Saturday, August 2, 2014

Elementary Science Resources - Part 1

My Students' Favorite Experiment: Making it Rain
"Science is a Verb!" That has been my motto for many of the 25 years of my teaching career.  Although, I will admit that recently it feels like more of a noun!  Students need practices that involve hands-on activities which will take learning to new heights.  In an effort to revert back to VERB status, I'm looking for some new science resources.


One new resource (to be launched in September) which I hope to utilize is called: Mystery Science. (See what grabbed my attention below:) The premise of this site is "open and go" (videos and lessons) making it very user friendly.  To start, the focus will be on 3rd and 4th grade (but adaptations could be made for older/younger learners with lessons to be created for 2nd - 6th graders soon).




The first four units are:
  • Spaceship Earth (Night Sky, Sun, & Seasons)
  • Plant Superpowers (Life Cycles, Adaptations, & Plants in Human Life)
  • Animals in Society (Life Cycles, Heredity, & Social Behavior)
  • Powering Machines (Simple Machines, Forces, & Energy)
Seven to ten lessons are included in each unit.  The key portion of each lesson can be completed in 45 minutes and there are extras (written response questions, non-reading selections & other activities) to extend those lessons. The lessons include guiding questions, videos and experiments (which list simple materials).

This site seems like it could be a great answer for those of us who need to be re-energized or those who don't have science resources readily available to them or those looking for resources to compliment the Next Generation Science Standards.  I'm so looking forward to trying it.

This is sure to be a great site that will inspire and motivate students and get them to really LOVE science!  Can't wait to try it out with my students!

Read the Press Release here and make sure you sign up to receive the units.  Don't hesitate to contact MysteryScience here if you have further questions...they respond very quickly!
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2 comments:

  1. Keith SchachtAugust 4, 2014 at 12:14 AM

    Thanks for the great summary, Nancy. We can't wait for you to try Mystery Science and tell us what you think!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nancy CAugust 5, 2014 at 8:27 AM

    Hi Keith,
    I love teaching science but sometimes it's so much work! I think this will help lighten the load a little, but even more than that - I think the students will find it engaging. Will let you know how it works out. Thanks to you and Doug for sharing your site with me.

    Nancy

    ReplyDelete

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