Tag Archives: K-5 Science

Five Great Sites to Teach K-5 the Science of Weather

December 20, 2012, 12:03 pm • Posted by Nancy Yamamoto
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Most of us talk about the weather at least once a day. It affects us in many ways.Weather guides the way we dress, what we do, and in some cases, how we feel. We’re lucky here in the Bay Area that we don’t get a lot of variation on weather conditions. When it rains or thunderstorms we pay attention. A good way to take advantage of the weather is to explore it! Here are five sites that have lessons, activities, and videos to teach weather. For more multimedia resources check out Five K-5 Resources to Explore Weather.

Scholastic Teachers
Weather Watch includes activities for students to observe, investigate, gather and analyze data on weather. Have students make wind vanes, anemometers, rain gauge and other tools used to measure and observe weather conditions.

National Geographic Education
This collection hosts a beautiful photo gallery and videos of extreme weather conditions on earth and in the solar system. Vocabulary and background information on tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, and floods help students understand the different types of weather conditions and forces of nature we experience on our planet.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
This site features an entire section on weather and atmosphere. There is a collection of educational lessons on daily weather observations, global and local weather patterns and systems, severe weather and weather safety.

SciJinks
Have you ever wanted to know how a weather reporter forecasts the weather? Find out by watching this video. SciJinks is a kid-friendly site from NASA and NOAA that focuses on explaining weather conditions using interactives,satellite videos, and includes games and weather jokes. The site is targeted to middle schoolers but upper elementary school students will find it informative and entertaining.

Weather Wiz Kids
This is another kid-friendly site created by a meterologist who has a passion for weather. A robust collection of experiments, kid-friendly explanations, games, and jokes for the budding meteorologist and weather-curious.

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Science Lab: Partnership with Purpose

March 21, 2012, 2:22 pm • Posted by Nancy Yamamoto
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Building partnerships with local science museums, such as California Academy of Sciences and Lindsay Wildlife Museum, can add great value to the development of meaningful educational programs. As the project coordinator of Science Lab, I enjoy collaborating with museum education specialists to construct educational content for educator trainings. My role is to provide educators training on shooting and editing video using Flip camcorders to create content for the classroom and introduce PBS and KQED science media resources to enhance science curricula. The science museum education staff and/or STEM coordinators not only offer educational strategies to integrate science skills and processes but also offer the educators access to the animals and exhibits in the museum. I believe the collaboration is what makes Science Lab a strong and unique program for educators.

Connie Loosli, Education Manager at Lindsay Wildlife Museum, also shares my views. “I am a big believer in sharing knowledge and skills with my colleagues. Therefore, I really appreciate a good partnership between organizations with similar goals. This was definitely the case with the professional development partnership between KQED, Contra Costa County Office of Education and Lindsay Wildlife Museum education department. I personally learned so much about using media and technology... I like to feel that my contribution of science content and pedagogy is also beneficial to the participants...Our teacher participants were enthusiastic and came ready to expand their skills and expertise. Thanks to KQED for the opportunity to be part of this.”

Venturing out of the classroom and learning on-site at a museum allows educators to experience science concepts up close and in person. Educators get just as excited as their students do when they are inches away from turkey vultures and gray foxes. With an experiential approach to learning, educators are more engaged and motivated to explore ideas based on their interests.

The most recent cohort of K-3 educators from Contra Costa County was able to use the Lindsay Wildlife Museum as their place of study. Teachers worked in teams to observe, inquire, and film animals. Alexandra and Mary, two third grade teachers from Mt. Diablo school district, were fascinated by the Great Horned Owl and wanted to research its adaptations for their project. They used PBS LearningMedia videos on owls to support their research, interviewed Lindsay Wildlife Museum staff, and used the Flip camcorder to create their final digital media projects. Check out their final project below. Just like learning in the classroom, professional development for educators happens best with purposeful and engaging hands-on experiences.

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K-5 Science Teachers Create their own Narrated Slideshows for Teaching

February 13, 2012, 9:32 am • Posted by Nancy Yamamoto
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KQED Teacher Tech Trainings are a series of free workshops offered to K-5 teachers interested in learning how to use digital media tools to enhance science learning. The trainings are designed to focus on a specific digital media tool, such as slideshow or audio recording, and build the confidence of educators to use and create multimedia projects in their classrooms. Many participants walk in to workshops with very little experience integrating technology and learning. By the end of the second class, teachers walk away impressed with what they learned and proud of what they produced.

“Wow! I learned how to create a PowerPoint in 2 days. This technology seemed so hard just a few days ago. Now I feel I can really use this technology in the classroom.” - Participant in TTT series one.

In two Saturdays a group of teachers learned how to create a narrated slideshow using iMovie and Windows Movie Maker. Educators examined how images, narrative, and voice weave together to produce engaging and informative content. Participants watched an example of a science-related narrated slideshow produced by KQED QUEST titled Mud Snails featuring an invasive species from Japan affecting Bay Area shorelines. This slideshow demonstrates the role images and narration play in explaining science information effectively and leaves you curiously wanting to know more. Take a look at QUEST’s segment on mud snails:

Using slideshows in class can add a new dimension to lessons. As mentioned above, it can help teachers create their own content for teaching, and older students can even create their own multimedia project as a means to digitally express their learning.

To start planning narrated slideshows in your classroom, download the script template and other tips to implement multimedia projects from our Media-Making Toolkit. Or if you're interested in joining KQED Education in a future workshop, visit KQED ScienceLab for a schedule.

Take a peek at some of our educators' finished projects in our playlist. Below, you can see Monina address 3rd grade life science content standard on biomes. Helen's interactive slideshow engages her first graders' inquiry of balance. Minda ties in the study of bison to spark interest on an upcoming social studies unit on Native American history. Anne provides a visual connection for her speech class who are interested in dinosaurs and fossils. Mimi demonstrates the science behind breath and voice for her music class. Sylvia shows her kindergarteners the everyday items that comes from a tree. Laurie looks at the various kinds of penguins for K-2 science students.

There are seven videos in this series although you can only see one player. The single player hosts all seven videos (thank you YouTube playlist). To access the other six videos, you must click on the text that reads "Playlist" on the bottom left corner of the video player.

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