Free Online Textbooks

“I can’t find my textbook!” “I don’t remember getting a textbook.” Does this sound familiar to you? That is what I kept hearing at the end of every year. Then I would have to go through a big hassle of collecting money from student to repurchase the outdated textbooks that I had. I hated having to worry about students losing textbooks or that I was always replacing textbooks that I didn’t even want that included too much information or not enough information. Enter FlexBooks. FlexBooks are online textbooks from a company called CK12. I instantly liked them for many reasons, but the two big ones were that I could customize the book and that it could be posted on my website and downloaded by the students. This video does a great job of explaining how they work. While not every subject has a FlexBook they have a large list of books that include math and science books for elementary, middle and high school along with some other areas such as Writing, Astronomy, History and Engineering.

So, this sounds good you say, but how can I really use it in my classroom? I picked out a textbook that I wanted to use and then went through it to delete the things that don’t apply to my curriculum. I also added in some information that wasn’t there that I wanted to make sure my students had in their book. You can also include links to worksheets (CK12 has a workbook that goes along with most of their textbooks). Once it’s created you can save it as a PDF and post it on a web page or e-mail it to students. Even better, students can put the PDF on their computers, phones, Kindles, IPads, Nooks or other eReader. If you don’t want to customize your book you can find select FlexBooks already in Kindle or Nook/IPad/Android format.

Am I convincing you yet? Maybe you want to make sure you have a teacher’s edition to refer to or a book or worksheets or labs. Well, you got it! The workbooks that are available can also be customized so can you make them fit your classroom. I usually post them on my website and the students can have access to them all the time (no more “I lost it.”)

Looking for more? CK12 has a more interactive way of presenting information that allows you pull short concepts along with chapters into an online interactive “book” Many of the concepts include video clips and interactive quizzes.

Do you use textbooks in your classroom? 

crossposted on my Technology Blog - The Tech Savvy Science Teacher

Biology/Living Environment Websites to use with your students

I am always looking for different websites I can use in my Biology classroom.  I like sites that I can use a demo with the whole class as well as those that students can use individually in stations or at home.  Here are a few that I found to be helpful.  I would love for you to share with me and fellow readers some sites that you have found helpful.

Genetic Decoder

This site gives students a structural view of the 5 DNA/RNA nucleotides.  It will also allow you to visualize the amino acids that are coded for by any combination of codons.  Lastly you can enter a DNA or RNA sequence and it will give you the amino acid sequence.

BioDigital Human

This is a human visualization platform that gives you and your students a 3D view of the human anatomy. You can add labels to the views and even quiz yourself.  I also like that you can see customized models to your library so you can use them from class to class and year to year.  There is also a gallery view so that you can view by system or even medical condition.

Cells Alive

This is a great site to introduce students to cell organelles.  I always used it with my middle school students as a way of introducing them to cells.  I used it along with a webquest.  You can find a number of different worksheets by doing a search for Cells Alive webquest, but the one I used was based on this one from The Biology Corner.

Cell Transport

This site allows your students to visualize the different types of transport that occur across a membrane (difussion, osmosis, passive transport and activive transport).  It also shows how proteins are ienvolved in this transport and how the proteins are regulated in order to regulate transport. 

Websites for the Earth Science Classroom

If you have computers in your classroom or access to a computer cart I'm sure that you are always looking for new websites to use with the kids (I know that I am). Here are some sites for you to try out.

Earthquake Monitor - this is a website that allows you to monitor where earthquakes are occurring and what magnitude each is

Visible Geology - this website allows you to visualize various geologic formations such as folding and tilting as well as topographic features. Some of this site might be a bit advanced for middle school students but it's worth a look.

3D Solar System - this site allows you to visit each of the planets and at each planet, you'll find a list of facts and a short blurb about the planet, there is also a narration that can go along with each if you think that will be helpful

If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel? - this a cool site that shows the scale of the universe from the perspective of the moon being one pixel large

NASA--Planets - this site would be great to use in a science/literacy activity. It's a reading about what makes a planet a planet and could provide a good start for a discussion.

Nasa--Climate Change - this site provides a lot of information about climate change and would be good for students who are doing a research project.

Human Body System video clips

I have always loved showing short video clips to my students.  I find that it breaks up the class and also gives students a different perspective on the material.  While the human body can seem like something that students can relate to, there is much to it that they often don't understand.  At the middle school level, it can be hard for students to visualize what is happening inside their body.  Scholastic has a collection of short videos (around 3 minutes long) to introduce students to the major points of each body system as well as the five senses.  There is also a video on heredity (one of my favorite topics to teach).

Which one of these videos will you use in your class? 

Reading Techniques to help students understand science

Reading is such an important part of learning.  While we often take it for granted that our students know how to read, reading to learn is so much more.  It's not just reading words on a page, but it's things like picking out main ideas, processing the information and understanding what is written.  I came across an article from Scientific American that talks about a study done to understand what can help students read more efficiently.

One study found that having students read a passage and then type or write out everything they remembered allowed students to recall more information than students who made concept maps or simply reread the passage several times.

A few other strategies were mentioned in the article as well, so take a read (don't worry it's a short article).

What reading strategies do you use in your classroom? 

Are you a K-12 teacher teaching topics in Earth and Space Science this school year? Do you use media in your classroom? Oregon State University seeking K-12 teachers who will be teaching any of the following topics in Earth, Space or Physical Science in their science instruction in the 2018-2019 school year: Weather and climate (K-12)  Space Science, specifically solar system (K-12) and Kepler’s Laws (9-12)  Earth’s Systems, specifically land and water features, earthquakes, and volcanoes (K-8)  Waves: Light (K-2) ​  ​​Participating teachers will help them gain insights into how these online resources translate to classroom instruction. Teachers who participate in this effort will simply report back to these after they use these resources during the 2018-2019 school year through online questionnaires and focus groups, and in doing so would help them understand whether the resources were helpful in teaching and effective for student engagement and learning. Being a teacher research participant would be accompanied with a formal Certificate of Participation and a small thank you gift. For the past few years, WGBH (Boston’s PBS), in collaboration with NASA*, has been developing educational resources for K-12 teachers that address topics in Earth, Space, and Physical Science and are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. These digital media resources are free and available on PBS LearningMedia. If you believe you will use these resources and are interested in participating in the study, please follow the link below to find more information and the application for participation.

More information

TPT for Schools

I want to make sure you know about TpT for Schools! Many of you already turn to Teachers Pay Teachers to get resources to meet the needs of all types of learners — and now your school can support you in purchasing these resources! TpT for Schools is an easy, centralized way for your administrator to use school funds to buy the resources you need from TpT. Learn more here about how your administrator can sign up: bit.ly/tpt4schools