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Science Behind the News - NBC Learn
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): bacteria (19), computers (114), foreign policy (15), news (223), planets (124), plants (142), politics (122), STEM (374), tornadoes (17)
In the Classroom
Introduce the videos on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Ask students to form small groups depending on which video topic they are interested in further exploring. Have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools, reviewed here, to present what they learned to their classmates. Have older students use these videos as a springboard for further research into the topics found.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Sutori - Thomas Ketchell, Jonathan Ketchell, Yoran Brondsema, Steven Chi
Grades
2 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): american revolution (91), civil war (138), immigration (85), photosynthesis (18), timelines (60), womens suffrage (64), world war 1 (86)
In the Classroom
Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to share timelines about historical events and more. Have students create timelines for research projects. Create author biographies, animal life cycles, or timelines of events and causes of wars. Challenge students to create a timeline of the plot of a novel. If you teach chemistry, have students create illustrated sequences explaining oxidation or reduction (or both). Have elementary students interview grandparents and create a class timeline about their grandparents for Grandparents' Day. In world language classes, have students create a timeline of their family in the language to master using vocabulary about relatives, jobs, and more (and verb tenses!). Students learn about photo selection, detail writing, chronological order, and more while creating the timelines of their choice. Making a timeline is also a good way to review the history of a current event or cultural developments.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Eyes on the Earth - NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): antarctica (28), arctic (33), carbon dioxide (9), climate (95), climate change (110), earth (191), glaciers (18), temperature (33), water (105)
In the Classroom
Be sure to share this tool using an interactive whiteboard or projector in the classroom. Provide a link to this tool on your website or bookmark it on a class computer. Use this tool to introduce students to questioning and the scientific method. Why collect data on the Earth? Show a tool to the whole class or provide time for groups of students to view the visuals, develop questions, and make observations. Challenge students to find answers to some of their questions. Help students figure out what they need to know to answer the questions. For a unit on the environment, begin by showing a few tools, namely the carbon dioxide and temperature tools. Compare two different tools side by side to note differences in patterns. For example, are the patterns of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide similar? Why or why not? Research the various gases, how they originate, and the problems they cause in the atmosphere. Why is the carbon dioxide higher in some areas and not others? Research the carbon footprints of various regions and compare them. Are those same areas showing the greatest or least effects of climate change? When discussing technology, consider the different missions featured in this tool and the engineering feats required to accomplish them. Provide time for students to propose a "fantasy" mission for NASA. What should be measured? What would you call the mission? What kind of data would need to be collected? How do you think the Earth image data would look? Draft the proposal and create a possible image for review. Note: Students can focus on biological, chemical, or physical data for their proposal.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Branches of Power - Annenberg Classroom
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): bill of rights (39), branches of government (70), civics (129), constitution (104), game based learning (315), supreme court (33)
In the Classroom
Use the Annenberg Classroom Civics Games to introduce Constitution-related topics to your class using an interactive whiteboard or projector. View videos together and pause as needed to discuss information. Challenge students to try the interactive activities on individual computers or at home. Enhance learning by having students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about Americans described in the games. Modify classroom technology use and enhance learning by having students create interactive timelines (with photos, text, and more) using Sutori, reviewed here, to trace the path of a bill or the writing of the Constitution.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ABC Education - ABC
Grades
K to 10tag(s): addition (138), animals (278), antarctica (28), atmosphere (25), australia (28), cells (80), climate change (110), continents (29), counting (66), decimals (94), division (109), earth (191), earthquakes (51), ecosystems (108), egypt (60), energy (140), environment (249), food chains (22), forces (48), forensics (12), fossil fuels (11), game based learning (315), gold rush (18), human body (98), immigration (85), insects (63), light (61), maps (221), molecules (43), money (112), multiplication (134), nuclear energy (19), nutrition (137), oceans (140), parts of speech (39), percent (59), perimeter (21), place value (43), plants (142), probability (131), rhymes (24), rocks (43), songs (50), sound (73), subtraction (119), time (95), vietnam (41), volcanoes (59), weather (173), whole numbers (8), world war 1 (86), world war 2 (166)
In the Classroom
This site is excellent for enrichment. Include it on your class web page for students to access both in and out of class. Share this link on your class web page and/or in a parent newsletter for help with homework and school projects. These high-quality media resources will engage your students and enhance their learning.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Change Gamer - Mike Farley
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animals (278), earth (191), ecology (115), energy (140), environment (249), financial literacy (90), fish (16), game based learning (315), human body (98), map skills (67), migration (44), natural disasters (21), planets (124), plants (142), politics (122), problem solving (279), stars (80)
In the Classroom
Use these interactives to review concepts learned during a unit of study. Consider using the interactives at the start of a unit to teach concepts as the material is being learned. Be sure to download the student activity document. Use the pre-questions to identify misconceptions and activate prior knowledge. Directions in the document alert you to the basics of using the interactive. Provide the post-questions to the students as they play the interactive to be aware of what they will be learning. Replace paper and pen and use a blogging tool such as Telegra.ph, reviewed here. This blog creator requires no registration; be sure to have students save the URL to share with you. Students can answer the questions individually, as groups, or as a class to review the concepts learned during the interactive and connect it to class. As a class, discuss how the scenario presented in the interactive is or is not like actual environmental issues of today. Enhance learning and get the shyest of students involved in the discussion by using a backchannel chat such as YoTeach!, reviewed here. Change Gamer would also be an excellent activity for gifted students or for those who are ahead in their work in a differentiated classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mental Floss - Felix Dennis
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animals (278), famous people (40), grammar (140), quizzes (89), trivia (18)
In the Classroom
Share Mental Floss on your class web page in any science, history, health, or reading class in middle school and up. Use it as a place for students to discover research topics related to your subject or as prompts for blog posts to get kids writing about something that interests them. Make a regular extra credit offering for students to write a blog post responding to something they learn here. If you have trouble getting students to read informational text, use these factoids as introductions to draw their interest before offering a longer article. Use these articles as starters for information literacy activities. Have partners research to find a corroborating (or debunking) source for the trivia offered here. English teachers will love some of the quick articles on misused or frequently misspelled words. Invite your students in any subject to find an article related to your subject and to create a poster version of that tip or tale using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard (reviewed here).Comments
Awesome for so many topics. Blog post ideas! Love the layout and diversity.Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
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Nest Watch - Cornell University
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): birds (47), environment (249), scientific method (49)
In the Classroom
Want to involve students in a country wide scientific investigation? With Nestwatch, students participate in a genuine scientific study with a prestigious university. All background information for participating is provided, along with detailed instructions for procedural steps. Look at the trends in bird nesting over the years and have students discuss causes for the results. In cooperative learning groups, have students defend a logical reason for the results of your study in a multimedia presentation. Find a tool to create a multimedia presentation using one of many TeachersFirst Edge tools, reviewed here. Use this research style as a model for studying endangered species in your area. Read excerpts from literature to gain further background information including literature such as, Silent Spring by Rachel Carsen. In your schoolyard, choose an area to landscape for birds. Watch for other wildlife in your nest spot.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Create Your Visited States Map - Jeremy Nixon
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): maps (221), north america (15), states (128)
In the Classroom
Creating this would make an interesting map to create as a class project when learning about the 50 states. Go through the states list on your interactive whiteboard and create your class map to print or share as a digital image on your class website. Do a map as a class to see which states MOST students have visited. If you feel students may be embarrassed at their lack of travel, this may be better done on individual computers or on a personal response form given to you to input privately. For a whole class activity, divide your class into groups to create separate maps. Compare and contrast states visited. Send home a link to the website for students to create a map with their families. For older students, use the map for content and reassign colors as needed. For example, create a map showing the birthplace of U.S. Presidents: assign red to states without a president, yellow with one president, and green with two or more. This same format could be used in nearly any subject while studying differences in states (democrat or republican, most popular agriculture product, how many - if any - NFL teams, teen pregnancy rate, and much more).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Give Me Sport - givemesport.com
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): independent reading (84), journalism (74), sports (87)
In the Classroom
Offer Give Me Sport as an alternative to reluctant readers for independent reading. Challenge students to find articles and then research additional information for writing projects or biography reports. Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Image Annotator, reviewed here. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook featuring a sports personality.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Vox - Vox Media
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): news (223)
In the Classroom
Share specific articles from this site -- or a collection of them-- for students to gain experience with informational texts that demystify the headlines they are seeing on the TV screen crawl. Use examples from this site as models for student groups to do research to explain a science or economics topic that has been in the news and share it with peers as a digital poster showing the top ten things they should know about X. Use a tool such as Padlet, reviewed here, to create a "poster" of sticky notes. Not only will your students gain experience reading for understanding, but also choosing the most important things to know from an article. Use this approach for students to research and share articles in health class (such as on new vaccines or discoveries) or on national issues during an election cycle. Be sure to include this link on your class web page for upper grade students to find current events articles (along with a disclaimer that some topics may be controversial).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Timeline: US-Cuba Relations - Council on Foreign Relations
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 20th century (168), cold war (39), communism (3)
In the Classroom
No lesson on the Spanish American War, the Cold War, or US diplomatic relations within the Americas is complete without an examination of the tensions between the US and Cuba. The timeline is suitable for use on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Share or embed this tool into a classroom website or blog.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Recycling 101 - Three Basic Rules - Recycling Facts Guide
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): conservation (110), consumers (16), recycling (47), resources (80)
In the Classroom
Use the information on this site to inform students about the various items that can be recycled. Consider using the site as background information for student created surveys for students and their families to complete. Use the information from the surveys to develop a campaign to bring awareness to consumption and use patterns that can save money for families as well as landfill space. Create a survey or a poll using Class Question, reviewed here. Use this site for meeting the Common Core Standards for nonfiction reading. Provide a link to the Recycling Facts Guide on your class website. Create a student project where students use information on this site to create a campaign to promote awareness about recycling. Debate recycling and recycling programs by comparing information from this site and others as well as misconceptions many may have. Use the information here to establish a recycling campaign in your school or community. Use this site as inspiration to write a story or cartoon based on the life of a particular resource.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Penguins: Everything You Need - Scholastic Inc
Grades
K to 8This site includes advertising.
tag(s): adaptations (19), animals (278), antarctica (28), arctic (33), OER (53), preK (322)
In the Classroom
Students can take a virtual field trip to visit a zoo that has penguins. Students can use Aha Slides, reviewed here to create a presentation with facts about penguins. Finally, students can use Kiddle, reviewed here to learn more about penguins.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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News in Pictures - BBC
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): news (223), newspapers (86), photography (136)
In the Classroom
Use the photos on this page as a jumping off site for many activities. Challenge students to read about the same topic/news using a different site and then writing a comparison essay. Students can submit their own photos for consideration. Students can learn summary writing by looking at these photos and writing briefly what happened. Have students create a multimedia presentation using Thinglink, reviewed here.This site allows users to narrate a picture. Challenge students to upload a copyright-safe photo, and then narrate as if it were a news report. Students of multiple ability levels can respond to the photos, each at their own ability level.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Center on Representative Government - Indiana University
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): branches of government (70), civics (129), civil rights (221), comics and cartoons (67), congress (37), politics (122), primary sources (135), womens suffrage (64)
In the Classroom
Clearly, this is a great resource for those teaching civics or US government. These activities will also be useful to US History teachers, as the issues covered span important political eras. For example, there are activities related to women's suffrage, the child labor movement, the GI Bill and the development of the Interstate Highway system. Lesson plans range from those designed to cover several days, to short "Congressional moments" videos perfect for introducing a concept or sparking class discussion. A number of the lesson plans and activities are designed specifically for iPads. Of note also is the fact that the video clips on the site are not links to YouTube, so will not pose an access problem for school districts that block the site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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IFL Science - IFL Science
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): brain (58), calories (8), environment (249)
In the Classroom
Share this site for students to explore informational articles related to what they are currently studying or to explore the many aspects of science not included in the standard school curriculum. Challenge student partners to find an article they enjoy and share it creatively as a poster or mock interview with the scientists involved. They can use a simple tool such as Magazine Cover Maker (reviewed here) or actually make a video "interview" and share it on TeacherTube (reviewed here). Have your gifted students explore articles to extend the required curriculum. Use this site for career day explorations about the many places where scientists work.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Climate Time Machine - NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/CIT
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): antarctica (28), arctic (33), carbon dioxide (9), carbon footprint (8), climate (95), climate change (110), temperature (33)
In the Classroom
Want to get students' attention? Begin with the Average Global Temperature on an Interactive Whiteboard or projector. Start the slider slowly at 1884, and be sure to pause and back up when global temperatures cool. However, be sure to point out to students that although temperatures cycle a bit over time, as you progress to the present day, much warmer temperatures persist. Follow this demonstration. How does this visualization compare to Carbon Emissions? Spend time in class looking at the Sea Level changes and list the areas that will be affected the most because of sea level rise. Create reports or posters on the facts about those areas (population, points of interest, culture, and history) to understand what will be lost. Have students create online posters individually or together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. Create a campaign to halt climate change, starting with simple actions that EVERYONE can take. Take time to determine each student's carbon footprint and changes that matter.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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PBS Newshour Classroom - PBS NewsHour Productions LLC
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): civil rights (221), elections (87), holocaust (42), memorial day (27), news (223), pearl harbor (16), poetry (195), veterans (37), women (189), world war 2 (166)
In the Classroom
Watch the news together on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Allow students to watch independently on laptops or at a learning station. Use any video or article as a current events writing prompt. Challenge students to create blog posts about them. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, replace pen and paper and have students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Webnode, reviewed here. Don't forget the many free lesson plans (already aligned to Common Core standards). Click on the Lesson Plans link to explore the countless topics available (Poetry, Veterans, Elections, Ebola, Civil Rights, and more). For articles and videos about conflicts and tension, extend student learning by having your students engage in a debate using a tool such as Kialo Edu, reviewed here. Keep your class up-to-date on the news using this site. Provide this link on your class website for students (and families) to access both in and out of your classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes - Lowell Milken Center
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): charactered (86), heroes (22), Project Based Learning (29)
In the Classroom
Share stories from the Unsung Heroes project on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Discuss traits that make a hero and find inspiration to search for heroes in your everyday lives. Use this site as a starting point for individual or group projects. All types of classes can complete a project about an unsung hero. P.E. classes can find out about veterans, surfers, or car accident victims who have lost limbs and used their challenges to make a difference. Math and science students can complete an Internet search for high school inventors. Students could also search through old Scholastic Scope magazines for articles about young people who have overcome adversity. Instead of a paper and pen written biography, extend students' learning by using Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a hero they have chosen. Modify student learning by challenging them to create an annotated image of a hero including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Google Drawings, reviewed here. Google Drawings allows you to annotate an image with links to videos, text, websites, and more. Not familiar with Google Drawings? Watch an archived OK2Ask session to learn how to use: OK2Ask Google Drawings, here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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