An inquiry into: How the world works

Hand Held Windmills – Messy Learning At Its Finest | Learning Is Messy – Blog

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 07:26:07 +0000

"… he pointed out the materials they could choose from to design the blades for the windmills – wooden skewers like you would use for shish-ka-bob, and various materials for blades (paper plates, cups, cardboard, plastic sheets and more). It was explained that once engineered and constructed the windmills would be tested to see how much work they could do. A cup would be attached with string and marbles would be lifted by the wind power. Data would be collected on how many marbles could be lifted and then redesign would be encouraged to lift more marbles."

Tags: learning technology wind energy windmills craft construction design MYP air human ingenuity

circuits.io

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 12:23:51 +0000

Circuits.io is a free website on which you can design and test electrical circuits. You can design your circuits using the virtual version of components that you could purchase and place on a circuit board. As you design your circuits, Circuits.io will tell you if your circuits will work or not.

Tags: electronics circuits circuit science tools human ingenuity interactive resources

Photos of Alternative Batteries Created with Fruits and Coins

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 09:24:48 +0000

"Portland, Maine-based photographer Caleb Charland (whom we featured before) has a fascinating new series of science-based photos that show various alternative batteries created using things like apple trees and stacked coins. The photo above shows an experiment in which he powered a lamp using 300 apples in a Newburgh, Maine-orchard."

Tags: photos batteries power energy electricity creativity image human ingenuity technology

WALLS 360 BLOG » Periodic Table Wall Graphics from Yiying Lu. Plus FREE Periodic Table Design Downloads!

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 10:33:11 +0000

"A smart kid with a smart phone and our new Periodic Table can learn the fundamentals of chemistry. My design includes 131 embedded QR links to applicable Wikipedia entries, directly connecting the ‘real-world’ version of the Periodic Table to a digital world of additional information – presented in what I hope is a clear, intuitive, and FUN design and interface!”"

Tags: walls periodic table graphics design downloads QRcode

Wood Dimensional Changes

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 06:29:30 +0000

"Wood is a hygroscopic material, i.e. it exchanges moisture with its surrounding environment. As a piece of wood losses moisture it shrinks and as wood gains moisture back it swells."

Tags: wood changes materials

How to build an automata

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 07:46:14 +0000

"In this page you will find detailed instructions on how to build an Automata : Automata: how to build some basic boxes Automata: the basic mechanisms Automata: the tablet, a tool to simulate the basic mechanisms Automata: building materials Automata: how to move the parts"

Tags: how to automata interactive resources technology human ingenuity

Free App Friday: NOVA Elements | Mac|Life

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 11:59:14 +0000

The app features an interactive periodic table and a game that you can play afterward to help you recall what you're learned. The best part about this free app is that it features the two-hour NOVA program on elements, so you can watch the episode, then delve deeper afterward.

Tags: free app nova elements

The Black Boxes of Science and Engineering - YouTube

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 11:07:34 +0000

Dr. Robert Lindberg, President and Executive Director of the National Institute of Aerospace, envisions a new way to introduce Engineering into the K-12 curriculum by exploring the distinctions between Science and Engineering; between the Natural World and the Designed World; and between the Scientific Method and the Engineering Design Process.

Tags: science engineering youtube

Living Things | Ideas and Thoughts

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:49:16 +0000

The book contains a songwriting guide and 8 lessons and original songs as well as a video. She would love if you would download the book and ideally use them with your students. The topics will obviously span a range of grade levels as well as the songwriting guide would be useful for many ages

Tags: science living-things life music songs poetry pattern rhythm classification biology biodiversity

The Nine Months That Made You | Documentary Heaven | Watch Free Documentaries Online

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 16:09:06 +0000

The Nine Months That Made You

Tags: documentary BBC pregnancy gestation

iLearn Technology » projectile motion

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:30:11 +0000

I happened to be writing an inquiry lesson that has students look at inventions throughout time and thought: the catapult-that is an invention that has technology and concepts that are used even today. Here is the embedded learning that I came up with

Tags: physics science motion inquiry math history

Squishy Circuits

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:41:15 +0000

Welcome to the Squishy Circuits Project Page Squishy circuits are a project from the Thomas Lab at the University of St. Thomas. The goal of the project is to design tools and activities which allow kids of all ages to create circuits and explore electronics using play dough.

Tags: circuits playdough science kids education resources learning interactive

Journey North: A Global Study of Wildlife Migration

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 07:30:59 +0000

Seasonal change is all around us. Children see it in the length of a day, in the appearance of a flower, in the flight of a butterfly. Journey North is a free, Internet-based program that explores the interrelated aspects of seasonal change. Through interrelated investigations, students discover that sunlight drives all living systems and they learn about the dynamic ecosystem that surrounds and connects them.

Tags: Science seasons migration climate habitat weather environment

UMapper / Home

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:48:38 +0000

"UMapper makes it easy to create, manage, distribute and monetize online maps."

Tags: maps flash mapping web2.0 googlemaps

Tree of Life Web Project

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:19:45 +0000

The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is a collaborative effort of biologists and nature enthusiasts from around the world. On more than 10,000 World Wide Web pages, the project provides information about biodiversity, the characteristics of different groups of organisms, and their evolutionary history (phylogeny). Each page contains information about a particular group, e.g., salamanders, segmented worms, phlox flowers, tyrannosaurs, euglenids, Heliconius butterflies, club fungi, or the vampire squid. ToL pages are linked one to another hierarchically, in the form of the evolutionary tree of life. Starting with the root of all Life on Earth and moving out along diverging branches to individual species, the structure of the ToL project thus illustrates the genetic connections between all living things.

Tags: biology science life media vidualization nature phylogeny

Tree of Life | SciVee

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:11:54 +0000

Explore the evolutionary links between living things with the Wellcome Trust's Tree of Life, developed as part of our Darwin 200 activities, which celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. This six-minute Tree of Life video also appeared on the BBC One programme 'Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life' narrated by David Attenborough. In addition to the video, an interactive version of the 'Tree of Life' here (http://www.wellcometreeoflife.org) has been created to allow you to explore evolutionary links even further.

Tags: biology life video Attenborough BBC

The Tree of Life Web Project | SciVee

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:17:41 +0000

The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is a collaborative effort of biologists from around the world. On more than 9000 World Wide Web pages, the project provides information about the diversity of organisms on Earth, their evolutionary history (phylogeny), and characteristics. See: http://www.tolweb.org/

Tags: science video life biology phylogeny

Play Geography Games and Learn About the World -- National Geographic Kids

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:58:59 +0000

games and activities from National Geographic for young learners. (Not all activities are USA-centered.)

Tags: geography socialstudies interactive geographic elementary social_studies game resources

Episode 3: Why is Lightning Lightning-Shaped? | Simply Science | Learn Science at Scitable

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:46:47 +0000

n today's episode, Dr. Dan Davis of Boston's Museum of Science explains to Adam why lightning is shaped in jagged, forked lines. Just like water alters its course as it encounters rocks and dips in the physical terrain, it turns out that lightning must adjust to irregularities in the air's electrical patterns. Join Adam as he learns about the science behind this phenomenon and the museum's giant lightning machine. [3m 55s]

Tags: science electricity lightning video

Interface.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:29:32 +0000

The Energy Literacy Series contains an introduction to energy and ten energy sources. Start here to learn about the different energy sources - how they are harnessed, converted, and used. (A Canadian site swf file works best on a PC)

Tags: physics science energy interactive learning