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December 15, 2010

Best Free Education Video Sites

Posted by carfamily under education, educators, home schooling, kindergarten, Lesson plan, math, new teacher, Preschool, school, science, student teacher, teachers, teaching, video
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Best educational free resource site

These sites can provide teachers with free resources to help them reach children in a variety of subject areas. They also can help provide remediation and/or accelerated learning opportunities. There are a lot of Internet sites that offer such materials, but only a few that are directed at the k-12 educator and without charge.

A note, you may have to register for some of these sites. Always make sure that the registration is only for the site and won’t be sold. I have noted that was good to register on sites I frequent because they provided me updates that I would have missed otherwise. Either way, I suggest you create an email address for just such sites and not use your personal one.

If you have additional sites to recommend please do so.

General

Annenberg Media

Videos arranged by grade level and there are a lot of them. Good quality.

http://learner.org/

Awesome Stories

This is a site that has videos that relate to stories, especially trials and biographies. A good collection, but limited in range.

http://www.awesomestories.com/videos

Khan Academy

About 1800 good quality videos mainly in science and math. Mainly for older students.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

You Tube Educational

This link is supposed to be limited to videos that are related to teaching. Very large collection, but uneven quality and the meaning of education is truly challenged.

http://www.youtube.com/education?b=400

BBC Learning Zone Clips

Search by topic or subject. Has length of video in search engine, which is good. Since this is a British site the material is directed to that user group. A goodly amount of videos. Worth a look.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/

TeacherTube:

You can post your videos or access the collection. You can also upload videos. Lots of ads. Also has audio and photo sections.

http://www.teachertube.com/index.php

Edutopia

This is also a non-profit site that offer videos. The difference in this site is that it also offers lesson plans and more. This is a large site that tries to offer a variety of services to teachers besides videos.

http://www.edutopia.org/

YouTube Education

This site does not offer a good enough category selection process for most teachers to find material quickly.

http://www.youtube.com/education?b=400

History Channel

First rate videos and well done, this site is excellent for science, technology, and history teachers. Search engine takes a while to master due to large number of videos.

http://www.history.com/topics

EduTube

The sections are not well defined and its takes time to find the right video from the collection. Limited selection.

http://www.edutube.org/

Biography

Famous people past and present. Good material, but many are for older students.

http://www.biography.com/video/index.jsp

BBC Learning Channel

There are videos and much more here. It takes time to navigate this site, but the materials, both videos and interactive lessons, and of quality.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/

Classroom clips

This site has a limited number of videos. It also has audio clips.

http://www.classroomclips.org/

Brainpop

While not all the content on this site is free, teachers can still find some great animated videos on a wide range of topics on this site for use in the classroom.

http://www.brainpop.com/

KidsNowIt

This site has a limited amount of podcasts and interactive videos in the basic subject matter areas. Some videos have test questions.

http://www.kidsknowit.com/interactive-educational-movies/index.php

Teachers’ TV

This site has a limited number of videos and categories based on subject matter, use in class, and grade level.

http://www.teachers.tv/videos

How Stuff Works

This site has a fair size collection of diverse videos from history to entertainment. A lot of ads. Also, the index is fairly simple and it takes a while to find what would be right for your grade level.

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/

Exploratorium

This site is for older students and contains some non-educational material that has little value. Overall, the strength is in science for Exploratorium. Only categorized by subject and title.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/tv/archive.php

EASE History

A small, but interesting site with videos and photos of political campaigns and historical events among others. Limited content and weak search engine.

http://www.easehistory.org/tourswf.html

The Archeology Channel

Videos of activities using interactive map of the world. Very limited content and videos may be over ten minutes in duration.

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/

Peoples Archive

Videos of a variety of people, some famous, some not so much. This site might be used to help students show how hard work can pay off or to help them learn to take notes for a biography. Autobiographies are listed.

http://www.webofstories.com/

Steven Spielberg Archive

A tremendous site that have footage of the German treatment of Jews and the Holocaust. Some videos don’t have sound. Spend time on this site and you are going to find unique and important videos to share with your students. Compelling,

http://resources.ushmm.org/film/search/index.php

Folk Streams

A small collection of collected folklore and history videos. Well worth a look for social studies and music teachers. Some films are very long, but worth a look.

http://www.folkstreams.net/

Digital History

A large site for those teaching history, with some videos. The videos tend to be for older students.

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/

History Matters

There are a few videos for older students here. The majority are very specific, such as the history of the Chinese in Tucson and there are a collection of images that might prove helpful.

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/search.php?function=find

Social Studies Video Dictionary from Georgia.

A nice, but limited collection, mainly history and geography related.

https://www.georgiastandards.org/resources/Pages/Videos/Social-Studies-Video-Dictionary.aspx

PBS Video

Public Broadcasting Videos

A great many videos with a variety of topics and well done.

http://video.pbs.org/

National Geographic Video

A major collection of videos on geography and environmental related videos. All first rate.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/

The Discovery Channel

This site has a variety of good videos, but the site is difficult to navigate. First rate materials.

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/searchresults.cfm?N=0&Nty=1&Ntk=all&blnPublic=1&Ntt=video

C-Span

Mainly political videos and current issues.

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/search-results.php?keywords=video+library

Free Documentaries Site

This is very interesting in that teachers can play entire films or parts from exceptional documentaries about a variety of topics. A must visit for teachers of older students. Some content may not be appropriate.

http://www.freedocumentaries.org/

Challenger Astronaut Lesson Plans, Resources

Posted by carfamily under education, educators, global, government, home schooling, Lesson plan, new teacher, news, science, student teacher, teachers, teaching, women
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Challenger Astronaut and Space Lesson Plans and Resources

By Alan Haskvitz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Haskvitz

Space Related Lessons

A huge selection from planets to weather.

http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/shuttle.html

Astronomy lessons and links

Very large collection that includes a variety of resources from tracking satellites to Ask an Astrophysicist. For all levels.

http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/astronomy.html

Lessons on explorers throughout time

http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/explorers.html

Wright Brothers Lessons

Very complete and a great site for finding aviation related materials

http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/wright_bros.html

General Space Links

http://www.reacheverychild.com/science/space/index.html

NASA Robots

http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/robot.html

Christa McAuliffe Site

This site has podcasts, lesson plans, videos and more about science from the Challenger Learning Center that is dedicated to the memory of those killed in the shuttle tragedy, including Christa McAuliffe. There are such Learning Centers throughout the United States.

http://www.challenger.org/programs/index.cfm

A list of Learning Challenger Centers by State

http://www.challenger.org/clc/network.cfm

Challenger challenges for students

http://www.challenger.org/programs/sciencechallenges.cfm

Lesson plan database.

http://www.challenger.org/teachers/lessons/index.cfm

Christa McAuliffe’s six science lessons that were prepared for the nation children, but never performed.

http://www.challenger.org/programs/51Llessons.cfm

Webcasts from the Center by Topic and Date

http://www.challenger.org/programs/ccwebcast.cfm

Podcasts and Videos

http://www.challenger.org/programs/multimedia.cfm

Downloadable Space Day Tool Kit, Games and more for Space Day, May 2, 2009

http://www.spaceday.org/

Pros and Cons of Space Travel

A critical thinking lesson for students

http://www.school.za/PILP/themes/space2/space2_lesson.htm

Astronaut Biographies

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/

Photos, Data on Shuttle Craft

http://www.globalaircraft.org/planes/shuttle_challenger.pl

Ideas for Star Child Lessons for Younger Students

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/teachers/teachers.html

Imagine the Universe Lessons for older students
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/teachers_corner.html

Space Myths

Interesting information about Black Holes, Comets and More

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/eds/tools/type/myths.php.p=Teaching%2Btools%40%25

A huge variety of lessons about space and its implications, including the Jupiter Galileo mission. Well worth a visit.

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/tour.cgi?link=/teacher_resources/activity.html&sn=294781&br=graphic&d=/teacher_resources&cd=false&fr=f&tour=&sw=false&edu=elem

Earth and Mars Lessons

http://www-k12.atmos.washington.edu/k12/index.html

Mars Exploration Site with Lessons for Teachers

http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/

NASA Home Page for Teachers

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html

JPL Home Page for Teachers

This Jet Propulsion site has several activities offered on site as well as downloadable lessons.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/index.cfm

The Space Place Teachers Section

Activities and lessons and all downloadable. Great for challenging students. Check the animations.

http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/en/educators/index.shtml

Printable Shuttle for coloring

http://www.starbritelearning.com/star-pg3.html

Science Education Gateway

An impressive listing of resources for teachers, including web-based and hands-on, inquiry based-lessons

http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/SEGway/educators_resources.html

September 4, 2007

Global Warming Lessons and Links

Posted by carfamily under alternative fuel, Blogroll, conservation, Earth Day, education, family, global warming, government, home schooling, new teacher, school, science, student teacher, teachers, teaching
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Global Warming by Alan Haskvitz

Whether or not you believe global warming exists, the teachable moment it represents is a major plus for integrating lessons in math, science, language arts, social studies and economics. To help, I’ve assembled some quality sites that offer free resources. I also hope you took advantage of the free copy of An Inconvenient Truth that was featured on Reach Every Child earlier this year. I shared my copy with the entire school.

Information and analysis
Lessons and links
Opinions and rebuttals

For more resources go to http://www.reacheverychild.com

August 14, 2007

Astronomy and space resources

Posted by carfamily under astronomy, home schooling, new teacher, science, space, student teacher, teachers, teaching
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Astronomy and Space

By Alan Haskvitz

National Teachers Hall of Fame

These sites are designed to help students become interested in astronomy and space and get them involved starting with studying the stars on their own birthdays and homes. Lots of good lessons and enough here to offer advanced students more depth.

For many more free resources go to

http://www.reacheverychild.com

Space and flight lessons and links

http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/wright_bros.html

Space lessons and units on the solar system

http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/shuttle.html

Huge selection of astronomy links

http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classastrolsn.html

Astronomy for Kids

www.dustbunny.com/afk

Astronomy links

http://www.theschoolpage.com/astro.htm

Find the sky above you anywhere on earth and much more. Great fun.

www.fourmilab.ch/solar

Solar System Simulator

Order a simulated photograph of the Sun and planets as seen from any

vantage point. The reader can choose any time in 5 minute

intervals from 1600 to 2399.

http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/

Lessons and good links

http://www.synapses.co.uk/astro/index.html

Online Astronomy

Easy to understand with good images.

http://darkskyinstitute.org/astronomy.html

Classical constellations and myths

www.cosmopolis.com/star-myths

Simple lesson plans and links

http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/astronomy.html

Space and astronomy lesson plans

http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/science/astronomy/

NASA’s Ask an Astrophysicist site

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/ask_an_astronomer.html

Solar system lessons

http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/index.html

Worksheets and more

http://rip.physics.unk.edu/Astronomy/

Science vocabulary hangman

Fun for younger students

http://education.jlab.org/vocabhangman/

Science link site

http://sciencepage.org/lessons.htm

Kids’ Astronomy lessons

Free worksheets

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/teachers_corner.htm

Links to physics and astronomy lessons by grade level

http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/hex_old/visit/lesson/lesson_index.html

Extremely vibrant looking site with astronomy lessons

Includes history of telescopes

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/

Science link site

http://www.ceismc.gatech.edu/busyt/astro_l.shtml

Teacher developed lesson plans

http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/lessons/lessons_teacherdeveloped.html

Excellent astronomy sites for all levels

You need to search as there are some dead links, but the diversity of material is very good.

http://www.astrosociety.org/education/activities/astroacts.html

Astronomy link site from About

Lots of advertisements and a mixed bag of quality, but a lot of variety

http://space.about.com/od/educationastronomyspace/Astronomy_Education_Space_Education_Resources_Lesson_Plans.htm

Astronomy, mythology, and music

A very complex and complete unit of study for elementary students

http://www.coreknowledge.org/CK/resrcs/lessons/05_Conn3_AstronMus.pdf

How to set up science labs in many subject areas

http://chem.lapeer.org/

Integrated Activities

Some poems about astronomy

http://www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson417/booklist3.pdf

Art and Space

Nice collection of links on how artists capture the heavens.

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2366/

Family astronomy activities

Checking out the night sky. Great homework assignment to involve parents.

http://fun.familyeducation.com/astronomy/childrens-science-activities/32950.html

Pluto Express Home Page

www.jpl.nasa.gov/pluto/

This is full of great information of resources for teachers. Excellent.

Look into astronomy and others far out things.

http://space.rice.edu

http://spaceupdate.com

Building a Telescope

How to build a telescope

http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/tele/tele.htm

Building a simple telescope

http://science.howstuffworks.com/question568.htm

NASA lesson on building telescopes

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/informal/features/F_Build_a_Telescope.html

Careers

Astronomy as a career links

http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk/astro/career/

http://www.aas.org/education/careers.html

Women in space and astronomy careers

http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/rebull/womensci.html

National Association of Space Simulating Educators

www.us.edu/nasse

Observatory

Astronomical Society of the Pacific

http://www.astrosociety.org/

David Dunlap Observatory

Database of stellar information

http://ddo.astro.utoronto.ca

National Space Society

www.nss.org

Mount Wilson Observatory

General information

www.mtwilson.edu

National Optical Astronomy Observation

www.noao.edu/noao.html

Naval Research Laboratory

www.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/clib

Royal Greenwich Observatory

www.ast.cam.ac.uk/RGO

NASA’s Observatorium

http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/core.shtml.html

Other sites

SETI Institute

Looking for aliens?

www.seti-inst.edu

Sky On Line

www.skypub.com

Rocket and Space Technology

http://www.astronautix.com/spaceflt.htm

Encyclopedia Astronautica

http://www.astronautix.com/

Center for Science Education

http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/

Planet Quest

http://www.seds.org/billa/tnp/

Nine Planets

http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/

Center for Educational Resources

Library of online and interactive K-12 science materials for teaching astronomy.

http://btc.montana.edu/ceres

Asteroid Hits Earth

What a site, literally. See what NASA thinks about this issue.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/asteroid_2030_001103.html

What was the moon like on?

Just plug in the date to get a virtual photo

http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/vphase.html

Satellite tracking sites

SATELLITES ON PARADE

http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/realtime/jtrack/3d/JTrack3D.html

http://www.astronomydaily.com/

July 8, 2007

Global Warming Lessons and Links

Posted by carfamily under automobile, Blogroll, Earth Day, education, environment, global, global warming, government, Lesson plan, parent, science, science fair, social studies, student teacher, teachers, teaching
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Global Warming Lessons and Links

By National Hall of Fame Educator Alan Haskvitz

http://www.reacheverychild.com

Whether or not you believe there is a global warming trend or not, the teachable moment it represents it a major plus for integrating lessons in math, science, language arts, social studies, and economics. Here are some quality sites that offer free resources. Hopefully, you took advantage of the free copy of An Inconvenient Truth that was featured on Reach Every Child earlier this year. I shared my copy with the entire school.

Air and Weather sites

http://www.reacheverychild.com/science/environment/weather.html