http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/sciencegeekgirl Cool science tricks; pedagogical tips for grades 9-14 educators; research on learning and teaching; hands-on activities Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:19:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In optics experiments, you often need to create lines of light. You can do this with light boxes, but they're expensive, and tend to have too many rays to be useful. Laser light boxes are great, but again, spendy. One teacher recommends using laser levels. These are the ... http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/sciencegeekgirl/2009/11/14/making-rays-of-light-for-optics-experiments/ If you're a teacher -- of physics, or any other physical science -- and haven't yet picked up a copy of Edward Redish's Teaching Physics with the Physics Suite , I'm making a bid right now that you do so. I finally read it -- really read it -- instead of ... http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/sciencegeekgirl/2009/11/11/book-teaching-physics-with-the-physics-suite/ I feel like I keep posting these, I should compile them. Currki : Currki, an open source website for educational materials k-12 has over 80,000 members who are educators and teachers. TeacherTube TeacherTube is a video sharing website based on YouTube. It is designed to allow those in the educational ... http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/sciencegeekgirl/2009/11/10/video-resources-for-teaching/   Below I am reposting a rather long piece taken verbatim from the website of Steve Detweiler who just says that it's an "amusing anecdote from a friend of mine." So, I'm not sure of the veracity of the story, and some claim that it's an urban legend. It ... http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/sciencegeekgirl/2009/11/08/myth-the-astronauts-didnt-float-away-because-they-had-heavy-boots/ A couple links that look very helpful. 100 excellent blogs for science teachers (which includes yours truly!) Includes a bunch of teacher blogs (which seems like a great way to get some online mentorship if you're all alone), and subject-area blogs (like physics or biology). A very useful list. 100 cheat sheets ... http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/sciencegeekgirl/2009/11/04/cheat-sheets-and-blogs-for-science-teachers/ Here are a few collections of videos of science teaching and learning -- useful for learning how to teach. Annenberg: http://www.learner.org/resources/series90.html http://www.learner.org/resources/series126.html TIMSS http://nces.ed.gov/timss/video.asp http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/sciencegeekgirl/2009/11/03/video-footage-of-teaching/ Ok, it probably wouldn't be very yummy, but here's another hands-on activity you can use that's rather Halloween-like. Called "Make a 'mummy'", this Exploratorium activity is a great way to demonstrate how mummification works, by drying out the tissue in a fish using baking soda. Egyptians used a ... http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/sciencegeekgirl/2009/10/30/make-a-yummy-fish-mummy/ With halloween fast approaching, it's time to take advantage of a frivolous holiday to do some fun science stuff. No post about Halloween would be complete without a reference to the Grossology site. Scroll down for "lab activities": This gets high marks from one teacher who says, "It has ... http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/sciencegeekgirl/2009/10/27/science-activities-for-halloween/ Got a unit on circular motion? You may want to use an activity with a centrifuge, to show how it separates substances of different densities. Even if you've got a commercial centrifuge, how might you instead do a hands-on activity to show the same thing? Try mixing red colored ... http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/sciencegeekgirl/2009/10/18/student-activity-with-a-simple-centrifuge/ Have you ever had this unusual occurrence in your freezer? This one observant science teacher says: We had a single stalagtite form from one cube in an ice cube tray. It rose about an inch, no more than an eighth of an inch in diameter, and tapering to a ... http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/sciencegeekgirl/2009/10/15/creating-stalagmites-in-your-freezer/