Posted by David Wetzel
I found some excellent interactive science and math websites for elementary school and middle school.
Why use interactive websites? The use of these types of websites is natural for today’s students who are growing up in the technological world of information at their finger tips and interesting online educational games. These types of activities help students develop a better understanding science and math concepts.
Example Interactive Science Videos for Grades 5 & 6
These interactive activities are developed and provided for free by Harcourt School Resources
Science
States of Matter
Fun with Food Webs
Math
Finding Circumference
Addition and Subtraction Equations
Additional Interactive Math and Science Resources
An Interactive Science Website using FOSS
Human Body an Interactive Website
An Interactive Math Website for Problem Solving
Posted by David Wetzel
The University of Colorado’s Physics Education Technology project (PhET) provides an extensive online suite of simulations that covers the majority of high school and introductory college physics; it also illustrates the concepts behind advanced topics such as semiconductors.
The simulations create animated game like environments where the visual and conceptual models that physicists use are made accessible to students. The simulations animate what is invisible to the eye such as atoms, electrons, photons, and electric fields.
You’ll find around 35 simulations and because this is an active project, the website is regularly updated with newly developed or improved simulations.
PhET Website
Recent Updates
Simulation activities now include elementary and middle school.
Additional Resources
Web-Based Learning Centers
Understanding Scientific Inquiry
Problem Solving and Science Process Skills
Posted by David Wetzel
I am always on the lookout for interactive websites that students can use in science and below is one that requires students to use critical thinking skills as they learn about the Periodic Table of Elements.
The Periodic Table
The Periodic Table by Anneberg Media is an interactive Web site where students can learn about the Periodic Table of the Elements: how it is organized (into groups); the atomic structure of each group; characteristics of isotopes; the scientific notation that is used to define atoms and elements; and how the chemical properties of elements are determined by their atomic composition.
Student Interaction
Students:
- explore the basics of the atom and how scientists came to understand its structure, learn how the number of protons in an atom determines what element it is, and discover how elements, which interact to make up all living things and materials in the world, can be organized and understood using the Periodic Table.
- learn about atomic structure, including how negatively charged electrons fill the orbitals of atoms and how the placement of electrons affects the chemical nature of elements; students will also learn the notation systems that are used to describe the orbital configuration.
- explore the Periodic Table further to learn how it can be divided into groups (the vertical columns of the table) and periods (the horizontal rows); that atoms can come in different types of forms like isotopes; (how to calculate the mass of an atom, and how the properties of those groups and periods vary depending on the structure of each atom.
- investigate the characteristics of families of elements, such as the halogen family and noble gases.
Additional Resources
Web Elements by the University of Sheffield
Periodic Table by Los Alamos National Laboratory
