Refraction: A Math Game About Fractions

With support from University of Washington Center for Game Science, DARPA, Gates Foundation, NSF, Adobe, Microsoft and Intel, Refraction was created to teach fractions. According to the website, "In Refraction, the player must partition lasers in order to power spaceships containing various animals who have gotten stuck in space, as shown in the picture. These animal spaceships all require different fractions of the lasers, and the player is given several pieces that split and bend the lasers to reach the animals and satisfy these requirements".  Refraction won the Best in Show Award in the 2010 Learning Challenge, which was sponsored by Disney Research. Below is a description of the program.

 

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Science Teachers: NBC Learn Has Some Great Stuff For You!!

Under the free resources section of their site, NBC Learn has put together some terrific sites for the sciences. The Science of Hockey offers a ten-part video series which includes math and science topics. Chemistry Now has a long listing of topics, including  Cheeseburger Chemistry, Chemistry of Chocolate, Chemistry of Household Cleaners and more. Changing Planet has videos about the survival of trees, infectious diseases, coral reefs and much more. Physics, engineering and math are represented in the videos of The Science of Football, and physics, biology, chemistry and math are found in The Science of the Olympic Games.What a super treasure-trove for science teachers!

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Math Teachers: Looking for 3D Geometrical Prisms? Here are 10 Sites Where You Will Find Them

One of our math teachers came to me the other day and asked me if I could find him images of 3D geometrical prisms, especially those he could print out and have his students put together. As I surfed the web for him, I started to put together a list:

3D Geometrical Shapes- Help with Math.com has lots of pre-drawn 3D shapes for your classroom

3D Shapes-print and put together a heptagonal pyramid, play the 3D Shape Game and more; for younger kids

Geometric Shapes to Print 

Google Sketch-Up Math Project- 3D shape printable templates

K6 Geometric Shapes-explains volumes and surface areas; color images

Interactive Geometry: Prisms

Interactives: Geometry 3D Shapes- in color!

Name the 3D Shapes- worksheet for younger kids

Paper Models of Polyhedra- have your students download and put together a 3D model; many to choose from

Prisms with Examples- color diagrams

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WOW! 100 Interactive Games, Lessons and Quizzes For Your Students

Hopefully you have been bookmarking sites you'd like to use with your students in the new school year. The collection on this page covers the main subject areas: Social Studies, Language Arts, Technology, Science, Math and Foreign Language. I could have continued on and on but thought at some point I needed to stop. Be sure and add any sites you like to use. I can always edit this page at any time. Enjoy!

Geography/ History
GeoGame- interactive geography game

Geography Hangman

Geography IQ-online world atlas "packed with geographic, economic, political, historical & cultural information".

Geography Quiz

Global History & Geography Multiple Choice Questions

Hiroshima Quiz

History Mystery

HyperHistory Online- over 2,000 files covering 3,000 years of world history

InfoPlease Interactive Atlas- from Fact Monster

Learn About Finland- for grades 9-12; video clips & quizzes

Lewis and Clark- from National Geographic

Mr. Nussbaum's Social Studies Games- grades 2-5

The Oregon Trail- interactive site produced by History Globe.com

Road Maps and Mileage Tables

Salem Witch Hunt- interactive from National Geographic

States Web Games- locate the state, place the state, state postal abbreviations, state capitals etc. Different levels.

U.S. Constitution Trivia

United States Presidents Trivia Game- interactive online game

United States Quiz Game- select your level of difficulty

World Capital Concentration

Language Arts
Activities for ESL Students

American Literature Trivia

Conjunctions

Correct or Incorrect?- check your grammar

English Zone- the BEST English-Learner's site on the Net!

Grammar Bytes

Mr. Nussbaums's Language Arts Games- grades 2-4

Name That Literary Element

Parts of Speech

Passive Voice

Preposition Practice

Self-Study Grammar Quizzes

A Shakespeare Quiz

SpellBee.org- for grades 2-6; compete with your peers in an online spelling bee

Using Nouns as Adjectives

Word Game of the Day- from Merriam-Webster; word games, downloads

Math
Algebra Flash Cards

Algebra Matching

BasketMath Interactive- exponents (in Spanish and English)

Billy Bug- helps middle school kids learn coordinates

Billy Bug 2- a new quest for middle schoolers

Decimal & Whole Number Jeopardy

Decimal Multiplication Football

Decimal Quiz

Exponents

Fish Tank-probability

Fractions

Hitting the Target- learning angles through sports

Hooda Math Games- geometry, arithmetic, logic

Interactive Graphs

Interactive Mathematics Miscellany & Puzzles- History of math, math glossary; GRADES K-12

Line Jumper Algebra

MathCar Racing- integers

MathDork- view 10 of 24 lessons for free; animated algebra lessons

Motivating Math- practical math for people on the go

Mr. Nussbaum's Math Games- color coated by grade level; mainly for younger kids

Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies- integers

Online Graphing Calculator- Java mathematical graphing system

S.O.S. Mathematics-Algebra

Sumdog- free math games

Virtual Coin Toss-probability

Mind Games
Brainbashers-brainteasers, puzzles, riddles, games and optical illusions

Play With Your Mind-collection of original mind games and IQ tests

Science
The Amazing Human Body

Animal and Plant Classification Mini Quiz

The Atoms Family- from the Museum of Science in Miami, FL

The Blobz Guide to Electric Circuits

The Compass Activity Page

Cow's Eye Dissection

Creative Chemistry Crosswords

David's Whizzy Periodic Table

Digestive System

DNA Detective

Drop and Drag Body Parts

Edheads- virtual knee surgery, weather, machines

Electromagnets

Gadget Anatomy- site has an Inventor's Toolbox

Human Body- for Middle School (6th,7th)

Inventor and Inventions

Melting and Boiling

Microscope Magnification

Mitosis: an interactive animation

Mr. Nussbaum's Science Games- grades 2-4

Science Stumpers- play against your classmates

Vascular Plants

The Virtual Body- site is in English or Spanish

Virtual Open Heart Surgery- from the Australian Broadcasting Network; very cool!

Technology
The Bully Roundup- online board game

Career Capture- explore stories of women who use technology

The Carnegie Cyber Academy- Internet safety

Click-n-Learn JR- parts of the computer (interactive learning)

Dance Mat Typing- 4 levels to practice keyboarding

Find the Technology- from ABCya; for younger kids

How Do Computers Work?- keyboarding, computer parts, using a mouse

Online Safety Quiz

Technology: Grades 3-6- from the Utah Education Network; games cover keyboarding, hardware/software and Internet safety
Three Cyberpigs- interactive story teaches young kids about Internet safety

World Languages
Digital Dialects- covers 60 languages

Language Games- choose from 5 different languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, German

Language Gain- 10 different languages

Vocabulary Games

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Math Can Be Fun

Here's a great way to supplement your math textbook and keep your students interested--Mudd Math Fun Facts. Hosted by the Harvey Mudd College Math Department, this site currently has 203 fun facts covering algebra, calculus, geometry, probability and more. You can search for a random fact by subject area or by level of difficulty. To those math teachers who thought there wasn't anything on the web for their classes, this is a nice place to start.

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