Links for Teachers

YAPA members - make suggestions for links to Sharon

Proficiencies   Events       Amusement Park Physics       Lesson Plans/Educational       Interactive
Simple Machines   Pseudoscience      Astronomy/Earth Science/Space Science
Misc Science   Math        When All Else Fails

Proficiencies
OHIO: Go directly to the Ohio Department of Education: http://www.ode.state.oh.us/academic_content_standards/ or the Proficiencies page at http://www.ode.state.oh.us/proficiency/
PENNSYLVANIA: Go to the Academic Standards page.

Events
Lake-to-River Science Day

Linkage
The Industrial Information Institute for Education, Inc.  - "education and business linked to progress." Check it out!

Amusement Park Physics
Another link for the Six Flags Physics Day Teacher's Guide
A nice page courtesy of a friend at Gunn High School in Palo Alto, Ca: http://homepage.mac.com/cbakken/pga/
Amusement Park Physics
Roller Coaster Physics

Lesson Plans/Educational
Links to Physics & Astronomy Lesson Plans from Rutgers University's Experimental High Energy Physics Group; covers elementary through high school and advanced lessons
Frank Potter's Science Gems, links to great science resources for grades K-16
PIRA: The Physics Instructional Resource Association
NSTA: The National Science Teachers Association
The Hands-On Technology (HOT) Program offers activities for the lower grades that have been tested in the public school system to ensure that they are interesting and reliable for children with a range of abilities. Lesson plans are included for physical sciences, earth sciences, life sciences, and math.
The Powers of Ten and other great online - along with lessons, interactive java tutorials and other activities from Molecular Expressions, a website by the Optical Microscopy Division of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Stuck for an idea? Try LessonPlanSearch.com or LessonPlanz.com - both links will take you directly to the sciences sections
Single-concept lesson plans in Chemistry, Biology, Math and Physics from the SMILE Program - the Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement
This one's a pay site, but it might be worth the $9.95 charge per year (for web subscriptions). It's called Science Made Simple and it tackles topics like "Why is the Sky Blue." Sample lessons and classroom activities are available on the web site.

Interactive Sites
http://www.sciencemonster.com/ - A new site from the people behind CoolMath - has simple science explanations and activities (still under construction - I checked out the astronomy info and it's sound enough-sls)
Can't afford a bus to visit a volcano? Try The Field Trips site!
Visit museums from across the world at http://www.museumstuff.com
This one is hard to categorize - does it belong here or in Misc., or maybe under "Physics Olympics"? It's Bridge Builder - a downloadable simple program that allows you to build a bridge, check the stresses, and see how it will stand up to a train. Great prep, maybe, for Physics Olympics? Note: It runs well on some low end and high end machines, but didn't work on every computer we tried it on.
 

Simple Machines
Michelle Head and Valerie Davis from Canfield Schools and Rae Ann Gorby from South Side Middle School in Columbiana prepared the following list of "Appropriate Student/Teacher Web Sites" that deal with simple machines. The sites may contain lesson plans and/or links to lesson plans, and were found through www.kidinfo.com, a homework assistance search engine.
The Inventor's Workshop
Inquiry Almanack - Spotlighting Simple Machines
Marvelous Machines (contains lesson plans - an excellent site!)
EdTech at Kinnesaw University, links that contains information about simple machines
Motion, energy and simple machines
Simple Machine Learning Site
Professor Beaker's Learning Lab (note new address)

Pseudoscience
CSICOP at www.csicop.org, the home of the Skeptical Inquirer magazine
Skpetic Magazine, a quarterly publication, which also maintains a page of links to other sites
Medical quackery: try www.quackwatch.com
The National Center for Science Education, which also deals with evolution and creationism
For examples of "bad science," link to the Bad Science page

Astronomy/Earth Science/Space Science
I have a large list of links in the Teacher's Guide for the Ward Beecher Planetarium

Misc Science Links
eNature.com - nature and wildlife resources; included Audubon Guides
CNNfyi.com - news and information for high school and middle school students and teachers
National Geographic's on line education site includes lesson plans - a quality site (but what else would you expect from National Geographic?)
The Catalyst - a chemistry resource site specifically for secondary education/high school level teachers
BioTech at the University of Texas - enriching the public's knowledge of biology and chemistry, serving everyone from high school students to professional researchers
Earth Science - a site specifically for atmospheric sciences (clouds, ozone, air pressure and more) from NASA's Langley Research Center - click on Educational Outeach
A Dictionary of Units - conversions!
From Hawaii, a site called Kapili.com with nice introductions and quick overviews of most of the physical sciences (astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, physical geography/earth sciences) - not enough depth for high school, but might be useful for upper elementary and middle school
Science is Fun in the the lab of University of Wisconsin-Madison Chemistry Professor Bassam Z. Shakhashiri - home science activities, demonstration shows, videos, and books
Have you been asked a question you just can't find the answer to? Try The Straight Dope - amusing and factual answers to questions like "Why isn't there a Channel One on TV?" "How to lava lamps work?" "Do bears really sleep all winter" and other gems. (Teachers: due to the content, maybe you'd better find the answers instead of sending your students there!)
PUMAS: the on-line journal of math and science examples for pre-college education. The title says it all - link here when you need to answer those "so why do we have to learn this stuff anyway" questions
A cool time saver - worksheets on line at http://www.freeworksheets.com and at http://www.rhlschool.com. If you can't find what you're looking for there, make your own at http://www.mtech.on.ca
Quizzes! Try FunBrain.com

Math Links
A great place to start is the Math Archives - easily navigated links point you quickly in the right direction
Professor Freedman's Math Help - geared for the adult learner, but may be helpful for a struggling younger student
DoYourMath.com - interactive practice, math tests and prep (Pre-SAT, SAT, AP), and puzzles
CoolMath - a slick site with a spot for teachers; all grade levels
Some more sites: http://www.gomath.com, http://www.multiplication.com (can you say time tables?); geometry.net, a link/search site focused on math but with links to numerous other disciplines

When All Else Fails . . .
A strange page, but this site does have a nice set of links forSETI/Space - and be sure to check out the Mad Science Links! Some of the links are out of date, but there are some gems here - Physics Humor on the Web, Politically Correct Physics, and more.
 
 

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