The Web Catcher » Hands-on Ideas

Neuroscience for Kids – Amazing site!

K. Haugen — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 20:29:50 +0000

NeuroScience for Kids is a buried treasure of brain information and activities for kids. There’s Neuroscience in the News, online and hands-on explorations, experiments, contests, and links to sites, books and articles all about brains. It’s worth the time to dig deep into this site!

FossWeb Science for K-2, 3-6 or Middle School

K. Haugen — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 12:49:32 +0000

FossWeb offers three sites with interactive inquiry-based science activities. The site does not have full auditory support, but downloadable audio versions of the Foss texts are available. Each level offers a different range of features and topics, but all three offer extensive parent and teacher support.

The K-2 site includes background information, an interactive activity, related photos, web links, questions answered by professional scientists for units on insects, animals, wood and paper, fabric, trees, balance and motion, pebbles, sand and silt, new plants, air and weather, and solids and liquids
The 3rd-6th grade site includes interactive activities, posters, pictures and movies, links, vocabulary, book lists and ‘ask a scientist for topics such as magnets and electricity, models and design, the human body, levers and pulleys, food and nutrition, earth materials, water, mixtures and solutions, measurement, physics of sound, solar energy, land forms, structures of life, variables, ideas and inventions, and environments
The Middle School Site includes multimedia modules, books, links and a glossary covering activities such as human brain and senses, populations and ecosystems, force and motion, planetary science, electronics, earth history, diversity of life, weather and water, and chemical interactions

Math Cats

K. Haugen — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 01:46:28 +0000

The Math Cats web site offers several activities to explore, ideas for and examples of math crafts, and a great section on make-at-home math manipulatives. It has a simple, folksy feel, a welcome contrast to much of the slick stuff you see on the web. Most of the activities include some guided discussion of how to explore and interact. The activities provide feedback rather than corrections, so the students can discover for themselves how the concepts work.

I especially like the OBBL Architecture Blocks. You can build with different architectural shapes, but the blocks have gravity for an added challenge! Beyond that, you’ll find a balance activity, an age calculator (in hours, minutes, etc.), logic challenges, fractions, tesselations, polygons, place value, ‘really big numbers,’ story problems, crafts and much, much more.

Starfall Reading

K. Haugen — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:34:21 +0000

Starfall is one of the best sites for early reading and literacy, with online stories that offer audio support as needed, a fun, enticing interface, and supportive activities and printables. Multiple levels, with numerous stories and activities at each level.

Starfall was created by the family behind Blue Mountain Cards, one of the earliest online greeting card companies. One member of the Blue Mountain Card family struggled to read because of learning disabilities. The activities are free, and the printed materials very low cost, as a way to help all students who are learning to read, including those who struggle.

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

K. Haugen — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:28:42 +0000

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives – Explore operations, algebra, geometry, logic and measurement through online pattern blocks, graphing, a mastermind game and more (requires JAVA). With numerous activities, well organized by grade level and content area, the open-ended environment for explorations is a welcome toolkit in the classroom, and provides solid opportunities for fun, explanations and explorations at home.