Teaching Elementary School Science

Useful Technology for Teaching Elementary Science

Fall 2014
iPad apps
popplet lite

cost
download
on your
iPad for
free
pay a little
and you
can get the
version
that saves
individuals
work.

Comic Life

Description of applicable use

Create galleries, concept maps, or display
experimental findings. Simple to take pics of
science experiments, then add text to label or
summarize findings. Simple to move around pics and
text so it is ideal for developing sorting
(classifications).

Examples from class

Whirligig Experiments & Lab Reports
Lindseys Whirligig Report
Magness & Cyndi Whirligig Lab Report
Lauren & Steph Whirligig Report
Erins Whirligig Experiment
Classification Activities:
Saras Classification of Bones
Health Unit: Classification of Foods
Classification of shells
Classification of beanies
Introducing Living & Nonliving Things
(K-2)

This is a desktop publishing program that allows

students to create multipage comic strips. Photos
can be inserted along with text to give it the comic
book look. Comic panels, lettering, captions and
balloons are also major features of the program.
This is ideal for creating stories based on science
ideas or even to allow kids to create
easy-to-understand explanations of science ideas in
an interesting context. (Comic Life is superior to
Toontastic)

Studying the parts of a flower

4th graders study Clouds

moxier
collage

labelbox

$1.99

free

Moxier Collage helps create and share compelling

electronic cards, collages, storyboards, picture
boards, wallpaper, ideas, notes, and much more.
Select from a variety of backgrounds, add pictures,
text, frames, sticky notes, speech bubbles,
headings, clipart, and then share with friends via
email, Facebook, and Twitter. This app simplifies
the creative process and enhances the sharing of
ideas.

Classification:
Sorting Buttons

Good for making simple displays combining pictures

and labels.

First Day of school: Introduce

yourself to the class. Megan, Steph

Motion & Forces:

Rollercoaster Components

What is a Scientist: Kristina

Starwalk

$2.99

Great interactive way to learn about the universe.

Can be held up to the sky and rotated to show which
constellations are visible in which direction. Also
contain good written information about planets,
moons, constellations and other celestial bodies.

Weblink to reviews and more

information on the Starwalk app

Amazing Alex
(game)

$0.99

This app is designed to enhance creativity and

problem solving skills. Students are challenged
through increasingly complex levels to solve
problems by moving objects. Would be appropriate
for K-6

Weblink to reviews on the Amazing

Alex game

Tinkerbox
(game)

Free

This app is designed to enhance problem-solving and

creativity skills. It contains puzzles and inventions
and focuses primarily on ideas about motion and
forces. More appropriate for 5th - middle school.

Weblink for additional information on

Tinkerbox

Penultimate

Free

Students can create separate journals for each

subject or unit they study. Each appears as a
separate journal or booklet within Penultimate.

Weblink to reviews on Penultimate

Sample Science Journal Page

Can insert photos and label parts, as well as write

with a stylus or your finger.

Educreations

Educreations transforms your iPad into a recordable

whiteboard that captures your voice and
handwriting to produce amazing video lessons you
can share online. Digital ink enhances the look.
Excellent for diagramming and capturing and
labeling science experiments.

Idea Sketch

free

Camera

built-in

Weblink to Educreations page

Sample Educreation use in science
labeling a volcano diagram
solar system
labeling the human body

Most useful for creating concept maps or recording

brainstorming ideas, illustrating concepts, making
lists and outlines. Includes a feature to record
voice. Does not allow pics, so its application is not
as useful as Popplet and Educreations
Projectile Motion Activity:
Measuring launch angle

Keynote

This versatile program can be used to make creative

one-page displays of data, drawings and photos with
texts and graphs.

Motion & Forces:

Representing Launch Data

iMovie

Students can create videos with little to no editing skills

needed.

Motion & Forces: Student groups

created videos as part of an authentic
assessment on Projectile Motion.

Toontastic

$1.99

Create and animate your own story and record your

voice along with it. Great literacy app, but has uses
for science as well. Limited to characters that
come with the program. Our class found COMIC
LIFE to be a better product.

Timer

free

Useful for timing in situations where classroom sets

of timers are not available. Place on elmo for the

whole class, or individual iPads can use their own
timers.

Videolicious

free

Mix together images, video clips, music and your

voice to create short videos.

Pendulums Activity

Not used yet

Other (Non iPad Uses) Computer Uses

Reflector

https://www.reflec
torapp.com/

$12.99 (this is a

computer program,
not an app so get it
off the internet.)
Make sure your
school does not have
a firewall that will
block the use of
reflector

Load this on a laptop, open reflector and any

ipad, iphone, or ipod in the vicinity can log on
and their screen can be projected to the
laptop, & from there to the projector screen.
Great, inexpensive way to have students
showcase their ipad creations from their
seats, with no advanced preparation via
individual iPad programs or wires.

Digital Idea
Bank

Students chose a
platform they
wanted to use to
store & display
science teaching
ideas. Most used
Google Sites or
Livebinder

Each student established a Digital Idea Bank

in which they stored teaching ideas. Required
sections included Science Activities, Science
Learning Cycles, Science Learning Centers, and
Materials Management. Many students added
additional sections to meet their needs.

Standard word
processing

Standard with
most computers

Students produced printed materials and/or

websites designed to explain their science
beliefs & teaching to school boards and
parents.
Students displayed their perception of a

School Board/Parent Information:

Laurens Brochure
What is a Scientist Activity
Lauren: Perception of a Scientist

Scientist.

Wordle

Free on-line

Students type or paste a paragraph or a word

list and Wordle produces a word collage in
which the words used more frequently appear
largest. Useful for exploring or summarizing
unit ideas and new vocabulary, also for
introducing topics and finding out what
students already know about it.

Elementary Chemistry Wordle

Glogster

Free

This is a site that allows students to create

interactive posters (can imbed photos and
movies). It is colorful and fun for kids. You
can set up class lists so each student has their
own password and site and the teacher has
access to all student work. NOTE: this will
not work on ipad because it requires Adobe
Flash.

Phynnex and Daniels Gel Sphere Glog

Alex & Bennets Tooth Decay Glog