By Laura Turner
Site URL: SteveSpanglerScience.com Content : Steve Spangler is one of the more famous names in elementary and middle-school science, and his site is home to experiment ideas, teacher training tips and tons of other science-based fun. Design : Despite his prominence and relative fame (he’s Ellen DeGeneres’ go-to science guy), his site does little to inspire exploration. A flat white background filled with little image blocks is effective, but a bit boring. If he didn’t offer tremendous content, visitors might be quick to leave. Review : Steve Spangler Science is really two sites in one.
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has a great selection of hands-on activities that teachers can use offline in their classrooms. There are activities for twelve topics. Activities for every grade level from pre-K through high school and beyond can be found on the website. To find an activity for your classroom select your grade level then select the topic(s) you want your students to learn about through hands-on activities. Applications for Education A couple of the activities that I liked when I was browsing the catalog were making and flying helicopters and making recycled paper .
Boldly go where no science teacher has gone before! Your continuing mission: to discover useful new sites, to integrate them into your lesson plans and to giggle at this corny Star Trek reference. Silliness aside, my love for science grew from watching the crew of the starship Enterprise warp around the galaxy as they encountered previously unknown phenomena, worlds and civilizations. I thought the notion of discovery was really fitting for this post—so, with that said, I hope you come across something that excites your students about science. Now, set a course for the end of this list—warp factor 9. Engage!
