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Activity: LED Creations

Spruce up artwork by adding LEDs to drawings and paper sculptures. In this activity, children learn about conductivity, current flow, simple circuit design, and mechanical switches.

This activity and more can be found online at Creativity Catapult, from the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito, CA.,  is a research-backed, expert-curated collection of activities that promote creativity skills in children ages 2-14. Creativity Catapult is an online collection of activities to promote children’s creativity development. Curated by experts with contributions from esteemed education institutions from around the globe, Creativity Catapult is intended for practitioners charged with raising a generation of future innovators – parents, teachers and informal educators – as well as kids themselves.

Activity: Zip Lines

Children work together to transform everyday materials into creations that can carry weight safely across a zip line.

This activity and more can be found online at Creativity Catapult, from the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito, CA.,  is a research-backed, expert-curated collection of activities that promote creativity skills in children ages 2-14. Creativity Catapult is an online collection of activities to promote children’s creativity development. Curated by experts with contributions from esteemed education institutions from around the globe, Creativity Catapult is intended for practitioners charged with raising a generation of future innovators – parents, teachers and informal educators – as well as kids themselves.

Cotton Catapult

Design and construct a catapult that launches cotton balls as far as possible! This maker activity helps children build creative thinking skills, such as divergent (brainstorming) and convergent (decision-making) skills.

This activity and more can be found online at Creativity Catapult, from the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito, CA.,  a research-backed, expert-curated collection of activities that promote creativity skills in children ages 2-14. Creativity Catapult is an online collection of activities to promote children’s creativity development. Curated by experts with contributions from esteemed education institutions from around the globe, Creativity Catapult is intended for practitioners charged with raising a generation of future innovators – parents, teachers and informal educators – as well as kids themselves.

Natural Start Alliance

Natural Start Alliance focuses on nature play-based learning, providing research and resources for parents and teachers.  You can find organizations including nature centers, nature preschools, advocacy groups, and state level organizations that support nature-centered early childhood education.

PhET Simulations

The PhET online interactive simulations from the University of Colorado are free, research-based and research-validated, cover math and all the major sciences, and are translated into dozens of languages. The online teaching resources to support each simulation include a teacher’s guide from the PhET design team, plus classroom activities that clever teachers have already developed for a given simulation.  Here is a short list of suggested resources on energy:

  • The Energy Skate Park  (kinetic, potential energy)
  • Circuit Construction (electrical energy)
  • Energy Forms and Changes (energy states, forms, conservation of energy)
  • Generator (energy types, energy resources, magnetic fields)

And a long-time favorite, John Travoltage–where you can make John “Travoltage’s” leg rub to build up static so that he gets shocked when touching a doorknob!

NREL Energy Education Resources for Teachers

NREL(National Renewable Energy Lab) provides a variety of educational resources to help students, teachers, and parents educate their kids about renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, including hands-on projects and curriculum suggestions for elementary school, middle school, and high school students as well as teachers.

BP Educational Service

BP Educational Service (BPES) provides free videos, animations, and activities for school through college-aged students on Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) concepts. The aim of BPES is to use classroom concepts as the basis for activities and learning opportunities in the real-world.

Courtesy of: BP International

CLEAN

The Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) provides a collection of over 600 energy resources for classrooms from middle school through higher education. Search for activities that have been reviewed by teaching professionals.

Courtesy of: The Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College, its partners with funding from the National Science Foundation, and other sponsors