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Stunning patterns in the sand from fallen snow

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Snow has fallen in the Sahara Desert, leaving stunning patterns in the sand
The ice crystals leave stunning patterns in the sands of the Sahara, the world's largest hot desert.

Read in BBC News: https://apple.news/AALNWrQz3Tgit9JsHw-yOLQ

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What conditions have to be present for this phenomena to occur?

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Fog tsunami -  Nature's Weirdest Events: Series 5 Episode 5 - BBC Two

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4.8A Weather Phenomenon

> THINK -Ask students, what do you believe happened to cause this effect? (1 min)

> DRAW & LABEL -Students draw and label what they observed (with/without the picture projected). (3-5 min)

> WRITE -Students journal their explanation on the probable cause of this phenomenon. (5 min)

> Ask students if they know what a phenomenon is, or refresh their memory of a previous one.  Discuss what a phenomenon is.

> Direct students to make a connection with a previous experience and share with an elbow partner or a group, what they wrote.

> On the same day or later, have students expand on their art and/or explanation.

> End lesson by showing students this short clip (stop at 0:35) https://youtu.be/zq6HTyyxg_c

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5.8B Water Cycle:  How or why  does it rain in San Antonio?

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5.8B Water Cycle:  How or why  does it rain in San Antonio?

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Heavy Rain, Wind Slams San Antonio, Texas

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Time Lapse of Namibia's Desert - I plan to use this along with the hurricane video.  I will show both videos and ask the students to think about which video they think showed weather and which showed climate?
Note: I don't know how much time is represented in this video but I would use it as many years passing.
Question-Which represents weather? Which represents Climate? How would you show it and explain in words the differences?
Guiding Questions: (TRS)
1. What is Weather?
2. What is Climate?
3. How are weather & climate similar?
4. How are weather & climate different?
*5. How can we keep ourselves from getting weather and climate confused with one another?
( I really like this question. This question will help me guide my students to look at vocabulary when explaining the differences.)

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4.7A Which soil supports plant growth (part A)

TEKS 4.7A

The student is expected to examine properties of soils, including color and texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to support the growth of plants.

Anchoring Event

Plant Growth Modeling in Different Soil Types

Using video (Time lapse at 1:75 playback speed)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AcSQe8QxMk

1. Students watch the video

2.  Teacher guide students through probing questions below in order to incorporate Soil Fertility & Properties of Soil.

3.  Students draw and label their observation and describe within the model all aspects of the below questions.

Focus Question:

1. Which soil sample appears to be best in supporting plant growth?

2. What are some observable characteristics of each soil sample?

3. Why do you believe plants grow better in certain types of soil?

4. If you were planting a garden, what type of soil would you choose, and what supports your thinking?

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Sorry that padlet does not let me add more than 1 photo!

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Anchoring Event II
Questions: What conditions do you see in the video?

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Extreme 4K Video of Category 5 Hurricane Michael

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Follow up question for 5.8B. Does this happen in both the winter and summer?  

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Follow up question for 5.8B. Does this happen in both the winter and summer?  

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i believe students will have a variety of answers ranging from there is something in the soil that creates the moisture or possibly bugs in the soil that has something to do with the moisture appearing.
The explanation for this phenomena is that water evaporate from lakes, rivers and oceans due to the heat from the sun, and cools as it rises to form water droplets. The same process happens closer to the ground. The moisture and water vapor in the air cools during the evening and as it cools it turns into water droplets, which is called condensation. Those droplets stick to blades of grass and other surfaces. This is why you see dew on grass throughout the year. At times the water vapor or moisture in the air cools enough to change from gas to liquid form and sticks to the blades of grass.

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TEKS 5.8B Why do you see moisture on grass when it has not rained or been watered?  

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TEKS 5.8B Why do you see moisture on grass when it has not rained or been watered?  

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4.7A | Examine properties of soils, including color and texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to support the growth of plants.

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This lists the logos of programs or partners of NG Education which have provided or contributed the content on this page. Content Created by

1. Engage students in learning about soils and crop growth.
Tell students that plants grow better in high-quality soils than in lower-quality soils. Ask:
2.Discuss the role of uncertainty in the scientific process.

Soil quality is a measure of the level of nutrients in soil and its structure. How does plant growth reflect the soil quality? ﻿(Plants grow better in high-quality soil because there are more nutrients in it. They grow less well in lower-quality soils because there are not sufficient nutrients.)

How do you think humans could improve the quality of soils? (Answers will vary. Soil quality can be improved by adding more nutrients, which can be done by composting or leaving more roots in the soil year to year.)

Tell students that science is a process of learning how the world works and that scientists do not know the "right" answers when they start to investigate a question. Let students know they can see examples of scientists' uncertainty in forecasting crop yields. Show the Projection of Maize Crop Yields in France graphs. (Download the image from the media carousel above by clicking on the down arrow in the lower right corner of the carousel window.) Tell students these graphs show the average daily precipitation, number of hot days, and yield of maize. The gray line shows the predictions for crop yield based on technological improvements. The pink shading shows the expected yield based on temperature and precipitation influences. The total uncertainty is shown by the red lines outside the pink shading. Ask:

Does the technology trend (gray line) accurately predict crop yields? (No, the technology trend does not adequately predict crop yields. This is because crop yields are dependent on temperature and precipitation as well as technological improvements.)

Why do you think the crop models still have uncertainty even after accounting for precipitation and temperature differences year to year? (Student answers will vary. The crop yield could be affected by a pest infestation.)
3. Introduce the concept of stocks and flows in a system.
Tell students that they will be asked questions about the certainty of their predictions. Let students know that they should think about what scientific data is available as they assess their certainty with their answers. Encourage them to discuss the scientific evidence with each other to better assess their level of certainty with their predictions.

Tell students that materials flow into and out of systems. The flow of the materials over time can change and can be influenced by many different factors and interacting parts.

Scientists think about how one part of the system can affect other parts of the system. Give students a simple example of a stock and flow in a system, as described in the scenario below.
4. Introduce and discuss the use of computational models. 5. Have students launch the Soil Quality interactive.
There is a bathtub with water flowing in from the faucet and water leaving through the drain. Ask:
6. Discuss the issues.

When the drain is plugged, what happens to the level of water in the bathtub? (The water level will increase because the outflow of water is stopped, but water keeps coming in from the faucet.)

When the faucet is turned off, what happens to the level of water in the bathtub? (The water level will decrease because the inflow of water is stopped, but the water keeps leaving through the drain.)

How can the level of water in the bathtub be kept at the same level? (The water in the bathtub can be kept at the same level by making the inflow equal to the outflow. Then the water that comes in through the faucet will be offset by the water that leaves through the drain.)

Introduce the concept of computational models and give students an example of a computational model they may have seen, such as forecasting the weather. Project the NOAA Weather Forecast Model, which provides a good example of a computational model. Tell students that scientists use weather models to predict future conditions based on current information about the energy and moisture in the atmosphere. There are many different types of models. Scientists can use soil models to predict the movement and quality of soil in a region. Let students know that they will be using models of soil movement and quality.

Provide students with the link to the Soil Quality interactive. Divide students into groups of two or three, with two being the ideal grouping to allow groups to share a computer workstation. Tell students they will be working through a series of pages of questions related to the data in the interactive. Ask students to work through the interactive in their groups, discussing and responding to questions as they go.

NOTE: You can access the Answer Key for students' questions-and save students' data for online grading-through a free registration on the High-Adventure Science portal page.

Tell students that this is Activity 5 of the Can We Feed the Growing Population? lesson.

After students have completed the activity, bring the groups back together and lead a discussion focusing on these questions:

How does constantly tilling the soil decrease its quality? (Lots of tillage breaks up the plant roots. This allows the soil to erode. When the soil erodes, it loses nutrients. That decreases the quality of the soil.)

Why does crop rotation work? (Different plants have different nutrient requirements. If you plant the same type of plant in a field year after year, the nutrients that it requires will be depleted from the soil. If you rotate other crops in, you have diversity in their nutrient requirements. Some plants add nutrients to the soil as they grow; legumes add nitrogen to the soil, for example. Using different crops to fertilize each other leads to less need for inorganic fertilizers.)

Informal Assessment

1. Check students' comprehension by asking them the following questions:

Why do plants grow better in high-quality soils than in low-quality soils?

What type of tillage (intensive or conservative) results in better-quality soils? Why?

How can plants increase soil quality?

Why does crop rotation increase soil quality?

What happens to plant growth if there are not enough nutrients in the soil?

What are the consequences of adding too much fertilizer to plants?

2. Use the answer key to check students' answers on embedded assessments.

Background Information

Vocabulary

Reference

Credits

Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Researcher

Amy Pallant, Principal Investigator, The Concord Consortium

Writer

Sarah Pryputniewicz, The Concord Consortium

Editor

Elaine Larson, National Geographic Society

Copyeditor

Jeannie Evers, Emdash Editing

Factchecker

The Concord Consortium

Other

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DRL-1220756. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Sources

Figure 2. Hawkins, E., Fricker, T. E., Challinor, A. J., Ferro, C. A. T., Ho, C. K. and Osborne, T. M. (2013), Increasing influence of heat stress on French maize yields from the 1960s to the 2030s. Global Change Biology, 19: 937-947. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12069. ( http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.12069/full)

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For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about licensing content on this page, please contact ngimagecollection@natgeo.com for more information and to obtain a license. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please visit our FAQ page.

Media

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Text

Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.

Interactives

Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives.

Jeannie Evers, Emdash Editing

The Concord Consortium

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This lists the logos of programs or partners of NG Education which have provided or contributed the content on this page. Content Created by 1. Engage students in learning about soils and crop growth. Tell students that plants grow better in high-quality soils than in lower-quality soils.

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Anchoring Event:

Question-How are these glacier phenomenons created?

Show pictures of different size glaciers.  View form top and view from under water.

Guided questions:
How do glaciers help shape our land?
Name a land form created by glacial erosion.

Explanation:
Glacier erosion happens so slow you cannot see it

Activity:
Freeze yarn into and ice cube and drag through sand slowly.  This will show erosion and how a valley is made.

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How do glaciers shape the landscape? Animation from geog.1 Kerboodle.

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5.8D Identify and compare physical characteristics of the sun moon and earth.
Guiding question: What causes these surfaces to form?

Explanation:
Craters are cavities  on the surface  of a planet, moon or asteroid that are caused by collisions with other objects. The Moon’s surface is covered in dusty soil, lava flows (Mare), and craters caused by ancient meteorite impacts because the atmosphere is very thin, making it difficult to weather or erode the surface. The Earth, in contrast, has few impact craters that remain due to erosion and movement of the crust.  The Moon has small hills and numerous mountains.  There is no weathering or erosion (atmosphere) on the moon, which is why imprints, craters are imprinted permanently.  Earth's atmosphere burns up the meteors and prevents it from hitting the surface.   The moon has no atmosphere therefore has no protection so meteors hit the surface with stronger impact.
Activities:  Flour Crater Lab
https://youtu.be/szFYiiX-Et0

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5.8D Identifying and compare physical Characteristics of the sun moon and Earth
Phenomenon- Different features

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4.1B Conservation of Resources and Recycling

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4.1B Conservation of Resources and Recycling

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Example: algae as fuel, solar power

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How hurricanes happen

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How Do Hurricanes Happen?  | Science & Life

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Anchoring event is this Day & Night Video.
Guiding Question:  What is happening?

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Observe Sunrise and Sunset | PBS LearningMedia

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Night and day are determined by the Sun's presence in the sky. As Earth rotates, the portion of the planet that is illuminated by the Sun experiences day while the portion that faces away from the Sun experiences night. As observed from most locations on Earth, the Sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west every day.

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5.8C Sun "appearing" to move across the sky

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5.8C Sun "appearing" to move across the sky

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time lapse video

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Awesome Time Lapse Video of Ocean Sunrise to Sunset 1080p

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Set speed in settings to 1:75 for progression.  Start video at 1:00 to skip the beginning intro.

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science experiment- Does the type of soil affect the growth rate of plants?

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5.9A Ecosystem Interactions

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5.7B Changes to Land

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Phenomena will be a Hurricane
video of Hurricane Katrina before and after events on ocean & land.

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It is one of Death Valley's most intriguing geological whodunits - the sliding rocks of the Racetrack Playa.

On an ancient lakebed located on the western side of Death Valley National Park, boulders that weigh up to 700 pounds sail across the almost perfectly flat terrain, leaving grooved trails in their wake. As NATURE's Life in Death Valley shows, each of these furrows chronicles a rock's journey, ranging from a mere few inches to nearly 3,000 feet. Some tracks manifest in straight bold lines, while others coil back on themselves in sinuous arcs.

Despite a century of scientific investigation, this curious phenomenon has confounded the geological community and park visitors alike. To this day, no one has ever seen the rocks move. But in lieu of eyewitnesses, countless theories have been put forward over the years in an effort to explain the reasons behind the migrations.

One early suggestion was that the rocks were driven by gravity, sliding down a gradual slope over a long period of time. But this theory was discounted when it was revealed that the northern end of the playa is actually several centimeters higher than the southern end and that most of the rocks were in fact traveling uphill.

Though no one has yet been able to conclusively identify just what makes the rocks move, one woman is coming closer to solving the mystery. For the past ten years, Dr. Paula Messina, professor of geology at San Jose State University in California, has made it her quest to understand what has bewildered geologists for decades. "It's interesting that no one has seen them move, so I am kind of sleuthing to see what's really going on here," says Dr. Messina.

Many scientists had dedicated much of their careers to the racing rocks, but the remoteness of the area kept their research limited in scope. No one had been able to map the complete set of trails before the advent of a quick, portable method known as global positioning. Dr. Messina was the first to have the luxury of this high technology at her fingertips.

In 1996, armed with a hand-held GPS unit, she digitally mapped the location of each of the 162 rocks scattered over the playa. "I'm very fortunate that this technology was available at about the same time the Racetrack captured my interest," she says. "It took only ten days to map the entire network - a total of about 60 miles." Since then, she has continued to chart the movements of each rock within a centimeter of accuracy. Walking the length of a trail, she collects the longitude and latitude points of each, which snap into a line. She then takes her data back to the lab where she is able to analyze changes in the rocks' positions since her last visit.

She has found that two components are essential to their movement: wind and water. The fierce winter storms that sweep down from the surrounding mountains carry plenty of both.

The playa surface is made up of very fine clay sediments that become extremely slick when wet. "When you have pliable, wet, frictionless sediments and intense winds blowing through," offers Dr. Messina, "I think you have the elements to make the rocks move."

At an elevation of 3,700 feet, strong winds can rake the playa at 70 miles per hour. But Dr. Messina is quick to point out that sometimes even smaller gusts can set the rocks in motion. The explanation for this lies in her theory, which links wind and water with yet another element: bacteria.

After periods of rain, bacteria lying dormant on the playa begin to "come to." As they grow, long, hair-like filaments develop and cause a slippery film to form on the surface. "Very rough surfaces would require great forces to move the lightest-weight rocks," she says. "But if the surface is exceptionally smooth, as would be expected from a bio-geologic film, even the heaviest rocks could be propelled by a small shove of the wind. I think of the Racetrack as being coated by Teflon, under those special conditions."

In science, hypotheses are often based on logic. But over the years, Dr. Messina has discovered that on the Racetrack, logic itself must often be tossed to the wind. "Some of the rocks have done some very unusual things," she says.

In her initial analysis she hypothesized that given their weight, larger rocks would travel shorter distances and smaller, lighter rocks would sail on further, producing longer trails. It also seemed reasonable that the heavier, angular rocks would leave straighter trails and rounder rocks would move more erratically.

What she discovered surprised her. "I was crunching numbers and found that there was absolutely no correlation between the size and shape of the rocks and their trails. There was no smoking gun, so this was one of the big mysteries to me." What appears as a very flat, uniform terrain is in fact a mosaic of microclimates. In the southeastern part of the playa, wind is channeled through a low pass in the mountains, forming a natural wind tunnel. This is where the longest, straightest trails are concentrated. In the central part of the playa, two natural wind tunnels converge from different directions, creating turbulence. It's in this area that the rock trails are the most convoluted. "What I think is happening," proposes Dr. Messina, "is the surrounding topography is actually what is guiding the rocks and telling them where to go."

Some people have suggested attaching radio transmitters to the rocks or erecting cameras to catch them "in the act" in order to put an end to the speculation. But as Death Valley National Park is 95 percent designated wilderness, all research in the park must be noninvasive. It is forbidden to erect any permanent structures or instrumentation. Further, no one is permitted on the playa when it is wet because each footprint would leave an indelible scar.

As for Dr. Messina, she is content in the sleuthing. "People frequently ask me if I want to see the rocks in action and I can honestly answer that I do not," she says. "Science is all about the quest for knowledge, and not necessarily knowing all the answers. Part of the lure of this place is its mystery. It's fine with me if it remains that way."

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Life in Death Valley | The Mystery of the Racing Rocks | Nature | PBS

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It is one of Death Valley's most intriguing geological whodunits - the sliding rocks of the Racetrack Playa. On an ancient lakebed located on the western side of Death Valley National Park, boulders that weigh up to 700 pounds sail across the almost perfectly flat terrain, leaving grooved trails in their wake.

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Teacher Videos for instruction.

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Tools for

Ambitious
Science
Teaching

Companion Book available now on Harvard Ed Press

Pressing for evidence- based explanations

Planning for engagement with important science ideas

Supporting on-going changes in thinking

Eliciting students' ideas

What is Ambitious Science Teaching?

Great teaching can be learned. This web site provides a vision of ambitious science instruction for elementary, middle school and high school classrooms. Ambitious teaching deliberately aims to support students of all backgrounds to deeply understand science ideas, participate in the activities of the discipline, and solve authentic problems.

We feature 4 core sets of teaching practices that support these goals. These core sets make up the Ambitious Science Teaching Framework. The framework has been based on classroom research from the past 30 years-research that has asked, "What kinds of talk, tasks, and tools do students need in order to fully engage in meaningful forms of science learning?"

If you are a member of a group of science educators committed to the improvement of teaching, the vision, practices, and tools here will furnish a common language for you about teaching. You will be able to identify "what we will get better at" and how to get started.

Become Part of a Community That Shares a Common Vision of Excellence in Teaching.

Because ambitious science teaching focuses on doing four things really well in the classroom (the core practices), members of our community can speak a common language about how to continually improve instruction and support student learning. We can frame problems together and work towards solutions with help from each other. The expertise of our community comes from our members (teachers, instructional coaches, teacher educators) as well as from extensive empirical classroom research. On this site you can explore how other professionals are using core practices and the tools that go with them.

Explore New Tools That Support Student Learning

This site provides a constantly evolving set of tools to help improve student participation and learning. Some of these tools will help you plan for student engagement with "big" science ideas. Some will help students reason publicly with each other about science ideas. Others will help students engage in scientific modeling, explanation and argument with evidence. Still others will scaffold science-specific writing and talk. We have unique sets of tools for teachers, instructional coaches, and teacher educators.

But here's what is really important about our tools-they belong to the community, meaning that they need to be continually tested under different classroom conditions in order to be improved and diversified.

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Pressing for evidence- based explanations Planning for engagement with important science ideas Supporting on-going changes in thinking Eliciting students' ideas Great teaching can be learned.

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Google for Education - Online Resources for Teachers & Students

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Access educational and online tools for teachers and students, including lesson plans, apps, and games to advance learning in the classroom at no cost.

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KLRN-Bring the World to your classroom. 

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KLRN-Bring the World to your classroom. 

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PBS LearningMedia | Teaching Resources For Students And Teachers

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Inspire your students with thousands of free teaching resources including videos, lesson plans, and games aligned to state and national standards.

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This is a list by grade level. Please be cognizant of aliment.

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The Wonder of Science website aggregates the work of Paul Andersen around the NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards)

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This is a good place to start for examples of phenomena to shows students.

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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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It seems we're all looking for guidance and support as we transition fully to the NGSS ( Next Generation Science Standards). If I'm honest, at first I didn't like these new standards. The colors and sectioning seemed on the surface level like it would be easy-breezy to dissect. But when I actually read them I often ended up feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Other times, I would feel defensive and think, "Our department is already doing this! We already provide inquiry-based and hands-on lessons and activities!"

Well, a couple of years later I've changed my tune and I've seen the light! The NGSS are absolutely still about inquiry and hands-on, but they're asking us as science teachers to provide anchoring phenomena, opportunities for real-world application of concepts, and flexibility to allow students to follow their own curiosities. They are asking us to learn with our students and to adopt the mindset that new theories can always surface and paradigms do indeed shift. I've realized that the NGSS burst open a door that I've always tried to keep a foot in- getting my students to authentically care about our planet and to have a genuine interest in the wonderful operations of our universe.

Who Do You Think We Are?!

Now the next wave of discomfort with the NGSS for me came from the question, "How the heck are we busy, overwhelmed teachers supposed to have our fingertips on the pulse of every awesome and interesting thing going on in science in order to structure these phenomena-based units?"

I am a loyal subscriber to National Geographic and a member of the National Science Teachers' Association... I read most science-related article or news story that comes my way... but seriously, I'm not able to craft overnight the brilliant and seamless project-based units that the NGSS seem to encourage- the kind that would hit every Disciplinary Core Idea and smoothly integrate every Engineering Practice in one fell swoop. But naturally with any major paradigm shift in education comes what I'll call the 'dressing room period'.

Would You Like to Try That On?

New Jersey indicated a three-year window beginning in 2015 during which we were technically 'transitioning' towards the complete adoption of NGSS. As science teachers during the 2015-2016 school year, we 'shopped' leisurely for a while... we touched the various fabrics and admired the detailing on a handful of options that looked like they might fit. The 2016-2017 school year was the 'trying on' phase... we grabbed lots of hanging clothes off the rack and commited to trying them on one at a time without being too hard on ourselves. Some worked, some didn't. Some felt too cumbersome, some lacked our personal teaching styles, and some fit in all the right places. The 2017-2018 school year was for putting together the wardrobe- figuring out how all of the tailored pieces work best together and what basics and accessories we may need to add to the mix.

Follow Your Curiosity!

Last year I started compiling a list of websites that contain rich ideas and real-world issues that are useful for finding the phenomena that can 'anchor' lessons and units aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Spend some time looking for the ideas and stories that pique your interest. Create a quick Powerpoint slide to showcase a neat phenomena that you find in order to instigate an engaging whole-class or small-group discussion on the concept. Try having your students make a list of as many 'What If...?' and 'I Wonder...?' questions as they can think of about the phenomena that they've been asked to consider. (I call this a measure of their 'I.Q.' or 'Inquiry Quotient'!).

During the lesson or unit, refer back to that phenomena so that your students continue to mold their understanding of the science behind the issue. Ask them to keep writing their 'What If...?' and 'I Wonder...?' questions. Let their questions guide your future planning! Maybe Bobby is ultra-intrigued by the idea of plastic-eating caterpillers... could this be a future anchoring phenomena for a unit on synthetics or the basis for a project-based learning assignment? Maybe Olivia wonders how elephants are able to 'hear' through the adipose tissue in their feet... could this question ground a future unit on the behavior of sound waves? This process is like climbing a rock wall- your ascension path changes as you find different grips and attain more stable footing.

These websites are all FREE and they offer an amazing smorgasbord of cool phenomena, real-world science applications, information databases, video collections, inquiry project ideas and more! Explore, brainstorm, and get excited about the possibilities! Oh and p.s. I plan to add to this list as I find more!

Project Phenomena

On Project Phenomena you can search by Disciplinary Core Idea (DCI) and grade level to find interesting real-world phenomena from which to launch your units! There are also tons of links to additional resources embedded on the site!

NOAA

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration site is chockfull of incredible happenings in Earth and Ocean science. Check out the Education section to find resources and activites for specific DCI's.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

On the Jet Propulsion Laboratory website you can find NASA-approved mini-projects, slideshows, videos, and games sorted by topic and grade level.

Exploratorium

'Hungry for fresh, exciting science activities based in amazing phenomena?' Check out the Exploratorium website's Science Snacks- fun, hands-on activities that will get your students engaged and thinking! I love exploring this site for neat ideas aligned with the NGSS.

The Wonder of Science

Now here is a WONDERful resource! This one will be a go-to for me! The Wonder of Science has tons of curated phenomena ideas, video links, anchor chart examples, and assessment possibilities all organized by standard. And the whole website is sort of set up in a 3-dimensional manner where you can explore by DCI or by science practice to locate appropriate resources for your class!

NGSS Phenomena

The name says it all! The author of NGSS Phenomena calls himself an 'extreme hoarder' of NGSS resources. Type your topic into the Searchable Phenomena search bar and find some fascinating photos that could simply be used as conversation pieces to engage your students or that might spark a great idea for a performance assessment!

Zooniverse

Want your students to see how data collection and observation skills are utilized in the real world? Find a project relevant to your current unit on Zooniverse! This website catalogues citizen science projects going on around the globe.

Teach Engineering

If you are looking to incorporate more of the engineering standards into your planning, try searching the STEM curriculum or Maker Space lesson inventories on TeachEngineering! This is an invaluable resource for planning lessons and units through an engineering lens.

The Kid Should See This

The best site for finding kid-friendly videos that will WOW and amaze your students is The Kid Should See This! Try showing a video that will provide the foundation for students to come up with further questions that they can explore. But BEWARE: once you're on this website it's hard to leave if you love learning strange and incredible things!

cK-12

If you have Google Classroom, this one is for you! The cK12 website has loads of lesson ideas and supplemental resources for hitting the DCI's in each NGSS standard. You can assign videos and activities for your students to complete from this website directly through your Google Classroom!

Science Buddies

ScienceBuddies has a sorting function for topic and grade level and a nice collection of NGSS-aligned lesson plans and suggested performance assessments.

PBS Learning Media

Browse the standards to find a plethora of idea-generating resources for teaching to the NGSS on PBS Learning Media. You can find videos of other teachers teaching certain topics, articles, public broadcasting show clips, vetted webpages, and more!

eGFI

Check out the neat ideas on the eGFI website (this is sponsored by the American Society for Engineering Education and it stands for Engineering: Go For It! There are great lesson plans and project ideas here!

EnviroLink and Inhabitat

If you're looking for recent news stories relevant to a topic that you're teaching, check out the headlines at EnviroLink or Inhabitat. A lot of the news is sobering, but some of it is hopeful... and it's all going on in our world.

Science Friday

One of my favorite radio programs has a website that is a great resource for finding eye-popping examples of cool science! Check out the collection of free articles at Science Friday! I also suggest trying the Chrome extension Insert Learning to turn the articles into awesome interactive lessons and post them on your Google Classroom!

Pulitzer Center

To find authentic examples of science-based humanitarian issues like water quality, nuclear issues, climate change, and pollution, go to the lesson builder at the Pulitzer Center. Try the advanced search feature and select 'science'.

Science Journal

If you have iPads in your classroom or you are able to allow your students to use their smart phones to collect data, check out the neat experiments at Science Journal. You can have your students monitor motion, light levels, heart rate and more! They'll collect information to graph and analyze and they can come to conclusions about the relevant science phenomena behind their empirical data!

National Geographic

National Geographic stole my heart a long time ago and it still delivers in every issue. The website also has a great collection of lessons that will help ground your students' explorations in real phenomena and events. Search the lesson database by subject to find intriguing ideas!

If you have found other great web resources, please leave the links in the comments section to share!

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Free Websites for Finding NGSS Anchoring Phenomena

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It seems we're all looking for guidance and support as we transition fully to the NGSS ( Next Generation Science Standards). If I'm honest, at first I didn't like these new standards. The colors and sectioning seemed on the surface level like it would be easy-breezy to dissect.

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