SCIENCE WEB SITES

Dr. Lud Braun gathered just a few sites found on the Internet that are great and have used with elementary students.

Human Body Sites

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/webwise/spinneret/humans/resyst.htm
Human respiratory system

http://kidshealth.org/kid/body/digest_noSW.html
Excellent site for kids--deals with the human body, eyes, respiration, digestion, cardiovascular, etc.

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/webwise/spinneret/humans/resyst.htm#
Human respiratory system, including gas exchange in the lungs and animations

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookRESPSYS.html
The Respiratory System and Gas Comparison of respiratory systems of insects, simple vertebrates, through humans.

http://www.adprima.com/sci-respsystem.htm
Making a model of the human respiratory system.

http://www.hoflink.com/~house/humphy.html#anchor79010
Lots of Web sites on human anatomy and physiology.

http://www.biointeractive.org/
Excellent site by the Howard Hughes Medical center. Provides videos of heart action, the cochlear membrane, the visual system, bacteria, and much more. Includes Science in the News feature dealing with medical news items. Aimed at upper elementary through high school.

http://kidshealth.org/kid/body/kidneys_noSW.html
Really good description of how body parts work (heart, kidney, bone, lungs, etc.). Aimed at younger children.

http://www.anatomia.learningtogether.net/
Site developed by European teachers. Deals with anatomy of the skeleton, digestive system, respiratory system. Currently can choose from among 9 languages--soon several more i

http://www.henry.k12.ga.us/cur/mybody/content.htm#instructional
Site aimed at younger children. Deals with human anatomy and physiology. Looks at major systems (heart, respiratory, nervous, etc.). Lots of experiments to measure heart rate, build a stethoscope, measure lung capacity, etc. i

Animals and Biology

http://www.seaworld.org/infobook.html
Pictures and info about all kinds of sea critters

http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/Home.html
Site for young kids with info on dinosaurs, animals, butterflies, geography, arts and crafts.

http://www.earthcam.com/
Live Webcams take online pictures (some, at least, for 24 hours/day) of animals, people, businesses, etc.

http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/gadgets.html
An excellent collection of sites about various aspects of science. There's stuff on the human body (which needs to be used with some care with students--one question raised is "Does a full-breasted woman need a bra in space? The answer is Yes.) This URL brings you to Gadgets and Inventions. At the bottom of the page is a list of other related sites on the Human Body, Plants and Animals, Machines, and more.

http://www.seaworld.org/infobook.html
Lots of info about animals of the sea and the land, aquariums, etc.

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/webwise/spinneret/conten.htm
Lots of good biology here

http://www.eurekascience.com/ICanDoThat/dna_intro.htm
An excellent intro to DNA, genes, and chromosomes. Described in a way that younger students can understand.

http://www.brainpop.com/science/
Lots of cartoony movies about aspects of science, including food chains, Earth's structure, and lots more. There are commercial messages before every movie. A slight annoyance, but the movies will delight and instruct kids.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/
Lots of science stuff. Maps, adventures, animals, travel, lots more.

http://www.MonarchWatch.org/
Monarch biology, raising Monarchs at home or in classrooms, planting a butterfly garden, and more.

http://www.eurekascience.com/ICanDoThat/
DNA, RNA, cells--al with animations and explanations which a child can understand.

http://www.biology4kids.com/files/cell_main.html
Cells and cell structure for kids.

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/1643/index.html
Lots of science for high schoolers--biology (including AP bio), physics, chemistry.

http://eev2.liu.edu/dream/snb/LEX/
An outstanding lesson plan for 1st graders to muse to study the development of chicks and ducks from the embryo to the hatchling. Tied into NY State Standards. Contributed by Siobhan Boltz, from Sunquam Elementary School, Half Hollow Hills School District.

http://whale.wheelock.edu/Welcome.html
This site provides real animal behavior with real animals and real data. It's an interactive educational website which focuses on whales and marine research.(Site recommended by Joanny Gomez)

Seasons

http://faldo.atmos.uiuc.edu/w_unit/LESSONS/seasons.html
Description of an experiment to show how the seasons change. Aimed at grades 2-4.

http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sseason.htm
Graphics showing the tilt of the earth and its effect. Aimed at a bit older kids than the one above.

http://www.aspsky.org/education/tnl/29/29.html
Collection of facts about the seasons.

http://www.rog.nmm.ac.uk/leaflets/seasons/seasons.html
Nice graphic of earth's orbit around the Sun.

http://www.mrdowling.com/601-seasons.html
Nice graphic of Earth's orbit around the Sun. Lots of links to more info including daylight Saving Time, Longitude and latitude.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/wseason/wseason.htm
Weather and seasons--nice animated graphic

Astronomy and Solar System

http://KidsAstronomy.com/
Excellent site with lots of info about our Solar System, pictures of the night sky with the stars labeled; space exploration; a dictionary of space terms

http://Astronomy.com/home.asp
Lots of stuff related to astronomy. For slightly older kids than the preceding site

http://www.spacescience.org/Education/ResourcesForEducators/CurriculumMaterials/Kin_Astro/1.html Ideas for understanding space relationships

http://www.fi.edu/psd2002/hotlist02.html--A
LARGE list of Web sites which deal with energy: solar; geothermal; nuclear; wind; etc. Teacher resources included

http://www.solarviews.com/eng/earthint.htm
This site has data on the thickness of the various layers of the interior of the Earth plus stuff on lava, weather, and views of the Earth from space

http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/earth/interior.html
This site has similar data but includes discussion of seismology and how it is used to explore the interior of the Earth.

http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Geology/webdogs/plates/pangaea-1.html
This site let's the user go from Pangaea to modern times using the mouse to control how fast it goes. Really neat. You can see the Indian plate collide with the Asian plate to form the Himalayas.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/historical.html
This site shows the plates' relationship from 225 Million years ago to now. Click on Tectonic plates (here all the dozen or so plates are shown at the present time), then on Historical perspective, then on Rejoined continents (here, they show Africa, South America, India, Antarctica, and Australia joined, and how fossils of ancient animals were found on several continents, proving that they were once joined).

http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/pangaea/evidence.html
Here, the evidence for connections among current continents is laid out--rocks, shapes, plants and animals, ice.

http://team.liu.edu/halfdotcom/kopf/rocks.html
Avirtual rock museum with characteristics of various rocks

http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/
Help with building a model of the Solar System. Enter the model diameter of the Sun and the calculator automatically calculates the model diameters of all 9 planets and their model distances from the Sun. Neat. (I've used this to build a model of the Solar System out to Mars. I used a 2-inch ball for the Sun, poppy seeds for mercury and Mars, and sesame seeds for Venus and Earth.)

http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/
Lots of really good stuff about space, the Solar System, etc.

http://www.pbs.org/earthonedge/
Related to Bill Moyers' PBS series Earth On Edge that deals with human impact on the World's ecosystems.

http://humbabe.arc.nasa.gov/MarsToday/marstotal.gif
Daily image of Mars and Earth and their relative positions around the Sun. Also includes a picture of Mars, a picture of wind currents, and a picture of surface temperatures on Mars each day.

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/
Lots of pictures and info and data on the planets, including some QuickTime movies, online multimedia materials, and lots of pictures from the NASA archives..

http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/calendar/
Calendar of NASA events, women and the Space Program, missions in Space, etc.

http://www.solarviews.com/eng/earthint.htm
This site has data on the thickness of the various layers of the interior of the Earth plus stuff on lava, weather, and views of the Earth from space

www.halcyon.com/sciclub/kidfun.html.
It is a great site with experiments and facts on all subjects, especially earth science, which covers a lot of material.

http://education.nasa.gov/multimedia.html
Very rich resource from NASA. Includes PDF files of models that students can build of the Lunar Lander, International Space Station, and other vehicles.( I've used this with 3rd graders. Each one built a model and they hung them in the classroom.)

http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/mary/
Rich resource on the Solar System. Models of planets and the Solar System; possibility of life on other planets; "Reaching for the Red Planet (Mars)"

http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/historical.html
Plate tectonics--maps of the earth over time showing plate drift.

http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/pangaea/evidence.html
Evidence for plate tectonics

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html
Enter the name of your town and state and this site will give you the time of Sunrise, Sunset, and Local Noon (It even gave me the data for Dix Hills!)

http://www.worldtimezone.net/time-usa12.html
Neat map of the US showing all the time zones from Maine to Hawaii

http://www.scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov
A great site to get children and young adults interested in space and space exploration.. This site goes into careers, experiments, and lets you look inside the space station.

http://cpcug.org/user/jaubert/jsundial.html#
This site contains information about sun dials, Local Noon, time zones

Weather

http://www.noaa.gov/
News stories about weather. El Nino, droughts, oceans, fish, etc.

http://www.solarviews.com/eng/earthint.htm
This site has data on the thickness of the various layers of the interior of the Earth plus stuff on lava, weather, and views of the Earth from space

http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/graphicsversion/rbigmain.html
Up-to-date weather info world wide with animated graphics.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/wchamb/wchamb.htm
Site shows how to make a simple box to show how tornados form.

http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Edu/RSE/RSEred/WeatherHome.html
Lessons about weather phenomena. Aimed at grades 4-6.

www.earthwatch.com
Current weather all over the US. Weather forecasts, wind chill, temperatures, storm warning nationwide.

Experiments

http://ericir.syr.edu/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Chemistry/CHM0025.html
good experiment in measuring caloric content--burning peanut & marshmallow

http://ericir.syr.edu/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Chemistry/CHM0026.html
Good experiment in mixtures

http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/bubbles/sticky_water.html
Interesting experiment on surface tension of water, but not as good as the "drops of water on a penny"

http://ofcn.org/cyber.serv/academy/ace/sci/cecsci/cecsci081.html
Good experiment--includes heating and cooling of air in a bottle with a balloon, and includes having students act as molecules. Could add marbles in a bowl experiment to reinforce the ideas here.

http://www.monroe2boces.org/shared/esp/Unitres.htm
Very rich source of experiments over wide spectrum of science. Aimed at elementary students.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/index.html
Great collection of experiments (a large number)--most can be done at home or in school with simple easily obtained materials

http://ericir.syr.edu/cgi-bin/lessons.cgi/Science/Meteorology
Lots of experiments, some good some not so good

http://www.tryscience.org/home.html
Collection of interesting science experiments that you can do with ordinary materials available around the house; also has a World map to locate science centers around the World (Nice if you are going on a trip; also has several virtual field trips.

http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/WCE/archives/sciexper.htm/
A list of 25 or so Web sites with lots of interesting experiments that need only simple tools and supplies i

http://www.iit.edu/~smile/ph9516.html
Aimed at grades 1-3 this site deals with states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) and contains lots of experiments to help kids to understand the concepts. i

http://www.galaxy.net/~k12/body/lungs.shtml
Good experiment to measure lung capacity. Requires only simple equipment. Might be messy with lots of water. i

http://www.kidzone.ws/science/cornstarch.htm
Aimed at younger kids. Here there is an experiment to demonstrate that corn starch can act as a solid or a liquid. From this site you can go to others which offer experiments with seeds, color mixing, and others. i

http://www.galaxy.net/~k12/body/digest.shtml
Aimed at older kids. Deals with pH, and acids and bases. Has an experiment to demonstrate how antacids calm your stomach. i

Science Projects

www.exploratorium.edu/ls/pathfinders/scifairs
Great for first-timers, this thoughtfully written site takes students through the entire science fair continuum, beginning with a discussion of good vs. bad science and culminating in a guide to searching the Web.

www.school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/index.html
This soup-to-nuts site features inspiring project suggestions, as well as a detailed guide for choosing a topic, formulating hypotheses, and testing ideas. The Sample Project (located under Handbook) on measuring the sun at its highest altitude illustrates key procedures. And the Parents section offers some good advice, including the gentle reminder that "the real measure of success is how much an individual student accomplishes and learns."

www.ipl.org/youth/projectguide
The Internet Public Library's thorough site points students to a variety of Web resources covering everything from the scientific method of inquiry to writing a slam-dunk final report. Students should be sure to check out the links to online science magazines, where they'll find plenty of project-inspiring articles, as well as the Tips and Tricks links for ideas on how to display their results.

http://www.energy.ca.gov/education/projects/projects-html/projects.html
Lots of science projects, many about energy, but lots more besides

http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/sciencefairs/
Long list of science fair projects broken down by age (from 1st grade to 12th) and by subject. Includes "how to" discussion. http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/wchamb/wchamb.htm
Site shows how to make a simple box to show how tornados form.

http://www.crpc.rice.edu/CRPC/GT/dawsonm/CAST/CAST95.html
Set of interesting and easy-to-make science experiments about simple machines.

Simulation Sites

http://www.explorescience.com/
Large collection of mostly quite good simulations

http://www.hps-inc.com/Education/ED_index.htm
This site gets you to a free downloadable demo of Stella, a simulation language. The demo includes a number of simulations already built.

http://www.fearofphysics.com/index.html
Simulations and video clips of interesting physics aimed at young kids, but good for older ones too. Roller coasters, pendula, colliding vehicles (momentum transfer), etc.

http://www.riverdeep.net/ lots of good educational stuff in math, science (including simulations), and social studies. Another site you have to pay to use.

http://jersey.uoregon.edu/vlab/Thermodynamics/index.html
Excellent simulation of mixing of two gases at different starting temperatures. Very visual.

http://www.apple.com/education/LTReview/spring99/simulation/
A discussion of what is and what isn't a simulation. Includes a PDF article discussing in some detail the benefits of using simulation in education as well as comments by critics of this tool.

Energy

http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/whatsenergy.html
Discussion of energy--renewable (sloar, wind, etc.) and non-renewable (oil, gas, nuclear, etc.). Includes a list of online references on energy.

http://www.energy.ca.gov/education/projects/projects-html/projects.html
Easy-to-do projects in energy for kids.

Travel and Exploration of Distant Lands

http://www.jasonproject.org/
Groups of scientists travel all over the world exploring the culture, flora, fauna of the places they visit. You have to pay to travel with them, but it is worth it. You can go to this site and look at some of their past travels

http://quest.classroom.com/
Same comments as the Jason Project above

http://www.field-trips.org
MIT graduate Kim Foley developed this site, which provides virtual field trips that explore topics such as hurricanes, deserts, endangered species, volcanoes, American presidents, Shakespeare, and more.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/
This is the NG Home page which leads to lots of sites including travel adventure, animals, kids, education, and more.

http://www.goals.com/index.htm
Daily diaries of people traveling to different parts of Earth, sailing , or rowing or walking. Lots of info about flora and fauna.

Today's News in Science

http://whyfiles.org/index.html--scientific
explanations of what's in today's news. Updated every week. They have an archive of past Why Files

http://www.nytimes.com/
NY Times general site. Click on Science in the left-hand column to get to science articles. You can click on sub-categories of science (biology, Earth science, etc.).

Newsday Health and Discovery Section on Tuesdays

http://www.newscientist.com/news/
Current science news developments.

Simple Machines

http://www.sirinet.net/~jgjohnso/simple.html
definitions of the six simple machines, and do work, energy, and force. Aimed at 3rd and 4th grades. Lots of illustrations of simple machines.

http://www.sirinet.net/~jgjohnso/simplestudy.html
Study guide for the preceding site.

http://sln.fi.edu/qa97/spotlight3/spotlight3.html
neat definitions of the simple machines. Links to sites with lots of experiments with simple machines.

http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/elemsci/gr3uhesc.html
Simple machines plus energy, force, friction, etc. Aimed at 3rd grade.

http://www.crpc.rice.edu/CRPC/GT/dawsonm/CAST/CAST95.html
a set of interesting and easy-to-make science experiments about simple machines.

General sites with Curriculum for all ages and subjects

http://www.eecs.umich.edu/mathscience/funexperiments/agesubject/subject.html science lessons. The lessons here are teacher-developed and can be accessed by age or by subject.

http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/index.html
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators. A very useful site for teachers. She lists lots of good web sites on dozens of subjects.

http://www.sirs.com/wrc/index.html
A very large collection of Web sites with lesson plans, project ideas, etc.

http://www.msnucleus.org/curriculum/curriculum.html
An organization site with integrated math/science/technology curriculum materials for K-12 grades. You need to pay a $25 annual membership fee, but there is lots of good stuff here.

http://www.glavac.com/updates.htm
blockbuster site, lots of lesson plans in all subjects

http://www.highwired.com/Classroom/Projects/List/0,2072,23713,00.html
an enormous collection of lesson ideas covering the subject spectrum

http://www.scholastic.com/
Another site with lots of lesson plans. This one covers the waterfront of educational topics. It is put up by Scholastic, but use is free.

http://www.intelligentchild.com/index.html
Site aims at young kids. Asks and answers lots of science questions: e.g., How much bigger is Jupiter than Earth? Covers a wide area of science.

http://www.iearn.org/
IEARN is an international organization whose purpose is to link kids from all over the World in collaborative projects. They have, among other projects lots that focus on science;e.g., environmental issues; solar ovens for cooking; planets. Lots of projects in the arts, writing, history, etc. There is an annual subscription fee ($100 for a teacher; $280 for a school). It seems worth it.

http://www.familypc.com/smarter_coolscience_01.asp
lots of science for kids from preschool to teens; stuff for home and for classroom

http://www.howstuffworks.com/
great site. It looks at how refrigerators, automobile engines, cameras, etc work. The guy who does this has written a book about How Stuff Works. This site is more current than the book.

http://www.intel.com/education/
an interesting site which has info on a teacher training program to develop in teachers an understanding of how to integrate technology into their curricula; lesson plans; descriptions of multidisciplinary student group projects; and info on the Intel Talent Search program.

http://math.rice.edu:80/~lanius/
excellent math stuff; also a focus on education of girls. Cynthia Lanius, the author of this site is a super person. She has developed (and explains here) lots of math ideas, including fractals.

http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/events/fow/start.htm
Site sponsored by the National Science Foundation contains Lots of "Find Out Why" files with lots of info of interest to kids, including gardening

http://www.alka-seltzer.com/experiments/experiments.htm
Alka Seltzer & chemical reactions

http://www.globe.gov
great site for long-term collaborative science projects

http://www.cbc4kids.ca/general/the-lab/history-of-invention/default.html
this history-of-invention site has a time line of important inventions with a brief history of each. One example is the first swimming pool seems to have been built about 2500 BC in Egypt.

http://www.bayerus.com/msms/
Bayer and NSF have teamed up to run an annual contest among middle-schoolers nationwide to identify a community problem and to develop a solution. This site has the rules, etc. to join.

http://www.ScienceMaster.com
lots of excellent lesson ideas in science

http://ericir.syr.edu/cgi-bin/lessons.cgi/Science/Physical_Sciences
lots of experiments, some very good some not so good

http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/
Good source of biographical info on scientists for school reports

http://www.pbs.org/saf/
Archives of the PBS Scientific American series hosted by Alan Alda. Lots of good science stuff for all ages.

http://askeric.org/Virtual/Lessons/
ERIC has developed a resource in all subjects and all grade levels for teachers. Lots of good ideas here.

http://www.ee.bgu.ac.il/~idog/amazing/index1.htm
A collection of interesting optical illusions.

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/matrix.html
Hundreds of age-specific Web sites in science, math, social studies, language, health

http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/science/index.html
a rich source of lessons in K-12 in all disciplines. The science section contains lots of interesting experiments.

http://www.sln.org/
Science Learning Network site--lots of science resources.

http://www.naturalinquirer.usda.gov/natinqinfopage.htm
site created and maintained by the USDA Forestry Service. Excellent source of info about trees, habitats, animals, etc.: can be explored by National Science Standards, by topic, or by region. All their info is available in PDF format for downloading. Aimed at middle schoolers. Much is available in English and Spanish.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/educators/index.htm
Site created and maintained by the USDA that provides interesting curriculum materials on nutrition. Has info for kids from preK to high school. Lots of PDF files to hand out to the kids plus magazines and other subscription-type materials.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/dirtrep/index.htm
Site contains lots of "kitchen" experiments in a wide variety of aspects of science. They are introduced by the DirtMeister--a strange looking guy whom the kids will like.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=41bioterror.h22
An interesting site that describes how to use bioterrorism to explore disease transmission and how diseases attack cells. It includes a good simulation of how diseases are spread.

http://www.riverdeep.net/current/2001/12/121001_caves.jhtml
Interested in caves, how they form, what creatures live there? Go to this site, provided by Riverdeep.

The September, 2003 issue of Technology & Learning contains a very varied and valuable collection of URLs and other resources related to science education in grades 5-12 (and some which can be used with 2nd graders). These resources include about 50 URLs, and descriptions of some really great science simulations, virtual animal dissections, digital microscopes, and probeware. For a science teacher, this article, all by itself, is worth the annual subscription price (which, by the way is free to classroom teachers--just call (800) 607-4410 or go to www.techleraning.com).

[i] From Ellen Robertson, Half Hollow Hills School District

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