• Resources for Teachers from the Division of Earth & Life Studies

Use this site to bring the latest in science and policy to your classroom. Explore exciting scientific "hot topics" on the cutting edge of the environmental and life sciences and use our classroom materials to challenge your students to reach beyond the basics. If you enjoy using these materials, create your own activities for our other reports, and we'll feature your contributions on the website!

• US Department of Energy

Every year a huge amount of energy is wasted. You can help save energy by doing simple things like turning off the lights when you leave a room, powering off your video games when you're done playing, and keeping the windows and doors closed when the air conditioner is running.

• US Department of the Interior

Various sites for students from the National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife, US Geological Survey, Bureau of Land Management, and more.

• Energy Kid's Page

  Links to energy faces, fun & games, energy history, classroom activities, and more.

• UAF Science Education Outreach Network

The Science Education Outreach Network provides information about the extensive variety of science and math education outreach programs, activities and resources available at UAF. The network highlights science outreach activities and resources not included in UAF course listings.

• Science Lessons/Resources for Vernier labs - Zip files that contain everything you need to support a science lesson using Vernier equipment.
• National Institutes of Health: Office of Science Education - The Office of Science Education (OSE) coordinates science education activities at the NIH and develops and sponsors science education projects in house. These programs serve elementary, secondary, and college students and teachers and the public.
• National Geographic Xpeditions - This is an all-inclusive website that offers ideas of lessons that are practical for teachers to use completely or as suggestion or to revise your own lesson.   It is geared for use with computers and uses a variety of platforms for engaging students in the disciplines of geography, science and social studies.  It is appropriate for all age groups.

  Contributed by Jim Daggett

• The NOAA Photo Library - Brings the work of one of America's most remarkable Government agencies to the American people. Why use clip art when you can have a picture of the real thing? This site has pictures of mainly animals, fish and birds from all over the world.  There are a lot of pictures from the lands and seas of Alaska.  Once you get started it is hard to stop.  It is easy to navigate and find specific species.  This site also has neat links to other related sites.
  Contributed by Noel Frisbie
• NASA Education - The two main goals of NASA's education program are to "inspire and motivate students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics" by supporting education in the Nation's schools and to "engage the public in shaping and sharing the experience of exploration and discovery" by supporting informal education and public outreach efforts.

  Contains:  student programs, educator programs, faculty research programs, fellowships and grants.

  • CORE- (Central Operations of Resources for Educators) is a worldwide distribution center for NASA’s Educational materials.  Materials include:  CD-Rom, Videos, Educator Guides, and Resources for your classroom.  There is a minimal charge for materials.

  Contributed by Noel Frisbie

• Vernier; Innovative Uses of Vernier Technology - Many in-depth examples of how Vernier sensors can be used to investigate real-world situations such as acceleration while snow boarding, muscle temperature while exercising, and the atmospheric pressure atop a mountain, to name a few.
• Geophysical Institute - Established in 1946 'dedicated to the maintenance of geophysical research concerning the Arctic regions'.  The website has resources including; aurora forecast, volcanic activity, and a science forum full of unique and interesting science articles.
• Connecting Curriculum and Technology

The National Educational Technology Standards for Students has a whole section of activities using technology in lessons with various grade levels and subjects. Click on the link above and look at 'Section 3'.

• Speed of Sound in Air - Formula and interactive sheet for finding the speed of sound at given temp.   Add this site to your science project for fun and facts about the speed of sound.  This could also be a short project on the effects of temperature on the speed of sound and or comparing the speed of sound in air to other gases.
  Contributed by Noel Frisbie
• The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) - NASA's center for aeronautical flight research and atmospheric flight operations.  NASA Dryden Flight Research Center's exciting mission provides a unique asset for engaging and inspiring the next generation of explorers.  This site is meant to motivate and inspire our young people to become involved in aeronautical flight and space.  This is a good site for background information and for future plans in space.
  • The Dryden Gallery - This archive contains digitized photos, movies, and drawings of many of the unique research aircraft flown from the 1940s to the present at what is now known as the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.   Students can liven up their science project at this site with actual photographs, movies or drawings.  A picture is worth a thousand words.

  Contributed by Noel Frisbie

• Activity Based Units - Lesson plans for units on Electromagnetism, Kinetic Theory & Heat Transfer, and Sound. Include excellent hands-on investigations where students create motors, speakers, generators, and many other cool things. Requires many materials, but supplies resources to purchase them.
• Java Applets on Physics - A page with a variety of applets on physics topics from mechanics to optics, require Java plug-in.
• The Electromagnetic Spectrum - Discusses and shows; what are waves? what are electromagnetic waves? and how different wavelengths produce different waves.
• Electromagnetic Waves - Also discusses waves, shows the wavelength and what type of wave is produced.
• The Physics Classroom - Online study tool that provides a tutorial, models, and quizzes on physics topics.
• The Applet Collection - Collection of applets on physics topics; motion to quantum physics.
• University of Oregon Physics Department - Page contains more applets, check out the cannon applet.
• Power of Ten Java Applet - This applet starts at the scale of 10 million light years and zooms in by a factor of ten until you are looking at the quarks that make up the nucleus of a carbon atom.

• Solar System Simulator - Ever wondered what the earth would look like from Mars on July 4th, 2025? Now is your chance, set the parameters of what you want to see, from where, and when and run the simulator!
• Size and Scale Activity - With a few simple supplies and 3.5 miles of road (or tundra) you can create a scale model of the solar system. A good field trip type activity or an extra credit project.
• Comets & Meteor Showers - This is a very specific site that deals with comets, asteroids and meteorites. Good photos as well as timetables for viewing comets etc. Easy to navigate and very interesting site. Kids will enjoy cruising through this site and it is also a good teacher resource.

Contributed by Walt Maslen

• The Nine Planets - Super site for all aspects of astronomy with a big focus on our Solar System. Good picture of planets and moons. Lots of Hubble photos, lost of animation and movie clips that would support classroom activities. Very kid friendly, easy to navigate. The index makes it easy to move and choose quickly.

Contributed by Walt Maslen

• NASA Home Page - This is a web site that links to a host of links geared towards all aspects of NASA work. There are lots of very good multimedia links with lots of video down loads. I like the Earth Image of the Day and Astronomy Picture of the Day. Great site for both Earth and Physical Sciences.

Contributed by Walt Maslen

• NASA Image Gallery - High resolution images of all things NASA.
• NASA Earth Observatory - Data and images put together, build an animation from satellite images to show global changes in snow and ice cover, vegetation, sea surface temperature, total ozone, and reflected solar radiation to name a few. Watch the animation or save it to your computer.

• HubbleSite - This site is by NASA and has a ton of information about the Hubble Space Telescope and space.  It has images and movies from the telescope and also has links to “Tonight’s Sky” which is a tour of the sky for the month and Amazing Space, which is an online tour of the solar system with interactive learning (also includes Teacher resources).  I used this site in my elementary classroom as an anticipatory set.  The images are great and easy to find, so my students can navigate it easily.
  Contributed by Allie Rupprecht
• Ask an Astronomer - Ask questions of scientists at Cornell University, or browse the information provided on astronomy topics. Visit the teacher resource page.
• Project CLEA - CONTEMPORARY LABORATORY EXPERIENCES IN ASTRONOMY - Astronomy labs designed for advanced HS and non-science major college students. Each CLEA laboratory exercise includes a dedicated computer program, a student manual, and a technical guide for the instructor.
• NAAP Astronomy Modules - The Nebraska Astronomy Applet Project provides high quality simulators dealing with important astronomical and astrophysical phenomena, such as the position of the earth during different seasons and the amount of incoming solar energy at a given latitude. Comes with pre-post assessments and instructor resources.
• Lunar phases movie - Shows moon orbiting the earth and the lunar phase observed from earth.
• JTrack 3D - Shows real-time position of satellites orbiting the earth. See what satellite is overhead right now.

• The Houston Zoo - A conservation program and a lot of endangered animals.  From the home page, click on “Our World of Animals” and you can search for endangered species by region.   Great site for animal reports.  The language is a little difficult for elementary students, but the pictures and listings of animals in a region are great. 

  Contributed by Allie Rupprecht

• USGS Education (Biology)- More USGS links to biology topics. Many specific studies on certain populations.
• UAF Biology 105 Student Field Projects - Even college students use the scientific method! Freshman level biology students develop a hypothesis and test it. Each investigation page is created by the student(s) that conducted the research. Pages outline hypothesis, method, results, conclusion, and include a graph. Excellent science fair material.

• Consumer Chemistry Kit - A MS Word file that contains 10 activities that use Vernier sensors and basic household chemistry supplies. An easy way to do some beginning chemistry with Vernier.
• The irYdium Project - A wide variety of chemistry programs that use JAVA. Includes a virtual lab where students can perform experiments in acid-base and thermal chemistry. Includes applets of 4-stroke internal combustion engine. Allows you to download the applet to run it on your PC without an internet connection.