Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Crash Course Engineering is a free digital tool that contains forty-four engineering videos. This series explains what engineering is, the different fields of engineering, and how engineers see problems in the world and try to fix them. The topics covered in the videos include biodevices, aerospace engineering, environmental engineering, and heat transfer. The videos range in length from ten to twelve minutes. This site uses YouTube and has commercials before some of the videos.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): aeronautics (12), energy (133), engineering (137), environment (251)

Discover how computer science powers everything from recording music in the studio to streaming songs through apps like Amazon Music. Learn about careers like music producers, engineers, and app developers--all through an interactive, game-like experience on Kahoot! Get ready to explore the tech behind the tunes and see how you can combine creativity and coding for a future in music!

tag(s): careers (182), engineering (137), producers (6), STEM (310)

Curious about the history of intellectual property? EquipHq's Timeline Activity takes you on an engaging journey through key milestones in the development of patents and trademarks. With a visually interactive timeline, this resource highlights important legal cases, patents, and the evolution of intellectual property law. It's a fun and educational way for students, educators, and professionals to explore the impact of innovation over time.

tag(s): inventors and inventions (81), timelines (57)

Crash Course Games is a free digital tool that includes twenty-nine game videos. This series explores ancient games, board games, card games, arcade games, virtual reality, roleplaying, and sports. Additionally, it explores the purpose of games, game facts, and history. Videos range between eight to twelve minutes. This site uses YouTube and has commercials before some videos.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): augmented reality (9), sports (85)

Crash Course Intellectual Property is a free digital tool that contains ten videos about Navigating Digital Information. This series of videos teaches how to look at digital information quality and how our scrolling for information shapes us as people in feeding information on what we think, value, trust, and do. This series will help you learn how to navigate and browse with confidence. Videos range in length from ten to fourteen minutes, and topics include evaluating evidence, Wikipedia, social media, and fact-checking. This site uses YouTube and has commercials before each video.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): digital citizenship (93), digital literacy (16), internet safety (116)

Crash Course Intellectual Property is a free digital tool that contains seven intellectual property videos. The videos teach about intellectual property, ownership, the rights of the creators, copyright, trademarks, patents, and more. They range in length from ten to twelve minutes. This site uses YouTube and has commercials before some of the videos. Additionally, there is a disclaimer for the validity and content of the videos.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): copyright (43), creative commons (28)

Brought to you by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, this site features interactive, standards-aligned activities that introduce students to intellectual property (IP). Explore the many activities, go on a patent quest, or find inspiration by watching inventor stories. Most activities include teacher and parent resource guides that include guided questions to enhance the use of features on the site.

tag(s): engineering (137), inventors and inventions (81), STEM (310)

Crash Course Computer Science covers a broad range of topics, from the basics of computing, like binary and Boolean logic, to advanced concepts such as machine learning, cybersecurity, and computer vision. The videos explore historical milestones, influential figures like Alan Turing, and key developments in software and hardware. As these videos are hosted on YouTube, if your school does not allow YouTube, this site would not work well for you. There is an option on the site to download the videos to view off of YouTube.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): coding (87), computers (109), internet safety (116), robotics (26)

The Crash Course has over 45 videos on topics ranging from Anatomy to Zoology, Artificial Intelligence to Outbreak Science. There are the more common topics one might want to learn about, like Ecology, Films, Geography, and much more. All videos are free to watch. Each video also includes a short description (some with lesson stem ideas). Crash Course videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district/school blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. The good news for teachers whose schools block YouTube is that you can download the video if you fill out a form. Go to the Download tab from the top menu, select Students & Teachers, scroll down the page, and follow the directions.

tag(s): artificial intelligence (187), black history (135), branches of government (64), business (54), climate (85), computers (109), copyright (43), ecology (105), energy (133), engineering (137), human body (91), literature (221), media literacy (113), myths and legends (42), plants (148), politics (118), space (220), statistics (121), video (267), zoology (18)

Bring your students up to date on the latest technology with these 20 educational videos from Crash Course. The videos cover what Artificial Intelligence is, how it works, how to use it for learning, and more. The videos reside on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable at your school.

tag(s): artificial intelligence (187), computers (109), video (267)

Are you ready to learn the art of prompting? This Google Arts and Culture experiment allows everyone to learn how to create effective prompts by practicing recreating images that increase the difficulty level. As each level begins, Say What You See provides a tip for what information to include. Use up to 120 characters to write a prompt to try recreating the provided image. Move up to different difficulty levels by starting with at least a 50% match in recreating the pictures in each level; the percentage to pass increases with each level.

tag(s): artificial intelligence (187), descriptive writing (42), images (263)

Create games and animations with Wick Editor's open-source tools, available as beta downloads or browser editors. Visit the example page for tutorials, examples, and program references. Use filters on this page to find examples by difficulty level or type of animation project. The tutorial videos reside on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): animation (66), gamification (86), STEM (310)

This blog post uses information from a survey of active AI users to provide insight into the current uses of AI in today's classrooms. The infographics share details on how students use AI, how often students use AI for schoolwork, and other AI-related questions. This post also includes a short analysis of the results of each survey question. A glimpse into the future applications of AI reveals its expanding role in interactive games, adaptive learning platforms, tutoring, and grading to support educators.

tag(s): artificial intelligence (187), parents (56), professional development (393)

Explore the many apps that integrate with Google to save time and increase productivity. Use the included filters to find apps by topic, age range, categories, and languages. Many resources are Google Classroom add-ons, allowing teachers and students to use the tool within Google Classroom. Not all tools are free; however, most offer a free component.

tag(s): Teacher Utilities (202)

Generate quizzes, lessons, and gamified assignments using Gibbly and the power of AI. After creating an account, visit Gibbly's library to browse and search for lessons and quizzes. Open any item to view and edit questions, print a PDF, or share the link by social media or email. Assign activities for solo play or host a live, synchronous activity. Create quizzes and lessons using the create button; options include manual and AI quiz generators and AI-generated lessons. Build lessons by adding the topic and grade level for the lesson; Gibbly then generates a lesson plan and several options for slides, including background information, discussion questions, and Did You Know information. Free accounts include 10,000 tokens monthly, unlimited hosting of review games, the creation of unlimited quizzes and lessons, unlimited classes, unlimited access to disover content, and Google exports and Google SSO.

tag(s): artificial intelligence (187), gamification (86), preK (289), quizzes (90), Teacher Utilities (202)

Gauth uses AI to provide homework help in math and science topics, including chemistry, physics, calculus, and more. Under the menu topic - Subjects, you will also find help with Literature, Writing, Social Science, and others. To begin, upload a question or an image. Gauth then provides a step-by-step response with a detailed explanation of the answer. Find additional explanations by selecting Copilot, which is built into Gauth's platform, or by choosing from suggestions for related questions. You don't need to register, but doing so will allow access to your search history.

tag(s): artificial intelligence (187), equations (119), literature (221), statistics (121), STEM (310), tutorials (52), writing (325)

This Hour of Code tutorial guides you through creating a virtual telescope in a computer browser to search for astronomical objects in a virtual world. Follow the instructions in the twenty-step tutorial to culminate in the completion of the game engine, which includes loaded images of stars to explore. Each activity also includes an optional challenge component to enhance learning.

tag(s): coding (87), space (220), stars (71), telescopes (11), tutorials (52)

National Geographic Education shares many classroom resources for all grade levels, including videos, interactives, maps, and more. Use the keyword search to find content related to specific content, filter by grade, type of learning materials, and subject, or browse the site to view some of the latest resources. Although registration isn't required, creating an account allows members to bookmark and save favorite resources.

tag(s): africa (170), amazon (11), animals (293), antarctica (30), anthropology (10), australia (29), biodiversity (36), birds (46), cells (82), climate (85), climate change (100), conservation (101), constitution (99), continents (33), countries (73), diseases (66), earth (182), earthquakes (47), egypt (59), engineering (137), erosion (14), explorers (64), fish (18), hurricanes (33), mammals (22), mayans (32), migration (45), molecules (43), moon (72), natural disasters (19), natural resources (37), nutrition (140), oceans (149), plants (148), pollution (53), population (51), religions (113), reproduction (7), reptiles (12), romans (52), slavery (79), sociology (23), solar system (108), space (220), volcanoes (55), weather (160), world war 2 (163)

Varsity Tutors offers a series of free live classes for summer learning. These sessions begin on May 6 and run through August 14. Classes provide learning opportunities to help students prepare for the SAT and ACT exams, learn about hieroglyphics, visit an aquarium, and more. Select the link to any class to learn more about the content and suggested grade levels, and enroll. Each class is offered at a specific time and date and lasts 45 minutes to an hour.

tag(s): animals (293), coding (87), college (44), deserts (17), egypt (59), essays (21), Online Learning (36), pyramids (24), rivers (16), STEM (310), test prep (69)

Can you and your students identify AI-generated images vs. human-made images? This activity shared by Curipod, reviewed here lets you select from image options to generate a lesson with a series of slides with polls for students to choose the correct image format. Additional slides include the prompts for creating the AI images and a short lesson on verifying AI-created images. Customize the presentation as desired before sharing it with students, or share it with the link or by selecting "Present" on your device to display it in real-time.

tag(s): artificial intelligence (187), digital citizenship (93), images (263), Teacher Utilities (202)