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.

YAYTD

or.. Yet Another You Tube Downloader

ConvertTube is yet another website that will let you download YouTube videos and save them as different file formats to use offline. Again, handy for teachers that can't get YouTube at school.

http://www.converttube.com/

Thanks to Lisa Thumann for the link.

Download YouTube Video

I've given a few links before to sites that allow you to download YouTube videos.

Well now I have another one to add to the list. This Script can be added to the toolbar of the Firefox web browser. When you see a video you want to save, click the button and then the page changes to allow you to save the file as an .mp4 video file.

All the instructions are on the page and it seems relatively straightforward. The thing to remember is to change the filename from .htm to .mp4 when you save it.

Obviously it goes without saying that you need to be aware that you may be infringing copyright by storing these clips - but this does provide a good workaround for those teachers who want to show a YouTube clip in a lesson where the school have blocked YouTube access.

Whiteboard training day - links

A big thanks to those who came to London today for the Lighthouse IWB training day. It was good to meet you all. I hope some of you are now checking out this blog.

I'll put in this post some of the links that cropped up on the day.

How to save YouTube videos
A good guide on how to do it from Teachers Love Smartboards
Video Downloader for FireFox
ZamZar.com

Saving Flash Animations
SWF catcher for Firefox
Flash Saver for Firefox
Flash Saver for Internet Explorer

Smartboard Training Materials
Printable Materials and Two Minute Tutorials here.

Promethean Training Materials
Training Manuals from Promethean
Top tips on using Promethean boards

Getting Smart Notebook 9.7
Smart Download Page

Getting ActivStudio 3
Guide on how to get it

Health and Safety Guidance
Links to Becta and HSE

IWB Links
My del.icio.us links for whiteboards

Thanks again for attending the day. And please get in touch if you have any other questions about your boards that you think of in the weeks to come.