Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This resource contains great review information, test questions, and other materials for several content areas. The materials included for review are a great way to identify the basic material needed for the understanding of Chemistry, Physics, Geometry, Algebra, U.S. and Global History, Earth Science, and the Living Environment.

tag(s): test prep (69)

View this interactive video timeline to look at obsolete technologies from the past, including rotary hand mixers, cassette tapes, and other technologies. These short videos share "obsolete" items from the 1860s to 2000s. (Note: if your school blocks YouTube, this site will not be accessible. Ask to have this specific url unblocked).

tag(s): inventors and inventions (80)

This site lets you keep study notes with you anywhere you go! Create flashcards and study even on your mobile phone. Share notes, flashcards, study guides, and quizzes with others for excellent collaboration. Study Blue also provides hints to help students study. Create a folder in "My Backpack." Make flashcards to get started or search flashcards already created by others.

tag(s): flash cards (44)

View The Visual MD site for an unbelievable visual experience about the human body. Learn and understand about health content, and interact for better understanding. View unique 3D resources in a format that educates and informs about health and wellness issues: depression, back pain, heart attack angina, hypertension, kidney disease, asthma, and more. Use these fascinating visuals, produced with real human data from medical scans including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer tomography (CT) ultrasound, and confocal laser scans. View the body as never seen before, with lifelike computer imaging and enhancement. Find important advice and information on many aspects of health care. Search the interactive library, view videos, or read content.

tag(s): body systems (40), diseases (66), heart (27), human body (93)

Use this (site) project to apply puzzle-solving skills to determine how proteins are folded. Proteins are fascinating, but their structures are difficult to comprehend. Why study the folding of proteins? The folding determines how they function and has implications for human health and how we live with materials and the environment. Bring out thinking processes with this downloadable interactive. Each protein becomes a puzzle. Players manipulate the protein into the form that provides the most efficiency. Researchers are tapping into the potential of the human brain to identify patterns. Understand the formation and breakdown of proteins through game play. Identify the four structures in proteins and their role in the functions and specificity of proteins. Download is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. You need to registerfor the free download.There is an option to "join" for a fee. However, this is necessary only if you wish to comment on the site. As a "real world" connection showing the impact of this "game," see this article about the discoveries about HIV/AIDS that resulted from Fold It.

tag(s): atoms (43), hiv/aids (15), molecules (43)

Use this interactive resource to review the parts of an animal, plant, or bacterial cell. Hover over the areas of the cells to learn the parts and the functions. When finished, follow with an activity to practice what has been learned or take the quiz!
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tag(s): animals (294), bacteria (22), cells (82), plants (146)

Explore your world! Learn about Life! Record observations! This site is based upon the idea that naturalists record observations and that sharing information is a good thing! Click on the Observations tab to view by species or by placemarkers in a Google map. Choose to look by Species or search for a specific Project or Place. For "full access" create a log-in. This requires an email address. Read tips for safely managing email registrations here.

tag(s): animals (294), biodiversity (36), plants (146), species (16)

Zooniverse is one of the largest and most popular citizen science projects. Choose from the feature projects found on this page or click See All Projects to be able to choose from a category. The categories include Arts, Biology, Climate, History, Literature, Medicine, and several others. Click on the category of your choice to go to that project page and read more about the purpose. View interesting information and discoveries that occur when people around the world contribute to a citizen science project. Create a login that can be used for any project shown. Registration requires and email address. Read tips for safely managing email registrations here.
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tag(s): citizen science (27), earth (184), moon (73), Project Based Learning (23), Research (87), space (222), sun (71), weather (160)

Find excellent interactive tutorials of microscope use and microscopic organisms. Choose from tutorials on Microscopic measurement, Predator and prey, and microscopic comparison. Click on portions of the tutorial for an interactive lesson and move throughout the tutorial using the forward and back arrows. Click on teacher resources for for suggestions and laboratory experiences (be sure to check back as many are under construction. The update for this site was done in HTML and it can be accessed on any device with the internet.

tag(s): food chains (19), microorganisms (10), microscopes (10)

Promote environmental citizenship through this site's "green learning" units. The curriculum ranges from examining how electricity works, understanding the balance of ecosystems, to a high school unit on sustainable futures. Enjoy the interactive wind turbine and carbon calculator. The animation for grades 4 - 7 is engaging, and the video presentations for high school students on sustainability is powerful. Green Learning provides educators with an array of hands-on activities, online learning opportunities, printable materials, assessment tools, and valuable resources such as environmental experts to contact. Each environmental concept taught provides opportunities for real world learning, encourages social action, and advocacy. Teacher friendly planning tools can help meet instructional time constraints, students learning styles, and promote cross-curricular connections. The site is free but requires registration. Membership provides access to additional educational materials and a monthly newsletter. This program comes to us from Canada.

tag(s): climate (84), climate change (99), conservation (102), ecosystems (83), electricity (61), energy (133), environment (252), natural resources (37), OER (43), persuasive writing (58), solar energy (34), sustainability (50)

Find one minute listening exercises on such common activities as babysitting, chickens, and exercise. The listening selections are alphabetized with several selections for each letter of the alphabet. Each listening selection has a multitude of activities you can download (along with the reading text) in Word and pdf formats. Find Cloze paragraphs, fill in the blanks, words to unscramble, and much more. Many activities can also be viewed online. Each selection has two interactive quizzes. Though targeted for the ESL/ELL student, listening is one of the language arts standards, and this is a good way for any classroom teacher to address listening skills.
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tag(s): dance (31), listening (93), reading comprehension (149), vocabulary (238)

Discover better perspective on the size of the universe using this interactive. Use the slider at the bottom to move from the atomic, cellular, and human perspective all the way to the size of the galaxy. Units are displayed alongside images. Warning: underneath the interactive, there is a public comment area. You may want to preview this area if allowing students to navigate on their own.

tag(s): atoms (43), cells (82), measurement (122), space (222)

This site, created by the Kennedy Center, offers a wealth of interactive lesson plans for grades K-12 dealing with a variety of topics, all with an "arts" spin. Search by subject, keyword, or grade level (K-4, 5-8, or 9-12). Some examples of topics include Native Americans, Civil War, Shakespeare, myths, melodrama, adjectives, monsters, baseball, and countless others! Be sure to check out the category "Our Best Resources Organized by Subject." After that click on the the top menu for Education and get even more resources. There are many interactive lessons: some with video, audio, or slideshows. The lessons provide an estimate of time required and complete, step-by-step instructions. There are printables included with some of the lessons.
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tag(s): african american (115), baseball (32), civil war (139), comics and cartoons (55), dance (31), folktales (34), greece (47), habitats (92), immigration (68), literature (221), mexico (37), musical instruments (52), myths and legends (37), native americans (108), painting (54), surrealism (2)

This site from the department of ichthyology at the Florida Museum of Natural History offers a wealth of information on all manner of fishes, sharks, and other sea life. In addition to the site's text, there is a large, searchable photo database that will return images of many species. The education section includes information on how fish live and swim, identification keys, and commonly asked "fishy questions." Earth science teachers will definitely want to bookmark this one.

tag(s): fish (18), marine biology (31), oceans (149)

What would happen of the world ran out of oil? Players simulated that reality through this innovative game. Though the activity is officially over, for the thirty-two days of play, over fifteen hundred stories of reaction to a massive decline in available oil and their reactions were recorded. Each story has been archived. Use the Time Machine to go to any of these weeks. Official stories for that week are the headline. Read stories by players in the blocks to the left. Click on a story block to go to the story. Take Gretchen's Quick Tour and experience the activity as one of the participant's did. Be sure to check out the Lesson Plans for Teachers.

tag(s): climate change (99), critical thinking (127), environment (252), oil (22)

This "plain vanilla" looking site offers science help for parents, students, and teachers with simple explanations of science topics and ideas for experiments and projects. Here you'll find the answers to the ever popular questions "Why Do Leaves Change Colors" and "Why is the Sky Blue."There is an extensive section devoted to creating a wonderful science fair that includes project ideas, how to pick a topic, presenting projects, judging, and parent information. There are also many at-home ideas for projects using simple, easy to find materials such as swinging cereal to demonstrate static electricity. You can sign up for their free newsletter to stay informed of new materials added to the site. There is an online store; however, it isn't necessary to purchase materials to use most of the information offered onsite.
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tag(s): colors (63), electricity (61), experiments (55), photosynthesis (21), plants (146)

View thousands of old style photos on a range of science and ethical topics. Use this site to bring together images as well as viewpoints to create new insights into Science and culture. Click on Read to obtain background on various science issues arranged by subject. Click on the Debate tab to look at questions and discussions related to science topics and issues. Find old style photos in the See tab. Create a login to save searches and photos for future use. Be certain to preview whatever you plan to share with your students. At this time of this review, there were some topics that would not be appropriate for some classrooms.

tag(s): debate (42), industrialization (12), medicine (57), natural resources (37)

Confused about Botany? It is no wonder with 375,000 plant species that are known by over a million different names! The Plant List has an aim to change this. Click Browse along the top navigation bar. Choose from the major grouping of plants including Flowering Plants, Conifers, Ferns, and Mosses. Search using Family and genus names as well. Use this site to confirm names of species. Links to databases that contain specific information about the species is linked to each page.

tag(s): classification (22), plants (146)

Listen to stories of impacts of climate change occurring in a northern state. Choose videos based upon popular activities such as fly fishing as well as issues of climate change that include extreme heat and ice cover. View resources that are stories as well as interactives using the menu at the bottom of the page.

tag(s): adaptations (16), climate (84), climate change (99), water cycle (22)

This site, created by Australian Sean Banville, has high interest, "easier" news for students to read and many teaching materials to go with them. Though the look of the site is cluttered with advertising and plain text, the content is worthwhile. Developed for ESL/ELL students and teachers, the site would also work well in a subject area, learning support, or reading classroom. There are MANY articles "ready to go," including mp3 audio files to listen to the articles. At the time of this review there were 200+ new additions! Each article includes several types of activities such as "online gap fill" (a Cloze reading activity), vocabulary flashcards, and hangman, and matching. A full script is available in PDF form. There is also an online, interactive quiz for students. The articles, and a lot more activities, can be downloaded and printed, too.
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tag(s): diseases (66), listening (93), news (228)