Every Friday I get The Scout Report from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. This week they highlighted the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Here's how they describe it:
Created by science teachers for science teachers, the Teacher Institute Podcasts are five-minute podcasts that give educators science facts, science history, and pedagogy tips for new teachers. The podcasts are hosted by the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and support for the project comes from the National Science Foundation, The Noyce Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and others. Visitors can browse through the podcast series, and they will find thoughtful and fun suggestions on how to make a straw oboe, how to better manage the classroom, and how to build a Brazilian instrument called the cuica. Also, visitors can read up on the Teacher's Institute's summer institute program for science educators and also sign up to receive new podcasts via iTunes or RSS.After some poking around, I found these useful pages on their site:
hands on activities
more hands on activities they call "snacks"
They have short pod casts and webcasts, so you can watch the science demonstrations. I think these would be fun, easy-to-do activities as a family or for a child on his own. If you have an interest in a particular area, say weather, just look for what they might have on that topic.
Also, check out Topsy Techie's Friday's Hardwired Hints. Every Friday she gives us links to great places around the Internet.
It really is possible to completely homeschool your child for free just using the wealth of the Internet. Do you have any favorite links to science places on the net?
7 comments:
Thanks, Jena! Luke will love these, especially the snacks.
Here is a great NASA web page, called NASA Kids Club, that our kids enjoy:
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/index.html
I love your idea for a series of these posts, it will be like a homeschooling curriculum, all catalogued and in one place!
:-)
Karen
I love www.sciencebuddies.org I love how each idea gives a list of items you need to complete the projects and also a guide as to what grade/learning level the activity is directed.
It also has information on following the scientific process, researching, creating an hypothesis and drawing conclusions.
It's a great resource for all ages.
We just found a site for studying the planets that is so cool!
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/solar_system.htm
It's interactive! Tee hee!
If you haven't already, you'll want to sign up for the "Clickschooling" e-newsletter. Every day they send out free links to great educational website. I forget which day is which, but each day highlights a given subject. I have saved tons of their websites on my favorites.
Here's the address to sign up:
http://www.homefires.com/free.asp
Once you've signed up, you can also look at the archives to get an idea of what's available.
Enjoy! :)
Hi All! Great links! Thank you!!
These are all new sites to me. :)
Have you seen the site kidswhothink.blogspot.com ? We haven't done any of the activities yet but we are very interested.
Here's chemistry labs online:
http://misterguch.brinkster.net/labs.html
http://eclectichomeschool.org/articles/article.asp?articleid=593
chemistry worksheets: http://misterguch.brinkster.net/worksheets.html
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