Category: Science

Generation Cures

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Generation Cures2539 views

What it is: Fable Vision launched a new website today called Generation Cures.  It is directed toward 8-12 year olds and their parents.  The website helps teach kids about compassion and giving through engaging online games, animated webisodes, and kid directed videos.  The site is completely free to use.  The goal of Generation Cures webisodes and games are to get kids to look outside their own lives and understand that they can make a difference in the lives of others.  They also learn a lot about science and medical research while building critical thinking, logic, reason, and creativity skills.  Because this site is partnered with the Children’t Hospital in Boston, there are places for families to come together and donate for a common cause.  Kids helping kids- it is a very neat idea and I hope that it catches on quickly!

How to integrate Generation Cures into the classroom: In a society where everyone is so self-involved, it is great to see a site like Generation Cures that helps students think about others.  The site requires that students sign up with permission from their parents.  This would be a great class-wide (including families) project for the school year.  During science and computer time throughout the year, students can play the Generation Cures games and watch the webisodes.  Parents can get onto the Generation Cures website to learn more about it and decide if they want to get involved as a family.  Don’t have the time or energy to put toward Generation Cures?  Why not just watch the webisodes as a class and let kids know about the game they can play online at home.  Challenge them to try to be the first one to finish the puzzle/logic game, Caduceus.  Even if you can’t devote the time to it in the classroom, this is a very worthwhile site for students to spend time on.  The stories and games are very engaging…they had me hooked!

Tips: Check out Generation Cures for yourself.  The first 50 sign ups win a Generation Cures pack 🙂

Leave a comment and share how you are using Generation Cures in your classroom.

Google Sky

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Google Sky8133 views


What it is: Google comes out with some really incredible tools and Google Sky is definitely one of them. Think Google Earth for the Sky and you will get a pretty accurate picture of what Google Sky entails. Students can get up close and personal with the Solar System, Constellations, the Hubble Telescope Showcase, Backyard Astronomy, Chandra X-Ray Showcase, GALEX Ultraviolet Showcase, and the Spitzer Infared Showcase. Google Sky also provides students with podcasts about the Earth and Sky. How cool is that? Like Google Earth, students can “zoom in” to a location and pan around. They can also view the sky in different views which include infared, microwave, and historical. Unlike Google Earth, Google Sky can be viewed right from your web browser without a download which makes it very handy for the classroom.

How to integrate Google Sky into the classroom: I think you would be hard pressed to find a school who didn’t have space units woven through curriculum at nearly every grade level. Google Sky is the perfect way to bring that curriculum to life for your students. You can take a virtual field trip to space right from your web browser! The different views and options in Google Sky make it appropriate for kindergarten through college age groups. Your students will enjoy exploring the solar system and learning about galixies with this up close and personal look. This site is perfect for use with an interactive whiteboard or projector for whole class instruction, but would be equally enjoyable on individual student computers where they can explore the universe at their own pace. When students zoom in on an object, they can “hover” over the object with their mouse for some stats. So neat!

Tips: As a side note this would be a great site to couple with the Discovery Series “When We Left Earth.” If you haven’t had a chance to catch the series, they are wonderful!

Leave a comment and share how you are using Google Sky in your classroom.

Knowtes

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Knowtes4915 views


What it is: Knowtes is a flashcard based learning community (still in beta) that allows kids to build flashcard decks and study online. When students add a card to a Knowtes deck, it becomes due at optimized interval. The Knowtes Adaptive Learning Engine adjusts how frequently cards should be studied based on how well students know them. They can even watch their cards move from short to long term memory as they study. Knowtes decks can be shared between teachers, students, etc. Each student gets their own study room where they can organize their decks and study their cards. The study rooms have great tips on studying and tutorials on using Knowtes. Cards can be made plain, rich, or with images right now but will have audio and video capabilities coming. This is such a cool idea! Studying has never been this much fun 🙂

How to integrate Knowtes into the classroom: Knowtes is a great tool to introduce your students to. Even if you don’t have time to use it on a regular basis in the classroom, spending some time teaching your students to use the program would be worth while. Students can create Knowtes flashcards to study any subject. For younger students, you can create decks for your students to study from. Students can also create decks to share with you or other classmates. If you have an interactive whiteboard (or even just a projector) students can study cards as a whole class. You could easily use Knowtes for a whole class study session/game. Be sure to let parents know about Knowtes too, many times studying is a struggle for families and this can make life easier for everyone.

Tips: Since Knowtes is still in its beta version, click on the signup button and send a request to be a beta tester. The Knowtes team is willing to take suggestions on improving Knowtes so you should send a suggestion for any feature you would like to see available. Happy studying!

Leave a comment and share how you are using Knowtes in your classroom.

Buzz Lightyear in Orbit

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Buzz Lightyear in Orbit2373 views

What it is: Buzz Lightyear in Orbit is part of NASA’s website for kids. The site uses the popular Toy Story character, Buzz Lightyear, to teach kids about the next space mission with Atlantis. It also introduces kids to the Discovery team and the mission that has just been completed. Kids can go on 5 space “missions” of their own by playing some fun educational games on the site. Games are math and science based and separated into grade level. Grades k-2 can play games appropriate for that age group and grades 3-5 can play at a more difficult level.

How to integrate Buzz Lightyear in Orbit into the classroom:
Use Buzz Lightyear in Orbit as part of your space unit or even as a current events topic. Students can read and learn about the current space missions on the Buzz Lightyear home page. The games are great for reinforcing math and science skills that you are teaching in conjunction with or even separate from the space unit. Your students will love the fun look and feel of this site and especially the familiar Buzz Lightyear character.

Tips: At the bottom of the game screen, you can download worksheets that correspond perfectly with the games and information on the site!

Leave a comment and share how you are using Buzz Lightyear in Orbit in your classroom!

Free Pinhole Camera

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Free Pinhole Camera2939 views

What it is: CreativeTechs Tips did a post yesterday about some free pinhole camera templates. Corbis is offering free PDF templates for real working 35mm pinhole cameras. These cameras are perfect for the sunny days ahead! There are six great artistic templates to choose from for an almost one of a kind camera.

How to integrate Free Pinhole Camera into the classroom: Teach your students about science, photography, and art in one shot by having them print out and create their own pinhole camera. Pinhole cameras work wonderfully on a bright sunny day…perfect as you head into summer. This is a great science project that your students will love…how many kids can say that they made their own camera?!

Tips: After the students have created their camera use them to teach the basics of photography and hold a mini photo contest in your classroom.

Leave a comment and share how your Free Pinhole Camera worked out!

School House Rock

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on School House Rock2862 views


What it is: Remember how outstanding School House Rock was? I know as soon as you read the title of this post Conjunction Junction popped into your head and all those great grammar rules came flooding back. Well now your kids can benefit from the School House Rock videos and lyrics. Sqool Tools has gathered links to all of the School House Rock videos on America, grammar, science, money, and multiplication in one place and posted the lyrics to accompany each video. How sweet is that?!

How to integrate School House Rock into the classroom: School House Rock is such a classic. My fifth grade students had a blast going through and watching these videos…I can still hear them singing them in the halls! These videos are a great way to introduce or reinforce a concept. You can also encourage students to create their own School House Rock type songs and videos. They will come up with some really great jingles to teach math and science concepts.

Tips: Now for the downside…these School House Rock videos are hosted on You Tube which is blocked by most schools. But, not to worry, I have a solution for you (it may require slightly more planning on your part): Check out Tech Crunch. Here you can type in a You Tube video URL and Tech Crunch will download it to your computer. Save to a flash drive or CD at home and use the video in class the next day.

Leave a comment and share how School House Rock is rocking your classroom.

Send your name to the moon!

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Send your name to the moon!2302 views


What it is: Join NASA’s Return to the Moon by sending your name to the moon. Names are being collected online by NASA and will be placed onboard the LRO spacecraft for its next mission to the moon. Students who sign up will receive a certificate showcasing their support of this historic mission back to the moon. The purpose of LRO is to map out safe landing sites, locate potential resources, collect data on the radiation environment, and to demonstrate new technologies.

How to integrate NASA’s Return to the Moon into the classroom: This project is a short and sweet one, it literally takes 10 seconds for students to sign up and receive their certificates. The project is sure to generate student interest in the LRO mission as well as space travel in general. Use NASA’s Return to the Moon as a jumping off point for further exploration of NASA and the space mission. The NASA kids site is a great place to continue exploration after your students have sent their names to the moon. The certificate of participation looks very important and official…students will love it!
Tips: The deadline for sending your name to the moon is June 27, 2008 so hop to it!
Please leave a comment and share how you are using NASA Kids in your classroom.

Dipity

Kelly Tenkely5 Comments on Dipity3410 views


What it is: Dipity is a site that makes it simple for your students to create and share interactive timelines about any subject or topic. It allows students to embed You Tube videos, Twitter, RSS feeds, Blogger, flickr, Picasa, Last FM, and more right into their timelines. Dipity makes timelines relevant and fun for students and best of all, students are creating timelines in “their language” of Digital Native. You have to check this one out…look at a sample timeline to see how truly superior these timelines are to the traditional paper/pencil timeline! Okay seriously, have you ever seen something so cool?!

How to integrate Dipity into the classroom: Dipity is the perfect tool for creating a timeline for any subject in your classroom. Students can bring history to life by embedding relevant You Tube video into their timelines. Create a timeline of your day by combining Dipity with your classroom tweets from Twitter. Timelines can be created by students individually or as a class and posted on a class website as a study resource. Dipity makes your classroom interactive and engaging for students. This is where real learning takes place! To introduce Dipity to your students, invite them to create a timeline of their day or their lives using Dipity (if they have a family Flickr account they can embed pictures right into their timeline).

Tips: Students can look at the content they add to Dipity in four different views: Timeline, List View, Flipboook, and Map View (this only works if the timeline has been tagged with locations.)

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Dipity in your classroom.

Time Tube

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Time Tube2519 views

What it is: Time Tube is an awesome website for our You Tube addicted students. It is essentially a cross between a time line and You Tube. Students can type in a historical (or any) event and Time Tube will create a time line of related videos (the time line is based on when the video was added not on historical relevance). You have to see it to truly appreciate the cool factor of this tool. Your technology native students will “get” this site right away.

How to integrate Time Tube into the classroom: Use Time Tube in your classroom to introduce students to time lines, history subjects, current events, etc. Your students will appreciate the break from the traditional textbook time lines and learn more in the process. Before using Time Tube with your classroom, preview the topic to verify its school appropriateness (actually you should always do that!) This would also be a good place to teach students to question the reliability of the resources they are using and to check their “facts”.

Tips: Time Tube is related to a site called Dipity which I will be reviewing tomorrow…very neat!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Time Tube in your classroom.

Computer Lab Favorites

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Computer Lab Favorites2008 views

What it is: Computer Lab Favorites is a collection of 50 one stop learning activities created
by Scholastic. The activities are self contained and interactive.
Students can play Dude the Dog, Scientific Labeling, Human Body Math
Hunt, Around the World, Mapman challenge, Puzzled States, Classify
This, Moon Olympics, Pick the Perfect Word, Choose a Word, and many
more. Students can spin a virtual game wheel to play a game. The site
is broken down by subject and also by grade levels k-2 and 3-5.

How to integrate Computer Lab Favorites into the classroom:
As the school year winds down, allow your students to review all they
have learned over the course of the year by playing these great
interactive activities. Students can spin the game spinner and have a
game selected for them or choose a specific subject or topic of play.
Save this site for next year, it is the perfect way to introduce a
topic or put some life back into reviews! The games are content rich
and a lot of fun to play!

Tips: This would be a good site to set as the home page on your classroom
computers. It has enough games and content to keep you coming back all
year long!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Computer Lab Favorites in your classroom.