| It’s Tuesday, September 8, 2020, and time for Science. I would like to ask you to check out Recommended Websites: Energy Kids and Science Toy Maker Energy Kids  Age Range: 5-18 (Grades K-12, with parental supervision) This website, sponsored by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, provides free energy-related lessons, printables, games, and activities designed for classroom use in grades K-12. (They can be tweaked for use in the homeschool environment.) When you get to the website you’ll see a menu under the banner “For Teachers” that includes: Lesson Plans for Primary (K-3), Elementary (4-7), Intermediate (6-9), and Secondary (9-12)Teacher Guide with tips on extension activitiesCareer Corner to explore jobs in the Energy fieldScience Fair ExperimentsField Trips with ideas for taking trips to power plants, etc.Related Links to resources and energy websitesOnce you’ve explored the “For Teachers” section check out the menu in the left margin of the page that offers: What is Energy? – Learn energy basics including its forms, how it’s measured, and what it has to do with the periodic table of elements.Energy Sources – Discover renewable and non-renewable energy, electricity, hydrogen, and the latest energy stats.Using & Saving Energy – Learn how energy is used at home, work, in industry, transportation, and more.History of Energy – Check out the time line of energy inventions including Coal, Electricity, Ethanol, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Oil, Wind, and more. You can also read biographies of people who developed scientific breakthroughs with energy including Celsius, Curie, Edison, Einstein, Faraday, Joule, Marconi, Newton, Oppenheimer and more.Games & Activities – Enjoy riddles, puzzles, science experiments, and take a quiz to test your energy IQ.There’s also a link to Energy Calculators and a Glossary. |
Recommended Website: Science Toy Maker
Age Range: 6 and up (Grades 1 and up; children with parental supervision) This website provides complete step-by-step instructions on how to make your own science toys using easily accessible and cheap materials so that “nobody is excluded because of cost.”
When you get to the site, use the menu at the top to choose from:
- Walkalong Gliders
- Boomerang
- Dragonfly Helicopters
- All Projects
- Extras
Under “All Projects”, you can choose between Quick and Easy, Intermediate, or Advanced. In the Quick and Easy section, you’ll see instructions for making science toys that young kids (elementary school age) can do. Make a propeller, a vortex, a top, an oscillating woodpecker, a parachute, a periscope, a robot finger and more! In the Advanced Section, Teens and adults can make science toys that include a water rocket launcher, a putt-putt boat, hot air balloon, helicopter, robot hands, and even a lie detector! Click on any one and a new page opens with instructions (some in streaming video), photos, illustrations, explanations, related activities and links for further research.
The projects are open-ended enough to encourage creative invention and tinkering. As the website explains, it is “a resource for inspired parents, kids, teachers, teenagers, homeschoolers, science fair participants and citizen scientists everywhere.”
Thank you,
Glenda, CHarlie and David Cates
