Science web sites you might find useful

http://www.skillsspace.co.uk/default.asp

There is a wealth of resources on this site to support environmental education across the primary phase. An excellent Teachers’ Section introduces all the material, which includes on-line activities and a rich encyclopaedia of animals. This includes splendid photographs, which can be copied to a printer or saved in electronic format for incorporation into reports. Full National Curriculum links are given and there are printable resources in the form of worksheets and project ideas. They also offer their own top ten sites on environmental education.

http://www.kidscom.com/games/animal/animal.html Although presented as a game, this site offers a great information databank, which is a useful resource for KS2 science. The object of the game is to guess the mystery animal using the clues and the picture, which appears a section at a time. After a correct guess, users are presented with a page of information with a picture and distribution map. This could be used for report writing.

www.crocodile-clips.com  Crocodile Clips is a piece of simulation software that can be freely downloaded from the Internet. The program allows users to select basic pieces of virtual electrical equipment and connect these together in a circuit. The free software is just the ‘elementary school’ section of a much larger package that unfortunately is not free. However, the free element covers everything that primary school pupils are likely to need to cover the electricity section of the KS2 National Curriculum.

www.naturegrid.org.uk/explorer/  The focus is primarily on literacy but the content of the big book stories offered on this site is a study of the natural world. The simple stories can thus be used as a starting point for planning a nature walk in the local environment and talking about what might be there. There are six beautifully produced books, each with accompanying plans and resources to support learning.

 www.worldtime.com This easy to use website shows an image of a globe with the real time day/night shadow. By clicking on any part, the globe can be rotated and will centre on the screen. It can thus be used as a demonstration of day and night and how this is caused by the rotation of the earth. The site also includes sunrise and sunset times for any point on the earth and thus provides data for investigations of day length.
www.bbc.co.uk/education/dynamo/lab/index.shtml Typical of the high quality of the BBC education websites, this site offers interactive games, quizzes and printable worksheets of science experiments and activities. It is part of the larger Dynamo site covering literacy and numeracy activities as well as science – all for the 5-9 age range. There is a support section for parents – which will be equally useful to teachers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/site/science.shtml  science fun and games from the BBC

www.wsu.edu/druniverse/ This is a science based ‘askjeeves’ aimed specifically at children. Children can submit any question to Dr Universe (a cat) and with his back up team of scientists from Washington State University, he will try his best to provide a clear, if somewhat wordy, answer.          The site also contains a treasure chest of previously answered questions on hundreds of science topics. KS1 children would however need help to use this site.

Science Web sun and Earth  http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/

http://www.scienceweb.org.uk/html/f_5e.htm

The human body   http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/index.shtml

Human body animations http://www.innerbody.com/htm/body.html

Nature Explorer   http://www.naturegrid.org.uk/children.html

How the Body Works   www.kidshealth.org/misc_pages/bodyworks/bodyworks.html

Ask Doctor Universe   www.wsu.edu/DrUniverse/

Healthy Teeth  www.healthyteeth.org/

Quest At the Natural History Museum  www.nhm.ac.uk/education/quest2/english/

Revision guide  http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/primary/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/dynamo/lab/index.shtml

science activitieshttp://www.riverdeep.net/products/downloads/free_downloads.jhtml

www.artyastro.com/  This is a collection of simulations and demonstrations of aspects of astronomy, all in the form of interactive adventure games. The site features a simulation of the phases of the moon, which also provides information about the current real time phase, plus there are quizzes on the solar system to test knowledge. There is much still being developed here, including a teachers’ guide to advise on how to use the site in the classroom, but in the meantime you will find the activities clear and simple.