Inquiry & The Nature of Science

1. http://www.teacherlink.org/content/science/class_examples/Bflypages/nos.htm

This webpage is designed to discuss the nature of science for educators. It is broken down in sections that then go into deeper information. It ranges from the broad “What is the nature of science?” down to the specifics “How can I incorporate this into my classroom?” It also provides additional resources.

2. http://www.amle.org/Publications/MiddleSchoolJournal/Articles/September2011/Article3/tabid/2458/ Default.aspx

AMLE is geared towards helping Middle Childhood Educators perform their very best teaching while keeping in mind the needs of the middle childhood student. This webpage on the AMLE site outlines the essentials and necessities for inquiry in the science classroom.

3.

http://www.its-about-time.com/science/middleschool/index.html

This is a textbook and materials/supplies company that creates everything for inquiry-based learning. It may good to keep in mind for when textbook purchasing or supply purchasing time comes along.

4. http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/nos.html

This webpage gives a general definition of the nature of science, identifies student misconceptions, issues in teaching the topic, and additional resources. The site also suggests some lesson plans to be used in the instructional process. Life Science

5. http://www.education.com/science-fair/middle-school/life-science/

This website provides Life Science project ideas. The ideas are geared towards middle school science and can be broken further down into sub-topics. This could be a valuable resource near science fair time.

6.

http://www.earthskids.com/ek_science-marine.htm

This website gives detailed information about oceans and marine life. In addition, it has a wonderful video attached from National Geographic. This could be very useful in while teaching this section of life science. The site gives a list of teacher resources as well as student resources.

7. http://www.learningscience.org/lifescience.htm

This is a website that is host interactive lesson plans for middle childhood life science. The sections are broken up into standards (the current, 2002). This can still be useful even after the new standard go into play in 2014.

8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNm7dg3BiyU

I found this video while looking for a supplement for my fifth graders in my field site. At the time of the video, symbiosis was still a seventh grade standard. That said this could be a great hook for students to engage them into the introduction of symbiosis. Mr. Lee gives definitions and examples for the 3 types of symbiosis. Earth / Space Science

9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS9D9CzwPQU

Space School by DiscoveryTV uploads small 5-10 minute videos to YouTube. The videos cover the planets in detail via fun audio and engaging visuals. These videos are informational and could be used as supplements to lessons.

10. http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=79M2lSVZiY4&list=UU2DwkfiWSqRXxZ685AiFdGQ&index=1&feature=plcp

Again, Mr. Lee comes to the rescue of his middle school students by providing them with a rap to help them remember their science topics. This video is on phases of the moon. I find his videos very engaging, especially for the musically inclines, hard to engage, and/or linguistic students. He also appeals to his visual students by providing images to accompany his wicked lines.

11. http://earth2class.org/curr_units/index.php

This website helps teachers design units on Earth science. It gives resources for integrating educational technologies, teacher-created websites, teaching tips and more! The site categorizes subjects by topic and is easy to explore.

12. http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es0602/es0602page02.cf m

This website provides an easy-to-understand animation of the rock cycles and how rocks undergo change. Physical Science

13. http://quizlet.com/subject/7th-grade-physical-science/

Quizlet is an online flashcard creator. This website can be used for any kind of vocab words, but this particular set of flashcards is for 7th grade physical science. Students can create flashcards, take quizzes, and study daily with this interactive website.

14. http://www.middleschoolchemistry.com/lessonplans/

This website is all about chemistry for the middle school students. Subjects and topics are geared towards the middle level standards. These lesson plans are fun, engaging, and academic. The site itself is very professional.

15.

http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classchemlsn.html

This site provides dozens of links for not only lesson plans, but science projects and environmental print as well. I noticed some plans were also cross-curricular (yay!) with Math as well. 16.

http://www.physics4kids.com/

This teacher and student friendly site provides information on all things physics for middle school. The page is colorful, includes pictures, and has other interactive links to click for additional information.

Science Safety

17. http://mysciencelessons.blogspot.com/2009/07/spongebob-lab-safety-activity.html

This blog is teacher created and uploaded with tons of science lessons. This particular lesson is on Lab Safety with the aid of SpongeBob and friends. This engaging format will help younger students (primarily 4th and 5th grade) learn the ins and outs of safety in the science classroom.

18. http://www.edison.k12.nj.us/Page/3426

This school website has a nicely articulated science safety poster posted online. In addition, they have written out the science safety rules and provided a science safety contract for the public to access.

19. https://www.artskills.com/gallery/poster-categories/science-health/science-safety-115586.html

This site combines science and art as students and/or teachers can design their very own science safety poster for the classroom. This particular poster would serve best in an upper elementary classroom versus in a 6-9th grade room.

20. http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/dschlott/scisafety.html

This webpage gives a detailed list of specific science safety rules students should adhere to for a safe learning experience. The site itself is not very engaging and rather dull, but the rules are very clear, concise, and manages safety in the middle school science classroom. Science Assessment

21. http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/science/whatmeasure.asp

This webpage outlines what the National Assessment of Educational Progress measures for its standardized science assessment. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the assessment in the event that you’re expected to proctor this material. The students need to be prepared by the educator (the “you” in this case) and this will help set them up for success.

22. http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/examples/tasks_middle_science.htm

This webpage gives an authentic assessment for forces and motion (6th grade). It provides examples, a checklist rubric for evaluation, and performance tasks.

23. http://assessment.aaas.org/

This site provides more the 600 assessment tools appropriate for middle and high school. It includes student misconceptions, a test creator, and is all categorized by topics and key concepts in the three main areas of science (life, earth/space, and physical). 24. http://www.exemplars.com/assets/files/science_rubric.pdf

This rubric created and shared by Exemplars, assess four areas in which a student should become an expert in. The rubric will identify which level the student is currently performing (novice, apprentice, practitioner, or expert).

Community Resources (Northwest Ohio)

25. http://www.imaginationstationtoledo.org/content/

Let’s be honest, who didn’t love going to COSI as a child? Imagination Station (formerly known as COSI) is a hands-on science center for students and adults alike. With its convenient location in Toledo, Imagination Station is the perfect place to dive head first into science for the day (or a month!).

26. http://www.utoledo.edu/nsm/rpbo/

This planetarium and observatory located on the UT campus provides programs that focus on astronomy for younger audiences.

27.

http://www.toledozoo.org/ The Toledo Zoo provides a wonderful experience for students to see animals they wouldn’t normally be able to. I went there this summer and had a blast! There are tactile exhibits, audio pieces, and visual aids to go along with the majority of the exhibits.

28.

http://www.sanduskymaritime.org/

This may be a little out of the NW Ohio region, but the Sandusky Maritime Museum provides a family fun and educational learning experience. The site speaks of interactive exhibits and engaging learning centers inside the museum. Field trip possibility?

Project or Problem Based Learning (PBL)

29. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/stem-high-interest-projects-girls- suzie-boss

This story is about a bunch of girls who took a wild idea and ran with it. Edutopia covered the STEM story and posted the achievements of the girls. This project was completely PBL and with some help from a few adults, the girls took pictures via a camera 22 miles above the Earth.

30. http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas.shtml

This website includes a long list of science fair projects that focus on problem based learning. These projects will give students learning experiences from analyzing an issue then figuring out a solution on their own.

31. http://kidseducationalwebsites.blogspot.com/2011/01/pbl-examples-of-science-lesson-ideas.html This blog compiles a list of PBL lesson plans based on grade, content, and topic. This is a great resource to keep in mind when trying to plan a unit.

32.

http://www.teachscienceandmath.com/tag/pbl/

This website gives 6 online resources for teaching PBL in math and science. In the blurbs about each resource, the doctor who compiled these resources discusses cognitive levels of learning, differentiation, beliefs, attitudes, and more.

Cooperative Learning

33.

http://serc.carleton.edu/resources/1703.html

This review discusses the benefits of using cooperative learning in the science classroom as well as application and research. It discusses how cooperative learning is more than just working in groups.

34. http://www.science-as-inquiry.org/cooperative-learning.html

This site is all about “6 Practical Cooperative Learning Strategies for Organizing Student Inquiry.” It also provides images of materials and other helpful paper resources.

35. http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/training/videos/Team_Learning.pdf This paper discusses what team learning (cooperative) is, how it can be applied in the science classroom, how to evaluate, how to create diverse groups and much more. This is a nice resource for someone who is just starting out with cooperative learning.

36. http://books.google.com/books/about/61_Cooperative_Learning_Activities_for_S.html? id=NwnKfMdMCG8C

This book, “61 Cooperative Learning Activities for Science Classes” by Kathy Cramer, gives the reader 61 activities they can perform in a science classroom with cooperative learning groups that foster achievement and success in the science class. These activities build on critical thinking and science processing skills via cooperative groups.

Citizen Science

37.

http://birds.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count

Christmas Bird Count is a citizen science project. Citizen scientists provide professional researchers with data to be analyzed.

38.

https://eyewire.org/ This citizen science organization was started for retina research purposes. Citizen scientists play a game to make sense of retinal images. More information can be found at https://eyewire.org/wp/instructions/

39. http://www.galaxyzoo.org/

This citizen science project asks citizen scientists to help classify thousands of images of space matter (galaxies) in order to help further their research on galaxies in the observable universe.

40.

http://www.citizensinspace.org/

This citizen science organization gives citizen scientists a chance to visit places that are not often visited by professionals. This website (http://www.citizensinspace.org/category/citizen-science-blog/) gives a great overview of Citizen Science.

Ohio Content Standards for Science

41. http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=MV8lSmIo4Ac&feature=BFa&list=UU2DwkfiWSqRXxZ685AiFdGQ

I don’t know if you can tell, but I love the YouTube videos made by Mr. Lee. This video is for the scientific method. This is a requirement for students to know as prescribed by the OACS. This standard carries over to multiple grades from middle childhood, to high school, and even college.

42. http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx? page=3&TopicRelationID=1705&ContentID=126258&Content=132549 This link will take you directly to the ODE webpage for Science Standards. K-8 houses the majority of science in the middle school (except 9th grade).

43.

http://www.infohio.org/educator/OhioACS.html

This website describes the OACS and its application in Ohio schools. In addition it gives specific links to each content area’s standards.

44. http://www.ohiorc.org/standards/ohio/item/science/standard.aspx

This webpage gives a one paragraph description of the science standards in place for Ohio for learning in school. This is a good summary of what is expected to be taught/ learned in science for the state of Ohio.

National Science Education Standards

45. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Science_Education_Standards

Wikipedia will give a crash course in the National Science Education Standards. Take this information with a grain of salt and do more thorough research if you’re looking for something specific.

46. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4962&page=R5

The National Academic Press hosts the National Science Education Standards in audio and print forms to enhance readability. This site is a good resource to keep bookmarked in case of any questions/ issues.

47. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4962&page=143

The following pages are specific to grades 5-8.

Other Relevant Sections?

48. http://gk-12.osu.edu/resources

This website provides standards based lesson plans for science in grades 3-5. The lessons are broken down by subject and topic. This could be a great resource for back up plans. 49. http://curiousminds.co.uk/index.php?route=common/home

This website is an online store for purchasing science materials for the classroom. Materials are categorized by topic (astronomy, biology, chemistry, etc).

50. http://www.discoveryeducation.com/administrators/curricular-resources/science/

This easy to access website is built for kids who enjoy science. It is broken down in sections for teachers, parents, and students. The student section includes homework help, stories, and games.