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Online Science and Virtual Labs
With Your Host:
Dr. Julia Parra
Featuring Amy Ewing & Dr. Kemi Jona
What is a Myofibril?
http://www.science-groove.org/Now/Myofibrils.html
What is an immediate take-away from
this webconferencing we just did?
Online Science Course Showcase
Let’s go take a peek at some online science
courses :)
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BIOLOGY SEMESTER 1
GEOLOGY SEMESTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO CELL BIOLOGY SEM 1
EARTH SCIENCE (6TH GRADE) SEMESTER 1
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SEMESTER 1

Amy Ewing
Teacher, Las Cruces High School
eTeacher, IDEAL-NM, Chemistry
B.A., NMSU, Secondary General
Science Education
M.A. NM Tech, Master of Science
Teaching
Best Practices
 Take the time to create
an address book.
 Make yourself available
for chat, but recognize
science can be difficult
to explain via chat.
 Assign students to tally
discussion posts.
 Have students post days
off/holidays to the
discussion board.
Interaction is Important
Give your students activities they can learn from by
being able to interact.
Balancing equations:
http://www.mpcfaculty.net/mark_bishop/balancing_equations_tutorial.htm
Rube Goldberg device:
http://pbskids.org/zoom/games/goldburgertogo/rubegame.html
Virtual Lab at Virtlab:
http://www.virtlab.com/main.aspx
Chemistry (Plastics, PCR, polymers), Physics (transistors, lasers, circuits) and
Biology (Pavlov’s Dog, Malaria, The Cell, DNA and RNA):
http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/all_productions.php
Online Science Course Showcase
Amy’s online science course in action :)
Focus on Virtual Labs
 Online science issues/debate
o AP Science accreditation
o Can labs really be done online?
Kemi Jona, PhD
Northwestern University
 Conducting R&D on advanced learning technologies since 1989
 Research Associate Professor, Learning Sciences and Computer
Science in School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern
University
 Director, Office of STEM Education Partnerships
 Strategic advisor on learning technologies & STEM education to
education, government, and private sector organizations
Advantages of The iLab Network
 Broadens access to expensive or delicate high-end equipment
 Provides students with access to remotely-hosted science lab
facilities rather than just local ones
 More time on task / less setup & cleanup
 More experimental runs
 Safer
 Can do labs before and after class, at home – not limited to 50 min
class period
 Share & compare data locally or globally – just like scientists do
 Enables new economic models and public/private partnerships for
provisioning lab equipment for schools
What we have available for high schools now
www.iLabCentral.org/radioactivity
 Radioactivity Lab
 Curriculum written by Northwestern University and pilot
tested by over 1000 students is available for general use
NOW
 Contact us for teacher materials and professional
development
 Four new curriculum adaptations of the original
Radioactivity iLab Curriculum for biology, chemistry, AP
Physics, and math written by Chicago-area high school
teachers
Online & Virtual Labs Resources
 http://retapedia.pbworks.com/Online-Science-and-Virtual-Labs
Elementary Resources
 Brain Pop Free Stuff
http://www.brainpop.com/free_stuff/
 Internet Science Adventures
http://www.sandia.gov/ciim/ISA/
 Field Trip Earth
http://www.fieldtripearth.org/
Middle School Resources
 Science Pirates
http://sciencepirates.com/
 Brain Pop Free Stuff
http://www.brainpop.com/free_stuff/
 General Science Resources for Middle School
http://wwwsldirectory.com/teachf/scied.html
 Scienceinquirer
http://scienceinquirer.wikispaces.com/freestuff
High School Resources
Watershed Dynamics (GIS)
GLOBE Watershed Dynamics
Project Site
http://www.globe.gov/projects/
watersheds
My World GIS
http://myworldgis.org
iLabs (Remote online labs)
Northwestern University
http://www.ilabcentral.org
Late Nite Labs (Chemistry Lab
Simulations
http://www.latenitelabs.com
PhET Interactive Simulations
http://phet.colorado.edu
The ChemCollective
http://www.chemcollective.org/
Genetics Online Virtual Labs
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/in
dex.html
Other Cool Stuff
Discovery Education - http://www.discoveryeducation.com/
 Check out the Programs and Free Tools
 Products & Services, Free 30-day trial, subscription
based, Teacher Center has a Mythbusters series.
Planet Earth is there too! Check out the Featured
Series or do a search 
Smithsonian Education Online
Learninghttp://smithsonianeducation.org
 Direct to Science & Technology http://smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_pl
ans/science_technology.html
One World Journeys - http://oneworldjourneys.com/
Music Resources
 Educational Rap
http://www.educationalrap.com/music/science/
 Science Groove
http://www.science-groove.org/
Make sure to fully preview these, I’m glad I did 
Game Resources
 10 Sources of Educational Science Games
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/04/10sources-of-educational-science-games.html
 Planet Science
http://www.planetscience.com/wired/index.html?page=/wired/games
/index.html
 Brand new EdGames
http://people.uncw.edu/ertzbergerj/all.html