Middle School Earth Science Websites
Websites for Middle School Earth Science
These websites support the NGSS standards at this grade level and are labeled by the type of website that it is (Student or Teacher Background, Student Online Activities, Teacher Activities, Student or Teacher Videos).
Back to our Grade Level Programs & Websites Page
| Resource Link | Abstract | Website Types |
|---|---|---|
| 101 Science Websites for Teachers | List of 101 Science Websites by Best Teacher Blog. Has a wide variety of sites for teachers and students. Sorted by topic. Great jumping off place for finding resources. | Teacher Blogs |
| Animals Past and Present | Lessons for elementary students about what happened to dinosaurs, what happened to animals that lived in Illinois 65 million years ago, 10 million years ago and today. Focused on animals of Illinois, but there is plenty of overlap for California. | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Ask A Biologist - Arizona State University | Ask A Biologist began in 1997 in the School of Life Sciences. The site continues to be developed, and maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers. It is designed as an educational resource for students preK-12, and their teachers and parents. Ask A Biologist is visited by over 9,000 people every day and has answered more than 30,000 questions. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos;Worksheets |
| Ask a Scientist | Index of questions and answers about basic science questions, plus links to other "ask a scientist" sites. | Teacher Background |
| ASTER Earth Image Database | ASTER = Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflections Radiometer. This site has several different ways of looking at and exploring the details of this great source for data on planet earth | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Astronomical Society of the Pacific | Has filtered good educational activities on the web and also lists a sampling of hands-on astronomy activities from The Universe at Your Fingertips and the Teacher's Newsletter. Has links to other astronomy sites, online planetarium viewing, other institutions, information on Project Astro, teacher workshops and information and their catalog of astronomy products. Also provides a free newsletter for those teaching astronomy in grades 3 - 12. Parents: See Family Astro. | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Bad Astronomy | Older site, but information is still accurate. As much fun as the movies are to review and the news is to analyze, it's the everyday misconceptions that are the heart and soul of Bad Astronomy. We learn a lot from school and our parents, but a lot of what fills our brain is "common knowledge", things we seem to accumulate out of thin air. Everyone knows that you can stand an egg on end on the first day of spring... or can you? Of course toilets flush the other way in the southern hemisphere... don't they? | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Bay Area Science | This site serves as a clearing house for public science programs around the Bay Area. Sign up for their weekly e-mail that keeps you up to date with classes and lectures and events around the area. | Teacher Background |
| BrainPop.com | SUBSCRIPTION ONLY - Cool animated movies, quizzes, lesson plans, and facts about science and technology; site features subjects that correspond to National Science Standards. Parents: See Family Access. Available in English, Spanish, French and an ESL Version. Inidividual license is $115 per year (as of January 2016). Classroom (4 devices is $220/year) | Student Online Activities;Student Videos;Teacher Activities;Worksheets |
| BRIDGE | Online resources for marine science education. Has a link for elementary grades and curriculums/units specific for each grade, like Under the Sea, Pollution, Why is the Sea Salty and more. Also includes links to numerous real-time data sets which can be incorporated into your lesson plans. | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Build a Solar System | a terrific calculator for scaling the solar system – plug in the diameter you’d like to see the Sun and the rest of the planets are revealed, along with a lot of other interesting relationships. Also features links to solar system modeling activities and other cool stuff like “how much do you weigh on other planets.” | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| CA State Water Resources Board | This site has links to many resources about water. It has a section on games and interactives for kids, lesson plans for teachers, grants for teachers and more | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Challenger Center for Space Science Education | Using space exploration as a theme, the Challenger Center web site offers a large searchable database of hands-on lessons related to the solar system and earth sciences, as well as podcasts, webcasts and interdisciplinary design challenges to do in your classroom. | Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities |
| Children of the Earth | Activities, links, blogs on many issues of environmental education. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Climate Change Education.Org | Portal Web Site Dedicated to: Global Warming Education, Climate Change Education, Science, Solutions -- Resources Directory | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Common Trees of the Pacific Northwest | How to identify trees of the Pacific Northwest (Many are common to California as well). Has a nice on-line dichotomous key and a "mystery tree" section that lets you test your identification skills using the dichotomous key. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| Composting in Schools | Includes information under: Why Composting? •Teacher's Page •Ideas for Student Research Projects •Compost Quiz •Science and Engineering •Composting Indoors •Composting Outdoors •Weird and Unusual Composting •Frequently Asked Questions •Glossary | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Cool Cosmos | This great educational site from Cal Tech offers all sorts of resources to assist in learning about the universe. Using the fun, gear-like menu on the left of the screen, visitors can pick from site areas such as the Cosmic Classroom (which offers classroom activities, lessons, reference info and an Ask an Astronomer option), Cosmic Kids (where kids can learn about what's in space through stories and resources like the Infrared Zoo), the Video and Image Galleries, and lots more. The site should be a great resource for teachers introducing students to the study of the universe or those visitors who are simply interested in getting lost in space for a while. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Cool the Earth | Cool The Earth is a ready-to-run program that educates K-8 students and their families about global warming and inspires them to take simple actions to reduce their carbon emissions. The program is successful because it’s fun and empowering for the kids, and their enthusiasm is contagious! Includes assemblies, website tools, lesson plans | Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Create Your Own Trace Fossil | Museum of Science lesson plan on creating your own trace "fossil" . | Teacher Activities |
| Current Earthquake Monitoring | USGS site with live data on current seismic activity around the world. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| Discovery Channel-Website | Find a wealth of lesson plans by subject (math, physics, astronomy, human body, literature, technology, history, life science, physical science, earth science) and grade level. Also provides links to other websites and other resources to help engage students. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Earth Science Week | Includes the Earth Science Network, Tips for Participants, Student Activities, Education Standards, Proclamations, Press Releases, Book Center, Why on Earth? And Links. | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Earth Viewer | A simple app that allows you to easily see continental land masses over time. It is useful in showing changes in continental positions although it doesn't track individual plates. Has a tutorial video on how to use it. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| Earth Wind Map | This interactive map shows the current pattern of wind across the planet. With your cursor you can move the point of view around to see any point on the globe you prefer. Click on the word Earth in the lower left corner to get more info. | Student Online Activities |
| EduRef Science Lesson Plans | Science lessons at every grade level and topic | Teacher Activities |
| Edutopia | Thissite is produced by the George Lucas Educational Foundation. It offers articles, lesson plans and social networks on best practices in schools in all different subject areas. | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| EEK! Environmental Education for Kids | This electronic magazine is for kids in grades 4-8. Surf around and learn more about the great outdoors. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| ElEducador.com -secundaria | Eleducador is a Colombian website full of links to lesson plans for science as well as other subjects. This page contains links to Science for middle- and highschool-age students. Lesson plans are presented in "Scientific Method" format. Vocabulary, activities, and articles for teachers are included. Site is free for use and available only in Spanish. | Teacher Activities |
| EPA Ecosystems Teaching Resources | links to a wide variety of teaching resources; curriculum and lesson plans; on-line data projects, etc. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| EPA Kids Club - Recycling and garbage | (Site removed) | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| EPA Water Curriculum | Offers various water curriculum and water activities on drinking water, ecosystems, lakes, oceans, rivers, water pollution, watersheds. Activities and curriculum on conservation energy, environmental stewardship, natural resources, pollution prevention. drinking water, fish advisories, indoor air, lead, ozone depletion, pesticides, radon, smog, garbage, household, hazardous & solid waste, landfills, superfund cleanups, trash. Has a kids page. | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| EPA Wetlands Education | Lots of wetlands activities, curriculum ideas, links, information, resources and more. Can choose from many water related topics at the Office of Water page. | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| ESA Kids | ESA Kids has tons of fun activities, neat lab and art activities, and interesting facts for students to explore. There is also a great vocabulary index and some news bulletins so students and teachers can stay up-to-date with new space discoveries. | Student Background;Student Online Activities |
| Explaining climate change science & rebutting global warming misinformation | Scientific skepticism is healthy. Scientists should always challenge themselves to improve their understanding. Yet this isn't what happens with climate change denial. Skeptics vigorously criticise any evidence that supports man-made global warming and yet embrace any argument, op-ed, blog or study that purports to refute global warming. This website gets skeptical about global warming skepticism. Do their arguments have any scientific basis? What does the peer reviewed scientific literature say? | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Exploratorium - Global Climate Change - Research Explorer | At this Web site, you can explore scientific data relating to the atmosphere, the oceans, the areas covered by ice and snow, and the living organisms in all these domains. You’ll also get a sense of how scientists study natural phenomena—how researchers gather evidence, test theories, and come to conclusions. | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Exploring Magnetism - Lesson Series | Through the University of California - Berkeley's magnetism activity guide "students will act as scientists discovering magnetic fields and electromagnetism through inquiry and measurement." The materials, which can be viewed either in pdf of html format, are divided into three activity sessions and one chapter containing background information, outside resources, and a glossary for educators. By the end of the lessons, students will have designed a magnetometer boom, which is an integral piece of a spacecr | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Eyes on Exoplanets App | Get set for launch. “Eyes on Exoplanets” will fly you to any planet you wish—as long as it's far beyond our solar system. This fully rendered 3D universe is scientifically accurate, allowing you to zoom in for a close look at more than 1,000 exotic planets known to orbit distant stars. With the click of a mouse, you can visit newly discovered gas giants, Earth-sized planets and “super Earths”—rocky like ours, but gargantuan. The program is updated daily with the latest finds from NASA's Kepler mission and from ground-based observatories around the world as they hunt for planets like our own. You can instantly find out the time it would take to travel to each planetary system by car, jet plane, bullet train or starship. Use an overlay to compare the orbits of planets in our solar system with those around other stars. Or you can search for planets that might support life by toggling the “habitable zone” display, showing the region around a star where temperatures are right for liquid water. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Student Videos;Teacher Background |
| Fossils, Rocks and Time | This USGS site explores basic, interesting facts about fossils, the fossil record, and geologic time. Some good illustrations, and suggestions for further reading. | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Geothermal Education Office | Nice online slide show on the basics of geothermal energy and plate tectonics and how they are related. Ask an expert area. And more | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| Glacier Photographs and Information from National Snow and Ice Data Center, | Website with photo collections, slide shows, descriptions of glacial process. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| GLOBE | GLOBE encourages students to utilize on-line data to help answer questions about how the environment around them works. Through investigation projects students do science, learning the importance of creating hypotheses, analyzing data, drawing conclusions and reporting their results. | Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| Green Schoolyard Resource Directory | Green Schoolyard Resource Directory for the San Francisco Bay Area For schools, parents, teachers, students, designers, and community members in San Francisco and around the Bay Area. | Teacher Background |
| Growing Minds - Farm to School | This site has a nice selection of activities and resources about how to create and use a school garden and its bounty | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| How to Create a Zero Waste Classroom | Students need adult models and they need to be empowered to make the choices and ask the questions that help them find solutions. Start the conversation on day one and use it as a lens for all you do and use. Ask simply, “How can we consume less? Where and how can we reuse more?” For students, the experience of a Zero Waste classroom is a real and empowering step towards approaching the greater environmental challenges of plastic pollution and climate change; students learn that their choices do matter. Use math to help them understand the compounded impact. i.e. One classroom uses 100 less pencils, there are 22 classrooms in our school, there are 30 schools in our district, etc. | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos |
| How to Predict the Weather by Reading Clouds - Video | 5:18 Video with some basics on how to read weather maps, but more on cloud types, what they look like and what they mean. At about minute 4:40 it becomes a commercial for his build your own boat website, but you can stop video before that begins. | Student Videos;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos |
| How to Read a Weather Chart | Nice summary of how to read a weather chart | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| How to Read a Weather Maps | Nice in depth but easy to understand description of how to read weather maps. Comes from a weather service in New Zealand. | Teacher Background |
| How to Read a Weather Maps - Video | 5:15 Nice description of how to read weather maps. Narrator has a non-American accent | Student Videos;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos |
| HowToSmile.org | SMILE is a collection of educational materials on the web – all designed especially for those who teach school-aged kids in non-classroom settings. SMILE is a group of science museums dedicated to bringing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) out of the academic cloister and into the wider world. All organizations are resource hubs for educational programs that involve people of all ages and backgrounds. | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos |
| If Rocks Could Talk! | Nice introduction to rock identification. Online exploration. Good images and easy to use. | Student Online Activities |
| ISS EarthKam | Middle-school educator can register for the ISS EarthKAM Community, but all educators can take advantage of the map images and resources online. ISS EarthKAM is a NASA-sponsored program that provides stunning, high quality photographs of our planet taken from the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. The Students page contains a Resources link that allows kids to learn about the International Space Station, Orbital Mechanics, Maps, the Space Shuttle, and Weather, and the Challengers link provides an opportunity to test the knowledge learned. Other links on the page include activities such as games and quizzes, as well as all information needed to get your own school involved in the mission. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| K-12 Soil Science Teacher Resources | Online resources from the Soil Science Society of America. Includes links to lesson plans, background information about the science of soil, connections between the land and people, soils around the world and more. | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Khan Academy | This website has videos and practices exercises to support Upper Elementary, Middle School and High School science and math. Good background for teachers. New videos being added all the time. | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Kid's Earth Science Enterprise | Kids can learn about earth, land, water, and natural hazards and learn how NASA studies these different topics. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| KQED QUEST website | The QUEST Website produced by KQED is a wonderful place to explore for videos, interactive maps, blogs and science resources and stories from around the Bay Area. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Learning A-Z | This website offers a host of worksheets on all different topics and grade levels. It is free, but you must register to have access to all their resources | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Microbe Zoo | The Microbe Zoo has several different sections to browse with Using a zoo metaphor, Microbe Zoo explores microbe ecology, the study of microbes in their environment. Created for upper-elementary and middle school students, the site is divided into five environments: Animal Pavilion, DirtLand, Snack Bar, Space Adventure, and Waterworld. | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| MinutePhyscis | This YouTube Channel has a great assortment of short videos showing all things physical. Fun and Eduational | Student Videos;Teacher Videos;Teacher Blogs |
| MinutePhyscis: The Tides | 1:58 minutes long. Why do we have tides? | Student Videos;Teacher Videos;Teacher Blogs |
| Moon Phase Calendars | This web page has links to moon phase calculators and many more moon resources. | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| NASA STEM Engagement | An Aeronautic and Space Resource for Education including The Library, which is your guide to NASA's Internet resources with hundreds of subject oriented pages and the capability to search all of NASA; Educator Focus; and Cool Links. Many lithograph images online of the moon, planets, satellites, and space exploration! | Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| NASA Wavelength | NASA Wavelength is your pathway into a digital collection of Earth and space science resources for educators of all levels – from elementary to college, to out-of-school programs. Use NASA Wavelength to quickly and easily locate resources, connect them to other websites using atom feeds, and even share the resources you discover with others through social media and email. | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| National Atlas | This is a site that contains all kinds of data in map form. Geology, history, biology, political boundaries, environment, climate. You can print some maps yourself, order others, and use many online. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| National Geographic Education | Engage with National Geographic Explorers and transform learning experiences through live events, free maps, videos, interactives, and other resources. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration-Education Resources | NOAA's many educational activities are distributed across the agency. This site has been designed to help students, teachers, librarians and the general public access the many educational activities, publications, and booklets that have been produced about weather and ocean. Links to educational websites divided into K-5, 6-12 and teachers. | Teacher Background |
| Nature Lab | Nature Lab is The Nature Conservancy's youth curriculum platform. Nature is the fantastic factory that makes the building blocks of all our lives—food, drinking water, the stuff we own, and the air we breathe. That’s why The Nature Conservancy and its 550 scientists have created Nature Lab: to help students learn the science behind how nature works for us and how we can help keep it running strong. | Student Background;Student Videos;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| NOVA's Earth system science collection | NOVA's Earth system science collection highlights important Earth processes normally invisible to the human eye. The standards-based media resources below expose the intricate web of forces that sustain life on Earth, allowing educators to explore the astonishing beauty and complexity of our dynamic planet with their students. For additional classroom resources, visit NOVA Labs http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/ , a new digital platform where students can actively participate in the scientific process. NOVA Labs participants can take part in real-world investigations by visualizing, analyzing, and sharing the same data that scientists use. Try your hand at classifying clouds and investigating the role they play in severe tropical storms, research solar storms using images from NASA telescopes, or explore ways to make the most of renewable energy sources and use real data to design your own virtual power systems. | Student Background;Student Videos;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos |
| Ocean and Climate Literacy: Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts | The Ocean Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts, and Climate Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts present a vision of an ocean and climate-literate society. Many scientists and educators collaborated to produce these guides, building on efforts to define ocean and climate literacy and identify the principles and concepts of ocean and climate science that should be included in K-12 curricula. A practical resource for educators, these guides outline the knowledge required to be considered ocean and climate literate in accordance with the National Science Education Standards (NSES). Educators can use the concepts and principles in these guides to fulfill many of the NSES content standards. The Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts outlined in these guides represent content that does not always fall neatly within particular disciplines. As a result, many Fundamental Concepts illustrate more than one Essential Principle. This demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of ocean and climate sciences. | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Ocean Oasis | This is a website in conjunction with a large format film showing in many science centers around the country. The site has a teacher guide and oceain field guide that is very useful. Can be used without seeing the film. | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Ocean Today | This NOAA website has videos of all kinds relating to the ocean and climate change. | Student Background;Student Videos;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos |
| Ology - Biodiversity Everything Counts | Take a look at what common items are made from, the biodivesity of life in the city and the rainforest. | Student Background;Student Online Activities |
| Ology - Earth: Our World in Motion | join the Ologists at the American Museum of Natural History as they explore through on-line games and student content the ins and outs of how our earth is changing. Rocks, plate tectonics and more. | Student Background;Student Online Activities |
| Ology: A Website for Kids from the American Museum of Natural History | Join the Ologists at the american Museum of Natural History as the ask and answer some questions about paleontology. | Student Background;Student Online Activities |
| Paper Plate Education "Serving the Universe on a Paper Plate" | This site has a lot of different activities about constellations, the solar system, moon phases, navigation using the stars and more all using paper plates. It has sections on how good or bad the pictures of moon cycles are in different children's literature | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| PBS - plate tectonic basics | Plate tectonics animations. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| PBS - Savage Earth - Animations | This site has animations of earth processes, volcanoes, earthquakes and more. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| PBS Kids | Games, Teacher Source, information on educational shows. Extra support for parents found in "PBS Parents" section. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities |
| PBS Learning Media (formerly Teacher's Domain) | PBS Learning Media is a free digital media service for educational use from public broadcasting and its partners. Easy to search!!! You’ll find thousands of media resources, support materials, and tools for classroom lessons, individualized learning programs, and teacher professional learning communities. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Student Videos;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos |
| Pete's Power Point Presentations | Lot's of free power point presentations on all kinds of science (and other) topics. Some are designed for use in teaching lessons wih the class. Others are designed for students to explore on their own. Generally uses simple terms and explains them, so it is useful with ELL students. Not sorted by grade level. | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Photographs, Graphics, and Animated Maps for Earthquakes | Part of USGS resources for kids and teachers. Includes virtual tours of 1868 Hayward Earthquake and 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Photos of Sand from Different CA Beaches | Photos of Sand from Different CA Beaches and others from around the world. Allows you to see scale of size of grains and diversity of rock types | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Pizza Box Solar Oven | Instructions on how to make a pizza box solar oven. | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Planet Families: Build a Solar System | Make your own solar system. Pick one or two stars and various size planets and see what happens. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| Pocket Solar System | Students will build a quick model of the solar system by folding a piece of register tape to illustrate the relative distances between the orbits of the planets. Images in textbooks often depict the planets squeezed together, but this model shows how far apart they are, especially beyond Mars. Lesson courtesy of our friends from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Practical Uses of Math and Science (PUMAS) | The PUMAS examples are aimed primarily at helping pre-college teachers enrich their presentation of topics in math and science. You may find a number of examples that relate to your area of interest, perhaps written in different styles, and possibly taking different approaches to the material. There may also be comments/lesson plans filed with some of the examples, written by previous users. Use these examples as a resource -- Select, adapt, recontextualize, and present the material to your students in a way that you judge will best meet your students' needs, abilities, and interests. | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Predicting Weather - NASA Connect Video | 5:53 NASA Connect segment explaining how scientists use satellites to predict weather. The segment explores the Afternoon Constellation, or the collection of satellites known as the 'A' Train as well as weather balloons, weather stations and local weather observers. | Student Videos;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos |
| Project NEED | The National Energy Education Department (NEED) provides curriculum guides and activities online and helpful energy saving information. Look for the curriculum guide for teaching Greek Mythology and the Forms of Energy and an energy songbook. Kids information on energy and links to other energy websites. | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Project WET Water Festival | The site features an online water festival that consists of structured learning stations and exhibits. Station topics include the hydrologic cycle, ground water, and spring water, in addition to water quality, water conservation, and properties of water. In sample learning stations, students investigate how much water is available on our planet as they solve multiple choice questions, and watch the water cycle in action through a colorful computer animation. A text version of the activities can be downloaded and printed out. | Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities |
| QUEST Exploration - Alum Rock Park, San Jose | Vitual fieldtrip to Alum Rock Park in San Jose. A good pre-trip activity but can stand on its own as well for information on local history, geology, and ecosystem | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| QUEST Explorations - Los Trancos Open Space Preserve, Palo Alto | Virtual tour of the San Andreas Fault. Gives points of interest related to earthquakes and fault lines. A good pre-fieldtrip activity but can stand on its own as well. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| QUEST Explorations - Sbiley Volcanic Park Virtual Geology Tour | This site has a virtual geology tour of Sibley Volacanic Park in Oakland. Through pictures and text It points out volcanic (and other) features of the park that you can then go see in person. A great introduction to a fieldtrip and could be a basis for a "scavenger hunt" on a trip. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| Recycling lesson plans and resources - The Teachers Guide | This web page has numberous links to websites that involve recycling. It has lesson plans and links to recycling resources. | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Reeko's Mad Scientist Lab | Fun filled site with lots of experiments to choose from. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| San Francisco Bay Lesson Guides | These guides provide a valuable resource for teaching about the San Francisco Bay and its watershed in your classroom. Discover new ideas for teaching students about everything from salmon to climate change to the Farallon Islands. Each guide contains multiple lesson plans focused on local animals and ecosystems and is aligned to state standards, including the Common Core and the Next Generation Science Standards.With twelve guides spanning multiple grade levels and a variety topics, you can be sure to find lesson ideas to support your classroom curriculum. | Teacher Activities |
| Scholastic: Study Jams | This short animated video clips are nice introductions or reviews to different science topics. Each general area has about 10 supporting videos. *Plants, *Animals, *Human Body, *Ecosystems, * Landforms, Rocks and Minerals *Weather, Climate *Solar System *Matter *Force and Motion *Energy, Light and Sound (includes electricity and magnetism) *Scientific Inquiry | Student Background;Student Videos |
| Scholastic: StudyJams | Browse through the topic headings to find links to the subjects you are studying. Across the links are fun pages with vocabulary, informative slideshows, quizzes, and games for students. | Student Background;Student Online Activities |
| Science Bilingual and ESL Glossaries | Links to Science Bilingual and ESL Glossaries. | Teacher Background |
| Science Education Gateway | A collection of online student activities and printable lessons with teacher tools to help build unique lessons. The SEGway is designed to help each user create their own custom collection of SEGway resources. The Grab Bag holds supplemental resources for your science lesson like related images, illustrations, quizzes and games, movies, image data and maps, and projects. | Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Science Friday Educate | Science Friday has a host of activities for classes and students to do. Wide range of topics. | Student Videos;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos |
| Science News Explores | Articles written for students on current topics in the news. Science News Explores was launched in 2003 by Society for Science & the Public (SSP) as a youth edition and companion to the Society’s Science News magazine. The Society is a nonprofit membership organization based in Washington, DC. Founded in 1921, and first known as Science Service, the Society advances the popular understanding of science through publications and educational competitions and programs. Its mission is to promote the understanding and appreciation of science and the vital role it plays in human advancement: to inform, educate, and inspire. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| Science@NASA | This page, from Science at NASA, offers updated information and recent articles about new scientific discoveries related to space.
For website in spanish: | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Scientific American: Ask The Experts | Ask the experts questions about astronomy, biology, chemistry, computers or geology. | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Sea World: Just for Teachers | Teacher's Guides have been developed to help you teach your students--in an active, hands-on way--about how people interact with the environment and how we can best care for Earth's resources. Lessons integrate science, mathematics, geography, art, and la | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Selene: A Lunar Construction Game | Designed for players ages 9 and older, "Selene: A Lunar Construction Game," teaches users about basic geological processes on Earth and in the solar system. Players fire away at what will quickly become a full-fledged, pockmarked moon like our own. Educators and youth leaders can incorporate "Selene" into classroom curriculum and other activities. Follow game play with "MoonGazers," hands-on activities that take players outside to explore the moon and its phases from their own backyards. Also available in Spanish | Student Online Activities |
| Share My Lesson | Share My Lesson is a place where educators can come together to create and share their very best teaching resources. Developed by teachers for teachers, this free platform gives access to high-quality teaching resources and provides an online community where teachers can collaborate with, encourage and inspire each other. Share My Lesson has a significant resource bank for Common Core State Standards, covering all aspects of the standards, from advice and guides to help with dedicated resources that support the standards. Share My Lesson was developed by the American Federation of Teachers and TES Connect, the largest network of teachers in the world. Membership is always free | Teacher Activities |
| SMILE Program of Biology Lesson Resources | Teachers participating in the SMILE (Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement) summer session programs each create a single concept lesson plan. Caution: Since there is a wide number of authors who have contributed to the database, the detail and quality of the lesson plans will vary. | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Smithsonian Learning Lab | The Smithsonian Learning Lab puts the treasures of the world's largest museum, education, and research complex within reach. The Lab is a free, interactive platform for discovering millions of authentic digital resources, creating content with online tools, and sharing in the Smithsonian's expansive community of knowledge and learning. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Soil Liquefaction During 2011 Japanese Earthquake | Short video <2 minutes showing liquefaction during the 2011 Japanese Earthquake | Student Videos |
| Solar Cooking | Anything and everything you could ever want to know about solar cooking. :Lots of different kinds of plans. Try to few to see which works best. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Solar Energy International | This site provides nice information and a background to solar energy. Many links to other sites that specialize in different aspects of energy production or use. | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Solarviews.com | This website is available in English, Spanish, French, Porteguese and German. It offers photos and content for the solar system in all these languages. | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Songs for Teaching | Creative teachers can use music to teach content across the curriculum -- to students of all ages. A host of experts brings you tested ideas for using the magic of music in your lesson plans. | Teacher Background |
| Space Place | The Web site and its new Spanish companion at http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/espanol serve children 8 to 13 years of age. The site contains approximately 40 activities, including games and "amazing facts" about space, Earth and NASA. Areas easy to navigate in, include animations and great illustrations. Kids can Make Spacey Things, Do Spacey Things, see Space Science in Action, read Dr. Marc's Amazing Facts, and share with friends. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities |
| SpaceWeather.com | News and information about the Sun-Earth environment. You can find information on solar wind and bursts and flares. Lots of pictures and information on current conditions. | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Spark - Weather and Atmospheric Science Classroom Activities | Website includes K-12 classroom activities for the following topics: Weather, Climate Change, Sun-Earth Connections, and Atmosphere and Chemistry. Spark engages people in the wonder and relevance of science. We focus on scientific literacy, workforce development, and community engagement. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos;Worksheets |
| Stardate - Moon Phases | This page contains a moon phase calendar, information about tides and other common questions about the moon. | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| StarDate Online | Teacher lessons and activities are available online, as well as a solar system and constellation guide and image gallery. The daily two minute radio script is available in Spanish and English. Information is available on a wide range of astronomy related topics. Weekly night sky updates, sky maps and information on special celestial events is updated regularly. For spanish- click bottom right corner. | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| StopWaste.org | Any Alameda County teacher can order a FREE 4-R's teaching kit, and browse the website for more teaching ideas and resources | Teacher Background |
| Sundials on the Internet | Sundials on the Internet" has information about all aspects of sundials, including projects you can do, books you can get, national societies you can join, pictures you can see, sundials you can commission or buy and sundial trails all over the world + our competition for new ones! | Teacher Background |
| Super Storm Sandy Weather Images - Science Friday | An in depth look at satelite images of Super Storm Sandy that hit the East Coast of the US in October 2012. | Student Videos |
| Teacher Resource Guide to Agriculture issues | Search the guide on-line or order your free copy. Has resources on all sorts of things related to agriculture. How to grow plants and animals and how farming is related to nutrition and habitat health | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| The Adventures of Herman | Has audio in both English and Spanish that allows the site to be used by younger students. Squirmin' Herman the Worm teaches students all about worms and how to make their own worm bin in this new interactive curriculum. The Teacher guide section of the website has good ideas about activities with insects for the classroom | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| The Edible Schoolyard | This website from Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School's Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley has ideas and links about how to start and use a school garden program | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| The Forest Foundation | This website has lots of free resources for teachers and students when studying the forest habitats of California. Geared for grade 3+ but lots of good content for teachers of the younger grades. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| The Greatest Places | Features seven different and very distinct types of ecosystem, including great explorations of types of landforms, habitat, indigenous species, weather, etc. River Basin (Amazon), Icecap (Greenland), Waterfall (Iguazu Falls), Island (Madagascar), Desert (Namib), River Delta (Okavango Delta), and Plateau (Tibet). | Student Background;Student Online Activities |
| The Groundwater Foundation | Website dedicated to informing the public about one of our greatest hidden resources, groundwater. The Kids Corner has lesson plans, activities, and links. Includes free resources. | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| The Loh Down on Science | This website has articles and radio clips on a wide range of science topics | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| The Reason for the Seasons | Lesson plan for 35 minutes activity demonstrating how the seasons occur on Earth | Teacher Activities |
| The Story of Stuff | This site has animated videos that take the viewer through the history of how stuff is made and what is done with it when it is finished being used in its original form. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| The Weather Dude | Welcome to the weather page especially for kids, parents and teachers from weather forecaster Nick Walker. Explains that weather changes daily and seasonally, affecting us all. Great links to other kids weather sites. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Understanding Science | This excellent website has resources for learning all about science and science education. Practical and interesting | Teacher Background |
| Universe Adventure | This site is designed for students to use as an activity. There are nice sequences on both size and time scales of the universe. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| USGS Earthquake Information | Puzzles, games, information, and links to on-line activities including a “virtual earthquake.” Includes link to "Ask-A-Geologist" website. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| USGS Teacher Resources | Includes Lesson Plans and Activities, Paper Models, and Educational Materials in topic areas such as the Changing World, Volcanoes, Working with Maps, Earth Hazards, Earthquake Effects, and Helping Your Child Learn Geography. Also has maps and rock images, and real time information. | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Using a Stream Table to Investigate Erosion Control | Lesson on modeling erosion using a stream table. | Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Video: The Coralax | This film was created by students in Maui Huliau Foundation's Huliau Environmental Filmmaking Club. Inspired by Dr. Suess's The Lorax, this claymation by our new middle school students uses 667 images to show how irresponsible shoreline development can impact our precious reef ecosystem. | Student Videos;Teacher Videos |
| Videos from IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions of Seismology) | Videos, videos and more videos on how to model earthquakes. Includes information on the 2011 Japanese earthquake and Tsunami. | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| Videos from the Joides Resolution Expeditions - Newfoundland | Episode FOUR "STORMY SCIENCE" captures the intense moments surrounding major decisions of Expedition 342. High drama and high stakes science makes this expedition really exciting. What impact events are we finding in our cores? How do you recognize that an impact event occured? Experience the thrill of the unexpected in Episode 4: Stormy Science. Wait, is there gold in that core?! | Student Videos;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos |
| Volcano World - Oregon State | Volcanoes of the World, Currently Erupting Volcanoes, Volcano Images and Information, Volcanoes of Other Worlds, Volcanic Parks and Monuments, Volcano Observatories, Video Clips and links to kids info, teacher info and more. Students can read a story on the | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Background |
| WatchKnowLearn.org | This website has free educational videos on all topics (including science) for all age levels. There is specifically a section for younger learners. | Student Background;Student Videos;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos |
| When Greenville Turned Brown | A small town called Greenville was a nice place to live, with forests and ponds, it had lots to give. The people were happy in this little town, until something happened and Greenville turned brown. A poem with accompanying illustrations that recounts a tale of how important clean natural resources are. | Student Background |
| White Glue Fossils | Lesson plan on creating your own while glue "fossil" . | Teacher Activities |
| Wind Map of the United States | Visualization of the current wind patterns across the US. Great for when wind events like hurricanes are happening. They also have a gallery of snap shots from past wind events | Student Background;Teacher Background |
| Windows to the Universe | Extensive website of all areas of earth science. Lots of nice images. Games, worksheets and puzzles. Some real data on atmospheric science. You can use the free version with advertizements scrolling at top or sgn up for membership with no advertizements | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| WISE: Web Based Inquiry Science | free sign up. Simulations and lesson plans on a variety of topics for middle and High school science. | Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Worldwide Telescope | This free service from Microsoft lets students and lifelong learners tour the night sky using high-resolution images from the world’s best land- and space-based telescopes. | Student Online Activities |
| Worm Man Wormfarm | You can purchase worm books, worm bins and worms from a real worm farm. They also sell educational kits that show, for example, how to recycle organic kitchen waste into nutrient-rich garden fertilizer. | Teacher Background |
| Wyland Ocean Challenge | An interdisciplinary art-science curriculum promoting conservation and stewardship through understanding adaptation and water cycle concepts. Downloadable activities and other interesting background information. Lesson resources are found in the right hand column of the main page. | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| Your Sky on the Web | An online interactive planetarium. Users can produce sky maps for any time, date, and viewing location and check out a virtual telescope. If you enter the orbital elements of an asteroid or comet, Your Sky will compute its current position and plot it on the map. Each map is accompanied by an ephemeris for the Sun, Moon, planets, and any tracked asteroid or comet. | Student Background;Teacher Activities;Teacher Background |
| YouTube for Teachers | YouTube for teachers is designed with playlists for your classroom or search for specific topics. | Student Videos;Teacher Background;Teacher Videos |
| YouTube Teachers: Intro to Plate Tectonics Collection | Series of videos on plate techtonics | Student Background;Student Videos;Teacher Background |
| Zoom Dinosaurs | Resources, activities, and background information on dinosaurs. Read about famous paleontologists and learn how to become one! Read dino fact sheets and find out when and where a particular species lived, how big it was and what it ate. Print out line illustrations to color, or learn how to make paper finger puppets. Lots of dinosaur activities here! | Student Background;Student Online Activities;Teacher Activities |