Useful Science Resources!

I was surprised to see just how many science resources are out there!  The list is endless!  While I think it's great that we have all this info at our fingertips, it takes some time to search through all the websites to find the valuable ones!  Here are a few I found:

- Dragonfly TV (http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/index.html):

  This site, mainly geared towards students, has episodes of Dragonfly TV that you can view online.  There are episodes on a variety of science topics that are fun, interesting, and use kids as the main characters.  There are also videos called "Real Scientists" where professionals in scientific fields explain and show what they do.  There are some really unique ones, like mud scientists and glue-ologists.  This would definitely broaden students' ideas about scientists.  There are also a ton of experiments, games, message boards for students, info about science centers and science fairs in the area, downloadable podcasts, and even a science section especially for girls called SciGirls.  They also have a parent/teacher section with guides for the episodes and additional activity ideas.

- Science Kids- Bringing Science & Technology Together (http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/):

  This site has A LOT of information for students and teachers on a variety of science topics.  It has science experiments with descriptions and instructions, lesson and activities for classrooms, ideas for science projects, interesting science pictures, science videos, facts, quizzes, and games.  

-The National Science Digital Library (http://nsdl.org):

  This site has information for science educators including current science in the news, science articles, science lessons, interactive activities, videos, blogs, publication info, links to other science resources and museums, and professional development opportunities.

My Science Story

My science story starts very young when I used to go to the school where my dad taught agriculture, plant science, and animal science.  My brothers, sister, and I used to play in the greenhouse and barn, not even realizing that we were surrounded by science.  We would help out with planting flowers and feeding the goats while my dad and his high-school students offered tidbits about how plants grow and proper care for animals.  I still surprise myself when I pull out the name of a random flower or tree, and definitely attribute my natural interest in science to the experiences at my dad's school.


I also used to play a lot outside with my brothers and sister.  Our favorite things to do were explore in the woods, climb trees, climb rocks, dig for things, and create things from what we found.  We also had a lot of animals growing up which made me a definite animal lover.  I used to love to catch bugs and look at them before letting them go - I still do that if I find a bug in the house =0). 


Throughout school, I always liked science.  I had some great teachers who really made science fun and fascinating!  I loved to do any kind of hands-on experiment and was always interested in why things are the way they are.  I also loved learning about animals, nature, the human body, the solar system, clouds, stars, and weather.  I am still interested in all of those things.  I had an amazing second grade teacher and in that class we hatched chicks in an incubator, witnessed a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, saw a solar eclipse, made our own silly putty, took care of class pets, and maintained a garden outside of our school.  I aspire to create such lasting, influential memories in my future classroom.


Also, I am really into photography and one of the types of pictures I love to take are nature landscapes.  The beauty of nature fascinates me and I thoroughly enjoy attempting to capture it in a picture.  I have a lot of nature pictures from my travels and a some sets of the same landscape during different seasons.  The picture at the top of this post is one of many I took in Greece.


I am very excited to learn more about teaching science and transferring the fascination and appreciation I have for science to my students.  There are so many possibilities in the science classroom because we have infinite examples in the world around us.