Below are three interesting science resources selected specifically for elementary teachers. These websites provide teachers with a wide variety of educational materials to help young kids enjoy science learning. These include lesson plans, video tutorials, animated explanations, presentations, graphic organizers, interactive games and many more.
1- Mosa Mack
Mosa Mack is an interesting resource for science teachers and students. Mosa Mack provides students with a variety of short animated mysteries that they have to solve using knowledge gleaned from videos they watch.
Mosa Mack adopts an inquiry-based approach to science learning and provides content that is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. Mosa Mack arranges its science content into units each of which is comprised of three lessons that ‘progress upwards on Blooms Taxonomy and the the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) chart.’ The units include:
- Lesson 1 The Solve: An animated science mystery and vocabulary manipulative
- Lesson 2 The Make: A hands-on lab
- Lesson 3 The Engineer: An engineering challenge that allows students to apply what they’ve learned to solve real world scenarios.’
Additionally, each lesson comes with a number of hands-on activities and several other materials (e.g graphic organizers, PowerPoint presentations, assessments, lesson plans…etc). ‘Mosa Mack is built for 4th through 8th grade classrooms.
For differentiation within these grades, teachers are provided with an Inquiry Scale that allows the lessons to be levelled up or down depending on the class needs.’
Mystery Science is another great science resource for elementary teachers. Created by a science teacher, Mystery Science provides a wide variety of lessons to enhance your students learning of science and engage them in hands-on activities focused around a given Mystery.
Mystery Science is another great science resource for elementary teachers. Created by a science teacher, Mystery Science provides a wide variety of lessons to enhance your students learning of science and engage them in hands-on activities focused around a given Mystery.
Every activity is designed around simple supplies which ’you should already have in the classroom or around your home.’ Each Mystery revolves around a hands-on activity and comes with a number of short videos and discussions (called Exploration).
While it takes about an hour to combine both the activity and Exploration, teachers have the option to divide the two components and do them in different class periods. Additionally, ‘The Mysteries within a unit build upon each other, so they are intended to be taught in order. Later Mysteries will often reference things discussed in earlier Mysteries. However, each unit is designed to stand alone so you can teach the units in any order you wish.’
The Lawrence Hall of Science is a great educational website from University of California, Berkeley. It provides a wide variety of resources to engage kids and students in learning science. It also offers ‘a comprehensive set of programs to help increase the quality and quantity of great science learning that kids get both in and out of school.’
The Lawrence Hall of Science is a great educational website from University of California, Berkeley. It provides a wide variety of resources to engage kids and students in learning science. It also offers ‘a comprehensive set of programs to help increase the quality and quantity of great science learning that kids get both in and out of school.’
As a teacher, you can use The Lawrence Hall of Science to look for activities and experiments to enrich your lesson plans. Use the tabs on the top of the website to easily browse through the materials it has. There is also a section called The Lawrence Hall of Science 24/7 featuring a plethora of activities and interactive games to help kids learn science in fun and engaging ways.
These include Arcade Games, Quizzes and several other hands-on activities that you can use with your students right in your classroom. Using these games, students will be able to grapple with different scientific questions such as: ‘How fast does the wind blow? What makes things sticky? Where do insects live and plants grow? What is the best way to clean up the environment?’.
