Science Resources

Circus Physics – videos and teaching resources

Posted on Jan 25, 2012 in Digital Media, Interactive Whiteboards, Science Resources | 0 comments

Here’s a really fun website for science teachers from PBS. The Circus Physics website uses jugglers, clowns and high-flying acrobats provide an entertaining and engaging way to introduce basic physics concepts to high school students.

Eight videos feature footage from the PBS television series about the circus and interviews with the performers to illustrate the laws of physics at work. For deeper exploration, each video has  a corresponding Study Guide for students and an Activity Guide for teachers, as well as raw video clips of performances which can be used for analysis in the classroom.

It’s handy resource – go check it out at http://www.pbs.org/opb/circus/classroom/circus-physics/

In the Zone – Human Biology Resources for Schools

Posted on Jan 6, 2012 in Interactive Whiteboards, Science Resources | 0 comments

In the Zone is the Wellcome Trust’s major NEW initiative inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It provides a fun, free and fascinating way of using science to discover how our bodies work during sport, activity, movement and rest.

The website is aimed at both primary and secondary schools with two different sections. Both sections contain interactive games which can be used on the interactive whiteboard.

Teachers packs are available for download containing lesson plans, worksheets and ideas for science investigations. It’s a great free resource.

If you are a UK school then keep an eye out for the In the Zone pack which is being sent to every school in the UK in Feb/March. Each box contains a teaching guide, curriculum guide, challenge cards and all of the scientific equipment you need to do the investigations on the website. Make sure your office staff know it’s coming, and not to put it in a cupboard.

Find out more here :  http://www.getinthezone.org.uk/

Let me know what you think of the resources in the comments below.

Cargo Bridge – fun physics game

Posted on Dec 18, 2011 in Games and interactives, Interactive Whiteboards, Science Resources | 1 comment

Cargo Bridge is a fun physics game in the style of games such as Angry Birds and World of Goo. The challenge is to build a bridge and test your construction skills.

Would be a fun game to introduce to students as an end-of-term activity. Works well on the IWB but can also be played on laptops.

Access it here: http://webstore.limexgames.net/cargo_bridge/index.html

Thanks to Nick at Fractus Learning for the link.

What a Wonderful World – Video

Posted on Dec 11, 2011 in Science Resources | 0 comments

David Attenborough = Legend.

Set to full screen and HD. Wonderful.

(BBC may not allow this clip to play outside the UK. If that’s the case, try this one.)

The #ASEChat Interactive Science Links Summary

Posted on Dec 7, 2011 in Activity Ideas, Interactive Whiteboards, Science Resources, Useful Links | 0 comments

Monday evening saw my first attempt to moderate a twitter chat as I took the reigns of the #asechat hashtag for an hour. For those that don’t know, #asechat is the official hashtag for the Association for Science Education and everyone with an interest in science teaching is invited to take part in the chat.

The topic for Monday’s chat was Interactive resources in Science. Here are some of the many links that were shared during the hour, in no particular order:

Phet Science Simulations : http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/

Freezeray : http://freezeray.com/

Algodoo interactive physics sandbox : http://www.algodoo.com/wiki/Download

Exploriments : http://www.exploriments.com/

Free Interactive resources from Yenka: http://www.yenka.com/freecontent/search.action?r=new

Explore learning : http://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?method=cResource.dspResourceCatalog

How Big Really: http://howbigreally.com/

Scales and relative sizes : http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale/

Explore Learning : http://www.explorelearning.com/

Virtual Field Trips : http://www.takeyouvirtuallyeverywhere.com/

Drugs effect on synapses animations http://www.jellinek.nl/brain/start.htm

AnswerGarden : http://answergarden.ch/

Interactive Food webs at  http://www.gould.edu.au/foodwebs/kids_web.htm

Nobel Prize Winners games site recommend Pavlov’s Dogs and EKG  http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/

Online water weed simulation http://www.saddleworth.oldham.sch.uk/science/simulations/waterweed.htm

domo.goanimate.com to share ideas on big screen as starters/plenaries

and also some primary links:

iBoard : http://www.iboard.co.uk/curriculum.htm#science-year1sci_yearyear1

Childrens University of Manchester : http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/

Thanks to @brittgow, @Bio_Joe, @57mason, @Mrsdsarah, @NeedhamL56, @agittner, @Activboard_nz @Lethandrel and many more for sharing these links!

I have added all these to my own list at http://www.delicious.com/dannynic/iwb+science

Blog Posts that may be useful

Some blog posts on this site that might also be relevant:

http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2010/02/10-secondary-science-resources-for-your-whiteboard/

http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2010/02/10-primary-science-resources-for-your-whiteboard/

http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2011/05/ase-article-using-a-visualiser-in-primary-science/

http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2011/01/iwbs-8-ideas-to-keep-it-simple/

You can find the archive of all the past #asechat’s here : http://www.ase.org.uk/news/ase-chat/

A Sense of Scale : Visualising the Big and the Small

Posted on Nov 27, 2011 in Games and interactives, Science Resources, Useful Links | 0 comments

Here are two great applications to use with students when trying to visualise a sense of scale. How much smaller are atoms compared to things that we can see like a grain of rice. How much bigger is our galaxy compared to our solar system etc.

I’ve blogged about both before, but was showing them to a PGCE group the other day so thought it would be good to share them on the blog again for those who missed it.

The Cell Size and Scale interactive from the Genetic Science Learning Centre, University of Utah, lets you zoom in from a coffee bean down to a carbon atom.

Simply drag the slider across the screen to zoom in and out and view cells, organlles, paramecium, viruses and molecules, ending with a carbon atom. It’s a brilliant, clear way to demonstrate  relative scales of objects.

Take a look at : http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale/

A similar tool is The Scale of the Universe which lets you scroll from the size of a person and head out into space – viewing the solar system, galaxy and eventually the entire universe. Or zoom smaller and smaller down to sub atomic particles.

Take a look at : http://www.htwins.net/scale/

Both of these resources would work really well on an interactive whiteboard.

As an extra – this Powers of 10 video is a little old these days, but it’s still pretty good.

Let me know what you think of these resources in the comments below!

Update : also take a look at http://www.cellsalive.com/howbig.htm (thanks @jpscience)

BBC Nature Video Collections

Posted on Nov 26, 2011 in Digital Media, Interactive Whiteboards, Science Resources | 2 comments

The BBC Nature Video Collection is a large library of video clips from the excellent BBC Natural History archive, many narrated by the legend that is Sir David Attenborough.

The video clips include some from the amazing Frozen Planet, the latest exploration into the remote and isolated polar environments. Some of the scenes are totally jaw-dropping. For example the Brinicle; icy finger of death

Other other collections include Minibeasts, Baby Animals, Dinosaurs and more. Teachers looking for clips of animals/plants to use in science lessons may well find something useful here. Clips can be embedded into your VLE or website.

It’s an excellent collection of science clips and I definitely recommend bookmarking it.

I’m not sure if these clips will be available outside the UK. Can any of my US/Canadian visitors check and leave a comment?

Take a look at : http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/collections

For more Science media clips, I’ve bookmarked a few at : http://www.delicious.com/dannynic/essentialmedia+science

Science Videos from Twig

Posted on Oct 19, 2011 in Digital Media, Science Resources | 0 comments

Twig is a website that provides over 500 3-minute films for Science at KS3 and GCSE level. It’s a subscription service, so schools will have to pay annually for access to the resource.

You can access a selection of free movies here. Take a look and see what you think.

The Twig service is accessed via the web, rather than via a Cachebox like some of its competing services like Clipbank. Also it is only geared to science, rather than a whole-curriculum approach like Clipbank.

Let me know what you think of Twig in the comments below.

BioDigital Human – A 3D Interactive Body

Posted on Oct 7, 2011 in Activity Ideas, Games and interactives, Interactive Whiteboards, Science Resources, Useful Links, Web Tools | 0 comments

I missed the news when it came out, but it looks like Google is going to retire their Google Body Browser, which is a real shame because, as a Biologist, I really liked that site. Apparently it wil be relaunched in the future in association with a company called Zygote Media. There’s no indication when Google Body will be taken down at present.

But in preparation for its departure, here’s a similar site that is well worth bookmarking as an alternative: BioDigital Human.

BioDigital Human works in the same way as Google Body – you can choose between a male and a female body, can decide which organ systems you wish to make visible and can pan and zoom around the entire body. For teaching about the human body it’s fantastic.

Sadly there’s no “cow mode” (for now)

Take a look now at : http://www.biodigitalhuman.com/

Let me know what you think in the comments.