Favorite Science Activities & Lesssons!

May 10th, 2022

It’s Tuesday, May 10, 2022, and time for Science at ClickSchooling!

(www.sciencespot.net/)

Grades 6-8, with parental supervision

A clever and innovative science teacher developed this free website where she shares her favorite science activities, lessons, and printables.

When you get to the site you’ll see a menu that includes:

Science Classroom – Get an abundance of free lesson plans, activities, printable worksheets, and links to other resources on general science, ecology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, earth science, biology, insects, eagles, the metric system, forensic science, archaeology, and more.

Reference Desk – An archive of links to educational science websites, lesson plans, clip art resources and much more. We didn’t follow all of these links — so parent supervision, as always, is advised.

Puzzle Corner – This is a cool resource! Print out free word search and crossword puzzles on cells, invertebrates, the skeletal and muscular system, genetics, rocks and minerals, constellations and much, much more! Great material for DIY science activity books!

There is much more material for classroom teachers provided at this site. Much of it can be tweaked to suit homeschoolers.

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Tags: activities archaeology art astronomy biology books chemistry ecology lesson lesson plans lessons other physics puzzles resources science worksheets

Classic Kitchen Science Experiments

April 26th, 2022

It’s Tuesday, April 26, 2022, and time for Science at ClickSchooling!

Bizarre Stuff You Can Make in Your Kitchen

(bizarrelabs.com/main.htm)

Grades 4-12, with parental supervision

This website is an archive of classic “old school” science experiments from the early to mid-20th century. The experiments are easily made with stuff you will find around the house — especially in the kitchen. That said, the creator of the site doesn’t guarantee all of the experiments will work or that they are all safe, so parental discretion and oversight is a must.

You will find experiments that include every branch of science including:

Gasses and Liquids
Force, Motion, & Balance
Locomotion
Temperature
Sound and Light
Electricity
Atomic
Chemistry
Life
Earth, Weather and Astronomy
Communications
and more!

Learn everything from how to cast animal tracks, to how to make a solar oven or a foxhole radio. It’s all here. The instructions are simple and easy to follow.

As with all science activities read through the list of “ingredients” and be sure you have what you need before convincing your child to try an experiment. Nothing dampens the scientific creative spirit more than not having the necessary materials to experiment in one’s kitchen laboratory.

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Tags: activities astronomy chemistry experiments light other science weather

Explore NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft

March 29th, 2022

NASA: Solar System Exploration – Cassini

(solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/overview/)

All grades, with parental supervision

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft arrived at Saturn in July 2004 and, along with the European-built Huygens probe, opened a window into a world never seen before.

When arriving at the website, read the Overview to learn about Saturn and the Cassini mission, lasting over two decades. Make sure to scroll down to see the 10 Ways Cassini Mattered. Next, hover your mouse over the menu in the middle:

The Journey – Timeline, Spacecraft, Grand Finale
Mission – The Saturn Tour has photos and videos.
Science – Learn about Saturn and its largest moon, Titan, and its tiny moon, Enceladus.
Galleries – Images, Videos, and more

After exploring all that this website has to offer, check out the “Kids” link under the “More” menu at the top for coloring pages and activities.

If you know someone interested in astronomy, particularly Saturn, this website is a down-to-earth resource for an out-of-this-world study.

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Tags: activities astronomy coloring kids NASA science solar system

Study Astronomy with Paper Plates

January 25th, 2022

Paper Plate Astronomy & Much More!

(analyzer.depaul.edu/paperplate/)

Grades Pre-K-12, with parental supervision

This is a novel approach to education — and so simple! Paper Plate Education is “an initiative to reduce complex notions to simple paper plate explanations.” That’s right, through the use of paper plates you can participate in a range of activities that introduce varying degrees of complex subjects in fun, interesting, hands-on, low-cost ways!

When you get to the site you will see a brief introduction and a menu of the latest projects contributed by educators. The Transit of Venus that took place in 2004 is featured and this site offers activities with paper plates to track Venus’ path across the sun, along with links to other resources you can access to learn about this event.

Once you scan the new items, look at the menu bar at the very top of your screen and click on “Activities.” A new screen opens with a menu of over 80 activities you can do with paper plates to learn a variety of subjects including:

addition & multiplication (including Flash Plates!)
make an alien platecraft
measure altitude of celestial objects
transpose musical notes
make cosmic hats
explore The Drinking Gourd
illustrate the outcome of a particle colliding with an anti-particle
explore circles
make a model to explain moon phases and then make a moon mask
make a music shaker
learn about orbits
P.E. with paper plates
make a portable sundial
and much, much more — including some activities that are done with other objects like potatoes and rice cereal treats!

When you have exhausted the activities go back to the Home page, and scroll down to “Background.” Click on it to check out the history of paper plate education — and learn about how scientists and others have used paper plates for centuries to demonstrate theories and complex principles.

This is really a great resource for homeschool families — bookmark it so you can return often!

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Tags: activities astronomy education fun history homeschool multiplication music other resources scientists

Explore the History of Calendars

January 6th, 2022

WebExhibits: Calendars through the Ages

(www.webexhibits.org/calendars/index.html)

Grades 5-12, with parental supervision

Part of the larger WebExhibits online museum from the Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement, this website examines the origins and history of calendars.

When arriving at today’s link, use the upper menu to decide what topic you would like to explore:

Years & Months – Learn about the astronomical events on which a calendar is based then use the sidebar menu to dig deeper into the astronomy of calendars, see a perpetual calendar, the phases of the moon within a given month, the history of our calendar, terms used, and more.

Various Calendars – Discover the differences in the Gregorian calendar (which most of us use) and the Chinese, Christian, Indian, Islamic, Jewish, Mayan, Roman, and other calendars past, present, and future.

Our Week – How did the 7-day week come to be? Where did the names of the days come from? What other connotations are associated with the days of the week? These questions and more are answered in this topic.