Cassiopeia - HD Science Videos

Another example of how useful Twitter can be for keeping abreast of new websites. Theo Kuechel sent me a link to a new video website called The Cassiopeia Project.

The Cassiopeia Project is an attempt to produce and distribute high-definition science videos on a range of science topics. They seem more suited for KS4 or A Level teaching. It's a privately funded project and the videos are available completely free of charge for any educational use. At current count there are over 200 videos available.

As well as being free, the videos can be downloaded, hosted on your own network or VLE and can even be edited to match your own needs. Get students to record their own narrations, add your own subtitles etc. Videos are in Quicktime format.

The videos are available on the Cassiopeia website, and also via iTunes U, so you can download direct from iTunes. If you access them via iTunes U you can also get higher resolution versions, and also access to video transcripts.

It's an impressive resource, and even better for being free and open for remixing and editing.

Periodic Table of Videos

A quick post to share another interesting site for Chemistry I picked up from a discussion on the TES forums.

The Periodic Table of Videos has been produced by Nottingham University Chemistry Department. There's a nice 3/4 minute video clip about each element. Some show reactions, others just talk about the elements.

From looking at some of the videos I would guess the most suitable age range for this would be A-level chemists, but some of the clips would be suitable for GCSE too. You may want to check them out before using with your class to see if their going to be suitable.

Other alternatives include Web Elements, and my particular favourite, Theodore Gray's wooden periodic table site, home of the (in)famous Sodium Party where he sourced 3lbs of sodium and proceeded to throw into large buckets of water. If you're ever showing the reaction of Sodium and Water and the students ask you to throw in a bigger bit - then these are the videos to show them!

Another favourite is the Brainiac Alkali Metals video, that apparently has now been debunked as slightly fake. A shame as its very funny. But I'll copy it here anyway because it always raises a chuckle on training sessions.