Science Journal Blog: 21st-Century Topics and Tools

As I explored the internet looking for useful websites to engage my fourth grade students, I came across a great website for students to practice vocabulary for the heat transfer unit.  Students would be able to use the games found at Learning Games for Kids, http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/heat-energy-games.html , in order to practice and become more familiar with the vocabulary in this unit. 

The second website is called Science Kids, http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/.   This website offers great ideas for science investigations for students to try.  In order to motivate students and encourage their interest in certain science topics, this website has suggestions for investigations that the students could conduct, along with interesting facts they can read about, and videos to watch in reference to the science concepts that they are learning. 

Both of these websites can be used together in order to have the students learn more about heat.  Science Kids suggests an investigation for students to determine which color light produces the most heat.  This investigation will encourage problem-solving and collaboration skills.  The students will be able to use the procedure offered, or could develop their own for their group. In addition to these websites, I also have my students use Edmodo, https://www.edmodo.com, which is an education social media site similar to Facebook.  On Edmodo, the students can communicate and discuss their findings in a similar way to our class discussion board.