Science Education Sites on
the Internet
The following is a list of sites that might be of interest
to science teachers. This is not a complete list of sites, but it is
intended to give you a flavor of the wide range of resources available
for science on the Internet. To go to a particular site, click on the
name of the site. Have a good time.
Special Note
Please check out my new book about uses of the Internet in
education, titled Digital Connections in the Classroom. It is available
from the International Society for Technology in Education: http://www.iste.org/store/product.aspx?ID=2293
Biology
Contact Scientists
Internet Projects in Science
- Journey
North - http://www.learner.org/jnorth/
- This project, sponsored by the Annenberg/CPB Projects,
studies the coming of Fall and Spring in the northern hemisphere,
including the migration patterns of various animals. The project is
free, but to receive a printed copy of the Teacher's Manual costs money
(hint: check out the online version of the Teacher's Manual at http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/).
This is mainly geared to students in grades 4-8 but can be done with
students at all K-12 levels.
- Bird
Sleuth - http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdsleuth
- The Bird Sleuth Curriculum replaces the The Classroom
Feeder Watch project. It is a curriculum for K-8 students based around
collecting data about birds. The data is collected by the Cornell Lab
of Ornithology and used for real scientific research. This replaced the
Classroom Feeder Watch Project around 2007.
-
- The
Sun Time: The Global Sun Temperature Project -
http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/tempproj3/
- This project, sponsored by the Stevens Institute of Technology,
has
classrooms record temperatures and number of minutes of sunlight over
the course of a week in the Spring. Data is collected and analyzed to
determine the relationship between temperature and distance from the
equator.
-
- GLOBE -
http://www.globe.gov/
- Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the
Environment (GLOBE) is a network of K-12 students, teachers, and
scientists from around the world working together to help us learn more
about our environment. Teachers must first attend a teacher training
workshop, and then their classes can participate in this exciting
project to observe and study the environment.
-
- The Jason
Project - http://www.jason.org/
- The Jason Project takes expeditions to different places
(in 1998-99, they visited the rainforests in Colorado, Washington, and
Peru; and in 1999-2000, they are comparing extreme conditions in the
International Space Station and the Aquarius Underwater Laboratory).
Your classroom can travel with the project over the Internet. This
project includes curricular materials for you to explore in your
classroom and surrounding areas to compare to what the scientists are
exploring. The Jason Project now sells curricula in a variety of
areas.
- Seasonal
Change Through our Eyes and Yours -
http://www.lakelandschools.us/do/lbrandon/Seasons/home.htm
- This teacher-created project has students observe and
record the changes in a tree, clothing, temperatures, and sunrise and
sunset times in three different seasons. Data from participants is
aggregated and analyzed.
- The
World Weather Watch Project - http://www.cyberbee.com/weatherwatch/
- This is a project for K-12 classrooms in which classrooms
collect weather data, share that data with partner schools, and work
with the partner schools to analyze the data. The project seems to be
on hiatus, but you can check out the Web site anyway. This project is
now defunct, but the Web site still exists.
- Project
Starshine - http://www.azinet.com/starshine/
- Students in grades 4-12 will participate in the launch of
a satellite by polishing mirrors to be attached to the satellite. The
satellite will be launched into orbit, and students will observe the
satellite and take precise measurements. The measurements will be
shared with students around the world and will be used to calculate a
number of astronomical phenomena. Interesting project that is now
defunct.
-
- Web-based
Inquiry Science - http://wise.berkeley.edu/
- WISE is a project at the University of California at
Berkeley that includes several science projects for middle and high
school students. Berkeley provides web-based software tools and
resources for explorations of some scientific concepts. Projects
include: How Far Does Light Go?; All the News; and Houses in a Desert.
-
Internet Project Sources
- The
Global SchoolNet's Internet Project Registry -
http://www.gsn.org/gsh/pr/index.cfm
- This is probably the largest source of Internet projects
for K-12 students. Project descriptions are posted by the people who
are running the projects. Projects are being posted to this registry
all the time, so check here frequently. In addition, if you have an
Internet project, and you are looking for telecollaborators, you should
post a description of your project here.
-
- KidLink
- http://www.kidlink.org/kidspace/start.php?HoldNode=1
- KidLink
Project List Archives - http://listserv.nodak.edu/archives/kidproj.html
- The first site is the home page of KidLink, a site that
promotes
Internet projects. The second site is the archive site of the KidProj
mailing
list. This email mailing list is used by people looking for and running
Internet projects for children up to age 15.
-
- I*EARN
Project Database - http://www.iearn.org/projects/index.html
- I*EARN is an international organization that promotes the
use of the Internet for educational purposes. I*EARN has a membership
fee, so you cannot participate in their projects or join their
discussions without being a member. The projects at I*EARN tend to be
more consistent and well-run than other projects because they are
monitored and/or run by the I*EARN staff.
- ePals - http://www.epals.com/
- ePals is a place for teachers to their students to students in
other classrooms. ePals provides a secure email system for students
that lets teachers have different levels of monitoring and filtering of
the email. You can connect with other teachers by creating a profile
for your class, and you can use one of the suggeted projects with
complete lesson plans that are available at ePals, or you can create
your own lesson ideas and use the system as a way of connecting your
students.
-
- The
Virtual Architecture Project List - http://virtual-architecture.wm.edu/
- Pointers to telecollaborative projects from the website
of the textbook Virtual Architecture. The book is
all about using the Internet in the classroom.
Lesson Plans
Miscellaneous
- The MIT Open Courseware Project -
http://ocw.mit.edu/
- The MIT Open Courseware Project encourage MIT faculty to
publish all their course materials online. This is a treasure trove of
information from many MIT courses.
-
- The Khan Academy -
http://www.khanacademy.org/
- The Khan Academy provides video lessons in various topics,
including a wide range of science topics. They have also added a course
management system to allow teachers to track students' progress.
-
- African
Americans in Science -
https://webfiles.uci.edu/mcbrown/display/faces.html
- This site from Louisiana State University describes past,
present, and future contributions of African Americans in science. This
is a must-see site for anyone who believes or knows anyone who believes
that science was done exclusively by dead White men.
-
- 4000
Years of Women in Science - http://www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/
- This site lists women scientists from the last 4000 years
(concentrating on pre-1900), and it includes biographies on some of
them. The quality of the biographies varies greatly.
-
- National
Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology -
http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/
- Sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History, this
site includes some Internet projects, some scientific expeditions (such
as a trip to the bottom of the ocean to study a "Black Smoker"), and
some lesson ideas.
-
- PUMAS -
Practical Uses of Science And Mathematics - https://pumas.gsfc.nasa.gov/
- Explore examples of real-world applications of science
and mathematics. This site can be searched by subject, by grade-level,
and several other methods. You will need Adobe
Acrobat Reader (available for free) to read the examples.
-
- The
Periodic Table - http://www.chemicalelements.com/
- This site provides a colorful periodic table and lots of
information about the elements. It is one of many different copies of
the Periodic Table on the Internet.
-
- Monarch
Watch - http://monarchwatch.org/
- Find lots of information about Monarch butterflies. This
site has a strong emphasis on what can be done to save the declining
population of Monarchs.
-
- SciLink -
http://www.scilinks.org/
- SciLink is put out by the National
Science Teachers
Association. It is only usable with codes from certain
textbooks, but you can access some information by logging in as a
guest. When using the appropriate textbooks, you will find codes on
many of the pages. These codes can be entered at the SciLink site to
get more information and updated information about the topic in the
textbook.
-
- The Why Files
- http://whyfiles.org/
- This site discusses current topics in the news from a
scientific perspective.
-
- Science
Teachers Chat Board - http://www.teachers.net/mentors/science/
- This site provides a chat board (where you read and post
messages any time you wish) about science education and a link to a
chat room (live, real time chat) for teachers. Try the chat board first
for lots of useful questions and answers about science education. The
chat room often degenerates into personal nonsense.
- An
Empty Hive - http://library.thinkquest.org/07aug/01773/
- This is one of the ThinkQuest
2008 Winner for student-created web sites. This Web site (one of the
winners in the 12 and under category) explores why so many bee colonies
are collapsing. It is one example of the many student-created ThinkQuest projects.
- What is Air Made Of? Atmospheric Science for kids - http://dmdykstra.com/info/what-is-air-made-of-atmospheric-science-for-kids
- This site has a brief description of atmospheric science, but
it's best part is a list of links at the bottom of the page to
kid-friendly sites about atomospheric science. This was recommended to
me by Jamie, and 11-year-old who has a keen interest in weather.
-
The Fun Facts About the Sun -
http://www.mjjsales.com/articles/the-fun-facts-about-the-sun.html
- This site was recommended to me by Danielle, a student in an
after school science club in Mesa Valley School District in Colorado. They have used this page and wanted to contribute to it.
Science Museums and Zoos
Space
Compiled by David M.
Marcovitz,
Ph.D.
Last updated: January 14, 2013