Wednesday Weekly Website–Nobelprize Education

 

Nobelprize Education

Review: While I do not agree with the criteria based upon which nobelprizes are given, (recent nobleprizes for peace, for instance) there is some very good educational material available on their website at Nobelprize Education. There are animated games and simulations, based on Nobel Prize-awarded achievements, that will teach the concepts in a fun and inspiring way. There are games and simulations on tons of topics. Some of the games are easy enough for early elementary aged children, while some are geared to more advance topics. Through these games children can learn things like what is a blood type, how immune system works, what are x rays, how is malaria cured, what is DNA, understand insulin and diabetes, what are conductive polymers, what is genetic code, to name only a few. I haven’t seen all the games/simulations so I don’t know about music etc, but the ones I have seen didn’t have music and they were quite straightforward and easy to understand. Use this site as an aid when teaching any of the topics or on its own. Take your time exploring this wealth of knowledge, as speeding through it can be a bit over whelming for some non-scientific learners.

Suitable for ages: 8-18

Wednesday Weekly Website–Succeeding With Science

 

Succeeding With Science

Review: Succeeding with science is a great resource for games, videos, and other activities for teaching and learning science. All activities are organized by age and are mostly geared to learning about energy and environment. Some of the resources are online but others require users to download Zip files (as in HouseWarming unit). Many of the resources require flash capability as well. I haven’t checked out all the games/activities so I am not sure about music in every activity. There is also a teacher’s page where you can find further activities and online magazines in PDF format.

Suitable for ages: 4-16+

Science With Fake Science

A fun way to introduce children to a scientific concept is to first say it in a silly way like why do animals hibernate? because they can’t have any hot chocolate! After the giggles are over it often times lead to a good discussion about the topic. For this purpose I often like to use Fake Science posters. They are quite fun and once we stop chuckling over the fake fact, we try to find out the truth and many times challenge ourselves to make a “true” version of the poster.

For example, take a look at the poster below “Why do potatoes and sweet potatoes taste different?” and challenge your kids to find out the truth and make a true version of this poster.

Take a look at the archives of this site where you will find many more interesting fake fact posters. A word of caution though, there are many posters which may not be suitable for children so make sure to check them out first before sharing them with children.

Wednesday Weekly Website–Study Jams

 

Study Jams

Review: Study Jams is a collection of over 200 educational resources, in the form of animated videos and step by step presentations, by Scholastic. Those of you who have used Brain Pop may find it similar in approach but with one big advantage – Study Jams is free! There are many kids who do fine when learning through a text book but for others boredom and dislike of text books becomes a hindrance in learning itself. Living in 21st century means that our children have way too much stimulation around them in the form of computers, smart phones etc and the prospect of learning concepts via reading text books is plain boring for them. This is where sites like Study Jams come in to help. We can easily use these “text books of 21st century” in presenting information, teaching new concepts and practicing the previously learned concepts. In Study Jams there are “jams” or units on topics for both science and math. Topics for science are everything from volcanoes to photosynthesis and math jams explain things like fractions in a story format which helps in captivating children’s attention as well as explaining the role of math in everyday life. Each jam has got a test your self and key vocabulary section. Related jams are also suggested to take the learning further. Over all a very good collection of resources. There is music in in though but thankfully not at places where switching off speakers may render it useless. There are karaoke and songs as learning aids so make sure your kids know not to use them. For some reason the site does not work well in Chrome but works fine with Internet Explorer and Safari for Mac.

Suitable for ages: 5-10

Wednesday Weekly Website – Children’s University of Manchester

 

The Children’s University of Manchester

Review: The children’s University of Manchester is a collection of online, interactive activities covering subjects of science, some literacy and arts and design. The colourful graphics are sure to engage young learners while they learn at their own pace, with immediate feedback in a game like environment. Topics covered are Body and Medicine, Energy and Environment, Ancient Egypt, The Earth and beyond, Teeth and Eating, Micro Organisms, The Brain and Senses, Talking Textiles and Words. Each category is further divided into sub topics. Sub topics are generally explained in a fun interactive activity. You can find some very good activities in this website. Use the Shadows in The Earth and Beyond to explain Salaah times to your child, or perhaps your child can do extra grammar practice while playing the Adjective Detectives. Use Phases of the moon to explain the Islamic Calendar system, or teach your child his duty as a Muslim in not wasting resources by playing Energy and Environment Interactive House or learn about world cultures in Textile Talk. While most of the activities do not have music, please turn down speakers if the music starts in any.

(use shadows game to teach about Salaah times)

Suitable for ages: 7-11

Wednesday Weekly Website – BP Educational Resources

 

BP Educational Resources

Review: Online games and resources for both primary and secondary pupils. The main theme is of course energy and its conservation, hence basically science, but they also provide understanding in other subjects such as  literacy, engineering, design and technology etc.

 

Suitable for ages:

Primary resources for ages 7-11 yrs

           

 

 

               

 

Secondary resources for ages 11-19 yrs

 

(the links will take you to the free online resources page, but browse around to find some very good lesson plans and other resources)