Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

In the rectangle above, you will find the fundamental concepts and principles that underlie this standard. Below you will find a list of recommended "learning tools" for this standard. All links are in yellow, just click the link. Numbers are for reference only. Use our "Tell a Friend" feature, at the bottom, to send this page to a friend!

This wonderful "learning tool" is called Tinker Ball and challenges students to discover different ways to get a ball into the goal. Students explore an assortment of objects to create new paths. This was developed by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.

The name of this "learning tool" is called Animal Attraction. It has been developed by TryScience. This is a tremendous site, filled with great home experiments, online interactive lessons, and more. If you want a site to introduce children to the fun of science, you can't go wrong with this one!

One of the most spectacular learning tools we have ever seen! The name of this extraordinary learning tool is called Launchball and has been produced by the Science Museum of London. Students love this intuitive interactive. Once they get to the site, have students select "Play the Levels", they don't need a code (they will for saving their work), then have them do the "Warm Up". This will teach them all they need to know to explore this incredible virtual world of electricity, heat, magnetism, forces, motion, and the conducting power of copper. Just incredible!

The name of this "learning tool" is called Keeping Warm. Students compare the insulating properties of plastic, cardboard, and metal; as a liquid cools. Students then build a data table to explain their results. Use the blue arrows in the upper right hand corner to go through the simulation. This tool has been developed by the bbc.co.uk and their Science Clips program. These are very clear, concise, and effective lessons for young students. Flash is required.

Your students don't have graphing software? No problem, the National Center for Educational Statistics has developed a wonderful "learning tool" called Create a Graph. Students just pick the type of graph, input the data, choose formatting options and print it out or save it. A wonderfully intuitive site. Their Student Classroom is a fun web site to visit and well done.

The name of this amazing "learning tool" and web site is Journey North. Data can be a wonderful gateway for inquiry. This tool allows students to follow the migration patterns of monarch butterflies, robins, gray whales, bald eagles and others. When you get to the site just click on the animal you would like to see the migration data of. You can even see who contributed the data. A tremendous site for students.

The Bugscope project provides free interactive access to a scanning electron microscope (SEM) so that students anywhere in the world can explore the microscopic world of insects. Developed by the Beckman Institute's Imaging Technology Group at the University of Illinois supports K-16 classrooms worldwide. Bugscope allows teachers everywhere to provide students with the opportunity to become microscopists themselves—the kids propose experiments, explore insect specimens at high-magnification, and discuss what they see with our scientists.

Students build different types of cars and find out the effect on mileage, safety, and pollution. This clever "learning tool" is called SEPUP's Car Comparison and was developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science. The have some really fun simulations that challenge students to think.

Spectacular is the only word for award winning Moovl. This is a digital online drawing tool with lifelike dynamic properties. It allows children to create drawings that move according to simple rules of science. The environment simulates gravity, collision, & tension so that the pictures move as if they were in the real world. The Java Applet allows children to make predictions & hypotheses about how things in the world work, to visualize their ideas, & to test them out in a trial-&-error approach. The incredible people at Soda produced this great "learning tool".

Sense-ational is a "learning tool" that helps students learn about their senses. Students match items with the correct sense. This tool was developed by Harcourt School Publishers.

At Wonderville, students can explore the many choices to learn about many different areas of science. The versatility of this site allows you to have students work online as well as print out activities. This site is brought to us by Science Alberta Foundation.

The name of this "learning tool" is called Save Your Skin. In this clever interactive lesson students will make their own sunscreen and then test it to see whether they will have fun or fry on the beach. This is brought to us by a tremendous site called TryScience. This site is a well done combination of home and online experiments and lots of other fun stuff.

The name of this clever "learning tool" is called Speed, Eggs and Slam. In this interactive lesson students find a way, through trial and error, to stop an egg from breaking in the back of a pick up truck. The truck is on an inclined plane ready to foil the student efforts. This is brought to us by the tremendous site called TryScience.

Tools of the Trade is a “learning tool” where students explore the different tools used in the science of archeology. Just click on the blue button on the right called "Play Tools of the Trade" to get started. This site is brought to us by the American Museum of Natural History.