by Ted Beyer
Fidget spinners are the latest fad to sweep, seemingly, the world. Love them or hate them, they are everywhere—on playgrounds, in backyards, living rooms, and even schools, although many schools have banned them as being distractions. But wait just a minute here! For once, let’s see if we can’t use a fad to teach something. You see, there is actually a fair bit of science lurking in those spinney things.
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College level, Elementary level, experiments, High School level, magnetism, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: discrepant event, DIY, Educational Innovations, experiments, fun experiments, hands-on activity, homeschool, Newton's First Law, Newton's Second Law, Newton's Third Law, parent friendly, PBL, PhBL, PhenoBL, phenomenon based learning, Physics, physics demonstration apparatus, science, science fair project, STEM, variables | 
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Posted by Donna Giachetti
by Tami G. O’Connor
As elementary school teachers, we aim to help our students become scientifically literate (among many other things). But let’s face it: too often we have limited time for science instruction during the school day. Still, we know that kids just love science! They’re always eager to learn more about the world around them, especially when they’re having fun while they’re learning.
But what can we do when our science teaching time is so limited in school? How do you get students involved in scientific discovery outside the classroom? Sure, you can give them homework, but many kids find simply reading about science unappealing. You want your students to LOVE learning more about science… not dread it.
1 Comment | Elementary level, energy, experiments, life science, magnetism, Physics, STEM | Tagged: discrepant event, DIY, Educational Innovations, elementary science, experiments, fun experiments, hands-on activity, homeschool, parent friendly, PBL, PhBL, PhenoBL, phenomenon based learning, science, science fair project, STEM | Permalink
Posted by Donna Giachetti
By Jeremy Johnson
In my 13 years of classroom teaching experience, I’ve learned a few tricks to keep my students from becoming overwhelmed—or bored—by their science textbooks. One of my favorite tricks is to get my kids up on their feet, doing science instead of reading about it.
When I teach about gravity and center of mass, for example, I like to shake things up by turning our classroom into an impromptu biokinetics lab. I challenge my students to perform a series of seemingly simple physical tests, described below. Lift a chair? Raise your leg? Pick up a quarter? No problem! (Or so they think…)
5 Comments | College level, Elementary level, experiments, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: discrepant event, DIY, Educational Innovations, experiments, force and motion, fun experiments, hands-on activity, homeschool, newton, parent friendly, PBL, PhBL, PhenoBL, phenomenon based learning, Physics, science, variables | Permalink
Posted by Donna Giachetti
Need help explaining the fundamentals of forces and motion to your students? Hands-on science demos to the rescue! We have a dynamic array of energy conversion products as well as an impressive collection of simple machines to demonstrate pushes and pulls… just to name a few of our many energy-related materials. Read on to hear what our customers are saying about our some of their favorite EI teaching tools.
If you have a favorite Educational Innovations product, we invite you to send us a comment below. We’d love to share your review with your fellow teachers and science lovers.
Leave a Comment » | College level, Elementary level, energy, experiments, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: discrepant event, Educational Innovations, energy, experiments, fun experiments, hands-on activity, homeschool, kinetic energy, newton, Newton's First Law, Newton's Second Law, Newton's Third Law, parent friendly, Physics, physics demonstration apparatus, science, STEM | Permalink
Posted by Donna Giachetti
by Nancy Foote
I’m in love with goldenrod paper. I’ve loved it for a long time. In my never-ending quest to emotionally entangle my students in the content of our science curriculum, Color-Changing Goldenrod Paper provides a long-lasting entanglement.
If you’ve never done the bloody handprint goldenrod paper demo with your students, you are truly missing out—and so are they)! This is the most engaging “engage” part of the 5 E’s I’ve ever experienced. I like to do the bloody handprint demo around Halloween, but we don’t do acid/base chemistry until February. That’s a long time to wonder, ponder and try to figure out exactly what is happening. But that’s for another blog post.
Leave a Comment » | Chemistry, College level, electricity, Elementary level, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: discrepant event, DIY, Educational Innovations, electricity, experiments, fun experiments, goldenrod paper, hands-on activity, homeschool, parent friendly, PBL, PhBL, PhenoBL, phenomenon based learning, science, STEM, variables | Permalink
Posted by Donna Giachetti
