Science

Granite School District Curriculum Maps

— Granite School District, Salt Lake City, Utah

-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.graniteschools.org/curriculuminstruction/curriculum-maps/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:50 share

How It Works

Granite School District offers an extensive resource of curriculum mapping materials at this comprehensive site. Choose any subject from the elementary or secondary curriculum maps to begin. Choose from curriculum maps aligned to Common Core Standards and SRA Imagine It! textbooks. Some sections also include model lesson plan formats, manipulative lists, instructional schedules, and parent guides. Subjects include all core subjects as well as library, health, music, and more.

In the Classroom

Bookmark and save this site for use throughout the year. Download and use curriculum maps, assessment schedules, and parent guides. Be sure to check the math section for several support documents such as lesson plan templates and guides for teaching basic facts. Share with other staff for use as models for lesson planning and curriculum mapping.

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Tag(s): professional development,

Create Your Visited States Map

— Jeremy Nixon

2-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.defocus.net/visitedstates/us-canada.html Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:50 share

How It Works

Where have you been? Create a color-coded map of the United States or Canada that highlights states that you have visited. Go through the list of states and choose a color for each state. There are four colors to choose from indicating your amount of time spent in that state. Just click on the state and then find your color. Or use the list of states found under the map. Choose an image width and pick the "Create" button to make your personalized image map. Save the map to your computer in png format. Please note: this is part of an individual’s travel blog, and posts are not moderated for school use. Be sure to check out content links before sharing or student use. Or better yet, advise students NOT to click on any external links.

In the Classroom

Creating this would make an interesting map to create as a class project when learning about the 50 states. Go through the states list on your interactive whiteboard and create your class map to print or share as a digital image on your class website. Do a map as a class to see which states MOST students have visited. If you feel students may be embarrassed at their lack of travel, this may be better done on individual computers or on a personal response form given to you to input privately. For a whole class activity, divide your class into groups to create separate maps. Compare and contrast states visited. Send home a link to the website for students to create a map with their families. For older students, use the map for content and reassign colors as needed. For example, create a map showing the birthplace of U.S. Presidents: assign red to states without a president, yellow with one president, and green with two or more. This same format could be used in nearly any subject while studying differences in states (democrat or republican, most popular agriculture product, how many - if any - NFL teams, teen pregnancy rate, and much more).

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Tag(s): states, maps, north america,

edpuzzle

— edpuzzle

-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.edpuzzle.com/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:50 share

How It Works

This tool is a great way to take sections of videos and add your own voice or add questions within the video. YouTube videos are viewable in edpuzzle even if your school filters block them! Search for educational videos from sites such as Khan Academy and Learn Zillion. Use the sliders to choose the section of the video, then insert your own voice or comment on the video. Create a series of questions to go along with your chosen video and insert them into the correct part of the video. There is no need for students to watch the whole video to access the questions at the end. Follow the on screen directions for chopping the video for the section you need, adding your own voice, and choosing where to add text based questions. Create a class and then add students into the class either in the dashboard or after creating the video. Use student codes to access the video. There is a 13 page guide available by clicking on FAQ and the last item which is "How can I help?" Next click on "Workshop." There is also a short demo video hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, simply find the video you want to use and embed it in edpuzzle. It will be viewable when used through edpuzzle!

In the Classroom

Create short review videos or use your own narration with chosen videos to create flipped or blended lessons for your students. Consider the power of students using edpuzzle to annotate videos in order to explain the material in their own words. You or your students can use the tool to create and narrate "how to" videos. Annotate by highlighting the significant features of videos through the creation of voice comments. Students can also create questions to play with each video. Be sure students create a script to read from before beginning their chosen video.

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Tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool, communication, questioning, video, assessment,

Timemapper

— Open Knowledge Foundation Labs

5-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://timemapper.okfnlabs.org/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

This free tool maps dates, information, and locations specified on a loaded spreadsheet into a timeline format. See the Examples on the middle portion of the page to see the results! You need a Google Docs/Drive account to create a timeline. Work anonymously or log in using your Twitter account. Click "Get Started Now" to read the details and create your spreadsheet, using a template Google Doc spreadsheet available by clicking where it says, "this template." Read the 1-2-3 steps AND the FAQ lower on the page to understand the steps and the reasons why you might want to create a free account using your Twitter login (not required). Once published with the url loaded into the Timemapper form, data from the spreadsheet is displayed in Timemapper in a slide style format. Data can include images, citations, locations, and more. Move along the timeline at the bottom of the screen or advance through the screens. Locations are pinpointed on a map that displays alongside the timeline. Click on individual locations or see them highlighted as you advance through the screens. Use the embed code to place the Timemapper in your wiki, site, or blog. You can also share it by url. Note: Timemappers cannot be made private.

In the Classroom

Create Timemapper timelines to introduce material in any subject. If your school uses Google Apps or Docs/Drive, your students (or groups) can create their own very easily. Map specific battles in history (World War II or the Revolutionary War, perhaps?) Map significant scientific discoveries in the progress of understanding about cell theory or genetics. Follow the works of various writers, artists, or musicians. Follow the life of famous people or noteworthy events such as elections, the Olympics, or even local history!

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Tag(s): timelines,

Video Lectures

— Video Lectures Net

4-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://videolectures.net/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

Enjoy and use award-winning educational science (and some math) videos. Presented by distinguished scholars and scientists, the videos originated during conferences, summer schools, workshops, and science promotional events. Peruse the Nobel laureate speakers section to become inspired. Categories featured include architecture, arts, astronomy, biology, business, chemistry, computers, computer science, Earth sciences, environment, events, health sciences, humanities, life sciences, mathematics, medicine, military, philosophy, physics, regional, science, social sciences, sports, and technology. There is a free newsletter where you can stay up to date with the latest science information.

In the Classroom

Keep your students minds wondering with the latest thoughts in science. Use this to create your own, science news events day. Use one of these videos as a center when students are studying a related topic. Share the videos on your projector or interactive whiteboard.

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Tag(s): scientists, engineering, machines, cells, computers, creativity, data,

54 Years of Space Exploration - An Updated Map

— National Geographic

3-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://cosmicdiary.org/fmarchis/2014/05/19/54_years_of_exploration/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

Celebrate 50 years of space exploration with this beautiful interactive map created by Sean McNaughton and Samuel Velasco. Clicking on a section of the map will increase its size. Follow the paths for launches to their destinations. This interactive includes the mission’s destination, when the mission started, and whether the mission was a success or failure. Find all international space missions from the past. Follow the flight paths of current missions such as New Horizons traveling to Pluto and the location of the Voyagers. A line on the bottom shows the relative distances in interstellar space. If the article is open be sure to click Hide Article to see this entire map. Inspect parts of the map by using the plus-minus box on the upper right corner of the image.

In the Classroom

Use this interactive map to demonstrate how many space missions man has attempted in an effort to explore our solar system. Share it with a projector to view paths up close. Students, or small groups, can choose a planet or mission and research more about how the mission came about, what it’s goal was, and what the results of the mission were. Consider putting together resources on Symbaloo, reviewed here, for each of the space missions for students to learn more. Science students can investigate what technology was like at the time of the missions and what we use in its place today. Challenge students to present their findings to the class using Zeetings, reviewed here.

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Tag(s): explorers, space, stars, moon, planets, nasa,

Japan Tsunami Video

— Dr. Dave House of Fun

5-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/tsunami_japan_1.html Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

This dramatic video (approximately 5 minutes long) captures the view of a tsunami from a resident’s perspective in Japan - without all of the extra YouTube "clutter." When viewed on this site, comments on the YouTube video are not shown. Note that when viewed on YouTube, many of the comments are inappropriate for a classroom setting. If your district blocks YouTube, this site may not be viewable.

In the Classroom

Use this resource when discussing natural disasters such as Tsunamis. Share this short video on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Students can make observations individually or as a class and brainstorm particular items that they noticed. Use this information to discuss the formation and impact of a Tsunami. How do early warning systems work? Ask students to not just make observations of what they see, but draw inferences about the people and reactions of this and other natural disasters. Why are the people all standing on the hill to watch? Research various Tsunamis throughout history and their effects and locations. How did different government and non-government organizations handle these disasters?

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Tag(s): tsunamis, natural disasters,

Geokov

— Geokov.com

4-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.geokov.com/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

Use this free interactive mapping site to make additions to Google Maps, incorporating other data and maps with them. Add topographic maps and spatial or environmental data. This is an easy tool for adding symbols and icons or for adding a drawing on a Google map. Find many of the simple tools along the top of the map. You can do something as simple as adding text labels or shading a region. Add data to the map using the tools below the map. Create a mashup of KML, GPX (easily imported from Garmin), WMS and GEORSS data sources. This video explains many of the features of Geokov. Please note this video is hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then it may not be viewable.

In the Classroom

Take a virtual field trip through the map maker. Explore landforms and other terrain features from Google Earth and topographic maps. Easily create maps for field trips, presentations, classroom activities and more. Create a shade relief topographic map of any region. Doing an environmental study of an area or region? Find the region in this tool first and add the necessary information for classroom discussion or presentation. Use one of the many TeachersFirst Presentation Tools to present information learned. Tie information from literature, stories, history, and other sources to add value and interest to the maps.

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Tag(s): landmarks, landforms, environment, maps,

Story Maps

— Esri

4-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://storymaps.esri.com/home/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

Story Maps takes learning in a new direction. Interactive maps tell a story through videos, images, audio, and links. Learn more about the topics in text that accompanies each map. A timeline of "dots" allows you to move through the story step by step. A satellite view is available on some maps, and legends give you important information to read the map accurately. A wide variety of topics are available to inform and educate. Use the search bar to find a map to meet your needs. Travel to the most visited National Parks or explore an interactive map of the three days and decisive moments of the battle of Gettysburg. It is important to pay as much attention to the text pop-ups as the cartography and other aspects of the map. New stories are added every two weeks. so come back often! This review was for the free area of the site that allows you to view the map stories. There are extensive directions on how to create your own maps, but these suggest purchase of maps, etc. from ArcGIS, an affiliate of Esri. Some of the map storytelling ideas could be used with other free mapping tools, however.

In the Classroom

Map out interactive virtual field trips on Story Maps. Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Have a team competition as students navigate the site on an interactive whiteboard to complete a scavenger hunt. Students can find geometric shapes in real life objects on the images with the maps. Calculate distances or time if the map is a timeline of events. Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a unit or lesson on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Make a shortcut to this site on classroom computers and use it as a center. Be sure to help your weaker readers and ESL/ELL students by sharing the vocabulary words prior to reading, either on a handout or by projecting them on an interactive whiteboard and highlighting them in the text as you come to them. Have students create online posters to summarize what they learned from the map, individually or together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard (reviewed here) or PicLits (reviewed here. Ask students to write informational essays on the topics or use the maps to write creative stories. Challenge your most tech-savvy or gifted students to explore the step by step map storytelling directions and try their hand using google Maps or other map tools. The advice in these directions is excellent.

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Tag(s): measurement, map skills, gettysburg, maps,

MindMup: Zero-friction online mind mapping

— Gojko Adzic, Damjan Vujnovic, David de Florinier

-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.mindmup.com/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

MindMup is an easy to use mind mapping tool. Click to create a new map. Double click the starter bubble to add your title. Use the tool box (top menu) to add or edit ideas. Use the mouse to drag and drop nodes. The mouse can also be used to scroll the map (drag the central node, or anywhere outside the map). As soon as you change a map, the Save button appears in the toolbar. Click it and your new map gets a unique URL. Every time you save, the map gets a new URL. Just copy and share the URL with colleagues and friends. Anyone can edit the map, but won’t change your original copy. The best part of this simple/easy site: no registration required!

In the Classroom

This free organizational tool can be used in classrooms at every level. Use this tool to help organize learning units and share the organization on screen so students see how pieces fit together. Share the unit map with other teachers, students, or parents. Highlight goals, objectives, learning tasks, assessments, and resources. Share before your unit, and expectations become very clear. Use as a yearly overview for parents at the beginning of the year at Open House. Let parents see the multiple ways their child will be assessed through the year. Have students use this tool for direction in problem based learning situations. Use this tool in science for collecting data, experiments, or science fair outlines. Use the tool in writing class to make writing guides for narrative or expository writing. In reading use for predictions, sequencing of stories, inferences, or organizing genres of books each student has read. Have students map multiple ways to solve a single problem in math class. Have students keep daily requirements or schedules with readily available resources as links. Let students enjoy taking notes from content based classes. Have a student scribe create the notes each day and share with the class. Have student groups map the current unit before the test as a review activity. Or use an ongoing map as a whole class visual diagram of concepts learned, adding new knowledge throughout a unit. Don’t miss the chance to color code to "sort" ideas and concepts!

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Tag(s): graphic organizers, mind map, concept mapping, organizational skills,