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Technology for Science Lessons Emily and Jessica

When teaching science, it is important that teachers provide authentic experiences for their students. Technology is a fantastic way to do this. Science and technology often go hand in hand, and many scientists use technology on a daily basis. If science and technology are so closely linked, then we need to be using technology to teach science. Effectively using educational technology will enhance lessons and engage students. In a science class, using different types of technology for collaborative projects, experiments, simulations, etc. will deepen students' understanding of science concepts. Additionally, the activity is much more authentic and students are given the opportunity to feel like real scientists, which does not often happen with typical "cookbook" experiments or simple worksheets.

We have compiled a list of various resources for teachers to use. The resources will help teachers create lesson plans for science, for grades from kindergarten through 12th grade. These resources help integrate technology with science class.

Resources

@http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities.html Free online science games for students K-12.

@http://www.learner.org/jnorth/ Track migration patterns and seasonal changes. Features live maps and students can enter their own sightings of certain species

@http://www.jasonproject.org/ Connects students with real scientists. Includes digital labs, videos, animations, and games.

@http://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/ Students mail them bugs, a session is scheduled, and students can view them under a scanning electron microscope as well as control the microscope online.

@http://www.pathfinderscience.net/winterbird/ Students participate in the Digital Winter Bird Feeder Survey, in which they collect data on species of birds that visit their feeders. [] Software that schools can purchase. Kidspiration is for kindergarten-3rd grade and Inspiration is for 4th-12th grade. Students can categorize items, make charts and diagrams.

[] It is designed for teachers, students and parents. Teachers can utilize it for many things such as lesson plans and experiments. Parents can learn how to help their children with homework and students can complete activities to help review and get homework help.

@http://www.pbs.org/teachers A source for teachers for lesson planning and activities and professional development. Appropriate for K-12. Parents and students can benefit from the website as well.

@http://www.laep.org/target/technology/secondary/index.html Provides many ways to use technology in science and gives links to specific lessons, lab ideas, and websites.

Articles

@http://www.teachhub.com/6-essential-tech-tools-science-classrooms 6 Essential Tech Tools for Science Classrooms

<span style="color: #388723; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech233.shtml This article describes ways that elementary school teachers from the Greece Central School District are incorporating technology into their science lessons.

<span style="color: #388723; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech146.shtml 19 easy ways to fit technology into your classroom, especially for teachers who are just getting started with technology.

<span style="color: #388723; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">@http://voices.yahoo.com/nteq-lesson-plan-integrating-technology-science-3068605.html?cat=15 A lesson that incorporates computer skills, such as spreadsheets and graphing, into an experiment with plants.

<span style="color: #388723; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">Blogs

<span style="color: #388723; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">[] A collection of blogs by science teachers posted on the National Science Teachers Association website.

<span style="color: #388723; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">[] A teacher to teacher blog where you can get or share ideas for lesson ideas, recommended resources, book lists, etc.

[] A teacher who chronicled the resources she was learning about in grad school, and then started blogging about teaching.

<span style="color: #388723; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">Videos

<span style="color: #388723; display: block; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-align: left;">media type="youtube" key="naNzuzN8xfM" height="315" width="420" align="left" <span style="color: #388723; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">This video explores the use of simulations in a science class and gives ideas for using simulations such as for virtual dissections or experiments that may be too dangerous to perform in a classroom.

<span style="color: #388723; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">media type="youtube" key="H3gLnwbn1bg" height="315" width="560" <span style="color: #388723; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">A nice tutorial on using Vernier conductivity probes to determine ionic content of a solution. Other Vernier probes can also be used for measuring things like pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature.