The Spark website, sponsored by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) can be your center for learning materials on weather, climate and related atmospheric sciences. There’s lots of basic information and class activities, but my one of my favorite parts is the interactive simulations. Simulations allow students to explore “what if” questions that are … Continue reading
Ever wonder why birds wear feathers instead of fur? Why spiders don’t get caught in their webs? What kind of chocolate is the most popular? Me, too. And now we have a place to go for all those wonders, and more. The website Wonderopolis bills itself “Where the Wonders of Learning Never Cease,” and that … Continue reading
One of the most exciting things about teaching in ways that support creativity, is that teaching for creativity can also support sound thinking. That is certainly true for the website iCivics. Founded by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, iCivics is designed to prepare young people to be knowledgeable and involved citizens—and do it … Continue reading
My husband loves television and is the classic remote “clicker,” as he speeds across the channels in search of the next most-interesting-thing. As a result, I learn about all kinds of strangely-fascinating programs I might never discover. One of these is History Channel’s American Pickers, a reality show that follows “pickers” Mike Wolfe and Frank … Continue reading
When I was a kid, camp entailed tents, backpacks, burnt marshmallows, mosquitoes. Today, it’s not necessarily so. Enter free virtual summer camp for teens–with rockets, animation, and (last year) electric origami! Maker Camp, a collaboration between Maker Media (publisher of Maker magazine) and Google, takes camp in a whole new direction. Instead of swimming and … Continue reading
One of my favorite small education blogs is called “v. to put on one’s thinking cap: A reflection on social constructivism in the elementary classroom.” It recounts the learning and thinking of a class of elementary students who are consistently challenged to make sense of their world. Recently, the author described students’ representations responding to … Continue reading
I love museums. I stand in awe of human creativity at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and of the innovations at the Henry Ford Museum. I delight in watching children’s explorations at our local Hands On Museum. And, of course, when I have the chance to travel, I find more museums to love—whether my traveling … Continue reading
The American Museum of Natural History’s OLogy site, subtitled “The Museum’s Science Website for Kids” could also be labeled, “Catalog of Creative Scientific Investigations.” OLogy allows students to “Choose an OLogy,” from Anthropology to Zoology, and then explore resources in each area. There are interviews with scientists, interesting facts, polls to take, games to play, … Continue reading
There are a lot of ways to tell stories. These days, a lot of them seem to use speech bubbles. Photo memes are everywhere, from the ever-present talking cats to political commentary. Graphic novels use comic book formats to tell increasingly sophisticated tales. So it occurred to me that adding speech bubbles to photos might … Continue reading
Who would ever guess that one of the videos that brought me the biggest smile this week was from a website called “Physics Central”? Its subtitle, “Learn How Your World Works” is an apt description of the wealth of resources found at the website. Sponsored by the American Physics Society, the website includes three major … Continue reading
creativiteach 