Periodic Table Internet Investigation

The content area of physical science that is my focus for my internet  investigation is the periodic table. The periodic table of elements is a “big idea” that students need to understand in order to know what everything in the world is made up of.  It is also the basic knowledge for more advanced chemistry.  My online search relating to the periodic table was successful because I found many sites that would help students be proficient in the 21st-century.

I will start by listing four sites that I have already used.

http://www.brainpop.com/

Brain Pop has short 3-5 minute cartoons about specific scientific content with Tim and his robot friend Moby.  These are perfect to get students excited and interested in science content.  There is also a ten question multiple choice quiz that comes with each cartoon.  

http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/

This is through the discovery channel and provides short clips of content as well as movies that are of various length.  This is an excellent way to give students the visuals that they need to learn the science content.  Many of the movies come with lesson plans to go with the content, clozed movie notes, or quizzes

http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classchem.html

I love this site, it has lesson plans, experiments, and short cartoon clips to teach scientific content.  The kids really like this one.

http://education.jlab.org/beamsactivity/6thgrade/elementbingo/elementbingoclassset.pdf

This is a set of 36 element bingo cards, I have used this and the kids love it!

Here are some new ones that I found

http://www.ehow.com/way_5797909_fun-ways-teach-periodic-table.html

This site gives me ideas of ways to support students understanding through inquiry activities as well as increasing student motivation and interest.

http://www.funbrain.com/periodic/index.html

This site has games that teach the periodic table.

http://periodictable.com/

I really like this one because it provides the periodic table with actual photographs of each element and when you click on an element you get detailed information on that particular element.

Besides the ones that I already use often I would say that I like http://periodictable.com/ because I think it takes the abstract idea of an element and gives students an actual photograph of what that element looks like.  This is an excellent 21st century tool in terms of looking up current information on line. One activity I would use with this website is to have students do a periodic table scavenger hunt using this website as their resource.  This would be a great way to get students excited about the periodic table while helping them to become familiar with it.  All of these web sites help prepare students to be scientifically literate citizens by teaching them science content,  getting them excited and motivated about science, and having them use technology to learn.

Some difficulties that can occur are when my LCD projector bulb burns out or the internet  is not available.  The Brain Pop and the United Streaming sites are purchased by my district, so when the subscriptions are up, sometimes they are not available for some time.