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Episodic series of digital audio files to download and listen to

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The 20 Best Science Podcasts - GeekWrapped Blog

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It's time to expand your brain and learn some fun, new facts! Luckily there are many amazing, free podcasts that will teach you all kinds of cool things in a thoroughly entertaining way. Discover the 20 best science podcasts on the internet, chosen by the GeekWrapped science staff.

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Create mind maps of thoughts and learning

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Structure writing

Use notes and attachments to quickly create a structure for an article or a writing assignment, then create a document outline and continue editing in your favourite writing tool

Create storyboards

Use a frictionless planning canvas to capture and organise your thoughts, and then put them into a powerful storyboard to turn a hierarchy of ideas into a sequence of slides.

Post to social media

MindMup Atlas automatically adds images and contextual information to ensure that your maps show up nicely on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

Plan and manage projects

Add measurements to map nodes to automatically calculate cost, completion and other important factors. Manage project progress easily with icons and priorities.

Collaborate easily

Maps saved to MindMup Cloud support concurrent editing for teams and classrooms, enabling you to instantly see updates made to your map by other users.

Attach documents

Add longer text, videos and spreadsheets to your maps. MindMup for Google Drive also allows you to link to other project documents on Google Drive easily.

Add images

Quickly add images and icons to your maps to provide context and illustrations.

Administer easily

Administrators can easily control sharing settings for the entire organisation. MindMup also integrates with Office365 and Google authentication for easy account management.

MindMup Cloud

Free users can create public maps up to 100 KB and save them up to six months. No account or registration needed.

Gold users can create private maps, share and edit concurrently.
Create a new map Open an existing map

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Free online mind mapping. The most productive online mind map canvas on the Web. Supports Freemind mindmap import/export. Easy mindmapping software.

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Virtual field trips, guest speakers and lessons.

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Educator Center Overview - Microsoft Learn Educator Center

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Microsoft Learn for Educators takes the best of Microsoft Learn online learning paths and helps you to bring instructor-led training materials from Microsoft into your courses. This program provides members with access to Microsoft ready-to-teach curriculum and teaching materials aligned to industry-recognized Microsoft Certifications.

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Free, online science labs

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Did you know that red is the first color that humans perceive, after black and white? It's the color that babies see first before any other, and the first that those suffering from temporary color blindness after a brain injury start to see again. Red's dominance is even reflected in how colors are defined: although different societies developed their names for colors at different times and in different ways, almost all of them named them in the same order. With only a few exceptions, the order of labelling colors was generally black first, white second, red third, and then green, yellow and blue.

Scientists have posited that societies developed names for colors according to which ones they had the strongest reaction to. This means that humans, supposedly much like bulls, have had strong feelings about the color red for thousands of years. Over time, red has come to symbolize power, love, vigor, and beauty. Do you want to know why? Take a journey with us through history to discover the surprising story of the world's most powerful color...

Red also made waves on the pre-historic art scene. Caves across the world, from Africa to Asia to Europe, bear traces made during the Paleolithic era. Drawings of animals, vessels, and people were made from painting red ochre on the cave walls, like this painting of a thylacoleo (an extinct species of lion) from the Djulirri rock art site in Northern Australia. More than 11,000 paintings have been found stretched over the site. Dated to 11,000 BCE, this naturalist animal painting may be the oldest surviving painting discovered there.

7. Raising Red Flags

World leaders have used red clothing as a way to showcase their power for hundreds of years. This portrait of Princess Elizabeth I before her accession as Queen shows a young woman preparing to assume her position as a powerful monarch. Her richly decorated red dress and red coif (close-fitting cap) send an unequivocal message of the young woman's political and moral strength. After the fall of the monarchy, the color red was then taken up by Revolutionaries around the world to symbolize new liberties and freedoms: from French Revolutionaries and their red phrygian caps, to the Bolshevik, Cultural, and Cuban Revolutions.

Courage, sacrifice, and love or anger, danger, and war? The color red can be associated with the happiest feelings as well as with the worst. Being the color that elicits the strongest reactions, it is no surprise that its symbolism can lie on both ends of the spectrum. So next time you're held up at a red stoplight (in this case the red is a symbol of danger), think about the color's revolutionary history (and maybe love too).

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Did you know that red is the first color that humans perceive, after black and white? It's the color that babies see first before any other, and the first that those suffering from temporary color blindness after a brain injury start to see again.

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Math in Real Life

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Using careers to provide real world perspective to lessons

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Most of the LEARN NC Content has been archived using the Wayback Machine. Instructions for how to access that content is below, including links to frequently requested materials.

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If you want to engage students and get them excited about what they are learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics classes, ask them to tackle a real-world problem. Then watch their amazement as they realize what they are learning in class actually has real-world applications.

Working on solutions to real-world problems is the heart of any STEM investigation. These solutions may include devices and designs that improve our lives, fulfill our needs or wants, and make our world better. From designing a better pen to figuring out how to assist areas lacking access to clean drinking water, the opportunity to search for solutions to real-world problems fuels students' curiosity and sparks their investigative interests.

Perhaps the most important consequence of students working on real problems is that they begin to develop empathy-a sense that there is something worth dedicating their efforts to outside of themselves. We need to grow a savvy, ethical workforce to solve looming issues such as air pollution, fresh-water shortages, and crumbling infrastructure.
Criteria for Selecting Real-World Problems
Designing real-world engineering challenges for K-12 students can be tough. In my experience as a STEM teacher, identifying authentic problems that students can work on is one of the most challenging parts of lesson planning.

Here are some of the criteria I consider when selecting real-world problems:

* The problem must be real. It must involve an authentic engineering challenge grounded in compelling societal, economic, and environmental issues that affect people's lives and communities. Mythical insects, space aliens, and theoretical life forms are not real-world problems-at least not yet.

* Students must be able to relate to the problem. If students don't care about the problem, their buy-in will be limited. This needs to be a significant challenge students care about. It might be a problem in their own life or community. Alternatively, you might build a context to help them connect with an unfamiliar problem by using videos, speakers, or field trips.

* The problem should be "doable." For a STEM project to be successful, students should have access to the resources, knowledge, and skills they need to solve the problem-and the scope of the problem should be manageable. Engineering solutions for a problem involving clean energy, such as wind turbines or solar cells, might be realistic. However, tackling a problem involving interplanetary space travel-not so much.

* The problem must allow for multiple acceptable approaches and solutions. Don't even consider a problem with a single, predetermined approach and "right" or "wrong" answer. In your STEM class, each team of students might choose a different approach for solving the problem, and several different solutions may work.

* Students should use an engineering design process-drawing on science, mathematics, and technology skills and concepts-to solve the problem. However, each subject doesn't need to be used to the same extent. Some solutions may rely more heavily on science and others on mathematics, but all must require students to use an engineering design process.

* The problem should align with grade-level standards for science and mathematics. In a packed school day, neither teachers nor students have time for much "extra" curriculum content. Teachers can more readily buy into teaching STEM if students are able to use skills they are learning anyway to address the selected problem.
Problem Possibilities
Now for the most challenging part: selecting a real-world problem that meets the above criteria. When my students and I draw a blank, these are some of the tactics I use:

* Encourage students to come up with the problem. This approach typically generates the most enthusiasm and buy-in from students. Give them as much autonomy as possible to identify problems they want to solve, within the constraints dictated by the curriculum. You might start by asking students to be on the alert for problems in their home, school, or community. For example, students might notice erosion in the schoolyard, or determine that kids need a digital tool to manage their homework assignments. If students get stuck, ask them what needs to happen to make life better for the citizens in their area. Are some people in their community hungry? Is pollution a problem? Just remember to direct students toward problems that are appropriate for their grade level and content knowledge.

* Do an online search. Simply typing "real-world problems" in a search engine brings up a host of possible sites that you can sift through for ideas. But be forewarned: Everything labeled "real-world problem" is not necessarily a STEM real-world problem with an engineering approach.
Online Resources
So how do you focus your online research to target problems that students can approach with a STEM lens? Some of my go-to search options include:

* If you need a jumping-off point, take a look at the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges. These challenges are divided into four major themes: sustainability, health, security, and joy of living. Some of the challenges that might inspire middle-school students revolve around solar energy, clean water, health care (including food shortage, disease, and accessibility), and urban infrastructure (including transportation systems and municipal structures).

* Take a stop at the Boston Museum of Science for comprehensive and well-designed engineering curriculum targeting all age groups. The museum's Engineering Everywhere Curriculum Units offer free STEM lessons that focus on unique and interesting real-world challenges. For additional ideas, check out these 20 hands-on Engineering is Elementary Curriculum Units.

* You can find a wide variety of STEM lessons and activities geared to specific grade levels at eGIF Dream Up the Future.

* Another one of my favorite sites is PBS's Design Squad. You can find intriguing problem-solving ideas in the activities and lesson plans sections.

* The Teach Engineering site also offers a number of STEM/engineering lessons-be sure to browse these Maker Challenges.

* For high-school teachers, an excellent resource is Rutgers Today, which describes more advanced real-world problems. High school students in upper-level math or science courses might be able to design and implement solutions for these types of problems.

These are just a few of many resources that can help identify real-world problems with STEM solutions. In the comments section, share your own go-to websites or other resources for STEM instruction. By sharing your insights and experiences, you can help all STEM teachers-and students-learn.
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If you want to engage students and get them excited about what they are learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics classes, ask them to tackle a real-world problem. Then watch their amazement as they realize what they are learning in class actually has real-world applications.

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100 Interesting Math Problems

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Grasping Reality with Both Hands: bradford-delong.com:

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The purpose of this weblog is to be the best possible portal into what I am thinking, what I am reading, what I think about what I am reading, and what other smart people think about what I am reading...
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100 Interesting Mathematical Problems, Exercises, Puzzles, and Diversions

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Rudbekia Hirta has worries about problems that turn her students off math: Learning Curves: Contest Problems: I've also been given a book produced at the University of Delaware in 1986 called "Resource Problems to Enhance the Teaching of Mathematics."

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Digital collections, newspapers, letters, photographs

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The world’s largest library. View historic photos, maps, books and more. Contact experts for help with research. Plan a visit. Home of U.S. Copyright Office.

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Articles on explained science mysteries

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The world is full of mysteries, and we at Popular Science strive to
do our part to help you make sense of them. What do animals dream about? Is there any way to ensure a blink-free photo? And what is the worst sound on Earth? We've covered these important bases and more to help you become
the hit of the next cocktail party and your friends' go-to expert on the
most curious parts of life. Launch the photo gallery to learn the answers to questions that have always made you scratch your head. Because sometimes
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Want our resident experts to tackle a scientific mystery? E-mail your
questions to fyi@popsci.com . We'll get right on it.

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The world is full of mysteries, and we at Popular Science strive to do our part to help you make sense of them. What do animals dream about? Is there any way to ensure a blink-free photo? And what is the worst sound on Earth?

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Lessons that bring authentic research and data into the classroom.

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Below, you will find a table of all the current Data Nuggets available. Click on the Title to open a page displaying the Data Nugget, teacher guide, student activities, grading rubric, and associated resources. The table can be sorted using the arrows located next to each column header. It can also be searched by content area using the search bar, located to the top right of the table.

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Below, you will find a table of all the current Data Nuggets available. Click on the Title to open a page displaying the Data Nugget, teacher guide, student activities, grading rubric, and associated resources. The table can be sorted using the arrows located next to each column header.

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For NGSS

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This site is a curated collection of science phenomena for the NGSS, along with phenomenon based learning resources and help for how to use phenomenon to drive student questions in the classroom centered around 3 dimensional teaching and learning.

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Access Google Sites with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).