Educator Resources

Educator Resources

 

Next Generation Science Standards  This website houses the tools and  resources to support educators with the implementation of the rigorous Next Generation Science Standards.

BOEM Teacher Resources   To encourage an ocean-literate public and an upcoming generation of marine scientists and engineers, BOEM’s Environmental Studies Program-sponsored research results are sometimes used to prepare materials for teachers, including video and audio files. Educators, in collaboration with BOEM scientists, develop materials for formal and informal educators using data or information from actual research projects.

AGI’s EarthNote Find out how Earth science issues influence your life with EarthNotes, summaries of timely information about geoscience issues. Reports on a wide range of topics are contributed by geoscientists. To read more EarthNotes, click here.

Data in the Classroom Middle and high school teachers interested in using real scientific data in their teaching should visit the NOAA Ocean Data Education Project website. The website offers four learning modules covering El Niño (grades 6–8), Sea Level (grades 6–8), Water Quality (grades 6–8), and Ocean Acidification (grades 10–12). 

EPA Climate Change Website The site contains information on the science and indicators of climate change, regional impacts, federal and EPA programs and partnerships, and tools for educators and public officials.

Explore.org has set up more than 50 cameras across the world showing animals from puppies to puffins in action, live and streamed online.  

FIRST Louisiana-Mississippi, Inc.  FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) inspires young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.

FIRST is a robotics community that prepares young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs for ages 4-18 (PreK-12) that can be facilitated in school or in structured afterschool programs. Boosted by a global support system of volunteers, educators, and sponsors that include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, teams operate under a signature set of FIRST Core Values to conduct research, fundraise, design, build, and showcase their achievements during annual challenges.

Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair  The Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair (GNOSEF) is one of the oldest such fairs in the nation. It is held annually and is affiliated with the International Science and Engineering Fair. The Fair is open to any student attending middle or high school in the New Orleans four-parish-area which includes Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard Parishes who have been nominated by their teacher(s).

Green Ribbon Schools Program  A free online community where students and teachers share ideas, receive mentoring, share lesson plans, ask questions, and publish the results of their impactful sustainability projects.

Hot Wheels® Speedometry™   Hot Wheels® Speedometry™ encourages inquiry and real-world, problem-based learning through play, hands-on activities and in-depth lesson plans. This education curriculum, co-created with researchers at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education, combines Hot Wheels® fun, imagination, and action, as well as toys and track to accelerate learning.

Khan Academy  Khan Academy is a non-profit educational organization created in 2006 by educator Salman Khan with the aim of providing a “free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.” For teachers, students and anyone who wants to learn, subjects include: math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more.

LIGO – Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory  Whether you’re a K-12 educator, a parent, or an interested student, you should browse our education web pages. There’s something fun and educational here for everyone.

  • Classroom Activities – All sorts of activities you can bring to your classroom that concentrate on LIGO, or concepts related to LIGO (such as, waves).
  • Field Trips – Want to take a school field trip to LIGO? Click on this link to book a field trip to one of our two observatories.
  • Try This at Home – Here are some LIGO-related activities you can try at home!
  • Ask a LIGO-ite – Do you have a question that’s not answered anywhere else on our site? Click here to ask a question of a real LIGO scientist!
  • Bring LIGO to Your Classroom – If you can’t bring your class to LIGO, then we may be able to bring a LIGO educator to you. Click here to learn more.
  • Teacher Professional Development – Visit this page to learn about the teacher professional development programs offered through each of our two observatories.
  • Recommended Reading and Video – Some of our favorite resources related to the science behind LIGO.
  • Detection Education Resources – Education materials related to the detection of gravitational waves by LIGO:
  • Detection Science Summary (a 4-page overview of the detection tailored to a casual reader), and
  • LIGO Educator’s Guide (a 24-page introductory guide to LIGO and gravitational waves, with 2 simple activities suitable for classroom use).

NASA.gov for Educators  Browse the STEM-related professional development opportunities, webinars, workshops, and ways for you and your students to get involved with NASA.

NOAA Photo Library’s Photostream  NOAA has launched the social media photo sharing website “NOAA Photo Library’s Photostream” on Flickr, the premier Internet photo sharing website. A selection of more than 4,000 photos has been uploaded onto the NOAA Flickr website, a subset of the 47,000 public domain images presently on the NOAA Photo Library. The photos can be viewed in collections, sets, in slideshow format, and by using the Flickr search engine to search for imagery thematically.

Science of Baseball
Download Science of Baseball posters created for GNO STEM’s annual STEM Fest.
How Far Can a Baseball be Hit? by Tim Schuler, PhD from Tulane University
Baseball and the Brain by Elliott Beaton, PhD at The Stress, Cognition, and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN) Laboratory at the University of New Orleans.

SciStarter  This website is for teachers, parents, and kids of all ages who want to contribute to scientific work through recreational activities and research projects.  Scientists share their work and citizens can get involved through projects that encourage tinkering, building, and exploring.  Projects can be searched by topic, location, and more.  Check out iSeeChange (climate experiences), Tag A Tiny, and more.

Vernier Free Training Videos  Vernier Software & Technology has created 32 new instructional videos to help educators better use and understand the many features of its most popular STEM technologies, including LabQuest 2, iPad data collection, and many of Vernier’s popular sensors. The videos were developed by Vernier’s technology experts.