While UV radiation may not be a laughing matter when it comes to skin damage, there’s nothing under the sun like a good joke to brighten your day.
Why not insert a bit of ultraviolet humor into your next quiz or homework page? Extra points for students who guess the right punchlines to our riddles!
If you have a favorite cartoon or joke, insert it below as a comment, or email us at socialmedia@teachersource.com.
1 Comment | 
College level, Earth Science, Elementary level, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: homeschool, light, parent friendly, radiation, refraction, sun, sunscreen, ultraviolet | 
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Posted by Donna Giachetti
by: Priscilla Robinson
The bright days of spring can be a great kick off opportunity for seed planting and other fun activities that will keep students engaged in purposeful learning right up to the end of the school year. Educational Innovations has plenty of hands-on products that fit right in with springtime scientific activities. It is not too late to germinate your students’ curiosity with planting seeds, feeding your local flock of feathered friends or playing with shadows. Get up and enjoy the warming weather!
3 Comments | College level, Earth Science, Elementary level, experiments, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: DIY, Educational Innovations, fun experiments, hands-on activity, homeschool, light, parent friendly, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, science, science fair project | Permalink
Posted by Donna Giachetti
by: Ken Byrne
How many people have been struck by meteorites falling from the sky? The fact of the matter is that we all have been…repeatedly! While injuries from fallen meteorites of significant size are extremely rare, falling all around us and onto us each day are the meteorites smallest siblings, micrometeorites. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | College level, Earth Science, Elementary level, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: homeschool, meteorites, micrometeorites, parent friendly, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, science | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
by Ted Beyer
Predicting the weather is an age-old guessing game.
Over time, more and more sophisticated devices have been developed to aid in the guessing game. Indeed, some of the largest computers in the world today are dedicated to modeling the weather using millions of data points collected all over the world—all in an effort to determine if going to the beach this weekend is a good idea, or if you should just stay home and binge watch Game of Thrones (again).
After temperature, one of the earliest scientific observations about the weather is the variation in barometric pressure. Local changes in air pressure usually signal changes in the weather. Falling pressure generally indicates rain, snow or wind storms, and increasing pressure most often indicates nicer weather.
One of the earliest gadgets used to try and track barometric pressure was the Weather Glass, also known as the Goethe Barometer [1]. Evangelista Toricelli [2] came up with the first truly accurate barometer—the classic, mercury-filled device—sometime around 1643-44. [Note: Educational Innovations has a mercury-free version of this Science classroom “must-have.”] Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | College level, Earth Science, Elementary level, experiments, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: air pressure, barometer, environmental science, hands-on activity, homeschool, parent friendly, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, Physics, science, weather | Permalink
Posted by Donna Giachetti
by Brandon DeBritz
When we talk about electricity and where it comes from in the Pacific Northwest, hydroelectric energy production is a key source and natural opportunity for teaching. Part of the curriculum used in the South Kitsap School District in Port Orchard, WA is SEPUP ‘Weathering and Erosion’. Students explore the Earth processes of weathering, erosion, and deposition all the while considering where to expand residential development in an expanding fictional town along the northwest coast.
This year, students at Cedar Heights Junior High were presented with a new factor to consider for this situation, ’should we build a dam on the town’s river to provide energy for the expanding electrical needs of the city?’ This new situation opened the door for a STEM unit, ‘The Energy of Moving Water’ from the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project (free teacher and student curriculum guides are available from their website www.need.org).
From this platform, students were engaged in activities and research to explore: what electricity is and how it is created, the designs of a hydroelectric dam and how they work, as well as many of the environmental, economic, social, and political issues around the construction and use of dams. Through a school partnership with RB Industries and the PowerWheel, students explored the fundamental elements of creating electricity through the transfer of moving water.
Leave a Comment » | Earth Science, Elementary level, experiments, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: electricity, green energy, hands-on activity, homeschool, hydroelectric, hydroelectric dams, hydropower, parent friendly, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, PowerWheel, rb industries, renewable energy, science, south kitsap school district, STEM | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
