Math, Science & Language Arts

The Mommies Reviews
Math, Science & Language Arts websites is the resources I have chosen to share with you this morning. How is your teaching going? Is there anything I can help you with?
 
KenKen Math Puzzles & Eric Weisstein’s World of Scientific Biography. I hope these are resources you can use in your school. If you have used these resources in the past let me know what you thought of them. If you would like to use these resources let me know why.
Age Range: 7 and up (Grades 2 and up, approximately; children with parental supervision)
This ad-supported website provides free KenKen math puzzles. What’s a KenKen? It’s a logic puzzle which mixes a Sudoku puzzle and arithmetic. It was invented by a Japanese mathematics instructor. His goal was to improve his students’ math and logic skills.
As explained at the website:

KenKen is a grid-based numerical puzzle that uses the basic math operations addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division – while also challenging your logic and problemsolving skills.

By altering the size of a KENKEN grid, from 3 x 3 up to 9 x 9, and employing different combinations of the math operations, five different difficulty levels can be generated, and a seemingly endless number of puzzles.

In a way, KenKen is like a game of chess: The more you think ahead to your next move and consider all the possible outcomes, the better you’ll get-and the smarter you’ll become!

When you get to the website you’ll see the puzzles of the day. If you’re unfamiliar with KenKen, click on “How To Play” on the menu at the top of the page. You’ll not only read an explanation of how to play, but you can follow a step-by-step tutorial. Then, test your skills with the daily puzzles.

Bookmark the site to return each day for the daily puzzles, or sign up (as a teacher) to receive the free newsletter and a set of KenKens will be emailed to you weekly.

Note: You can also purchase a Premium Membership, that allows you to use the puzzles ad-free.

Details at the website.

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It’s Tuesday, and time for Science!
 
Eric Weisstein's World of Biography
 Age Range: 11-18 (Grades 6-12, with parental supervision)
This website offers over 1,000 encyclopedia-style biographies of scientists along with illustrations.
When you get to the site, use the menu on the left side of the screen to search for a scientist by:
  • Branch of Science – Search for a scientist by his/her field of study from Archaeology to Sociology.
  • Gender/Minority Status – Women, African Americans, Asian Americans, etc. (Note: This section is woefully short on scientists of varying races and ethnicities. Fortunately, the FAQ section on this website tells you how to submit names for inclusion.)
  • Nationality – Find scientists from many nations including the U.S., China, Egypt, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Pakistan, and Russia.
  • Prize Winners – Read the Bios of Scientists and Mathematicians who have been awarded prizes (i.e., The Nobel) for their work.
  • Alphabetical Index – An A to Z list of all of the scientists and mathematicians whose biographies are archived on the website. Click on any one, and a new page opens with the scientist’s picture and bio. References are provided as well.
As mentioned previously, there are over 1,000 entries and we only read about 10. Therefore, AS ALWAYS, parents should preview the site to determine suitability of content.
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 It’s Thursday,  Social Sciences!
Colonial Hall -- Biographies of America's Founding Fathers
Age Range: 6-13 (Grades 1-8, with parental supervision)
This website offers the biographies of 111 Founding Fathers of the United States of America.
It includes biographies for:
  • the signers of the Declaration of Independence
  • the signers of the Articles of Confederation
  • the signers of the U.S. Constitution

The biographies include interesting information on the life and times of each Founder along with a portrait picture.

This site also has the biographies of 34 of the Founding Fathers’ wives. You can also read the Declaration of Independence at this site!

When you get to the site you will see the “Featured Founder.” Click on the name, and a new page opens where you can read the biography. You will also see a menu on the left side of the screen that you can use to access all of the biographies archived at this site.

This website is a good resource for your elementary American history studies.

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates