Still trolling. I found a list of resourses for Mac users.

Enjoy!

• 8 great Mac Apps for Ed

  Kahootz is an eduational Software application that allows students aged 5-18 to create their own 3d content. Share designs with schools around the world.

  PhotoPresenter offers many gorgeous styles to create animated slideshows with amazing effects.

Be sure to add a comment if you know of any other useful Mac programs for the classroom.

Technorati Tags: Mac programs, Macintosh

I was trolling the web today looking for good science software resources, and I ran across the post shown below. Now, I’m not a computer science teacher, but the Logo language sure looks like it would be useful in high school computer labs.

Take a look and see what you think:

• doodlebyte

  Logo Rediscovered

  How many of you remember Logo? As a kid, I spent hours writing little programs to draw neat patterns on the screen. I recently downloaded the Berkeley Logo implementation and started playing with my old friend, the turtle.

  Logo’s a great toy language for drawing fun shapes… but it turns out that Logo is a programming language. In fact, it’s a Lisp derivative.

Technorati Tags: computer science, Logo, programming language

We all want the best for our kids, especially when it comes to their educations. But we also live in the real world and want to be sure we’re getting the most we can for our money. So how do we tell the good science software programs from the not-so-good ones.

Here’s a quick primer on the features that might be included in a good software program. You don’t necessarily need to find them all to know you’ve found quality software. But knowing the kinds of features that are available will make it easier for you to compare programs.

1. What’s the age range of the program? You should be able to find this in the description of an online listing, or on the box, if you’re browsing in a brick and mortar store. Be sure the program is right for your child’s abilities. If the program is too simple, your child will become bored quickly. But if it’s too hard, he may get frustrated and resist working with the program in the future. Neither of these scenarios fosters learning. You should check to be sure the interactions in the game don’t violate any of your principles, too. Unfortunately, there are quite a few science based games on the market that have some violent interactions in them.

2. How many concepts are covered? You don’t want to pay a lot of money for a program that only teaches one scientific principle. But if the price is right and the program or game is interesting and gives an in depth demonstration of the subject, then one-subject software may be fine. You should check, too, that the program is up to date. Some principles of science haven’t changed in hundreds of years, but others are changing almost daily. Just make sure the program you investigating doesn’t include outdated material.

3. What do the reviews say? Reviews from other parents and teachers will tell you volumes about the quality of educational software. As I’ve mentioned before, one of the easiest places to find honest reviews is on Amazon.com. Amazon invites purchasers of its products to come back and write a review for the benefit of other users. And Amazon doesn’t edit what folks write. So go look up any program you’re considering and read the reviews. If you can’t find your program listed there, type the title of your program into either Google or Ixquick. Put the title in quotes ” “, and add the word review outside the quote marks. You’ll find all kinds of sites that way. At least some will be honest reviews of the software.

4. What’s the range of learning activities included? Different children learn in different ways. One of the best aspects of computers is their ability to teach one-on-one, while still including a variety of activities to engage as many senses as possible. Having variety in the program will increase the chances that the software will touch your child’s learning style. It also increases the fun factor of any program, keeping the kids interested. After all, the longer they play, the more they learn. It’s also a major plus if the program offers the ability to choose different levels of difficulty. This can keep make it good for more than one age, thereby stretching your purchase dollar.

5. Is there an assessment function? Any good educational software will have some type assessment included. It may be built into the story line of a game. For example, your child can only advance to the next level if certain challenges are conquered on this level. Or, it may be a more formal assessment area, where parents or teachers can log in to see a progress report.

6. Are there support materials? Many science educational programs come with a teacher’s guide that will give you an idea of the kinds of activities you should do in the real world to supplement the concepts in the program. This is very helpful. A user’s guide for more complex science programs is also beneficial.

7. Can worksheets be printed from the program? Not all science programs lend themselves to this, but some software gives you the ability to print extra materials like coloring pages or worksheets to reinforce the learning. This is a great feature.

8. Is there technical support? What are their hours and is there a phone #? This one doesn’t need any explanation. I don’t know anybody who hasn’t had trouble at some time with a piece of software. If you’re going to spend good money on it, you want to be able to reach technical support when you run into trouble. If there’s no number, you’re taking your chances. Having said that, I do know of excellent companies that do nearly all their support by email. Just know what you’re getting into here.

9. Are there free upgrades? This isn’t common unless you downloaded the program from the web. It sure is nice, though. Free upgrades assure that your program isn’t going to be outdated anytime soon.

10. Are add-on modules available? This is also uncommon, but it certainly is a money saver, if you can find it.

11. Are there other programs available in the series? It’s great if you can find a quality program that’s part of a series. If you decide to get other programs for your children, it will provide a familiarity and a sense of constancy for them.

Well, that’s it. I could probably go on about this subject for quite a while longer, but I’m sure you get the idea. Be sure to leave a comment if there are other parameters you use for choosing your educational software.

Technorati Tags: science software

Introduce Young Students To Important Early Science and Thinking Skills!Sammys Science House from Riverdeep helps young scientists build their understanding of biology and time concepts with two modules that explore stages of plant development over time and looking at how different animals age. All seven modules focus on discovering how to think like a scientist learning how to observe, analyze and test theories. Discover the Wonders of Nature What do shrews eat? Why does a squirrel flick its tail? Visit Acorn Pond during winter, spring, summer, and fall to explore its fascinating wildlife. Make Your Own Weather Learn weather terms, experiment with temperature, wind, and precipitation, and see how different variables affect weather. Explore the Field laptop Find sketches and fun facts about the animals of Acorn Pond! Printing pages allows kids to share their favorite animals with family and friends. Play with the Order of Things Lights! Camera! Action! Learn about beginnings, middles, and ends and explore how things in nature change over time as they arrange frames of film in logical sequences with Make-A-Movie.

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Technorati Tags: Allen, Brooks, Computer, Education, Science, SMART, Technologies

The program is called Thinkin’ Science ZAP! by Edmark. It won some prestigious awards when it was first released: 1998 ComputED EDDIE Aware–Science; 1998 Parents’ Choice Award–Parent’s Choice Foundation; and, 1998 Software Magic Award–Parenting. The science topics covered in this program–sound, light, and electricity–are timeless. So this is a highly recommended program. The only drawback my be that it’s a fairly simple interface. To me this just means that a lot of the clutter and noise of more modern games is reduced, but you might feel differently.

Your child will learn through an interactive game. The premise is that they are to be a guest director at a theater called the Wonder Dome. The shows here are a combination of light, sound, and electricity. Suddenly, the theater is zapped by lightning, and the control systems are useless. Your child’s goal becomes to learn about light, sound, and electricity so the show can go on.

The program provides a wonderful learning environment for each area. In the Electro Loft you can experiment with circuits, batteries, wires, switches, and other components to learn how they work together. In the Sound Wave Studio your child gets to ’see’ sound waves, play with the frequency and amplitude of hundreds of prerecorded sounds, and even record their own. In the Laser Lab, you can manipulate mirrors, lenses, barriers, mixers, splitters, and filters to make light bend, bounce, or blend. You get to create your own laser show. This is all great fun for the kids, but there’s learning going on at every level.

To accommodate different kinds of learners, each environment offers two different paths through the section. Children can explore at will (Explore Mode) or they can work in a more sequential path (Question and Answer Mode). It’s all well designed not only to teach about the specific topics in the program, but also to teach the user the basics of scientific method.

Bonus material include a Sci-clopedia of Facts and a collection of 222 topically related articles from World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia. There’s some great stuff in here. There’s also an Educator’s Guide. An added bonus is that ZAP! will run on a PC or a Mac. And Edmark has other associated programs. So if you like this one, you can feel confident that that others in the series will be good as well. Finally, because it’s a somewhat older program, you can find it for a really reasonable price. Be sure to check this one out!

Technorati Tags: elementary science software

Microscope Imaging Station: Gallery: Mouse embryonic stem cells - Movie 1

RedHerring.com | Why water is weird“

How to make a solar power generator”

particles :: physics simulation | dhtml experiment :: seb chevrel

The Rainbow of Gems

Scanning Electron Microscope

Ask an Astrophysicist

Ask An Infrared Astronomer

NASA - Astrobiology - Student and Postdoc

NEWTON/ANL Home Page

Welcome to the National Solar Observatory

nuclear science division (nsd): educational & outreach

Science.gov : FirstGov for Science - Government Science Portal

Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Tornadoes—Forces of Nature: Science, Maps, Photos, Video (National Geographic)

Take a leap into hyperspace - fundamentals - 05 January 2006 - New Scientist

I hope you find something useful among these.

I’ve been getting some questions lately about science scope and sequence–that is, which science concepts children should be taught in each grade, and in what order. So, tomorrow I’ll start posting some general guidelines for science scope / sequence, starting with the primary grades and working my way up.

See you then.

Technorati Tags: science scope sequence, Science Websites

Without further ado, here they are.

DNA From The Beginning

WhatBird | identify birds | bird identification guide | north america

Microscope Imaging Station: Gallery: Mouse embryonic stem cells - Movie 1

Death - the last taboo: Interactive Autopsy

Australian Bird Image Database- All Images

HBO: Autopsy - Interactive Features

National Zoo| FONZ

American International Rattlesnake Museum - Albuquerque, New Mexico

African Wildlife Foundation: Home Page

Gulf of Maine Aquarium:All About Lobsters

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Site Map

NPWRC :: Fragile Legacy — Endangered, Threatened and Rare Species of South Dakota

NEWTON/ANL Home Page

Animal Diversity Web

Welcome to Animaland.org

BBC - Science & Nature - Animals

Brandywine Zoo - Animals in the Zoo - Common Marmoset

Gateway to online Natural History Notebooks by the Canadian Museum of Nature

The Electronic Zoo

Marine Wildlife

Planetanimals.com

San Diego Zoo’s Kid Territory

Kratts’ Creatures

Nematodes in General

Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium

SeaWorld - Animal Bytes

Unique Australian Animals

The Wild Habitat

ZOO IN THE WILD

Biology Powerpoints

Technorati Tags: biology science websites

My first set of links is space related. These sites all have cool information or demonstrations of something to do with the Universe outside our atmosphere. Most are interactive in some fashion, and some offer true multimedia experience. The majority of the sites are from government or university sources, although a few are authored by individuals. None of the sites has ever posted anything malicious on my computer. I will warn you, though, that quite a few of the sites require that you have a Java plug-in installed. That’s necessary in order to create the multimedia presentation. You have to decide for yourself if that’s OK on your system. (I browse using Firefox, and I do a nightly scan using the free AVG scanning software, so I’m pretty well protected.)

So, with no further ado, here’s my list:

Amazing Space: Tonight’s Sky August 2006

The European Homepage For The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope - Image Archive

Earth and Moon Viewer

Explore the planet Mars with realistic Mars habitats, rockets, ground cars and robots

Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day

Ask an Astrophysicist

Ask An Infrared Astronomer

NASA - IMAGE Education and Public Outreach

Astronomy Picture of the Day

NASA’s Cosmicopia — Ask Us

NASA - Deep Impact

NASA - Eclipse Home Page

NASA - NASA Kids’ Club Home Page

Welcome to the National Solar Observatory

SpaceKids - Space Science for Kids

WIKISKY.ORG

Arecibo Observatory Home

Most of these are are self-explanatory. Give some a shot, and share them with a young (or young at heart) person you know.

Visit again soon for more listings.

Technorati Tags: space science websites

One of the best no-cost programs I’ve found is Stellarium. It’s basically a planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like you would see with the naked eye or with a telescope. This same program is being used in planetarium projectors around the world.

Stellarium is an open source program, meaning that its source code is open and available for anyone to contribute. Often open source projects attract some of the best minds in the related field, and that’s true for Stellarium. It has been developed by the French programmer Fabien Ch�reau, with input from experts around the world. The software is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

Stellarium includes:

Sky features

* over 600,000 stars from the Hipparcos Catalogue and the Tycho-2 Catalogue
* extra catalogues with more than 210 million stars
* asterisms and illustrations of the constellations
* constellations from ten cultures
* images of nebulae (full Messier catalogue)
* realistic Milky Way
* very realistic atmosphere, sunrise and sunset
* planets of the solar system’s and their major moons

Interface

* a powerful zoom
* time control
* multilingual interface
* scripting to record and play your own shows
* fisheye projection for planetarium domes
* spheric mirror projection for your own dome
* graphical interface and extensive keyboard control
* telescope control

Visualization

* equatorial and azimuthal grids
* star twinkling
* shooting stars
* eclipse simulation
* skinnable landscapes
* spherical panorama projection

Customisability

* add your own deep sky objects, landscapes, constellation images, scripts…
* available in more than 40 languages since version 0.8.0

This piece of science educational software is a keeper!

Technorati Tags: space software