can be powerful tools for demonstrating hard-to-explain concepts and piquing students’ interest in their subject. The new ScienceTake series in The Times is full of such videos, taking advantage of time-lapse photography and high-speed video to reveal the natural world’s secrets. Additionally, the CreatureCast series uses short animated films to explain scientific ideas and show the beauty in nature. Below we offer several ways you can use these short science videos found in The New York Times in your own teaching. 1. What’s the Question? The ScienceTake videos don’t explicitly mention the scientific method, but many of the videos illustrate aspects of it in action.
What is the scientific question being investigated? 2. Answering one question often leads to more questions. 3. Three of the ScienceTake videos describe predation (“A Thresher’s Deadly Tail,” “The Cheetah’s Agility,” and “How a Dragonfly Hunts”). 4. 5. 6. Discovering Wonder in Science | Canadian Science Writers' Association. By Kimberly Moynahan As a child I lay in the desert sand under the Australian night sky marvelling at the stars and the infinite universe. But it was only later, when I learned that light takes time to travel, that the wonder turned into sheer astonishment.
Those photons, scientists said, had departed their stars hundreds or even a thousand years before. Each bit of starlight then, was carrying an image of its past. It is not hard for nature to delight me. But in the quest to truly astonish me, science wins out. Poet and author Diane Ackerman writes that astonishment quickly gives way to casual recognition. Only ten days before she had been a striped caterpillar whose entire world consisted of a single milkweed plant. But yet, she made it. In writing there is a saying: Let the local illustrate the global.
Kids can play games based on Nobel Prize subjects! - Mankato Homeschooling. Educational games for kids just got even more impressive. The Nobel Prize Foundation has created a variety of games to teach kids about subjects like blood typing, DNA, the immune system and more -- and it's all free. Nobelprize.org explains: Through the assistance of foundations, corporate sponsors and educational bodies, Nobel Media AB creates and presents entirely free interactive, multimedia productions aimed at inspiring young people to learn more about the achievements of the Nobel Laureates.
These are rapidly becoming extremely popular resources for teachers and students. The site's 10 most popular games right now are: 1. The site also has great maps and interactive tools that help teach kids about the Nobel Prize, science, medicine and issues like democracy. I checked out some of the games with my six year-old son, Alex, and they were very informative and at times a bit odd!
Some of these games are more educational and some are more just plain fun. Want to stay in the loop? Building Problem Solving Activities That Use Technology. STEM Is the Perfect Fit for Boys' Learning Styles. A MiddleWeb Blog I strongly advocate for more STEM success and preparation for girls. I’ve written blog posts on girls and STEM, and I’ve scattered references to the need for more attention to STEM girls in other posts.
However – I have to tell you – I’m the mother of three boys (young men now) and I harbor passionate feelings about our boys and their educational difficulties as well. During my 16 years as a middle school teacher, my heart went out to all of those squirmy, impulsive young men who brought so much life and energy (and occasional distractions) to my science classes. The fact of the matter is: many boys are not thriving in school. Andrea Schneider, a mother of 2 boys and a psychotherapist, puts it this way: Our culture at large needs to do more to support boys and their unique hardwiring in educational settings. Are we failing our boys? The hardwire problem for boys: Testing a catapult • Boys are more active and have trouble sitting still for long periods of time. 1.
Education - California Native Plant Society. New 2nd Edition of the CNPS Nature Journaling Curriculum now available photo credit: David Rosen Wildside Photography and Public Relations We are proud to be able to offer a spectacular new edition of our curriculum that will work in a multitude of settings from school yards, camps, and nature centers to CNPS events and family outings. It is geared primarily towards children age 8 and up, and meets California state standards for grades 3 through 7 but works just as well for teenagers and adults. The 2nd edition has many improvements and a wonderful new section of poetry writing activities that fit hand in glove with nature journaling.
The 2nd Edition Opening the World through Journaling: Integrating art, science, and language arts, is written for CNPS by John Muir Laws, Emilie Lygren, Emily Breunig, and Celeste Lopez. It teaches children to become keen observers of the natural world by drawing and writing about the plants and animals in situ. <em>[Email address protected by JavaScript. Exploring YouTube's education channels. Teachers are posting their lessons online in fun educational videos that draw-in tech-savvy kids who love multimedia. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.
YouTube is usually associated with the latest viral video, but now growing numbers of people are turning to the video-sharing website for education instead of entertainment. Teachers are broadcasting lessons online, everything from biology to foreign languages -- and for some, this online "classroom" is more inspiring than the confines of brick and mortar.
Below, check out some of the most popular channels on YouTube EDU. Steve SpanglerYouTube was only five months old when this former teacher first taught viewers how to turn a bottle of Diet Coke and a roll of Mentos into an exploding geyser. Now a full-time YouTube teacher, Steve Spangler makes science fun with "The Spangler Effect. " Rob TarrouWhat started off as a way to help students at St. Alex DainisAlex Dainis is "a biology nerd, music lover, film geek.” The Comic Book Periodic Table of the Elements. How to teach ... gravity. As the saying goes, what goes up must come down (unless it goes into hyperbolic orbit). Felix Baumgartner's spectacular skydive from the edge of space was a perfect demonstration of gravity at work – gravity pulled the Austrian sportsman as closely as it could towards the Earth's centre and 10 heart-stopping minutes later he landed safely on the ground in a triple world record, including breaking the sound barrier for the first time.
Students will be fascinated to find out all about the Austrian sportsman's record-breaking skydive and to watch the mesmerising video. For Lego fans don't miss this incredible reconstruction. So what is gravity and how does it work? First of all it's worth pointing out the surprising fact that despite being responsible for the formation of whole galaxies, gravity is a very weak force. The Science Museum has some fantastic resources for gravity investigations in the primary classroom. What's Here for Educators? Choice Literacy - Articles & Videos - Full Article. "Do you know what I've been thinking and reading about? " asked Will as we settled into an out-of-the-way spot in my grades 3-4 multiage classroom. It was time for reading workshop and the room was quietly buzzing as readers gathered books and other resources, settled into their places, and the hum of engaged learners slowly crept across the room.
Will's green eyes were sparkling with excitement as we began our reading conference. "What's on your mind? " I asked, sensing that he had big things to tell me. "I'm studying the creek for my micro-habitat study, right? " he said, referring to our ongoing science unit -- "Reading and Writing Like a Scientist. " He showed me two books and an article printed from a website. "So what's your plan for today? " "I want to use my time today to answer a few of my wonder questions about raccoons. "Tell me more," I prompted, starting to jot notes in my conference notebook. I was eager to see what Will had to share. .
"What made you think about this? "