Scale of the Universe

The Scale of the Universe is a fascinating and very easy to navigate site which investigates the relative size of different objects. Zoom from the very smallest to the very largest and everything in between. A great starter for a Focus on Science.

Climate Choices – Children’s Voices

Climate Choices – Children’s Voices is aimed at teachers of children aged 9-11 years (Years 5 and 6) who want to help children begin to understand the challenging and complex issue of climate change. It is full of excellent information which is linked to real people.

Young Darwin Prize

The Natural History Museum would like to invite you to take part in the Young Darwin Prize. www.youngdarwinprize.co.uk

Make a 2 minute news report about a conservation project you are already doing about the environment at school or in a community group.

For Key Stages 2 and 3, the prize is £500 to go on a school trip, as well as a VIP day at NHM. Closing date August 31st.

Augmented Reality

I was lucky enough to be in Devizes for an excellent presentation by Doug Dickinson (and sites you may never find) who used the BMW Z4 site to demonstrate augmented reality. First print off the ‘magic’ symbol, download the software, hold the symbol in front of your webcam and prepared to be amazed! You might also like to try the Toyota website too.

This same technology is being used on the Scimorph website in an attempt to present key stage 2 / 3 science topics in a more interesting and interactive way. Scimorph is 3D animated character who you can take through various activity areas which affect him in different ways, including exploring the effects of gravity. (Launch / Direct Gov News)

Engineering Interact

www.engineeringinteract.org is a great way to learn about Science. It covers a range of topics including sound, light, electricity, forces and Space. Thanks to the Revision World Blog for the link.

ICT Games for Key Stage 1

There are some great free educational resources on the ICT Games site, which are generally aimed at infants.  Also available from here is the Calmness Counter which I was shown recently. Once a microphone has been connected and the sensitivity level selected this site will keep track of the noise levels in the classroom. I just wonder how many pupils will see it as a challenge to get the pointer into the red levels!

National Science Week

This week is National Science Week and it is an opportunity for people of all ages to take part in science, engineering and technology activities. As part of the celebrations a team of scientists will be answering questions posed by members of the public. To find out if fish are ever thirsty or to ask a question of your own visit this web site.

A list of other useful Science and ICT links were posted on this site last year, there are also some great resources on the Kent NGFL web site.

However, if you fancy trying something a bit different then have a look at Phun which is designed to be a playground where people can be creative. It can also be used as an educational tool to learn about physics concepts such as restitution and friction. Have a look at the video to see what ‘phun’ you can have!

Kent NGFL Resources

 I was looking again at the wonderful resources  on the Kent Ed website, these range from those aimed  at supporting an ICT Subject Leader,  cross curricular resources such as the ever popular Sebastian Swan and games and ideas to support Early Years ICT . The colourful and easy to navigate website also includes a number of free interactive games such as Star Writer and the Writing Repeater. The latter allows a demonstration of handwriting on an interactive whiteboard to be saved and played back. It can capture a total of 17 letters, words or joins which can be played back any number of times.

Topic Box

Regular visitors to the Coxhoe Durham or Snaith Primary websites will appreciate just how useful it is to have all those online educational resources in one place. I have just read about a new one called Topic Box on the Little Miss Teacher blog and have been to have a look around. The brightly coloured and easy to navigate website aims to electronically replace those dusty old plastic storage boxes which look promising but generally fail to deliver. Already there are 2131 resources in 174 different topics which can be rated by anyone who downloads them. Tell your friends and let me know if you come across any other similar sites.

 

ICT and Science

The following links are websites visited on a Primary Science and ICT course:

Reaction Test: www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/zap.html

Funderstanding Rollercoaster: www.funderstanding.com/k12/coaster/

A free download of Crocodile Clips to simulate electrical circuits:

www.crocodile-clips.com/s3_4.htm

Sorting and Matching

www.bbc.co.uk/education/dynamo/lab/index.shtml

www.crick.northants.sch.uk/pagescience.html

Help sheets for the Intel Microscope

www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/subjects/science/intel/index.html

More Links:

National Whiteboard Network – Ready made Science Flipcharts

Teacher Net Science Pages

www.naturegrid.org.uk/explorer/

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/

www.coxhoe.durham.sch.uk/Curriculum/Science.htm

Please add any other useful primary science websites to the comments below.