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The Adventures of Herman the Worm
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/worms/index.html
Everything you ever wanted to know about worms and composting!
EcoKids Online - Pollution and Waste
http://www.ecokidsonline.com/pub/eco_info/browse_topics/environmental_issues.cfm#pollution
Excellent interactive activities to reinforce learning.
Ecological Footprint Quiz
http://www.myfootprint.org
This Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you discard. After answering 15 easy questions you'll be able to compare your Ecological Footprint to what other people use and to what is available on this planet. Choose to complete the quiz is almost any language you can think of. You might need a site to convert metric and imperial measurements. Try http://convert.french-property.co.uk.
GMability
http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/edu_k-12/k-4/index.html#
GM created this web site created to educate children and their parents about environment, energy, and technology issues.
Meet the Greens
http://www.meetthegreens.org
This is a site for kids interested in looking after the planet. It gets them thinking about the world and their place in it. The message is upbeat and optimistic and students are encouraged to make informed choices and meaningful changes. Through the animated episodic adventures, a blog, and kids' mail, students explore green living, sustainability, ecology, environmental care, and social equity. Students are urged to research, to challenge, to discover, and to take action wherever and whenever they can.
Recycle City
http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity
Waste Interactive Crossword Puzzle
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/kids/games/crossword/index.htm
Read the clue. Find the number on the puzzle that matches that clue. Using your mouse, click inside of the first block for that clue and type a letter. Tab or click inside of the next block until you have completed the entire word.
Waste No Words
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/kids/games/crossword/index.htm
Find out how much you know about garbage and recycling in this awesome crossword puzzle!
Micro-Organisms
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_11/micro_organisms.shtml
Look at useful and harmful micro-organisms.
What’s Up With the Water? ~ Wonderville
http://www.wonderville.ca/v1/activities/watertreatment/wateractivity.html
Clunky Cogs
http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/steps/students/5-6years/machines/cogs.htm
Gears are wheels with teeth that mesh together to transfer movement. In a system of gears, small gears turn fast and large gears turn slower. when gears are meshed together, they turn in opposite directions. Play the game below to see how gears move when meshed together.
NEW! Crayon Physics Deluxe
http://www.crayonphysics.com
Crayon Physics Deluxe is a 2D physics puzzle / sandbox game, in which you get to experience what it would be like if your drawings would be magically transformed into real physical objects. Solve puzzles with your artistic vision and creative use of physics.
Edheads - Simple Machines
http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines
Learn about simple and compound machines as you explore the house and tool shed.
Gadget Anatomy
http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/GadgetAnatomy.html
The hand powered tools shown on this page all use combinations of the elements of machines to accomplish their functions.
Leonardo’s Mysterious Machinery
http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/LeosMysteriousMachinery.html
Match Leonardo’s inventions to modern day technology.
Levers
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/physics/machines/Levers.shtml
This page offers excellent animations of the different kinds of levers.
The Machine Detective
http://oac.schools.sa.edu.au/eshop/machine/index.html
Explore different simple machines at this site.
Medieval Levers
http://www.wonderville.ca/v1/activities/levers/levers.html
Work with Medieval engineers to learn all about levers that would have been used during medieval times.
Mikids Simple Machines
http://www.mikids.com/Smachines.htm
Lots of interaction at this web site.
Odd Machine
http://www.edheads.org/activities/odd_machine/index.htm
Learn how forces and simple machines can work together to create The Odd Machine!
Pick the Bits
http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/steps/students/5-6Years/machines/pick.htm
To operate a lever, you must apply an effort. A lever has a fulcrum - a turning point. You need to apply an effort at one end to move a load at the other end. Try your skills at working out where the load, fulcrum and effort are on the common levers.
Simple Machines
http://www.cosi.org/onlineExhibits/simpMach/sm1.html
This site gives examples of simple machines and how they work and then ask the viewer to locate different simple machines and put them to work.
Simple Machines Construction Site
http://home.earthlink.net/~kandyhig/sm
Grab your hard hats! You're about to visit work sites that will help you learn more about simple machines.
Automotive Learning Online
http://www.innerauto.com/default.htm
Welcome to inner exploration the automobile. It has 100’s of graphics, thousands of descriptive links and animations.
Gravity and Friction
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/revisewise/science/physical/12b_act.shtml
Forces and Movement
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/forces_movement.shtml
Forces in Action
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_11/forces_action.shtml
Friction
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/8_9/friction.shtml
Investigate how friction increases or decreases movement.
How Stuff Works
http://www.howstuffworks.com
Explanations on how everything is put together and how it works is listed.
Kids Design Network
http://www.dupagechildrensmuseum.org/kdn
With Kids Design Network, you'll investigate a challenge, dream up a design, and draw your plans on the computer. Then, using the Internet, you can show your design to a real engineer! They'll help with your design, so you can go and build it!
NEW! Phun
http://www.phunland.com
Phun is a free downloaded game where you can play with physics like never before. The playful synergy of science and art is novel, and makes Phun as educational as it is entertaining. The latest version has several fixes and lots of new features, including a pen tool, scaling, improved sticky menues, colored fluids, object transparency, import/export of phunlets, and much more.
Transportation Futuristics
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/news_events/exhibits/futuristics/index.html
The Braille Bug Web Site
http://www.afb.org/braillebug
This site was created to teach sighted children about braille, and to encourage literacy among all children--sighted and visually impaired. It gives sighted children a chance to learn about the braille code and how classmates who are blind or visually impaired learn to read and do math.
How We See Things
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_11/see_things.shtml
Work with angled mirrors to change the direction of light.
Light
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/revisewise/science/physical/14_act.shtml
Learn about light and then take a test.
Light and Shadows
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/7_8/light_shadows.shtml
Play with artificial and natural light to make shadows using different objects.
Optical Illusions and Visual Phenomena
http://www.michaelbach.de/ot
These pages demonstrate visual phenomena, called 'optical illusions' or 'visual illusions'. An excellent site for demonstrating how our eyes are sometimes fooled but might require some adult assistance in explaining the reasons for the phenomena.
NEW! Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears
http://beyondpenguins.nsdl.org
Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears is an online magazine integrating science, literacy, and the polar regions. Through this web site, students can explore the Arctic and Antarctica by listening to podcasts, reading a blog, or listening to stories. Stories for Students are available in three formats: text only, text with images, or as an electronic book (audio and images). The stories are organized by reading level for K-1, 2-3, or 4-5.
Cool Science for Curious Kids
http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience
Click on the salad bowl!
Great Plant Escape
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/gpe/index.html
Six interactive activities to help unlock the amazing mysteries of plant life.
Helping Plants Grow Well
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/7_8/plants_grow.shtml
Work with the plants and then take the quiz to see how you did!
Plants
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/revisewise/science/living/06_act.shtml
Learn about the needs of plants and then try to help save some suffering plants!
NEW! Pollen Park
http://www.concer-tina.co.uk/pollenpark/index.html
In Pollen Park, children join Bumbles the playful honey bee, on a pollen-collecting mission by completing activities and making amazing discoveries about plant reproduction. Students will learn the names of the different parts of the flower and understand the function of each in the reproduction process, the process of pollination and the varied methods of pollen transfer, the process of fertilization and how this differs from pollination, different methods of seed dispersal and why this needs to occur, and the process of seed germination and the necessary conditions for it to occur.
Overview: Students learn about electricity by building and testing circuits. Using batteries, bulbs and wires, students construct simple circuits and test the effects of various modifications. Through such tests, they discover that a circuit requires a closed pathway for electricity and that some materials conduct electricity and others do not. They learn that an electric current can affect a nearby magnet and that this property of electricity is used in making electromagnets and motors. Potential dangers are examined, as students learn about the safe use of electricity.
Electricity
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/revisewise/science/physical/11_act.shtml
Activities, a fact sheet, and a test on electricity and magnetism are available on this BBC web site.
Electricity and Magnetism
http://ippex.pppl.gov/interactive/electricity
This site looks at many of the basic concepts involved with Electricity and Magnetism such as static charge, moving charge, voltage, resistance, and current.
Energy Street ~ Wonderville
http://www.wonderville.ca/v1/activities/energy/energy.html
The digital activity on Wonderville.ca entitled “Electric Avenue” challenges students to plan and populate a street and make decisions about the energy requirements for each building.
Energy Story
http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter01.html
Chapter 2 is all about electricity. Check out the excellent learning games on this site.
Overview: Students build electrical devices for a variety of purposes, using knowledge gained in the previous topic. Tasks that students are assigned may include such things as making a switch from scrap materials, making a device to control the speed of a motor, making a burglar alarm and lighting three bulbs from one source. Through work on these tasks, students learn the role of various components and control devices that are part of an electrical system. At the same time, they develop skills of problem solving and teamwork.
The Blobz Guide to Circuits
http://www.andythelwell.com/blobz
Activities and quizzes but remember it comes from England so flashlights are called torches!
Changing Circuits
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_11/changing_circuits.shtml
Circuits and Conductors
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/8_9/circuits_conductors.shtml
Using Electricity
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/electricity.shtml
Experiment with what makes a light bulb light.
Overview: Students learn about the properties and interactions of some safe to handle household liquids and solids. They test a variety of materials to see what happens when things are mixed together: what dissolves, what reacts and what remains unaffected. They discover that when a solid material dissolves, it can be recovered as a crystal by evaporating the liquid. They also learn that when two materials react to form a new material, the original materials cannot be recovered. As an example of a chemical reaction, students learn to produce carbon dioxide gas and show that this gas differs from ordinary air.
Changing State
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/9_10/changing_state.shtml
Characteristics of Materials
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/7_8/characteristics_materials.shtml
NEW! Chem4Kids
http://www.chem4kids.com
Learn about chemistry through animations, drawings, photos, and hyperlinked text. Take a quiz when you think you know it all! You can also use a Google search tool to search for information you need within the site. Just type in a keyword or phrase and click the search button.
Gases Around Us
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/9_10/gases.shtml
Materials
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/revisewise/science/materials
Lots of interactive information including grouping and classifying materials, thermal conductors, electrical conductors, changing and separating materials, and solids, liquids and gases!
Melting and Boiling
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/hotplate/index.html
Melt and boil different substances and then read the graph to determine the melting and boiling points.
Reversible and Irreversible Changes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_11/rev_irrev_changes.shtml
Solids and Liquids
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/8_9/solid_liquids.shtml
Solids, Liquids, and Gases
http://www.abpischools.org.uk/resources/solids-liquids-gases/index.asp
Cartoon animations and music are used to introduce information about solids, liquids, and gases. The animation is broken down into different segments that can be paused, moved forward, or backward. Examples of the segments are: Changing Solids into Liquids and Back Again, Dissolving and Not Dissolving, and Solid to Liquid to Gas. There are also numerous links to printable activities (Resource Files) to support the animations. Click on the little cartoon icon to get started.
Overview: Students learn about weather phenomena and the methods used for weather study. They learn to measure temperatures, wind speed and direction, the amounts of rain and snow, and the amount of cloud cover. In studying causes and patterns of air movements, students learn about the effects of uneven heating and cooling and discover the same patterns of air movement in indoor environments as are found outdoors. They also learn about human actions that can affect weather and climate and study the design and testing of clothing used as protection against the weather.
NEW! Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears
http://beyondpenguins.nsdl.org
Learn about the weather and climate of the polar regions. Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears is an online magazine integrating science, literacy, and the polar regions. Through this web site, students can explore the Arctic and Antarctica by listening to podcasts, reading a blog, or listening to stories. Stories for Students are available in three formats: text only, text with images, or as an electronic book (audio and images). The stories are organized by reading level for K-1, 2-3, or 4-5.
Dan's Wild Wild Weather Page
http://www.wildwildweather.com
Inside Tornadoes
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0506/feature6/index.html
Hang onto your hat as you view the inside of a tornado with this excellent multimedia presentation from National Geographic! Make sure you also check out the photo gallery and watch the Storm Chaser video.
Interactive Twister
http://whyfiles.org/013tornado/3.html
Control the funnel width and pressure to see what happens.
Interactive Weather Maker
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/winter/blizzard/index.htm
Have you ever wanted to be able to control the weather? See how manipulating temperatures and humidity creates different weather conditions.
NEW! School Day Forecast
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/schooldayfx/caab0103
Younger students require guidance in dressing for the weather. School Day Forecast provides the current temperature, what it will be like for the walk home from school, visuals of clothing that might be worn, and sidewalk conditions!
Sights and Sounds: Chasing Tornadoes
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0404/sights_n_sounds/media1.html
An eight minute National Geographic video capturing a tornado chase by a group of scientists. Excellent information about tornadoes.
NEW! Simple Weather
http://www.simpleweather.com
SimpleWeather.com is an easy-to-use, no nonsense weather site. They give you exactly what you're looking for: the weather. No portals, maps, crazy geo stuff, or travel forecasts. SimpleWeather is designed to be extremely helpful and fast. Click on the little 'C' under the 'F' for Farenheit to get temperatures in Celsius.
Weather
http://www.edheads.org/activities/weather/index.htm
Learn how to report and predict the weather at the underground W.H.E.D. weather caves!
Web Weather for Kids
http://www.ucar.edu/40th/webweather
Web Weather for Kids - New
http://www.ucar.edu/educ_outreach/webweather
Overview: Students learn about wetland ecosystems by studying life in a local pond, slough, marsh, fen or bog. Through classroom studies, and studies in the field, students learn about organisms that live in, on and around wetlands and about adaptations that suit pond organisms to their environment. Through observation and research, students learn about the interactions among wetland organisms and about the role of each organism as part of a food web. The role of human action in affecting wetland habitats and populations is also studied.
Alberta Naturally
http://www.abheritage.ca/abnature/lakes.htm
The Natural Regions Flash Zone is a fun way to explore the Natural Regions through graphics and interaction! Within each region, click on a species to view text and information on the plant or animal, and then click on the camera to view a real-life photo!
Alberta’s Wetlands
http://www.lethsd.ab.ca/mmh/grade5/wetlands/index.htm
This web site includes information about Alberta's wetlands including types of wetlands, animals and plants that live in the wetlands, foodchains, and wetland worries.
Create a Pond
http://www.geocities.com/sseagraves/createapond.htm
Click and drag pictures to create your own pond scene.
Watershed Game
http://www.bellmuseum.org/distancelearning/watershed/watershed2.html
Water...we all depend on it for survival. But water is a scarce resource only one percent of all water on earth is fresh water! How can we keep this water pure and fresh? Many things happen in a watershed that affect the quality of the water we rely upon. What are they? Would you make the best decisions in managing your watershed? Examine the issues in each area of the watershed, and then see the impacts of your choices!
Wetlands – Wonderville
http://www.wonderville.ca/v1/activities/wetlands/wetlands.html
Airborne Experiment
http://www.wonderville.ca/v1/activities/falcon/falcon.html
This multimedia site does an excellent job teaching the basics of aerodynamics.
The K-8 Aeronautics Internet Textbook
http://wings.avkids.com
How Do Things Fly?
http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/wonder_of_flight/how_things.html
This site offers clear but detailed information for every 'wonder' you might ever have had about flight. Excellent for research...
Beginners Guide to Aerodynamics
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/bga.html
This site was prepared at NASA to provide background information on basic aerodynamics as teaching aids for math and science teachers. It is full of hyperlinks to key ideas and is a worthwhile resource for students learning about flight and aerodynamics.
Forces of Flight
http://www.planemath.com/activities/pmenterprises/forces/forces1.html
This site will teach you the basics of why planes fly.
Science Fun With Airplanes - Air
http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~flight/airtext.html
We Know that air can hold up kites, ballons, and airplanes. But although we feel air and can measure certain things about it, can we prove that air exists? After all, scientists shouldn't make assumptions, even about the most obvious things. So before learning about flight, try a small experiment to see if air really exists...
AvKids.Com
http://www.avkids.com/hangar/smartparts
This site invites students to build an aircraft piece by piece and as they are doing so, explains what each section is and does.
Canada Aviation Museum
http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca
The Canada Aviation Museum is recognized as having the most extensive aviation collection in Canada and one which ranks among the best in the world. Visit the Collections part of this site to learn more.
Flight - The Movie
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0304/quickflicks
Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a movie about flight! Watch an animated movie about flight and then answer the questions on the quiz.
Flightgear
http://www.flightgear.org
Flightgear is an open-source flight simulator. This means that as long as you abide by the terms of the license you may freely download and copy FlightGear. This excellent program includes real-world scenery taken from photographs and attends to details such as wind effects and real-time day and night. Grade six students will have a new way to apply their knowledge of aerodynamics, learn about the parts of an aircraft, their role in controlled flight and the differences between aircraft and spacecraft. FlightGear is known to run on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS-X.
Getting Airborn and Wing Designs
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/xplanes/airborne.html
Two contending planes featured in "Battle of the X-Planes" make use of radically different wing designs: one uses a triangular-shaped delta wing; the other, traditional wings. Learn about both at this interactive site.
NASA: Future Flight Design
http://futureflight.arc.nasa.gov/map.html
This web site teaches kids all about flight concepts using a very interactive,
Flash-based interface. Kids have an opportunity to apply their knowledge in numerous problem-based learning scenarios and come up with workable solutions.
Plane Math Activities
http://www.planemath.com/activities/pmactivitiesall.html
Science Fun With Airplanes
http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~flight/homepage.html
Amazing Space
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu
NEW! Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears
http://beyondpenguins.nsdl.org
Everything you wanted to know about the Norther Lights! Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears is an online magazine integrating science, literacy, and the polar regions. Through this web site, students can explore the Arctic and Antarctica by listening to podcasts, reading a blog, or listening to stories. Stories for Students are available in three formats: text only, text with images, or as an electronic book (audio and images). The stories are organized by reading level for K-1, 2-3, or 4-5.
Build a Solar System
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system
Make a scale model of the Solar System and learn the REAL definition of "space." Fill in the diameter of the Sun you want your model to be scaled by and then complete the rest of the boxes. When you actually go to build your model, you'll see the relationship of all of the planets to each other and the sun.
Canada In Space
http://www.canadainspace.ca
Canada In Space is designed to inspire youth to explore the International Space Station, space science and Canada's contribution to space exploration. *French version available.
Cosmic Quest: Discovering Astronomy Through Science and Culture
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Cosmos/english/rover
We explore our universe in many ways. Whether we're building telescopes and studying galaxies, or telling stories about the stars and their place in our lives, we're trying to understand where we fit in the universe. This site explores the many ways that people look at the sky. Check out the latest scientific discoveries or experience artistic works inspired by the stars. See how the stars are important to indigenous peoples, including the Indigenous Australians, the Anishinabe of Central North America, and the Blackfoot of the North American Plains. *French version available.
Cosmos4Kids
http://www.geography4kids.com
Learn about the cosmos through animations, drawings, photos, and hyperlinked text. Take a quiz when you think you know it all! You can also use a Google search tool to search for information you need within the site. Just type in a keyword or phrase and click the search button.
Earth, Sun, and Moon
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/9_10/earth_sun_moon.shtml
NEW! Earth Viewer
http://paulcarlisle.net/old/earthviewer.html
Earth Viewer was written primarily for elementary school students. It shows the daytime and nighttime portions of the Earth for any day of the year. You may choose either of two views - Globe or Map. Globe shows the planet as it would appear from space. Map shows a flat view of the entire surface. Click on the button to switch to the view you want. When viewing the Globe, you can center the latitude and longitude of any point on the surface by adjusting the scroll bars, or by clicking on the point you want to center. The date and time may be set as you please, and can be reset to the current date and time by pressing the reset button. Times are always shown in the local time your computer is set for. The images can be animated by selecting the Animate button. Daily animation shows the Earth as it appears every fifteen minutes; Seasonal animation shows it every 7 days. And just in case you need a brush-up on how the seasons work, here is a graphic organizer that can be printed out.
http://camillasenior.homestead.com/Graphic_Organizer_-_Night_and_Day.pdf
Life on Mars
http://www.exploremarsnow.org
How old will your child be in 2017? That's when the Diomedes Mission is set to launch with plans for inhabiting Mars. A mission like this requires a lot of planning and this site provides an interactive tour of what the base camp might look like. As you move along the tour, move your mouse over items of interest to bring up an explanation. Some of these are quite lengthly and this site might be best initially shared with an adult. Life on Mars is totally fascinating and provides an opportunity for wonderful dialogue and questions.
NEW! Lunar Phases Interactive
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=swf::800::600::/sites/dl/free/0072482621/78778/Lunar_Nav.swf::Lunar%20Phases%20Inter
Is the moon only visible at night? Why does it sometimes look like a crescent? Why does the first quarter appear after sunset but the last quarter before sunrise? You have undoubtedly seen different phases of the moon, but how well do you understand them? This interactive gives you the chance to look at the moon from a usual place - standing on the ground in the norther hemisphere, looking south - and, simutaneously, from an unusual place - in space, far above the North Pole of the Earth. Make sure to click on the tabs at the top of the interactive.
NEW! NASA Eclipse Homepage
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/TLE2008Feb21.html
An eclipse of the Moon can only take place at Full Moon, and only if the Moon passes through some portion of Earth's shadow. The shadow is actually composed of two cone-shaped parts, one nested inside the other. The outer shadow or penumbra is a zone where Earth blocks some (but not all) of the Sun's rays. In contrast, the inner shadow or umbra is a region where Earth blocks all direct sunlight from reaching the Moon.
NASA Kids
http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov
Phases of the Moon ~ Wonderville
http://www.wonderville.ca/v1/activities/phases/phases.html
Excellent support for learning about the phases of the moon.
Phases of the Moon
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/java/MoonPhase.html
Planet 10
http://www.planet-science.com/wired/index.html?page=/planet10
There are two activities to choose from at Planet 10:
Solar System - Explore the planets, comets and asteroids on an interactive virtual fly-through. Zoom in close on a particular planet or choose a different orbit view to see the whole system from afar. The data sheets let you discover more about some of the elements that make up our Solar System.
World Builder - Think you could create the perfect World? Here’s your chance to try. With World Builder, you call the shots. Work your way through each of the creation screens, but make your choices wisely, only certain conditions will ensure your planet is a successful place to grow and evolve.
*Teachers who have access to an interactive whiteboard would use this site for Planet 10 - http://www.solarsystem.org.uk/planet10
NEW! The Night Sky
http://www.quietbay.net/Science/astronomy/nightsky
Identify constellations, stars, planets, and how to navigate the night sky. This web site will take students step-by-step through a process to help them learn to identify the main shapes in Orion and then identify the whole constellation in the night sky.
Space Exploration ~ Science Works
http://www.wonderville.ca/v1/scienceworks/space.html
NEW! SpaceWeather.com
http://spaceweather.com
This site provides news and information about events happening in the sky. Apparently, it was created by Dr. Tony Phillips, who is also a writer for NASA. While this site does provide current information, you can also sign up for email alerts of events in your area, or if that isn't enough, you can pay for the premium service and have Dr. Phillips call you himself to tell you about an upcoming sky event!
The Art of Crime Detection
http://www.sanford-artedventures.com/play/crimedetection/index.html
DNA Detective
http://www.tryscience.org/experiments/experiments_begin.html?dna
FBI Youth
http://www.fbi.gov/kids/6th12th/6th12th.htm
Lots of activities and information about the FBI.
The Fin, Fur, and Feather Bureau of Investigation
http://www.fffbi.com/hq.html
This hilarious site integrates language arts themes as well as other curriculum areas, such as geography, math and science, into interactive cases and training programs. The FFFBI recruits students to help fight crime and solve mysteries through interactive stories filled with puzzles and challenges. Quizzes, thinking games, newsletters, and even a Hencoder (a Secret-Agent style encoding device) encourage students to exercise their brains and have fun at the same time.
Fingerprint Activity ~ Wonderville
http://www.wonderville.ca/v1/activities/mystery/mysteryactivity.html
Forensics ~ Science Works
http://www.wonderville.ca/v1/scienceworks/forensic.html
The Mystery Spot
http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/mspot
Solve some of the many mysteries at this site.
Exploring the Secret Life of Trees
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/trees2/index.html
Join Pierre Quercus as he explores the secret life of trees.
Forestry Outreach Site
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/forsite/contents.htm
This interactive site, developed by Virginia Tech and the Virginia Forestry Educational Foundation, provides large amounts of information and interactive exercises on trees and forests as well as information on the forestry profession.
Leaf Key
http://www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/forsite/key/intro.htm
Seeing the Forests and the Trees
http://ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/forests/index.cfm
NEW! Tree Canada
http://www.treecanada.ca/site/?page=home_kids&lang=en
Offers a couple of intereactive resources to teach children about the benefits of trees in their community including a neat little clean air calculator that lets you calculate how much carbon dioxide is produced by common emission sources and how many trees we need to plant to offset those emissions.
(available in French as well)
NEW! Tree World
http://www.domtar.com/arbre/english/index.asp
Domtar has created a web site that encourages students to explore the life of a tree through the different seasons. Information, experiments, and games provide an excellent resource for students studying Trees and Forests.
(available in French as well)
NEW! Trees for Life Canada
http://www.trees4life.ca
The mission of this web site is to provide materials and information to teachers and students to help them understand the critical role that trees play in maintaining the ecological balance on our planet. Not a lot of interactive learning but links to different info that can be downloaded for student use as well as info to order a kit that includes seeds to grow your own tree.
Walk in the Woods
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/woods
This site takes you on a walk through a forest to see the plant and animal life there.
What Tree is It?
http://www.oplin.org/tree
You see an unknown tree. Or perhaps have found part of a tree, and you want to know from what kind of tree it came. Often, you can identify an unknown tree by just one part, such as a leaf or a fruit. While this site is based on common trees of Ohio, it still is relevant to our Alberta curriculum. Why not create a similar classroom activity for identifying trees in Alberta?
NEW! What is the Boreal Forest?
http://www.canadaforests.nrcan.gc.ca/article/whatisboreal
Encircling the Earth’s northern hemisphere, just south of the Arctic Circle, is a green mantle of mainly coniferous forest. The boreal forest, named after Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind, comprises about 16.6 million square kilometres—or roughly 10% of Earth’s land cover—and a third of its forested area. Learn about Canada's boreal forest, biodiversity, climate change, and much more through video and text at this Natural Resources Canada web site.
(available in French as well)
Woodland Explorer
http://www.naturegrid.org.uk/woodland/index.html
Click on the part of the tree you would like to explore.
Some web sites are so comprehensive that it is hard to fit them under one topic. These will now be included under this general category.
Biology4Kids
http://www.biology4kids.com
Learn about biology through animations, drawings, photos, and hyperlinked text. Take a quiz when you think you know it all! You can also use a Google search tool to search for information you need within the site. Just type in a keyword or phrase and click the search button.
NEW! EcoKids
http://www.ecokidsonline.com
EcoKids is a free, environmental education program that offers curriculum-linked materials and interactive, fun, educational games and activities for Canadian elementary schools to engage in environmental action. Children are encouraged to form their own opinions, make decisions, get involved and understand the impact their own actions have on the environment.
I Was Wondering
http://www.iwaswondering.org
At "I Was Wondering", Lia and her friends are turning the world of science and technology into one big party—and you're invited! They build tricked-out gadgets and find unique ways of using high-tech stuff to do everything from designing clothes for the school dance to using solar power to protect the environment. And that's just a regular day in the life of a scientist—not exactly the boring, geeky job you thought it was, huh? All the scientists you read about on this site were once kids like them, so why not start looking around to see how you can use science and technology to make your room, house, school, and even the world, a very cool place.
*This site is listed under Other in Science Div 2.
NEW! KidsKnowIt Network
http://www.kidsknowit.com
Astronomy, biology, dinosaurs, geology, history, math, memory, geography, and games are the topic heading of KidsKnowIt Network. Explore each topic through reading, songs, movies, and interactive activities.
Physics4Kids
http://www.physics4kids.com
Learn about physics through animations, drawings, photos, and hyperlinked text. Take a quiz when you think you know it all! You can also use a Google search tool to search for information you need within the site. Just type in a keyword or phrase and click the search button.
NEW! Science Storybooks
http://msnucleus.org/membership/guide/storybooks.html
These free electronic storybooks and songs reinforce a variety of science concepts in a fun and entertaining manner (electricity, sky science, earth science, rock cycle, frogs, plants, owl pellets, trees, wetlands). On the right side of the page are numbers that correspond to a grade level that each particular storybook or song would support. However, Science Storybooks is from the UK and you will need to double check what fits your child's curriculum.
Steve Spangler Science
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiments
If you're looking for a way to amaze your friends, impress your co-workers, or to stimulate incredible conversation at the dinner table, you've come to the right place. Welcome to the ever-growing, ever-changing collection of Steve Spangler's favorite science experiments, recipes, gadgets, and science magic secrets. This hands-on science museum offers hundreds of science experiments and science demos that inspire the imagination and make learning fun!
NEW! Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
http://www.wdcs.co.uk/media/flash/whalebanner/content_pub_en.html
What would it be like if you could swim with a blue whale? Visit this site and watch the blue whale, the largest animal that ever lived on Earth, swim across your screen and marvel at it's mass and size. Teachers, if you have an interactive whiteboard in your classroom, students can touch and drag the whale to move it or they can move the small viewfinder in the top-right of the screen to move directly to different parts of the whale. For more information and facts about the blue whale, visit Discovery Education at:
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/planetocean/bluewhale.html
NEW! Wolf Quest
http://www.mnzoo.com/education/wolfquest.asp
WolfQuest is 3D wildlife simulation game. WolfQuest players take on the role of a wolf living in Yellowstone National Park. Players join a wolf pack made up of friends or computer-controlled wolves and, through trial and error, instinct, and experience, learn to maximize both individual and pack survival. In either single player or multiplayer missions players can hunt elk and rabbits, chase coyotes and interact with other wolves as they explore the slopes of Amethyst Mountain. As they respond to challenges presented by their environment, players will experientially learn about habitat quality, prey populations, and the impact of human presence on the landscape. As they explore a variety of strategies to succeed in the game, players will exercise critical thinking and inquiry skills. Wolf Quest needs to be downloaded in order to play. System requirements are on the site.
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