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Educator Articles

In this rapidly evolving environment, your role has never been more important. Arizona Science Center is here to help. Take advantage of our free weekly lesson plans and hands-on activities you can share with your students. Our goal is to aid you in keeping the passion for curiosity and learning alive and well through a variety of innovative programming. We’re working to ensure each activity and lesson sparks excitement to keep your students of all ages engaged, inspired and empowered.

Our commitment to providing best in class science resources to our community is stronger than ever—and so is our unprecedented need for your support. Please consider making a donation or becoming a member today.


Gears

507 Mechanical Movements

Grades: All Ages

An online copy of the 21st edition of Henry T. Brown’s “507 Mechanical Movements”, first published in 1868. Some of the illustrations have been animated to show exactly how the different mechanisms moved ranging from a simple pully to piston engines.

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Students on Laptops and Tablets

Discover Data

Grades: 6-12

Discover Data is a program developed to empower your students with one of the future’s most important tools. As technology creates larger amounts of data than ever before, Discover Data is designed to connect students to real-world careers, activities and data experts to inspire their understanding of how data is used to innovate across all industries all over the world, along with providing a glimpse into the many diverse and exciting career pathways open to them.

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Mother and Daughter Coloring

Crayola For Educators

Grades: K-12

Looking for ways to integrate more art and creativity in your lessons/activities? Crayola For Educators provides art-integrated lesson/activity plans for each content area, in grades K-12. Each lesson/activity is created by educators and includes directions, a supply list, standard alignments and images to assist in the planning and implementation process. Search the collection today!

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Sun shining through a space in a canyon

National Park Classroom for Educators

Grades: K-12

National Park Services uses parks to inspire and educate on material and STEM lessons on an online educational resource portal. Topics vary from math to the language arts for K-12 schools to higher education.

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Coral and Fish in the ocean

NOAA Resource Collections

Grades: K-12

Resources to help integrate National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) science into formal and informal education. Materials are organized by themes aligned with common teaching topics.

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Astronaut outside of the Space Station

NASA STEM Engagement

Grades: K-12

Explore STEM Resources for K-12 Educators. The educational sections of NASA.gov provide educators and students access to materials and resources produced through collaborations with NASA's mission directorates.

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Hand writing notes

Internet Schools Cyberbee's Web Picks

Grades: K-12

An Educator's Guide to Technology and the Web. Web-based list of curriculum tools and resources available to students.

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Young Woman Studying

Pulitzer Center: Fighting Words

Grades: K-12

Poetry Contest for K-12 students can be used for reading, writing or social studies assignment in response to current events. Presented by the Pulitzer Center for International Journalism, top student work submitted can be eligible for cash prizes.

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Rosetta Stone Logo

Rosetta Stone for Students

Grades: K-12

An immense language learning experience to develop their vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from over a dozen countries will be available free to students for the next three months.

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Lab tech handling vials in an ice bin

BioInteractive Science Digital Experience

Grades: 3-12

Learn the science behind the living world through guiding questions, online activities and video lessons with Biointeractive. A tool great for a high school science setting.

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Hands pointing laptop screen

Video Lesson at Home with TED Education

Grades: 3-12

TED-Ed celebrates the ideas of teachers and students around the world. Discover hundreds of animated lessons organized by age/subject.

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Girl on Computer

Girls Who Code At Home Activities

Grades: 3-12

Girls Who Code is making CS educational activities available for download free of charge, to anyone who wants to access them. Each activity will include a feature of a woman in tech who pioneered innovative technology.

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Hand Test

ASU for You Teaching Tools

Grades: K-8

Whether you are a learner or an educator, this new offering — launched now at a time when the world faces unique challenges that demand innovation and adaptation — provides a flexible and growing set of digital educational assets.

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Elephants Standing on Plastic

National Geographic Kids: Kids vs. Plastic

Grades: K-8

Challenge students to learn about ways to limit plastic use at home! Through National Geographic Kids: Kids vs. Plastic, students will engage in articles/guides, videos and hands-on activities to explore how to reduce their own plastic use.

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Children Planting Trees

All About Earth Day

Grades: K-1

Learning more about the history of Earth day and how you can help the planet.

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Design Kit

Methods for Human-Centered Design

Grades: All Ages

Human Centered Design focuses on gaining empathy and understanding of a person or group of people before designing a problem-solving solution for their needs. Think of this as a toolkit for working through the process. This content is provided by IDEO.org which has even more resources.

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Rocketship

Virtual Field Trip: ecoAction

Grades: All Ages

Celebrate Earth Day with Boeing and Discovery Education as we highlight the ways Boeing is using advanced technology, engineering, and its dedicated workforce to create a more sustainable future.

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Rocketship

Virtual Field Trip: Innovating the Future

Grades: All Ages

Join Boeing and Discovery Education on a mission to inspire the world through aerospace innovation with an exclusive virtual field trip. This behind-the-scenes tour will introduce students to the next chapter of space history with the launch of the Starliner/CST-100 spacecraft and the deployment of the Space Launch System (SLS).

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Butterfly

Journey North Tracker

Grades: K-6

Journey North provides an easy entry point to citizen science, with simple protocols, strong online support, and immediate results. Reported sightings are mapped in real-time as waves of migrations move across the continent.

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Game Preview

NeMO-Net

Grades: All Ages

If you’re looking for something more interesting to do in quarantine, consider helping scientists map the world’s coral reefs. In a new video game from NASA called NeMO-Net, you can virtually dive in waters around the world, classifying corals in 3D images from satellites to help train a NASA supercomputer to map the rest of the world’s coral at a scale that’s never been done before.

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Woman on the computer

News Literacy Project

Grades: 6-12

Engaging, interactive lessons help educators equip their students with the tools to evaluate and interpret the news and to learn how to decide what news and other information to trust, share and act on.

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Wide Open School

San Diego Zoo Kids

Grades: K-6

Engaging, interactive lessons help educators equip their students with the tools to evaluate and interpret the news and to learn how to decide what news and other information to trust, share and act on.

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Wide Open School

Wide Open School

Grades: All Ages

Wide Open School is a free collection of the best online learning experiences for kids curated by the editors at Common Sense. There is so much good happening, and we are here to gather great stuff and organize it so teachers and families can easily find it and plan each day.

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Rocketship

Virtual Field Trip: ecoAction

Grades: All Ages

Celebrate Earth Day with Boeing and Discovery Education as we highlight the ways Boeing is using advanced technology, engineering, and its dedicated workforce to create a more sustainable future.

Learn more

Rocketship

Virtual Field Trip: Innovating the Future

Grades: All Ages

Join Boeing and Discovery Education on a mission to inspire the world through aerospace innovation with an exclusive virtual field trip. This behind-the-scenes tour will introduce students to the next chapter of space history with the launch of the Starliner/CST-100 spacecraft and the deployment of the Space Launch System (SLS).

Learn more

Butterfly

Journey North Tracker

Grades: K-6

Journey North provides an easy entry point to citizen science, with simple protocols, strong online support, and immediate results. Reported sightings are mapped in real-time as waves of migrations move across the continent.

Learn more

Game Preview

NeMO-Net

Grades: All Ages

If you’re looking for something more interesting to do in quarantine, consider helping scientists map the world’s coral reefs. In a new video game from NASA called NeMO-Net, you can virtually dive in waters around the world, classifying corals in 3D images from satellites to help train a NASA supercomputer to map the rest of the world’s coral at a scale that’s never been done before.

Learn more

Woman on the computer

News Literacy Project

Grades: 6-12

Engaging, interactive lessons help educators equip their students with the tools to evaluate and interpret the news and to learn how to decide what news and other information to trust, share and act on.

Learn more

Wide Open School

San Diego Zoo Kids

Grades: K-6

Engaging, interactive lessons help educators equip their students with the tools to evaluate and interpret the news and to learn how to decide what news and other information to trust, share and act on.

Learn more

Wide Open School

Wide Open School

Grades: All Ages

Wide Open School is a free collection of the best online learning experiences for kids curated by the editors at Common Sense. There is so much good happening, and we are here to gather great stuff and organize it so teachers and families can easily find it and plan each day.

Learn more

PBS Design Squad Global

PBS Design Squad Global Design Challenges

Grades: 3–8

The design squad is based on the PBS reality show that students can watch and participate in, at home! Students can participate in the global design challenge at the PBSkids website.Teachers can download the Design Squad Activity Guide to gain access to five hands-on challenges that bring engineering to life for students ages 9-12. Each challenge reinforces the engineering design process and is aligned to NGSS science and technology standards.

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Child on Computer in a kitchen

Scholastic Learn at Home

Grades: Pre-K–9

Looking for day-to-day projects for engaging students in at-home learning? Scholastic’s Learn at Home currently provides a month’s worth (new content is added weekly) of daily projects for PreK-9th grade students, including reading and writing exercises, activities, videos and even virtual field trips!

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hands holding the earth and a tree

Earth Day 2020 - 50th Anniversary

Grades: All Ages

April 22, 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Since 1970, Earth Day has increased awareness of the planet we live on, and encouraged people to learn more about pollution, climate change, endangered species, and many other environmental issues. The NISE Network has compiled a selection of resources to help you plan for your Earth Day celebration.

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Peggy Whitson

Astronaut gives advice on handling isolation during coronavirus crisis

Grades: All Ages

NASA’s Peggy Whitson has spent more time aboard the International Space Station than any other American. She’s spent 665 days in space, including a stretch lasting longer than nine months, earning her the nickname the “Space Ninja.” Whitson joins “CBS This Morning” to give tips on handling isolation during the coronavirus pandemic.

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 Man Reading Computer

University Of Minnesota Engineering Design Challenge Curriculum

Grades: 3-8

This resource provides support to teachers leading STEM activities. The UMN Engineering Design Challenge Curriculum includes 12 lessons, each with the intent of teaching youth the engineering design process, the eight engineering practices and 21st century skills through an experiential process. Each lesson includes lesson objectives, vocabulary, teacher background, materials needed and step-by-step activity guides. The resource is intended for grades 3-8.

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NASA STEM Engagement

NASA STEM Engagement

Grades: K-12

Explore a variety of STEM resources that NASA created to support educators. Good one stop shop for all things Space and STEM.

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Teach Genetics Banner

Teach Genetics

Grades: 9-12

Find a wealth of resources and information aimed at helping educators bring genetics, bioscience and health alive in the classroom. A companion to the popular Learn.Genetics website, Teach.Genetics offers additional tools and resources to support your curriculum, all free of charge.

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BioInteractive Logo

Biointeractive

Grades: 9-12

This is one of the most interesting sites for High School Science. Hosted by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Biointeractive provides extensive lesson plans with videos, activities, and guiding questions. Real science, real stories, and real data to engage students in exploring the living world.

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TED Education Session

TEDEd

Grades: 9-12

Have you ever wondered how the world’s longest underwater tunnel was built, why germs thrive on airplanes, or why vultures are considered heroes? Find the answers to these and a variety of other questions you didn’t even know you had by checking out TEDEd.

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LabXchange Logo

LabXchange

Grades: 9-12

High School and Higher Ed STEM classroom development site from Harvard U. Amazing Teacher Tool with embedded resources from Harvard, Amgen, Conserva, etc. Plus they have plans to create more resources for classroom management.

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STEM Pro Live!

STEM Pro Live!

Grades: 6-12

A free, live, monthly broadcast of a STEM professional sharing from his or her workplace. STEM professionals tell students about their journey, then answer questions in real-time from students. Previous recordings are available on the website.

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Bio Rad Scientist

Bio-Rad - YouTube Channel

Grades: 9-12

Bio-Rad Explorer's YouTube channel is a hub of educational and instructional videos for students and educators from Bio-Rad and the life science education community.

Watch Now

Iguana - ASU Virtual Field trip

ASU Virtual Field Trips

Grades: 6+

FT's are topic-based interactive and educationally rich experiences captured during real expeditions with scientists doing current research. Some are built with adaptive feedback and adaptive pathways.

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Not All Rocks Are the Same

Not All Rocks Are the Same

Grades: 6-12

Rocks come in cool colors, shapes, textures and sizes and are found all around you but how much do you REALLY know about them? Discover rock secrets through these activities. Create a rock collection as you learn about the three main types of rock, find out how to tell the different rock types apart and see how rocks change from one type to another!

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Cox Connect2Compete

Cox Connect2Compete

Grades: All Ages

Home internet is now an essential tool for today’s education. Through Connect2Compete, Cox opens a world of opportunity for families by providing low-cost, home internet with wifi—for only $9.95 per month

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NSTA - Daily Do

Why Do We All Have to Stay Home? NSTA's Daily Do!

Grades: All Ages

Looking for ways to teach your elementary and secondary students about the importance of practicing social distancing during the COVID-19 global pandemic? Provided by NSTA’s Daily Do (National Science Teaching Association), educators and parents can gain access to both the elementary and secondary science tasks, including discussion questions/student prompts and digital simulations demonstrating how social distancing slows the spread of the coronavirus. Check out this resource and more Daily Do’s at the link below!

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Child with glasses writing notes while looking at a laptop

Science Projects with Cardboard Tubes

Grades: K – 2, 3 – 5

Here are over 20 science projects for kids using cardboard tubes! In this collection of STEM and STEAM activities for kids, you’ll find all kinds of creative ways to encourage scientific exploration using empty toilet paper rolls, empty paper towel rolls and other cardboard tubes.

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Flower in a field

Backyard Investigation

Grades: 3 – 5

Engage students in actively observing how Earth’s surface changes over time in small ways, in their very own backyards!

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Children Playing Boardgames Illustration

Game Design and Hack

Grades: 3 – 5, 6 – 8

Designing and playing games is a great way to increase motivation, provide specific, timely feedback about learning, relate learning to practice and retrieve knowledge.

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Child with globe laying on grass

Student Curriculum: Recipes for Healthy Kids and a Healthy Environment

Grades: 3 – 5, 6 – 8

Looking to inspire and educate students about improving the health of our environment? Throughout the program, Recipes for Healthy Kids and a Healthy Environment, fourth through eighth-grade students in and outside of typical classroom settings engage in lessons and activities focusing on relevant, environmental issues.

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Grand Canyon

Virtually Explore the Rim Trail of the Grand Canyon

Grades: All Ages

Explore the Rim Trail from the comfort of your home as the Grand Canyon overwhelms your senses through its immense size. Sit back, relax and enjoy the beauty of this Arizona landmark.

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Newsela Logo

Prepare for Distance Learning with Newsela

Grades: K ‐ 2, 3 ‐ 5, 6 ‐ 8

Access free tools and resources to help you leverage Newsela products for distance learning. These articles are easily accessed via the internet and can be paired with subjects across the curriculum. Use them to reinforce and extend learning. It is also a great way for students to investigate the news and see how what they are learning is relevant and current.

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Desert Photo

Learn More About Arizona’s National Parks

Grades: All Ages

Arizona may take its nickname from the Grand Canyon, but there are far more natural wonders in the state. The canyon is just one of many natural wonders in a state unusually rich in them. In fact, with its protected petrified forests, volcanic cinder cones, saguaro-studded deserts, and Anasazi cliff dwellings, no state in the country can boast as many national parks and monuments as Arizona.

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Woman Meditating

Caring and Connection in the Time of COVID-19

Grades: All Ages

The world and each of us in it remain much in need of community and connection at this time, so the Center will be unfolding virtual means of continuing practice and support. We will be hosting virtual meditation practices from 12noon – 1pm (AZ time) and messaging for open and free use.

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Three girls on a laptop

Girls4Tech

Grades: 6 – 8

Mastercard, with their employees serving as role models and mentors, developed a signature STEM curriculum based on global science and math standards that showcases payments technology—algorithms, encryption, fraud detection, data analysis and digital convergence. This interactive, hands-on curriculum connects the foundations of Mastercard’s business to STEM principles and shows girls across the globe that it takes all kinds of interests and skills to pursue a career in STEM. Focusing on grades 3-7, this resource includes lesson plans, activity sheets and classroom posters for download.

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Mother and Daughter on a Laptop

Online Education Classes for Every Age and Grade

Grades: K ‐ 2, 3 ‐ 5, 6 ‐ 8

Lessons range from short mini-lessons that are completely digital to full lessons that include a hands-on activity. All are designed to use simple supplies that families likely already have at home.

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ASTC Logo

Online Programming from Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC)

Grades: All Bands

As most science and technology centers and museums are closed to the public temporarily, many are finding ways to continue to serve their communities by offering educational programming, resources and materials.

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Keyboard with a key titled simulation

Gizmos

Grades: 3 – 12

Provided through ExploreLearning, Gizmos supplies teachers, parents and students with online simulations to improve learning and understanding among various math and science concepts. Search by academic standard, grade-level/topic area (3rd grade through high-school) and by textbook (some Gizmos are correlated to textbook publishers). During this school closure period, you can sign-up for a 60-day free trial. During this trial, you will have access to all 400+ Gizmos for 60 days, with accompanying teacher guides, assessments, and more!

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NSTA Logo

FREE Membership: National Science Teaching Association

Grades: All Ages

To support all educators during this difficult time, National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) is offering a free 30-day membership, providing access to more than 12,000 digital professional learning resources and tools.

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Newsela Logo

Symptom Tracker From Banner Health

Symptoms of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) may appear 2-14 days after exposure. In 80% of patients, COVID-19 causes only mild cold symptoms. The elderly, and those with pre-existing medical conditions, appear to be more vulnerable to the virus. If you or a loved one has concerning symptoms, Banner Health has a digital triage tool that can help you evaluate your symptoms and recommend treatment options.

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Child using hand sanitizer

Make Easy, Science-Based DIY Hand Sanitizer

Grades: All Ages

As coronavirus concerns continue, wash-wash-wash those hands. When you can’t, fight back with this easy, science-based DIY hand sanitizer recipe that meets CDC standards.

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