So far I have managed to wrangle up a few promising websites. PhET is one of my favorites that I have been using for a couple years and http://astro.unl.edu/animationsLinks.html has some great simulations specific to astronomy. Thanks to Lauri's comment on my last post I have now been able to begin browsing a couple different online lab databases: http://www.jdenuno.com/TechConnect/OnLineLabs.htm and http://onlinelabs.in/subjects. I have also begun searching for simulations relating to the units I am currently working on, and found this collection of resources relating to Properties of Matter: http://www.learningscience.org/psc2apropchangmatter.htm.
My next step will be to choose a simulation for my next unit to begin designing a lab around. I also need to identify a good place to share the labs I create, specifically for those that do not use PhET simulations (PhET allows you to upload lesson plans to their website). In the meantime, I would be interested to know if you have any other simulation resources you like or if you recommend a website for sharing lesson plans for online labs.
This sounds like a really interesting project. I teach English and I have not been able to find any really excellent site for my discipline. I have found some YouTube videos that work, and some dramatic readings, but there are not good sites for grammar or writing or story analysis. One site that my son's teacher used a couple of years ago was the Jason Project (http://www.jason.org/) hosted by National Geographic. I am not sure if it has any simulations on it, but thought I would offer it up. Good luck with the project!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rachel! I will be sure to check that out!
DeleteI am not certain how you plan on having students preview this topic. Last year I had a group of students who were not really interested in science or technical readings. One of the ways I started previewing units with them was to have them watch some short videos. There is a really well done cartoon series by Eureka. They are a little old but my ninth graders found them not only informative but also interesting enough to watch and actually compete some guided questions on. The have a series on the states of matter which starts with molecules in a solid (you tube link) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guoU_cuR8EE. If you search Eureka! under the youtube search function most of them will come up. They are all cartoons.
ReplyDeleteGlencoe also has an interesting lab simulation to start with: http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0078617650/student_view0/chapter2/virtual_lab.html
This is a good interactive review site: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/gases.html
As far as posting the labs - I post the links under the class page we use on edline. If you don't have that you could try a document on google docs with the links or a blog for the class.
Thanks for sharing these resources! I love the video hook idea.
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