Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Awesome Kids: 3rd Grader's experiment showed interesting results.

This awesome kid bought some potatoes in order to do an experiment for science.  She wanted to soak them in water and watch sprouts come out and grow a potato plant.  The interesting thing was that her first two potatoes didn't grow anything.  This made her curious so she asked questions.  To her surprise she found out that some potato companies spray the potato with chemicals to keep them from sprouting.  She shows the results of her experiment and the experimental process in detail.  I was quite impressed with the questions and answers she came up with.  We need to get all of our students to start asking and answering questions.  Check her video out, shes fun to listen to as she explains the process.

Subject:  Awesome Kids (Scientific Method)
Grade Level:  K-12
Time:  2:32


Awesome Kids: 16 year old invents a non-decaying bioplastic.

This young lady loved science and created a non-decaying bioplastic from banana peels.  If you want to inspire your science students with a great example then show them this video.

Subject:  Awesome Kids (Science)
Grade Level:  5-12
Time:  8:22




Science and History: The History and Future of Everything is all about Time.

This video does an excellent job discussing the our recent history and the technological age.  It then goes on to demonstrate ancient history and does a really great job at helping us comprehend how long that was.  In the video we then move on to Prehistoric history and the current theories about how old the Earth actually is.  The video doesn't stop there though, it keeps going into the history of the Solar System, Galaxy and Universe.  After think this video is almost over, we get into the future history of the Earth, Solar System, Galaxy and Universe.

In order to enjoy watching this video though you might have to suspend your belief system about creation and let your students know that these are all the theories, hypothesis and ideas that have been generated with our human understanding.  The video itself is really good.

Subject:  Science and History
Grade Level:  7-12
Time:  7:11



Friday, December 27, 2013

Science: Science experiments you can do from home and the classroom.

This post isn't so much about a single video, but a Youtube channel worth subscribing to.  I taught 7th grade earth science for 12 year before moving on into tech and math.  One of the methods of getting my students involved and enjoying my class was to perform experiments and then have brainstorming activities where students asked and answered questions.  I tried to do a little science activity everyday that would only take about 5-10 minutes just to either introduce a concept or simply to get my students excited to learn about science.  In fact when I moved to the High School to teach Math, I had the opportunity to teach some of my former 7th grade students.  They mentioned all the time how much they liked my class.  I would have some fun and simply ask them, "if you had fun and enjoyed the class, tell me something you learned."  Very few students actually mentioned a single topic, but instead mentioned some of their favorite science experiments.  I encourage science teachers everywhere to make sure you show, demonstrate, and create thinking activities that go beyond the textbook.

Now on to this particular post.  I would like to promote SteveSpanglerScience Youtube channel.  He has well over 100 science demonstrations and activities that don't cost much and many are very simple to do.  In this particular science video, SteveSpanglerScience demonstrates how to create a square bubble.  I thought Spongebob was the only one could create square bubbles, but apparently it is possible.  SteveSpanglerScience does an excellent job describing the process and give a materials list.

Subject:  Science (Experiments)
Grade Level:  K-12
Time:  1:45
Steve Spangler's Website


Thursday, December 26, 2013

Science (Astronomy): What is the possibility of the existence of aliens?

When you are teaching a unit on Astronomy, inevitably you are going to get into a discussion with students on the possibility of life outside of our own solar system.  In this Veritasium video, Veritasium asks people on the street whether or not they believe in aliens.  The responses are great to listen to.  The discussion of the video is more about the knowledge of how vast a galaxy really is.  If people understood how far a light year actually is, it would be less likely that anybody would believe in the alien types that visit the Earth.  In the video they show a scientist who has discovered 8 exo-planets himself and his ideas on the concept of extraterrestrial life.  Also part of the video they discuss a few methods of how scientists are discovering these exo-planets.

Subject:  Science (Astronomy)
Grade Level: 7-12
Time:  6:36



Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Science (Astronomy): Is it possible to stop an asteroid?

Bill Nye the Science Guy describes how scientists and physicists might be able to stop an asteroid as it comes closer to Earth.  He discusses the possibilities and potential methods of "shifting" an asteroids course.  One thing I liked in the science video is that he discusses some math and units of conversion dealing with weight.  He explains the science and possibilities in a manner that is very easy to understand.  This video might help you as a science teacher visually introduce asteroids to your students.

Subject:  Science (Astronomy)
Grade Level:  4-12
Time:  7:08


Monday, December 23, 2013

Science (Astronomy and Physics): Is there Gravity in Space?

Veritasium delivers another great video about science.  In this video the question as to whether there is actually gravity in space is answered.  The video discusses that astronauts are not actually floating in space but in reality they are falling as well as the International Space Station.  They never hit the Earth though because they are also moving forward at an incredible speed.  Gravity does affect objects in space but because of motion, objects can maintain an orbit.  Veritasium does a great job explaining this through visual connections that might help you as a teacher get rid of some of the scientific misconceptions out there.

Subject:  Science (Astronomy and Physics)
Grade Level:  4-12
Time:  2:22


Saturday, December 21, 2013

Science (Amazing Animals): Check out these awesome rock climbing goats.

As a kid I used to own and take care of goats.  This video brought back some memories about how cool goats are.  In this video National Geographic takes a look at some rock climbing goats.  They discuss some of their strengths and explain how the goats can climb the mountains so well.  The footage and voice overs are a lot of fun to watch an listen to.

Subject:  Science (Amazing Animals)
Grade Levels:  K-12
Time:  2:36


Friday, December 20, 2013

Social Studies (US History): How did the US and Canada create the border?

I am not going to lie, I have never considered this question.  I did, however find that the answer to the border creation between the US and Canada to be quite entertaining and very informative.  CGP Grey has a Youtube channel full of Social Studies information that you might find interesting and willing to share with your students.  In this visually discusses how the US and Canada agreed upon the current borders.  In some instances they still don't agree.  If you are teaching a class a little bit about how the two countries interact this might be an interesting educational video to show.  Grey does an excellent job discussing the facts using historical maps and pictures.

Subject:  Social Studies (US History or Geography)
Grade Levels:  7-12
Time:  5:26


Science (Biology): How old are your ears?

How old are your ears?  What a weird question!!  Why would the age of your ears even matter?  Did you know that as you get older you can't hear higher pitches in frequency?  Did you know that there are actual cell phone ring tones that are at these higher frequencies so that your students can hear themselves getting a text or all, but because you are over 20 you probably can't hear the tone.  In this video by AsapScience on Youtube, you will actually get a chance to see how old your ears are.  This video does an excellent job explaining the science behind it as well as actually demonstrating this scientific concept to your students and yourself.  See how old your ears are.

Subject:  Science (Biology and Physics)
Grade Levels:  All
Time:  1:38


Science (Biology): Which came first? The chicken or the egg?

AsapScience is a great Youtube channel that does an excellent job graphically explaining scientific concepts.  They can be very entertaining.  With this video you can easily start off a class on genetics or reproduction.  Simply propose the age old question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?  Discuss this a little bit with your class and see what they have to say.  How much to they understand the theory of evolution and natural selection?  You will find that they have some amazing ideas to share.  Remember to have your students justify their reasoning using scientific concepts that they may already understand.  Then just show them the video and see if their ideas jive with how AsapScience explains it.

Subject:  Science (Biology)
Time:  3:31
Grade Level:  8-12



Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Science: Why do some objects feel colder when in reality they are the same temperature?

I really am liking Veritasiums scientific Youtube videos.  You all ought to check out his educational Youtube page.  In this video he goes to a park and asks pedestrians why a hard drive and a book sitting at the same temperature have a different temperature feel to it.  The hard drive feels colder than the book.  He then takes an aluminum plate and a plastic plate to see which plate melts ice quicker.  Even though the aluminum plate feels colder, it melts the ice quicker.  This science experiment is very similar to ones that I do with my 7th grade science classes.

Subject:  Science (Physical)
Grade Levels:   6-12
Time:  4:00



Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Science: Why do round objects hit the ground at the same time when dropped at the same time?

If you are teaching physical science and have often tried to come up with a great explanation about why objects hit the ground at the same time if they are dropped from the same height and time, then Veritasium once again does an excellent job with this explanation  The video first starts off with him asking people off the street about which ball will hit the ground at the same time.  After listening to their ideas he then performs the experiment.  He takes it one step further when he asks the people why they think both objects hit at the same time.  Some of their scientific ideas are pretty funny to listen to.  Try showing this video to your students asking them questions along the way.  Or even better yet try the experiment with them, adding different sized and weighted objects.


Subject:  Science (Physical)
Grade Levels:   6-12
Time:  3;00

Monday, December 9, 2013

Science: How does a tree "suck" its water all the way to the top?

This video was made by Veritasium, a Youtuber that does an excellent job creating videos about educational thoughts, ideas, and processes.  In this video he takes you on a journey to find out how a tree can get water all the way to its top when so many other scientific factors and laws support such an impossible possibility.  Veritasium uses friends and scientists to explain how this tree sucking phenomenon is possible.

Subject:  Science (Life)
Grade Levels:   8-12
Time:  7:22



Saturday, December 7, 2013

Science: Eagle vs. Sea Snake

In this short National Geographic science video, we get to take a look at how deadly and awesome some eagles can be.  This eagle enjoys preying on sea snakes.  The video's footage is awesome showing how the eagle scans the ocean for prey with it's excellent vision, and then in a single swooping attempt it can pull the snake right out of water.  This would be an excellent video to show during a unit on predator and prey relationships.

Subject:  Science (Life)
Grade Levels:   3-12
Time:  :52 seconds

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Science: NASAs Hundred Years of Climate Change

No matter what your political beliefs about what causes climate change, you still need to show your students this video.  This is an officially NASA released video of global temperatures over the last century.  The temperature differences are huge.

Subject:  Science (Environmental)
Grade Levels:   5-12
Time:  :52 seconds


Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Science: Eagle grabbing food out of the water and he swims.

This awesome video demonstrates how an eagle attempts to catch something out of the water and after several attempts he finally lands on top of it and then swims it to shore.  This is one persistent and probably hungry eagle.

Subject:  Science (Biology)
Grade Level:  All
Time:  2:04


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Statistics: Child mortality rates 1960-2013

I am a huge fan of Hans Rosling and his statistical work.  Statistics don't lie or have emotion, so if they are gathered properly we can study and understand human events better.  In this video, Hans discusses how there is a myth that the "undeveloped" countries are still having huge child mortality rates.  He demonstrates that the world is getting better and smarter, even in countries like Ethiopia.

Subject: Math and Social Studies
Grade Level:  6-12
Length:  2:50


Monday, December 2, 2013

Perceptions: What do movies teach about Black African Men?

This video does a great job showing how movies about African men portray them as violent, unhappy, and evil people.  This video tries to show viewers that the movies give us a horrible perception of how African men are.  This might be a video to show during times when racism or media perception is taught about in your class.

Subject: Social Studies or Digital Media
Grade Level:  All Grade Levels
Length: 2:40

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Perspectives: Without seeing the whole picture do we truly know what is going on?

This really short video clip show a man running toward another man from three different angles.  It is amazing how each angle makes you think something different is going on.  It is only when we are at the last angle that shows the whole picture do we understand the entire story.  This is very creative.  This might a a good video to discuss with your class on how we perceive events and people.


Subject: All Subjects (Motivational)
Grade Level:  All Grade Levels
Length:  :27 seconds


Saturday, November 30, 2013

All Subjects: As long a you learn from failure...

I just gave a math test to my students that I thought for sure they would do well on.  In fact I still can't believe that the class average was less than 65%.  I asked myself, "Is this because I failed to teach the content correctly? or Is it because they failed to learn the concept correctly?"  I have been contemplating this all weekend and came across a Youtube video that helped put me at ease and one that I will show my students tomorrow.

Subject: All Subjects (Motivational)
Grade Level:  All Grade Levels
Length:  1:03






Math: Sing the Slope Intercept Form song

Here is a very catch toon for those students who are trying to learn about the slope intercept form "y=mx + b".  This video was created by a teacher and her math students.  Trust me when I say that the formula will stick in their brain after listening to it.  The song is sung to the music of the Village Peoples "YMCA" toon. 

Subject:  Math
Grade Level:  8-12
Length:  4:33



 

Friday, November 29, 2013

Math: Mental math gone wrong on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

How well can you or your students complete a simple mental math question under pressure?  This video show a young woman lose out on the first round of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, because she couldn't calculate a simple division or multiplication questions.  May be this is all something we should practice more.


 Subject:  Math
Grade Level:  3-12
Length:  3:00


 

Math: A display of how not understanding math can cost you MONEY.

This video clip shows a young man lose $15,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, because he didn't understand a simple question.  I thought this would be a fun video to show my students as we are studying squared numbers.  I had my students watch to begin with and give their best answer.  Then as the young man asks for the audiences' help I had them possibly revise their answer.  Because he didn't understand the concepts of squares he ended up going with the audience's choice and lost $15,000 bucks.


 Subject:  Math
Grade Level:  6-12
Length:  2:39

 
 
 

Math: Function Machine

This video demonstrates how functions work in regards to an input output machine.  They demonstrate some real world scenarios with food and how food is processed.  Each section of the video demonstrates a little more of how functions work as the equation becomes more difficult. 


 Subject:  Math
Grade Level:  6-10
Length:  7:06



 

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Math: 3rd Graders learn about clocks

This video from Brain Tofu, is a song that teaches younger children how to use clocks and what each part of the clock is and does.

Subject:  Math
Grade Level:  K-3
Length:  2:02