Exploriments and getting lost on the internet

I got lost this morning on the internet. It was Google's fault. I was actually doing some research on iPad apps and projects for middle school when I wandered over to Common Sense Media and their suggested list for apps which got me to thinking about Windows apps since my students use Microsoft Surfaces and iPad apps don't really help us. And I thought to look around for apps that my students could use which made my train jump to another track but long (and I am rambling here) story short I have hit on the website Exploriments. Way cool!

I take this from their site:
Exploriments are simulation-based interactive learning units for enhancing conceptual understanding in Science in an experiential manner.

Totally out of my mental world but there are virtual experiments and demonstrations that even I (a math phobic) enjoyed doing and my brain did not shut down as if often does when presented something involving an algebraic equation. I just completed a nice little activity on atomic weight. I especially like how the site will tell you what you got wrong and explain how you get the correct answer. Nice. 

Exploriments has a collection of iPad apps that unfortunately are not free but are very inexpensive and probably would be worth the money for your students to benefit greatly.

The website, however, has more interactives that you can access for free. I did create a free teacher account (you will need an email address to register and students will need one also) but some of the Exploiments are locked. It asks me to register or login to access but no luck. I've sent a message to them so we shall see. However- the rest of the site is open and free to use. This site definitely deserves a look/see.

Science Fair

I missed November.....Can we just pretend Dec 1st is really just November 31st in disguise? Yeah- probably not. It's been a busy month. Ok moving on...

Science Fair is coming up and your kiddos probably are already (or should be) working on their projects. Project should have been picked at the the beginning of the year because there are some that might take a few months to investigate. I thought I would poke around the web looking for tools to help with those projects. And remember parents- it's not your project.

There are plenty of sites out there for science fair project ideas but here are a few I found interesting:

Science Buddies Awesome site!
As a student I can take a survey that will help me decide on an area of interest for my project. I love the first question in the survey "When is the project due?". Too many don't realize the time involved in a good project. The following questions are grade level, did your teacher assign a particular area of science or are you free to choose and then what is your reading level. I went with these answers: due: more than a month, area: free to choose, grade level: 7, and reading level: average. After clicking continue it gave me a list of 26 questions that ranged from if I liked plants, the space program, working with batteries to have I ever worked with computer codes on a project not required by my teacher. I now have 586 recommendations! I went back and re-evaluated my "sometimes" answers and now I have 583. As a student I don't see myself going through all of these so I need to narrow the list a bit. If I choose an area of science, like Earth Science, I now have 61 suggestions, a more manageable list. I can go through the list and select favorites to help narrow even further. Once a project is selected you are shown a complete description of the project including time requirement, cost, difficulty. You are also given background, materials, procedure, how to make it your own, help and resources to learn more. I could go on and on about this site. It really is an excellent site for anyone interested in science or to encourage someone to consider science. TEACHERS: the section for teachers offers lots of downloadables, including rubrics for all steps of the project. Create a free account to access some of them. If you teach science definitely go visit Science Buddies.

Discovery Education collaborated with Scotch brand products offer a nice
Science Fair Central. It has a neat little widget that will help you choose a project. No personal survey here but it will lead you through some ideas. However there is also an Idea Finder that will give you more detail and choices.
There are resources for parents and the science fair coordinator. You can find a sample judges scoring sheet as well. You do not need a Discovery Education account to access all of this. I love anything from Discovery Education because you can count on the credibility of the material.

Some others to peruse:
Science Fair Project Resource Guide - contains many good links to other resources.


Need to create a graph? Create a Graph make bar, line, area, pie and XY. Easy to use.

Online Chart Tool - no account needed to create and save

Timelines? Try these:

Class Tools Timeline

Timeline Maker from SoftSchools.com- can have up to 12 events- other good resources here also

Mathematical and Scientific Symbols

Science Images- FREE images, photos, sketches, diagrams- free to print or download

Science A-Z also has "printable and projectable" science diagrams. Be sure to check out their other resources also

Hopefully this is a list of sites that might be helpful to anyone involved in Science Fairs. Once I started looking there are many to be found. 

Marching In and Ocean Tracks

You know the saying about March coming in like a lamb and out like a lion or vice versa? Well how about March coming in like a whirlwind? That is how it has been since I returned from TCEA and TMEA. Quite a flurry of activity. I spent considerable amount of time when I came back preparing a video for our school's auction. Many, many hours were spent but it turned out great. Although, last minute, I get a phone call asking if I can change the size of the video because the projector resolution was not what I set the video up in. I knew that was going to happen! Should have done 2. Live and Learn.

Really cool site here for science teachers or anyone interested in tracking sharks. A fellow teacher shared this site and I spent far too much time looking at it. Ocean Tracks displays the tracks of selected marine animals tagged by CSIRO and their partners. Using interactive maps you are able to "follow" the path of one of many tagged animals. You can follow Tazzi the Tiger Shark or meet the scientists who are behind the tagging. I especially enjoyed the interactive "dive with this fish" that takes you into the water to "see" and follow it. Very cool! There are also postcards and tips for teachers to download and print for their classes. It is sites like this that make me wish I taught science.